Exit West

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 magical doors seem at first like impossible rumors.

• What role does magic play in the refugee experience in this novel? (topic sentence)
• Explore three instances in which Saeed and Nadia or other characters use the doors, connecting this back to your main argument.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, connect the doors back to the magical realism of the novel.

2. Nadia and Saeed use their cell phones to stay connected at the beginning of the novel.

• How does technology connect and distance people throughout Exit West? (topic sentence)
• Cite several examples from the text to support your argument, thinking about how technology contributes to the plot, setting, and/or character development.
• Finally, in your concluding sentence or sentences, connect the use of technology in the novel back to the theme of The Limits and Benefits of Technology.

3. Nadia wears a full-length robe throughout the novel, even after leaving her home country.

• How does Nadia’s attire shape her life and her relationship with others? (topic sentence)
• Explore scenes from the beginning and end of the book in which Nadia’s robe is mentioned. How has the significance of this attire changed over the course of the novel? 
• Ultimately, in your concluding sentence or sentences, connect Nadia’s robe back to the theme of Modernity and Tradition.

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. Nadia and Saeed begin the novel at the start of an atypical romantic relationship. Nadia does not agree to marry Saeed but continues to travel with him for much of the story. Saeed’s relationship with Nadia is also fraught—he wonders why she insists on wearing a full-length robe and remains reluctant to call their intimate activity “sex.” Write an essay in which you explore the role that gender and sexuality play in this novel, centering your strong central thesis on the character of either Saeed or Nadia and supporting it with at least three examples from the text. Ultimately, connect your argument back to the theme of Modernity and Tradition.

2. Mohsin Hamid intersperses several sections detailing the lives of characters whose fates are seemingly completely separate from Nadia and Saeed. Make an argument about why the author chooses to do this and how it relates to what he might be trying to achieve with Exit West. Using at least three examples from the text, connect this back to the theme of Navigating the Challenges of Globalization.

3. Cell phones and the magical doors throughout the novel both provide connection across space and time. In your essay, compare and contrast the technology with the elements of magical realism present in the novel. How are they similar? Different? Ultimately, make an argument about their relationship and the role that they play in this book. Use at least three examples from the text to support your argument and connect it back to the theme of The Limits and Benefits of Technology.