Connecting with The Cay

1. Connecting with The Cay Garry Chapman To move between pages in this PowerPoint presentation, click on the palm trees To quit, click on the langosta

2. I love reading ‘The Cay’ Text to Self How I connect this book to my own experiences Text to Text How I connect this book to other things I’ve read Text to World How I connect this book to world issues Click on the palm trees to see the connections I make when I read this book

3. Text to Self The Caribbean Local Knowledge The Elderly Trust Fear The connections I make with my personal experiences when I read this book Death

4. Text to Text Newspaper Reports The Classics Survival Stories Characters Realism The connections I make with other texts when I read this book Film

5. Text to World World War II Coral Cays Voodoo Racism Hurricanes The connections I make with the world around me when I read this book The West Indies

6. Text to Self The Caribbean The setting reminds me strongly of my travels to the Caribbean in 1979. I’ll never forget the shimmering turquoise blue of the water and the brilliant white sand. Chapter 10 Timothy said the water all around the cay was clear and he could see many beautiful fish.

7. Text to Self Local Knowledge Whenever I’m faced with an unfamiliar place or situation I try to find someone with local knowledge, such as Timothy, to help me find my way. Chapter 3 “Young bahss,” he said, coming back under the shelter, “mebbe before d’night, a schooner will pass dis way, an’ if dat ‘appens, you may drink d’whole kag. Mebbe d’schooner will not pass dis way, so we mus’ make our wattah last.”

8. Text to Self The Elderly Timothy reminds me of many elderly people I know – my grandparents and even my parents included. They are usually wise and always caring, but also often quite frail. Chapter 11 Timothy was trying hard to make me independent of him. I thought I knew why, but I did not want to talk to him about it. I did not want to think about the possibility of Timothy dying and leaving me alone on the cay.

9. Text to Self Trust As I read the book I found myself willing Phillip to put his trust in Timothy. There comes a time in most relationships when you feel right about trusting someone to look after you, just as a blind man trusts a guide dog. Chapter 13 I was alone on the reef but somehow I always felt he was sitting on the beach nearby. I could sense his presence, yet he was always at the hut when I got back there.

10. Text to Self Fear The moment when Phillip discovers he can’t see reminds of those times when you suddenly fear for your safety and you begin to panic. You need to calm yourself down and deal with the issue rationally. Chapter 4 I put my hand in front of my face. Even in the very blackest night, you can see your own hand. But I could not see mine. I screamed to Timothy, “I’m blind, I’m blind.”

11. Text to Self Death I always get choked up when I read the part where Timothy dies. Although he is a fictional character, he is symbolic of many people who I know and care about, such as my own parents. Chapter 16 I buried Timothy, placing stones at the head of the grave to mark it. I didn’t know what to say over the grave. I said, “Thank you, Timothy,” and then turned my face to the sky. I said, “Take care of him, God, he was good to me.”

12. Text to Text Newspaper Reports The idea for writing this book originated from a newspaper report. When I read interesting reports in the papers, I often wonder about the real stories behind them. Theodore Taylor wrote ‘The Cay’ after reading a newspaper report of a boy seen adrift on a raft at sea. It made him wonder why the boy was there and what happened to him afterwards,

13. Text to Text The Classics There are many similarities with classic works of liter-ature that I am reminded of when reading this book. Life aboard a raft in the Mark Twain books, the island ad-ventures of Robinson Crusoe and the Swiss Family Robinson are among them. Afterword ‘The Cay’ has become a classic because it is short, satisfyingly shaped, and tackles a big theme in simple, direct language. It has won eleven literary awards and sold millions of copies all over the world.

14. Text to Text Survival Stories This book reminds me strongly of other survival stories such as Gary Paulsen’s ‘Hatchet’. Often the characters must rely on intelligent decision making and more than a little luck to survive. Blurb from ‘Hatchet’ Brian finds himself alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but his clothing, a tattered windbreaker, and the hatchet his mother has given him as a present … It will take all his know-how and determination and more courage than he knew he possessed to survive.

15. Text to Text Realism I find this book very believable, because the author has based every part of the story on factual information. The tropical island setting, the ferocious hurricane and the difficulties of Phillip’s sight loss all seem very realistic. Chapter 15 It was strange and eerie in the eye of the hurricane. I knew we were surrounded on all sides by violent winds, but the little cay was calm and quiet.

16. Text to Text Characters Timothy reminds me of books, such as ‘Goodnight Mr Tom’ where an older, wiser man cares for and teaches a younger companion. Phillip gradually changes as he learns valuable lessons, as does Ramon in Victor Kelleher’s ‘Brother Night’. Chapter 9 “Take dis han’ hol’ d’palm like dis; den ovah an’ under, like d’mahn in Frenchtown; den more palm.” I could feel him standing there watching me as I tried to reeve the lengths, but I knew they weren’t fitting together. He said, “Like dis, I tell you,” and reached down to guide my hand. “Ovah an’ under …”

17. Text to Text Film The book brings to mind survival films such as ‘Cast Away’ and race relation films such as ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. I think it would make a great movie itself with Morgan Freeman as Timothy. ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is used in many secondary schools to confront students with issues relating to racism. Many consider it one of the greatest movies ever made,

18. Text to World World War II I knew a lot about the war in Europe and the war in the Pacific, but this book taught me a lot about the demand for oil bringing the German U-boats down to the Caribbean. Chapter 1 The whole world was at war and now it had come to us in the warm, blue Caribbean. … I couldn’t imagine that a shell from an enemy submarine would pick me out from all the buildings …

19. Text to World Coral Cays The book helped me understand how coral cays are formed. It’s interesting how one side can drop away into ocean depths while the other can be a calm, shallow lagoon. Chapter 11 To the south, the beach sloped gradually out into the water. On the north side it was different. There were submerged coral reefs and great shelves. The water became deep very abruptly.

20. Text to World Voodoo One frightening part of the book is where Phillip fears Timothy has harmed Stew Cat. Timothy grew up in a culture where voodoo is widely practised and it is no surprise that he fears evil spirits. Chapter 11 “D’islan’ mus’ ‘ave a jumbi,” said Timothy. “Don’t talk nonsense, Timothy,” I said. “D’evil spirit harass an’ meliss us,” he said darkly.

21. Text to World Racism The book reflects real life when we learn of the racist attitude of Phillip’s mother towards the native West Indian people. Later on Phillip begins to display similar traits, but changes as he comes to know Timothy better. Chapter 10 I asked Timothy why there were different colours of skin, white and black, brown and red, and he laughed back, “Why b’feesh different colour, or flower b’different colour? I true don’ know, Phill-eep, but I true tink beneath d’skin is all d’same.”

22. Text to World Hurricanes It’s always fascinating to watch hurricane stories on the TV news. This book puts you right in the middle of a hurricane that destroys almost everything on the island and costs Timothy his life. Chapter 15 In twenty or thirty minutes, the wind picked up sharply and Timothy said that we must stand against the palm again. Almost within seconds, the full fury of the storm hit the cay once more.

23. Text to World The West Indies The geography of the West Indies islands and the Caribbean Sea plays a key role in isolating the main characters on an island which lies in the path of a killer hurricane. Chapter 7 “Young bahss, dere is, in dis part of d’sea, a few lil’ cays like dis one, surround on bot’ sides by hombug banks. Dey are cut off from d’res’ o’ d’sea by dese banks …”