1. list some important ideas that the cay includes. why did you choose those ideas? 2. tell how using a reading role you understand the book. the reading roles are described in the link on unit 4, lesson 4, slide 5, number 4. support your response with at least two pieces of evidence from the novel.

novel: the cay

answer: 1) the story from theodore taylor, the cay   is a novel   against prejudice, there's a strong message against racism. this is reinforced not only with the story itself but with the dedication he writes for m.l king. is also about relationships and the way they are built up sweeping prejudice away.  

2) phillips is an 11 year old boy that carries his mother's preconception on black people and learns to deconstruct his own barriers by dint of need and timothy peaceful character and devotion.  

3) phillips first thoughts are like this: "you ugly black man! i won't do it! you're stupid, you can't even spell.". tough and painful. but as time goes by he becomes permeable to timothy kindness and tenderness, but that a hard work: “wanting to hear it from timothy, i asked him why there were different colors of skin, white and black, brown and red, and he laughed back, "why b'feesh different color, or flower b'different color? i true don't' know, phil-eep, but i true tink beneath d'skin is all d'same.". and after all he reconstruct his own beliefs: “i had now been with him every moment of the day and night for two months, but i had not seen him. i remember that ugly welted face. but now, in my memory, it did not seem ugly at all. it seemed only kind and strong. i asked, "timothy, are you still black? . his laughter filled the hut.” and as he was being rescued and returned to his home not only his own beliefs but also his skin and part of his heart had been revolutionized: “the pilot had flown away, perhaps thinking i was just another native fisherman waving at an aircraft. i knew that the color of my skin was very dark now.”

4) about the reading role, sharing my ideas   and my reading experience me understand better the story.

1. one important idea that the cay includes is the concept of a racist viewpoint being so detrimental to an individual that it impedes their ability to function, and, in phillip's case, survive. you can see this in the contrast between before and after phillip and timothy resolve their conflict; before phillip realizes how wrong his perception of timothy was, he struggled to work with him and survive as a castaway, but afterwards they work with each other and have a better quality of life as a result. for example, phillip fights against the task of weaving sleeping mats which ultimately would have him. another important idea is that of overcoming differences to make a connection where you might not expect it. phillip and timothy are very different individuals in many ways, but before timothy's life ends, the two are very close friends. you can see how close they are in phillip's grief after timothy's death, taking the time and energy to properly bury him.

2. reading this story with the perspective of a summarizer, i was able to visualize the big ideas and understand the story as a whole. i was able to fully grasp the concepts it was trying to convey and i feel that i had a better experience reading it as a result.

there mad at that place