Blood Wedding

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. After striking the Bride at the end of the play, the Bridegroom’s mother allows the Bride to stay and mourn with her.

• What caused her change of heart? (topic sentence)
• Consider whether or not this action is evidence that she allows the Bride a place back in society.
• Is the Bride’s future ambiguous? Or does Lorca point to a reconciliation between The Incompatibility of Desire and the Social Order?

2. The Bridegroom’s mother and the Bride view women’s agency differently; however, each character is conflicted with the position they assume.

• Compare and contrast their different viewpoints. (topic sentence)
• What is each character’s particular contradiction that she must overcome?
• How do these opposing viewpoints speak to the larger theme of Women as Casualties?

3. Many of the characters in the play are preoccupied with the concept of honor in relation to women’s autonomy.

• How does the honor system allow men to police women’s bodies in the play? (topic sentence)
• Find 2-3 examples to substantiate your point.
• In which ways does this honor system link to Lorca’s theme of Fate and the Tragic Cost of Honor?

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. Explore Lorca’s use of minor characters, such as a Greek Chorus. Which characters function as a Greek chorus? How do these characters help the audience to understand the play’s events? Identify three symbols; how does the Chorus, in its many forms, develop these symbols throughout the play?

2. Explore the significance of the songs and poetry throughout the work. Which songs are referenced? What is the meaning of these songs? In which ways are songs and poetry linked to the representation of surreal and symbolic events in the play?

3. The Moon’s monologue can be read as malevolent and joyous, while the Beggar Woman’s interaction with the Bridegroom is both kind and malicious. Consider Lorca’s point-of-view regarding nature: why does Lorca endow these natural forces with these particular human-like characteristics? What does he suggest about nature?