Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What kinds of jobs might you find near a river or bay?

Teaching Suggestion: Red Kayak takes place near the Chesapeake Bay, and the Changing Class Landscape due to the decline of the fishing industry forms part of the novel’s backdrop. Since class is a relatively abstract concept for young readers, use this question to help them engage with it in more concrete terms: The novel’s main character comes from a family who fishes crabs and repairs boats, but you might also expect jobs related to trade and transport, tourism, and perhaps conservation efforts.

• overview of Chesapeake Bay fisheries from NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association)
• discussion of river habitats and their social and ecological importance, also from NOAA

2. How would you describe what a literary symbol is? Can you list two examples of symbols from books you’ve read?

Teaching Suggestion: Although symbols vary in complexity, as a device, they’re fairly straightforward: A symbol in literature is an object, person, place, etc. that represents or suggests something else (often an idea or abstraction).