Nineteen Minutes

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 bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Nineteen Minutes is narrated in a non-linear fashion, and the reader is kept guessing as significant revelations are continually made about different events and characters throughout the book. For example, from the outside, Matt and Josie’s relationship looks perfect, and the couple appears to have been deeply in love. As the story unfolds, however, the true picture comes to light.

• What is the true nature of Matt and Josie’s relationship? (topic sentence)
• Why and how did Josie work to maintain a certain appearance of her relationship with Matt? What are some of the revelations readers learn about their relationship over time? How do they give light to how Josie, too, was being bullied or abused within the relationship?
• In your conclusion, outline how Josie’s relationship with Matt sees an intersection of the book’s main themes: Appearance Versus Reality, Bullying, and Fitting In.

2. Years after the shooting at Sterling High, one finds the different characters in the book still in the process of healing.

• How does the mass shooting at Sterling High have long-lasting effects on the townspeople? (topic sentence)
• Explain what happens to each of the main characters after the court case. Who is able to move on, and how? Who is unable to move on, and why?
• In your conclusion, examine how violent crimes have lingering effects far beyond both the time it takes place in and its direct victims.

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. As mothers of children who experienced the mass shooting at Sterling High, Alex Cormier and Lacy Houghton are deeply affected. What are the similarities in their parenting styles, and what are the differences? Are there any indications in their relationships with their children that might help explain Peter’s and Josie’s actions, during the school shooting and after?

2. Trace Peter’s experience with bullying, from his very first day of kindergarten until the fateful day of the shooting. Using examples from the text, illustrate how the biggest factor contributing to Peter’s rampage is the incessant bullying he has experienced throughout his school life. Which incidents brings him closer to retaliation? Reflect on what may have helped mitigate the situation in each instance.