A good essay prompt does two jobs at once: it gives students something worth arguing about and it gives the teacher a fair way to measure the result. Many prompts about The Great Divorce fail the second job because they are so open that any answer sounds acceptable. Prompts with a built-in tension, such as whether the ghosts are trapped or are simply choosing, produce essays that are easier to compare and score.

The best prompts also fit the time you have. A single-scene prompt works for a timed in-class essay, while a prompt asking students to trace a pattern across several ghosts suits a take-home paper of four to six pages. Matching scope to length keeps students from writing shallow surveys of the whole book.

Below you will find prompt types organized by skill, along with the criteria you can attach to each. Use them as written or adapt them to your grade level and course goals. The point is to decide what a strong answer looks like before students start writing, not after the papers arrive.

Prompts That Test Interpretation

Interpretive prompts ask students to decide what a scene means and defend that reading. One example asks whether Lewis presents the Big Ghost's refusal to accept charity as a matter of principle or of pride, and what textual details support each view. Criteria for these prompts should reward a clear position, accurate use of the scene, and an honest treatment of the strongest counterargument.

• Does the lizard scene present lust as an enemy to destroy or a servant to be transformed?
• Is the tragedian's grief genuine, or has it become a performance he cannot put down?
• Why does Lewis make the grass painful to the ghosts' feet?
• What does the bishop's preference for discussion reveal about intellectual pride?
• How does the mother's possessive love differ from the love the Solid People show?

Prompts That Test Comparison

Comparison prompts push students to place the book beside another text, such as Dante's Inferno or Lewis's own Screwtape Letters. A strong prompt names the point of comparison, for instance how each work imagines the relationship between choice and punishment, so essays do not turn into lists of similarities. Criteria should reward balanced treatment of both texts and an argument about what the comparison reveals.

Watch for lopsided essays in which one book gets four pages and the other a single mention. A criterion that requires at least one specific passage from each text per body paragraph helps prevent this and makes grading faster. It also gives you a plain, defensible reason for lowering a score when the balance is missing.

Prompts That Test Argument and Reflection

Argument prompts invite students to evaluate the book's claims, such as whether Lewis's picture of hell as a self-chosen state is persuasive. These essays work best in advanced classes where students can separate their personal beliefs from their ability to analyze an author's reasoning. Criteria should focus on fairness, use of evidence, and the quality of reasoning, not on whether the student agrees with Lewis.

Reflection prompts, which connect the book to the student's own experience, need especially careful criteria. Grade the clarity of the connection and the specificity of the details, not the depth of personal disclosure. That keeps the assignment fair for students who prefer to keep private matters private.

Attach the Criteria Before You Assign

Share the criteria with students on the day you hand out the prompt. When students can see that evidence and reasoning carry more weight than length or polish, they plan their essays differently and ask better questions. Transparent expectations also reduce grade disputes because everyone is working from the same page.

If you use an AI grading tool, load the same criteria into it so feedback echoes the language students have already seen. Consistency between the assignment sheet, the rubric, and the comments makes the whole experience feel coherent. Students then read feedback as guidance on a shared standard rather than as an arbitrary reaction to their work.