Red Kayak

These prompts can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before or after reading the novel.

Pre-Reading “Icebreaker”

Imagine that a friend has done something wrong and that you know about it. How would you handle the situation? Would you feel obligated to tell someone what they’d done, or would you feel a responsibility to protect your friend? Would it depend on the seriousness of what your friend had done?

Teaching Suggestion: The question of Moral Responsibility looms large in Red Kayak. Brady bears some minor responsibility for the accident that kills Ben, but the real ethical dilemma arises when he learns that his friends directly caused the kayak to flood (though not with the intention of hurting anyone). Further complicating matters are the potential repercussions for Brady’s family and the class dynamics fueling Digger and J.T.’s resentment. Use this prompt to spark discussion about the different factors we weigh when making moral decisions and what we do when those factors conflict.

• “Ethical Decision Making”: short video from the nonprofit Ethics Centre on how unconscious thoughts, custom, personal ethical thinking profile, and conscious reflection factor into our choices
• “A Framework for Ethical Decision Making”: article from the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University; discusses various approaches to making ethical choices and distills them into a set of questions to consider in any given situation

Personal Response Prompt

How did you feel about the punishment Digger and J.T. ultimately received? Did you think it was fair? Was it easy or difficult for you to sympathize with the boys?

Teaching Suggestion: While there are no incorrect answers to this prompt, it does raise issues that lend themselves to more objective analysis. For example, students may feel more sympathy for J.T. than for Digger because the latter pressures J.T. into participating in the prank. This may segue into a conversation about the boys’ personalities (Digger is surlier and less obviously remorseful) and/or how Responsible each is for his actions.

• “Juvenile Justice History”: an overview of how the American penal system has dealt with minors from CJCJ (Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice), a nonprofit organization dedicated to criminal justice reform
• “Adolescent risk-takers: The power of peers”: 2018 Nature video discussing how teens’ sensitivity to social exclusion makes them especially vulnerable to peer pressure
• “Effects of domestic violence on children”: OWH (U.S. Department of Health & Human Service’s Office on Women’s Health) overview of the impact an abusive environment like Digger’s has on child development

Post-Reading Analysis

Red Kayak takes the form of an extended flashback within which Brady often recalls events that happened even further in the past (e.g., Amanda’s death). Why do you think Cummings chose to narrate the story this way? How would the experience of reading it differ if the events unfolded in strictly chronological order?

Teaching Suggestion: While the experience of reading can be subjective, encourage students to move beyond opinion to consider questions like the relationship between the novel’s structure and its depiction of The Past’s Influence on the Present, or how the novel’s structure allows Cummings to build suspense through foreshadowing.

• Britannica article on flashback in film and literature
• “Foreshadowing” from SuperSummary