Free teacher tool
Essay Prompts
Free essay questions and prompts for more than 100 novels, plays, and poems — covering AP Literature, AQA, IB, and beyond. No account needed, no ads, completely free.
Prompts are organised by curriculum and include analytical, argumentative, and comparative tasks so you can set a full essay assignment or pull a single prompt for timed practice. Search by title or author below, or browse the popular works grid.
Popular works
Browse- To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee
- Of Mice and MenJohn Steinbeck
- Romeo and JulietWilliam Shakespeare
- Nineteen Eighty-FourGeorge Orwell
- Lord of the FliesWilliam Golding
- Jane EyreCharlotte Brontë
- FrankensteinMary Shelley
- Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen
- Wuthering HeightsEmily Brontë
- MacbethWilliam Shakespeare
- HamletWilliam Shakespeare
Complete catalogue
All works- Absalom, Absalom!William Faulkner
- A Christmas CarolCharles Dickens
- A Doll's HouseHenrik Ibsen
- A Farewell to ArmsErnest Hemingway
- A Lesson Before DyingErnest J. Gaines
- All the Pretty HorsesCormac McCarthy
- AmericanahChimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- A Midsummer Night's DreamWilliam Shakespeare
- Animal FarmGeorge Orwell
- An Inspector CallsJ. B. Priestley
- Anita and MeMeera Syal
- Anna KareninaLeo Tolstoy
- AntigoneSophocles
- Antony and CleopatraWilliam Shakespeare
- A Passage to IndiaE. M. Forster
- A Portrait of the Artist as a Young ManJames Joyce
- As I Lay DyingWilliam Faulkner
- BelovedToni Morrison
- Billy Budd, SailorHerman Melville
- Bleak HouseCharles Dickens
- Bless Me, UltimaRudolfo Anaya
- Blood BrothersWilly Russell
- Blood MeridianCormac McCarthy
- CeremonyLeslie Marmon Silko
- Chronicle of a Death ForetoldGabriel García Márquez
- Cold MountainCharles Frazier
- Crime and PunishmentFyodor Dostoevsky
- Cry, the Beloved CountryAlan Paton
- Death and the MaidenAriel Dorfman
- DisgraceJ. M. Coetzee
- DNADennis Kelly
- Don QuixoteMiguel de Cervantes
- East of EdenJohn Steinbeck
- EmmaJane Austen
- For Whom the Bell TollsErnest Hemingway
- FrankensteinMary Shelley
- Go Tell It on the MountainJames Baldwin
- Great ExpectationsCharles Dickens
- Gulliver's TravelsJonathan Swift
- Half of a Yellow SunChimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- HamletWilliam Shakespeare
- Hard TimesCharles Dickens
- Heart of DarknessJoseph Conrad
- Henry IV, Part 1William Shakespeare
- House Made of DawnN. Scott Momaday
- Howards EndE. M. Forster
- How Many Miles to Babylon?Jennifer Johnston
- In the Time of the ButterfliesJulia Alvarez
- Invisible ManRalph Ellison
- Jane EyreCharlotte Brontë
- Jude the ObscureThomas Hardy
- King LearWilliam Shakespeare
- KitchenBanana Yoshimoto
- Light in AugustWilliam Faulkner
- Like Water for ChocolateLaura Esquivel
- Lord JimJoseph Conrad
- Lord of the FliesWilliam Golding
- Love in the Time of CholeraGabriel García Márquez
- MacbethWilliam Shakespeare
- MausArt Spiegelman
- MedeaEuripides
- MiddlemarchGeorge Eliot
- Moby-DickHerman Melville
- Mrs. DallowayVirginia Woolf
- Much Ado About NothingWilliam Shakespeare
- Native SonRichard Wright
- Never Let Me GoKazuo Ishiguro
- Nineteen Eighty-FourGeorge Orwell
- No Longer at EaseChinua Achebe
- Norwegian WoodHaruki Murakami
- Oedipus RexSophocles
- Of Mice and MenJohn Steinbeck
- One Hundred Years of SolitudeGabriel García Márquez
- OrlandoVirginia Woolf
- OthelloWilliam Shakespeare
- PersepolisMarjane Satrapi
- PersuasionJane Austen
- Philadelphia, Here I Come!Brian Friel
- Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen
- Purple HibiscusChimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Romeo and JulietWilliam Shakespeare
- Sense and SensibilityJane Austen
- Song of SolomonToni Morrison
- SulaToni Morrison
- Tess of the d'UrbervillesThomas Hardy
- The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnMark Twain
- The AwakeningKate Chopin
- The Bluest EyeToni Morrison
- The Brothers KaramazovFyodor Dostoevsky
- The Color PurpleAlice Walker
- The EmpressTanika Gupta
- The God of Small ThingsArundhati Roy
- The Grapes of WrathJohn Steinbeck
- The Great GatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald
- The History BoysAlan Bennett
- The House of Bernarda AlbaFederico García Lorca
- The House of the SpiritsIsabel Allende
- The House on Mango StreetSandra Cisneros
- Their Eyes Were Watching GodZora Neale Hurston
- The Mayor of CasterbridgeThomas Hardy
- The Merchant of VeniceWilliam Shakespeare
- The MetamorphosisFranz Kafka
- The Plough and the StarsSeán O'Casey
- The RoadCormac McCarthy
- The Scarlet LetterNathaniel Hawthorne
- The Sound and the FuryWilliam Faulkner
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeRobert Louis Stevenson
- The StrangerAlbert Camus
- The Sun Also RisesErnest Hemingway
- The TempestWilliam Shakespeare
- The Tin DrumGünter Grass
- The TrialFranz Kafka
- The Woman in BlackSusan Hill
- Things Fall ApartChinua Achebe
- To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee
- To the LighthouseVirginia Woolf
- TranslationsBrian Friel
- Twelfth NightWilliam Shakespeare
- War and PeaceLeo Tolstoy
- Wide Sargasso SeaJean Rhys
- Wuthering HeightsEmily Brontë
Frequently asked questions
FAQ- Are the essay prompts free to use?
- Yes. Every set of essay prompts on Storgy is free to browse, print, and use in your classroom — no account or signup required.
- Which curricula are covered?
- Prompts are tagged for AP Literature, AP Language, AQA GCSE and A Level, IB Literature and Language & Literature, Eduqas, OCR, Edexcel, Common Core, and Leaving Certificate. Many prompts are universal and work across any curriculum.
- What kinds of essay prompts are included?
- Each set includes analytical prompts focused on character, theme, and structure; argumentative prompts that ask students to defend a position; and comparative prompts that connect the work to other texts or broader literary traditions.
- Can I print or copy the prompts for my class?
- Yes. The prompts are provided for educational use. You can copy, paste, or print them for use in your classroom without restriction.
- How do I find prompts for a specific book?
- Use the search box above to type the book title or the author's name. A list of matching works appears instantly — click any title to go directly to its essay prompts.