Jurassic Park

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. The story of Jurassic Park is accented by a slowly unfolding chaos that Ian Malcolm refers to throughout the plot’s events.

• How are Crichton’s chosen writing style and novel structure reflective of the chaos that slowly unfolds in the story? (topic sentence)
• In the body of your essay, detail at least three stylistic or structural choices and relate them to the plot, using direct quotes to support your argument.
• In your conclusion, evaluate the effectiveness of Crichton’s writing in conveying the unpredictable nature of life.

2. John Hammond’s attempts to control and engineer nature ultimately fail and lead to several deaths, including his own, as well as the destruction of the park.

• Based on the events in the novel, should Hammond have attempted to control nature? Why or why not? (topic sentence)
• In the body of your essay, outline at least three occasions in the novel where Hammond’s goals and Malcolm’s views come into conflict with one another, and detail specific consequences of Hammond’s choices. Use direct quotes to support your response.
• In your final sentences, connect one of the novel’s themes to your concluding ideas.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Jurassic Park is a work of science fiction and thus draws on real-world problems and ideas to build its foundation. The result is a blending of the past and present which creates an entirely new world that the characters, aside from perhaps Dr. Grant, are completely unsure how to navigate. Supporting your ideas with quotes and other textual evidence, explore the implications of this blended world and how the characters’ reactions to unnatural nature illuminate these implications.

2. The inclusion of graphic violence is a stylistic choice that some readers find unappealing. The horror and fear elements can be attention-boosting factors for others, however. Crichton includes descriptions of graphic and brutal violence in his novel, particularly when describing the downfalls of the story’s antagonists. Why do you think he employed this style, and what effects does it have on both the reading experience and the execution of the novel’s themes? Include at least three examples in your essay to help support your ideas.