Red Kayak

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. 

Scaffolded/Short-Answer Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the novel over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Consider the various keepsakes or memorials Red Kayak’s characters use to cope with the loss of a loved one (e.g., the butterfly garden, the photo of Amanda, etc.).

• What makes these objects helpful tools for dealing with grief, where other reminders of a loved one (e.g., Tiny Tim) might not be? (topic sentence)
• Identify three moments when the novel’s characters reflect on or interact with a keepsake or memorial; analyze these in relation to your topic sentence.
• Finally, use your concluding sentence or sentences to discuss how these keepsakes reflect Red Kayak’s broader depiction of The Past’s Influence on the Present.

2. Consider the role the Corsica River plays in the novel, including how various characters interact with it (fishing, sailing recreationally, etc.) and what emotions it sparks in them (guilt, grief, nostalgia, etc.).

• What, in your opinion, is the Corsica’s primary function as a motif? (topic sentence)
• Identify three passages involving the Corsica that support your claim and close read them in relation to it.
• Finally, use your concluding sentence or sentences to discuss how the Corsica helps develop the novel’s ideas about either The Past’s Influence on the Present, America’s Changing Class Landscape, or The Complexity of Moral Responsibility.

3. Consider the moment when Brady fails to call out a warning to the red kayak’s occupants.

• How does Brady describe this moment, and what does that say about how he feels about his actions? (topic sentence)
• Identify three additional moments when Brady reflects on his role in the tragedy and analyze what each tells us about how he perceives that role.
• Finally, use your concluding sentence or sentences to discuss what Brady’s language in these passages tells us about The Complexity of Moral Responsibility.

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. Red Kayak offers windows into the lives of four different families: the Parks, the DiAngelos, the Griswalds, and the Tylers. How are these families similar? How are they different? Do those differences tell us anything about the novel’s major themes? Consider, for example, the Class differences between the DiAngelos and the Parks, or the role family environment plays in shaping Brady’s sense of moral responsibility versus Digger’s.

2. Class tension is at the heart of both Digger's sabotaging of the kayak and the disputes surrounding government regulation of crabbing. Compare and contrast the role that Class plays in each of these storylines. Why might Cummings have chosen to develop these storylines in parallel to one another? Taken together, what do they suggest about class in America?

3. Coming-of-age stories like Red Kayak often center on a major death or loss. Why do you think this is a major issue for teens and preteens to grapple with, both in literature and real life? What particular sorts of losses does Red Kayak involve, and how might Cummings’s depictions of them help young readers?