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Teaching The Cay

The Cay? Okay.

  • Activities: 13
  • Quiz Questions: 76

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Theodore Taylor's children's novel is both a gripping war story and a classic desert-island tale of survival. (Like peanut butter and jelly, some things just go together.) And while the nonstop action is part of The Cay's popularity, the book is also a coming-of-age story that addresses more serious issues, such as race relationships. It poses the idea that individuals from many different backgrounds can overcome prejudices and embrace their humanity.

No wonder Theodore Taylor dedicated his book to Dr. Martin Luther King; the novel is a testament to the power of the ideas King set forth.

In this guide, you'll find

  • an opportunity for your students to partner up to complete a task in which they must rely on each other—especially since one of them will be "blind."
  • a chance to pretend the cay is a person, and rewrite a scene from the book from the cay's perspective.
  • a deep-dig into MLK's iconic "I Have a Dream" speech to use as a template for a speech to promote the book.

Our guide will bring the novel's ideas about equality and basic human dignity to life. M'cay?

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Inside each guide you'll find quizzes, activity ideas, discussion questions, and more—all written by experts and designed to save you time. Here are the deets on what you get with your teaching guide:

  • 13 – 18 Common Core-aligned activities to complete in class with your students, including detailed instructions for you and your students
  • Discussion and essay questions for all levels of students
  • Reading quizzes for every chapter, act, or part of the text
  • Resources to help make the book feel more relevant to your 21st-century students
  • A note from Shmoop's teachers to you, telling you what to expect from teaching the text and how you can overcome the hurdles.

Want more help teaching Teaching The Cay?

Check out all the different parts of our corresponding learning guide.



Instructions for You

Objective: Theodore Taylor dedicated his book to Dr. King's dream. Why? What's the link between the dream and the book? After discussing with a partner, students will dig into MLK's dream speech and use it as a template to write a speech Theodore Taylor could use to promote his book (if he were still alive, that is). This'll take about three days for research, speech-writing, and presentations.

Materials Needed: Access to the internet, pen and paper, access to the text of Dr. King's speech

Step 1: Put these questions about Dr. King and his dream up on the board for the kiddos to answer (in writing) when they enter class. This is to see what they already know about the speech and to direct the necessary research. (This step might take only a minute or two if they know nothing.)

  • What's up with the book's dedication?
  • Who was Dr. King and what was his dream?
  • How are Dr. King's dream and the book connected?

Step 2: Pair students up. Give them three to four minutes to share what they know about the "I Have a Dream" speech with each other. Allow another 30–40 minutes for them to research the questions in depth.

Step 3: Read through the first five paragraphs of "I Have a Dream" together—out loud—as a model for what to look for. Students can finish up their reading of the speech with their partners. Instruct them to focus on:

  • What's he saying? What's the point of each paragraph? Listen for key words or phrases that come up again and again.
  • Specifically, what does he say that could apply to Theodore Taylor's story?
    • An ironic example could be: "One hundred years later the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean." (Paragraph 2)
    • Or, in response to Phillip's mom saying, "They had their place and we had ours" (8.11) Dr. King was right on when he says, "Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice." (Paragraph 5)

Step 4: Tell students to imagine that they're a speech writer (even the president has one) for Theodore Taylor's upcoming book release for The Cay (which will, of course, be as big as Harry Potter). Their task is to write a short speech, à la Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech, that Taylor could give to promote his book. The speech needs to:

  • promote The Cay and explain why Theodore Taylor wrote it.
  • be in the first person. It's Theo's speech, after all.
  • include at least four specific lines from Dr. King's speech that are applicable to the book. (At least means minimum, so you can definitely use more from his speech if you want. Check out Step 3 for some examples.)
  • include the book's dedication and explain it.
  • be about three minutes long.

Step 5: Present speeches.

Instructions for Your Students

Theodore Taylor dedicated his book to Dr. King's dream. Why? What's the link between the dream and the book? After discussing this with a partner, you'll dig into MLK's dream speech and use it as a template to write a speech Theodore Taylor could use to promote his book (if he were still alive, that is).

Step 1: Write down what you know about this:

  • What's up with the book's dedication?
  • Who was Dr. King and what was his dream?
  • How are Dr. King's dream and the book connected?

Step 2: Get with a partner and take three or four minutes to share what you know about this famous dream with each other. Done? Now take another 30–40 minutes to research these questions in depth. Make sure you write down all the juicy details.

Step 3: Dr. King made a famous speech—maybe you've heard of "I Had a Dream"? Read through the first five paragraphs of the speech out loud, with your classmates, and then finish it up with your partner. Then discuss these questions:

  • What's Dr. King saying? What's the point of each paragraph? Listen for key words or phrases that come up again and again.
  • Specifically, what does he say that could apply to Theodore Taylor's story?
    • An ironic example could be: "One hundred years later the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean." (paragraph 2)
    • Or, in response to Phillip's mom saying, "They had their place and we had ours" (8.11) Dr. King is right on when he says, "Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice." (paragraph 5)

Step 4: Imagine you're a speech writer (even the president has one) for Theodore Taylor's upcoming book release for The Cay (which will, of course, be as big as Harry Potter). Write a short speech that Theodore Taylor could give about The Cay, à la Dr. King's "I Have a Dream"speech. It needs to:

  • promote The Cay and explain why Theodore Taylor wrote it.
  • be in the first person. It's Theo's speech, after all.
  • include at least four specific lines from Dr. King's speech that are applicable to the book. (At least means minimum, so you can definitely use more from his speech if you want. Check out Step 3 for some examples.)
  • include or make reference to the book's dedication and explain it.
  • be about three minutes long.

Step 5: Present your speech to the class.