The prompt a teacher writes often determines whether students produce analysis or summary. A vague question like "discuss the story" invites a retelling, while a focused question pushes students toward a claim they must defend. For "The Use of Force," the confrontation between a doctor and a frightened child offers enough material for many distinct angles. Choosing the right angle before assigning the essay also makes grading faster, because every paper is answering a question you already know how to score.

Good prompts for this story share a few features. They ask students to take a position, they point toward specific moments in the text, and they avoid yes-or-no phrasing that ends the discussion early. A prompt such as "To what extent does the doctor's justification for forcing the exam hold up by the end of the story?" requires a degree of judgment and evidence from several scenes. That structure also gives you a natural thesis check when papers come in.

It also helps to decide whether the assignment is meant to assess reading, argument, or both. A reading-focused prompt may ask students to trace how the narrator's attitude shifts as the struggle escalates. An argument-focused prompt may ask them to judge whether the doctor was right. Knowing the goal in advance lets you weight the rubric accordingly instead of improvising criteria after the essays arrive.

Prompts That Focus on Character

Character prompts work well because students already have opinions about the doctor, the girl, and her parents. One option asks how the doctor's feelings change between his arrival and the final line of the story. Another asks students to explain why Mathilda resists so fiercely and what that resistance says about her sense of control. Because opinions come easily, the teaching challenge is moving students from reaction to textual proof.

• How does the doctor's attitude toward Mathilda change during the examination?
• What does the parents' behavior reveal about their class and their fear of authority?
• Is the narrator a reliable judge of his own motives?
• Does the story ask readers to side with the doctor, the child, or neither?
• How does the final admission reshape the meaning of everything before it?

Prompts That Focus on Theme and Ethics

Theme prompts invite students to think about authority, medical duty, and the line between necessary force and abuse. A student might argue that the story shows how good intentions can excuse cruelty, supported by the doctor's own admission of his anger. Another might argue the opposite, that the diagnosis proves the force was justified and the story is really about urgency. Both readings can be defended, which is exactly what makes the prompt productive.

When you grade these essays, reward the quality of reasoning rather than agreement with your own view. A student who defends the doctor with careful attention to the danger of the illness deserves full credit if the evidence is sound. Telling students up front that either side can earn top marks reduces the temptation to guess what the teacher wants. It also produces more honest and more interesting papers.

Prompts That Focus on Craft

Craft prompts ask how Williams builds meaning through narration, pacing, and word choice. Students might examine how the first-person voice allows the doctor to confess without being forced to, or how the short, tense exchanges slow and quicken the scene. These prompts suit stronger classes and AP-level courses, where analysis of technique is expected. They also reward students who read closely rather than those who simply have strong opinions.

Because craft essays depend on precise quotation, expect more variation in evidence quality. Some students will identify a technique but never explain its effect, a common weakness worth naming on your rubric. A line such as "identify the choice, then explain what it makes the reader feel or understand" gives students a repeatable pattern. Grading then becomes a matter of checking whether each step appears.

Prompts That Connect to Other Texts or Contexts

Comparative prompts ask students to place the story alongside another text about authority, illness, or conflict. These assignments are longer and harder to grade, so the prompt should state exactly which elements must be compared. Without that guidance, students tend to write two separate summaries stapled together. A simple instruction to organize by idea instead of by text can change the quality of the whole set.

Context prompts, such as asking how a doctor-writer's perspective shapes the story, can add depth but require a short background lesson first. Williams worked as a physician as well as a poet, and students who know this often notice details they would otherwise miss. Keep the context light so it supports interpretation rather than replacing it. Whatever prompt you choose, write the scoring criteria before you hand it out.