George Washington's Farewell Address

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their 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. Washington uses various persuasive techniques as he delivers warnings to the nation, including Virtue as a Safeguard Against Social Decay.

• What persuasive elements does Washington utilize in his speech specific to this piece of advice? (topic sentence)
• Cite at least 2 examples of strategic literary choices meant to persuade listeners, and explain the purpose of these choices.
• In your concluding sentence(s), explain how these strategies were—or were not—effective.

2. Washington gives a variety of warnings to the nation about the future running of the government, aiming to Preserve Liberty.

• What was Washington’s most imperative warning? (topic sentence)
• Cite Washington’s warning in the speech and evaluate the effectiveness of his reasoning.
• In your concluding sentence(s), explain how following this warning would help maintain freedom.