90 pages • 3 hours read
Priscilla CummingsRed Kayak
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2004A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Quiz
Reading Check, Multiple Choice & Short Answer Quizzes
Reading Check questions are designed for in-class review on key plot points or for quick verbal or written assessments. Multiple Choice and Short Answer Quizzes create ideal summative assessments, and collectively function to convey a sense of the work’s tone and themes.
Chapters 1-3
Reading Check
1. Who is Carl?
2. What is the name of the river Brady lives beside?
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following best describes Digger’s attitude towards the DiAngelos?
A) admiring
B) frightened
C) curious
D) bitter
2. Which of the following passages contains an example of foreshadowing?
A) “You’d never know that underneath [the river’s surface], the currents run so hard and so fast.” (Chapter 1)
B) “[Dad had] been working Mondays in the shop because he was making more money building cabinets than crabbing, especially now that crabs were getting scarce.” (Chapter 2)
C) “I recalled how we got kicked off the DiAngelos’ property and hoped it didn’t mean Mrs. DiAngelo would never ask me to baby-sit Ben again.” (Chapter 3)
D) "God, I hoped Mom wasn’t in a wreck. Or Dad—that Dad hadn’t buzzed a finger off in the workshop or something.” (Chapter 3)
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Brady react when he sees the red kayak heading out into the river and why?
Chapters 4-6
Reading Check
1. What happened to Brady’s sister, Amanda?
2. What does Brady do when he finds Ben?
Multiple Choice
1. The references to Amanda’s death relate to which of the following?
A. how rural America is changing
B. how people cope with past loss
C. what makes an action moral
D. what it means to grow up
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Brady feel after rescuing Ben?
2. What does Brady leave out when he speaks to the reporter and why?
Chapters 7-9
Reading Check
1. What does Brady ask to do the morning after learning of Ben’s death?
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following best describes the river as Brady searches for the DiAngelos’ kayak?
A. The river thwarts Brady’s efforts.
B. The river aids Brady’s efforts.
C. The river mirrors Brady’s emotional state.
D. The river contrasts with Brady’s emotional state.
2. Brady’s father’s concerns about the crab haul suggest which of the following?
A. He does not believe overfishing is a problem.
B. He fears his job is in danger of disappearing.
C. He thinks other watermen are breaking the rules.
D. He plans to take part in a protest against crabbing regulations.
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How did Brady’s mother respond to her daughter’s death?
2. Why does Brady begin dumping the crabs he and his father have caught back into the river?
Chapters 10-12
Reading Check
1. Where did Brady’s parents send him during Amanda’s funeral?
2. What does Brady help Mrs. DiAngelo plant?
Multiple Choice
1. In context, which of the following passages most strongly hints at the guilt J.T. feels about Ben’s death?
A. “I waited for J.T. at his locker during six-minute break, but he never showed up, so I went on to social studies by myself.” (Chapter 10)
B. “J.T. shot a quick glance at me. ‘Actually, we won’t be home. We’re going down to North Carolina—to visit my aunt and uncle.” (Chapter 10)
C. "He started looking through [a book], like he was searching for homework or something. But we didn’t have any that I knew of.” (Chapter 10)
D. “He must have known what I was thinking. ‘My dad’s not going.’” (Chapter 10)
2. Which of the following serves as a symbol of hope and rebirth?
A. the red kayak
B. the Corsica River
C. the LEGOs
D. the butterfly garden
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why does Brady pack away his LEGOs after talking to Carl?
Chapters 13-15
Reading Check
1. Where does Brady find his father’s missing drill?
2. Who originally came up with the idea of drilling holes in a canoe?
Multiple Choice
1. Digger’s remark that Mr. DiAngelo “didn’t need to talk to [the boys] the way he did” implies which of the following (Chapter 15)?
A. Digger believes Mr. DiAngelo looks down on him and his friends.
B. Digger believes Mr. DiAngelo suspects him and his friends.
C. Digger believes Mr. DiAngelo is jealous of him and his friends.
D. Digger believes Mr. DiAngelo is afraid of him and his friends.
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why does Brady hesitate to confront Digger about the drill?
2. How did J.T. and Brady respond when Digger offered them a cigarette? What does this say about each boy?
Chapters 16-18
Reading Check
1. What does Brady see when he and Carl drive past Digger’s house?
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following best explains Brady’s reluctance to continue working for Mrs. DiAngelo?
A. He wants to avoid reminders of what happened to Ben.
B. He fears he might accidentally tell her the truth about the accident.
C. He sympathizes with Digger’s resentment of the DiAngelos.
D. He thinks his father needs his help more.
2. Which of the following motifs illustrates Brady's grief and guilt about Ben’s death?
A. heat
B. cold
C. light
D. darkness
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why does Digger’s remark about letting “everyone […] forget what happened” make Brady so angry (Chapter 17)?
2. How does the novel characterize Digger’s home life?
Chapters 19-21
Reading Check
1. What does Brady’s aunt give him when he visits?
2. What are the local watermen planning to protest?
Multiple Choice
1. Brady justifies his decision to throw the drill away based on all but which of the following?
A. the fact that J.T. and Digger didn’t intend to kill anyone
B. the fact that Digger has been a loyal friend
C. the fact that J.T.’s father is sick and his family is struggling
D. the fact that the truth would hurt Mrs. DiAngelo
2. Which character faces an ethical dilemma similar to Brady’s in these chapters?
A. Carl
B. Mrs. DiAngelo
C. Brady’s father
D. Brady’s aunt
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What is the significance of Brady’s mother giving him a key to the trunk with Amanda’s things?
Chapters 22-24
Reading Check
1. Who helps Brady find the kayak?
Multiple Choice
1. The watermen’s planned protest involves which two conflicting interests?
A. the rights of local watermen versus the interests of large seafood corporations
B. the health of the bay versus the watermen’s livelihood and way of life
C. the cost for consumers versus the watermen’s need to turn a profit
D. the watermen’s reliance on the bay versus the government’s desire to develop the land
2. The rain that falls as Brady and his father recover the kayak suggests which of the following?
A. grief and the past
B. justice and peace
C. cleansing and rebirth
D. danger and turmoil
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why does Brady’s father decide not to join the watermen’s protest, and how does his decision affect Brady?
2. Why isn’t Brady more relieved to learn that he won’t be facing charges himself?
Chapters 25-28
Reading Check
1. What does Brady do with the money he earned working for Mrs. DiAngelo?
2. What sentence do J.T. and Digger receive?
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following quotes best illustrates Digger’s character growth?
A. “I was just lashin’ out...the way my dad lashes out at me, I guess.” (Chapter 27)
B. “I don’t hold nothin’ against you, Brady.” (Chapter 27)
C. “I don’t want nothin’ bad to ever happen to the kids [Digger’s younger siblings].” (Chapter 27)
D. “I brung a lot of shame on [J.T.], but I’m the only one here in this room is to blame.” (Chapter 27)
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What is the significance of Mrs. DiAngelo taking the butterfly garden with her?
Quizzes – Answer Key
Chapters 1-3
Reading Check
1. Brady’s cousin, who works as a paramedic
2. The Corsica
Multiple Choice
Short-Answer Response
1. Brady wants to call out a warning since it looks as though there might be a storm. However, J.T. and (especially) Digger talk him out of it, possibly by appealing to his resentment of the DiAngelos’ wealth.
Chapters 4-6
Reading Check
1. She died suddenly in infancy.
2. He begins to bring the boat in while performing CPR.
Multiple Choice
1. B (Chapter 4)
Short-Answer Response
1. Brady feels proud and relieved to have (he believes) saved Ben’s life, but the experience has also sobered him: “I knew then I would never be the same person anymore. Because that day on the Corsica River […] I had straddled the invisible line between life and death” (Chapter 5).
2. Brady does not tell the reporter that he and his friends saw the kayak going out and neglected to shout a warning, presumably because he feels guilty or worries others would blame him for the accident.
Chapters 7-9
Reading Check
1. go out crabbing with his father
Multiple Choice
Short-Answer Response
1. Brady’s mother felt responsible for Amanda’s death; she felt she ought to have checked on her more often. Brady also implies that packing away all reminders of Amanda was his mother’s doing, noting that his father had to put his foot down to name the Miss Amanda after their daughter.
2. Thinking of the fate that awaits the crabs reminds Brady of Ben’s death, so he begins dumping them over the side of the boat to give them a “second chance” at life.
Chapters 10-12
Reading Check
1. to the Baltimore Aquarium
2. a “butterfly garden”
Multiple Choice
1. C (Chapter 10)
2. D (Chapter 12)
Short-Answer Response
1. Carl urges Brady to begin moving past Ben’s death. Since the LEGOs remind Brady of Ben—he had planned to give them to Ben if he survived—he packs them away in an attempt to stop thinking about him.
Chapters 13-15
Reading Check
1. in the DiAngelos’ boathouse
2. Brady
Multiple Choice
1. A (Chapter 15)
Short-Answer Response
1. Brady feels a sense of loyalty to Digger and likely doesn’t want to risk losing his friendship by confronting him with what he knows.
2. Brady declined the cigarette, while J.T. eventually accepted. The episode illustrates Brady’s strength of character; he can resist peer pressure. By contrast, J.T. gives in to Digger despite not really wanting the cigarette: “Digger had a way of pushing J.T. around, and darned if J.T. didn’t accept that cigarette, take a quick puff, and hand it back” (Chapter 15).
Chapters 16-18
Reading Check
1. a police car
Multiple Choice
1. A (Chapter 16)
2. B (Chapter 18)
Short-Answer Response
1. Brady feels Digger’s remark is disrespectful and downplays the tragedy of Ben’s death. Brady would probably feel this way even if Digger didn’t bear responsibility for what’s happened; his thoughts about Amanda’s death and the way his parents responded to it suggest that Brady feels it’s important to acknowledge loss rather than try to push it aside.
2. Digger’s family life is abusive and unstable; his father beats his mother, who periodically takes the children and leaves only to return.
Chapters 19-21
Reading Check
1. a photo of Amanda
2. new crabbing regulations
Multiple Choice
1. D (Chapter 19)
2. C (Chapters 20-21)
Short-Answer Response
1. The key allows Brady to access Amanda’s things whenever he likes; as such, it’s an acknowledgment that Brady needs to grieve and remember his sister in his own way.
Chapters 22-24
Reading Check
1. his father
Multiple Choice
1. B (Chapter 22)
2. C (Chapters 23)
Short-Answer Response
1. Although Brady’s father understands the financial pressure the watermen are under, he realizes that they will harm the bay’s ecosystem if they continue overfishing. His explanation of his decision—especially his remark about standing firm despite pressure from his fellow crabbers—persuades Brady that he needs to tell the truth about the kayak.
2. In addition to worrying about what will happen to his friends, Brady recognizes that legal responsibility isn’t the same as moral responsibility: “[E]ven if I was never legally punished, I would have to live the rest of my life knowing Ben was dead and that I was partly responsible” (Chapter 24).
Chapters 25-28
Reading Check
1. He gives it to his parents to cover the lawyer’s fees.
2. working in a forestry camp for nine months
Multiple Choice
1. D (Chapter 27)
Short-Answer Response
1. Since the garden was Brady’s idea, the fact that Mrs. DiAngelo takes it with her demonstrates that she doesn’t bear him any ill will. It also symbolizes one of the novel's key ideas: While ignoring grief will not make it go away, it's possible to integrate grief into a more hopeful future.
