63 pages • 2 hours read
Theodore TaylorThe Cay
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1969A 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.
Introduction
Teacher Introduction
The Cay
- Genre: Fiction; middle grade adventure
- Originally Published: 1969
- Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 860L; grades 6-8
- Structure/Length: 19 chapters; approximately 156 pages; approximately 3 hours on audio
- Protagonist and Central Conflict: When his boat is torpedoed by Germans, 11-year-old Phillip Enright is suddenly adrift in the Atlantic Ocean. An injury to his head causes blindness after Phillip’s raft reaches a deserted cay, and he must rely on his only human companion, a man from the West Indies named Timothy, for care and survival.
- Potential Sensitivity Issues: Racism; prejudice; death; wartime violence
Theodore Taylor, Author
Bio: Born 1921; died 2006; born and raised in North Carolina; became a reporter after covering high school sports in his teens; served in the US Merchant Marine and as a Navy officer in World War II; also served in the Korean War; worked in the film industry as a story editor and associate producer before becoming a successful novelist; writer of fiction and non-fiction, short stories, screenplays, and poetry with over 50 published titles for young readers and adults
Other Works: The Weirdo (1992); Timothy of the Cay (1993); The Bomb (1995); The Flight of Jesse Leroy Brown (1998)
Awards: Lewis Carroll Shelf Award (1970)
CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Guide:
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