Siddhartha Essay
Read the following writing prompts below and write a 3 page essay analyzing
the story using one of the prompts. Make sure that you have a clear thesis statement
that fully addresses the writing prompt and cited examples from the book to
support your thesis statement.
1. An important theme in Siddhartha is that too much searching can get in the way of
what you’re really looking for and the simplest truths can be found right in front of you.
Compare and contrast at least 2 things that keep Siddhartha from achieving his goal and 2
things that help Siddhartha achieve his goal.
2. Siddhartha renounces Gotama as a teacher, believing that true enlightenment cannot be
taught. Explain what Siddhartha does in order to achieve his goal. Give at least 3
examples to support your point.
3. A major theme in Siddhartha is that wisdom and knowledge are two different things.
Compare and contrast at least 2 ways that Siddhartha discovers knowledge and 2 ways
that he discovers wisdom and explain how he comes to understand their differences
throughout his spiritual journey.
4. A theme is the main point of a story or the author’s message about life that they
convey to the reader. Define a major theme found in Siddhartha and identify at least 3
symbols in the novel that convey the theme.
Before you begin writing you need to figure out what your topic is
asking you to do. Look at the action words in the topic you have chosen,
and underline all of the verbs in the topic. Once you have underlined all
of the verbs look at the topic again and write out the instructions for
your topic. Rewriting your topic will help you understand what you are
supposed to write your paper about.
Essay Due Dates:
Points:

Pre-Write – Thursday, October 17th
10

Outline – Tuesday, October 22nd
25

Rough Draft – Thursday, October 24th
25

Peer Edit – Friday, October 25th
25

Final Draft – Monday, October 28st
110
You must complete and turn in all of the parts of the writing process
with your typed final draft in order for your final draft to be graded.
Teacher Notes
Give the essay writing PowerPoint and review the process of writing an essay with the
Essay Components packet before passing out essay topics.
Spend a day going over the essay topics and breaking down how to figure out exactly
what each topic is asking to write about. Stress the importance of understanding the topic
in order to write a clear essay.
Break down an example of underlining the verbs in the topic and rewriting the
instructions in order to figure out exactly what to write about.