Red Kayak Literary Analysis
Description: People and events influence our lives. They change us and impact our futures.
Directions: Collect evidence from the text that illustrates how people and events impact Brady and Digger.
People and events that influence Brady’s life.
Chapter #: Evidence from text w/ page numbers
Chapter 1: “Was it my fault? Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, I wonder
what would have happened if I’d called out a warning” (Cummings 3).
Analyze/Infer: How does this person or event
impact or change Brady’s life?
Chapter 1: This event hugely changed Brady’s life.
Because Brady chose to follow his friends and not
call out a warning, Ben died. This event also
resulted in Brady losing his friends.
Chapter 1: “Would J.T. and Digger still be my best friends? Would the
DiAngelos still be living next door? (Cummings 3).
Chapter 1: Because he told the police on J.T. and
Digger, he thinks it’s his fault they’re not friends.
Chapter 2: “That water is darn cold. We better yell something” (Cummings
11).
Chapter 2: He realized the DiAngelos could get
hurt.
Chapter 3: “That’s when I started thinking back on that morning. The one in
the driveway and Digger’s bad mood” (Cummings 17).
Chapter 3: Brady was pressured by his friends
which led him into not calling out a warning to
DiAngelo and resulted in Ben dying.
Chapter 4: “I glimpsed the remains of an old dock, a place where J.T., Digger,
and I used to fish—and a single bright spot of yellow” (Cummings 28).
Chapter 4: It influenced his life because he
realized he had found Ben but, later Ben died.
Chapter 5 ‘’I kept on with the CPR’’ (Cummings 32).
Chapter 5: Because Brady was constantly doing
CPR on Ben, Carl later got a pulse.
Chapter 6: “I didn’t set out to be a hero. Honest. I just wanted Ben and his
mother to be ok “ ( Cummings 36)
Chapter 6: This event changed Brady’s life
because he became a town hero even though he
didn’t want to and he went into a state of
depression because of possible brain damage to
Ben.
Chapter 6: “And every time I thought of how Ben looked with his eyes half
closed and his lips all blue, I turned to jelly inside.”
(Cummings 37)
Chapter 6: This event changed Brady’s life
because the last he saw of ben he was a crippled
almost dead version. And he turned to jelly! :)
Chapter 7 “It was terrific how everyone at school responded. Everyone
except for JT and Digger, that is – my best friends”
Chapter 7: This event changed Brady’s life
because he is starting to lose friends.
Chapter 8 “instead, mom turned to me and said, ‘Ben died’”(Cummings 49)
Chapter 8: Because Ben died, he lost his friends.
Chapter 9: “I knew Dad hated to talk about feelings and stuff like that”
(Cummings 55)
Chapter 9: Brady couldn’t talk about Ben with his
dad because his dad didn’t like to talk about that
stuff. It kept Brady from telling the truth.
Brady
Chapter 10: “I saw Digger, and I know he saw me—because I watched him do
a double take and then turn a complete one-eighty” (Cummings 68).
Chapter 10: He feels like J.T. and Digger are
blaming him for what happened to Ben and
because of that they’re ignoring him.
Chapter 11: “Look Brady, I know it’s hard. But it’s time to be getting on”
(Cummings 77).
Chapter 11: The grief of Ben took over Brady’s
emotions.
Chapter 12: “Even though I came home exhausted every day from working
for Mr. Diangelo I was getting some of my old energy back” (Cummings 89)
Chapter 12: Mrs. Diangelo influenced Brady’s life
by making him feel a little better when he went
out and worked for her and got some of his old
energy back.
Chapter 13-“It was the drill. My father’s cordless drill. The one that went
missing a while back.” (cummings 96)
Chapter 13: He realizes his friends might have
gone through with his old plan.
Chapter 14: “I had to tell someone. But who? Not my parents. Not yet,
anyway. J.T. , I figured. I would tell J.T. Then, together, we could figure out
what to do” (Cummings 99).
Chapter 14: This changed Brady’s life because if
he told his parents instead of J.T then the book
would have ended sooner and they wouldn’t have
gone to court.
Chapter 15: “But I realized we could never go back to the way it was.
Already, the friendship had changed” (Cummings 107).
Chapter 15: This changed Brady’s life because if
they were all friends still, Brady wouldn’t have
told his parents.
Chapter 16- “The right thing to do was go to the police and tell them what
happened.it was so obvious. But then I started to think about how much
trouble we’d all be in”. (cummings 116)
Chapter 16: He starts to tear himself apart.
Chapter 17: “’Geez, you can’t take the chance. Brady! You gotta get rid of it!”
(Cummings 89).
Chapter 17: Digger is pressuring Brady to throw
away the drill.
Chapter 18: “After all, Digger did save me from freezin’ to death” (Cummings
131).
Chapter 18: Made Brady feel guilty about telling
on Digger.
Chapter 19: “’Do you want to play?’ she asked. I sat on a hassock and
wrinkled my nose. ‘I’ll just watch, okay?’” (Cumming 137).
Chapter 19: Brady is feeling depressed.
Chapter 20: “I took the drill out of the bag and tossed it about three feet
away” (Cummings 147).
Chapter 21 “ I put down the hat and opened up the wallet, then reached
behind the hidden ten-dollar bill for the picture of Amanda” (Cummings 152)
Chapter 22 “If I were to ask you to do something really strange, but I said it
was the most important thing in the whole world to me, would you do it?”
(Cummings 164)
Chapter 23: “ So when I saw the tip of that dirty red kayak break the surface,
I was ready to cry with relief” (Cummings 172).
Chapter 20: He threw the drill in the water to
protect J.T. and Digger.
Chapter 21: Amanda helped Brady do the right
thing and comforted him.
Chapter 22: Brady decided what he wanted to do
with the Red Kayak after the accident.
Chapter 23: This changed Brady’s life because he
knew that he would tell a judge what J.T. and
Digger did to Ben. It is evidence.
Chapter 24: “We looked at each other, and Dad said, ‘You done the right
thing today Brady.’” (Cummings 181).
Chapter 24: Because Brady decided to talk to the
lawyer about what happened, his friends could go
to jail.
Chapter 25: “Do you understand that you are being charged with murder in
the second degree in that you did feloniously and with malice aforethought
kill and murder Benjamin DiAngelo” (Cummings 184).
Chapter 25: His friends were just charged with 2nd
degree murder.
Chapter 26: “It is to my understanding that Mr. Griswald and Mr. Tyler wish
to admit to the charge” (Cummings 192).
Chapter 26: Brady would have had to testify
against his friends and was really stressed out
about that. So now he didn’t have to.
Chapter 27: “I want to say I’m sorry too” (Cummings 200).
Chapter 27: Digger feels sorry for Ben.
Chapter 28: “In fact, on my way there just recently, I noticed how the path
J.T. and I trampled down through the soybean field was mostly grown in
now, and yet you could still see it, a narrow sandy line between my house
and his” (Cummings 207).
Chapter 28: J.T. was Brady’s best friend. He might
feel betrayed because of what Digger and J.T. did
to the kayak.
Description: People and events influence our lives. They change us and impact our futures.
Directions: Collect evidence from the text that illustrates how people and events impact Brady and Digger.
People and events that influence Digger’s life.
Chapter #: Evidence from text w/ page numbers
Analyze/Infer: How does this person or event
impact or change Digger’s life?
Chapter1: “Would J.T. and Digger still be my best friends?” (Cummings 3).
Chapter 1: Digger may have still been friends
with Brady if he had told the police himself.
Chapter 2: “Sneering, Digger stuffed his hands in his pockets. ‘Look
Brady,’ he said, ‘if he’s stupid enough to be out there today, he can take
what’s coming. Besides he deserves it.’” (Cummings 11)
Chapter 2: Digger’s callousness for the safety of
Mr. DiAngelo results in a sentence of nine
months in a forestry camp.
Chapter 2: “The DiAngelos bought his grandfather’s farm, tore down the old
house and built a mansion” (Cummings 12).
Chapter 2: It made digger mad which caused
him to drill the holes.
Chapter 3: “Digger used it like a rubber band, and took aim at JT.”
(Cummings pg14)
Chapter 3: Digger bullies JT and that later leads
to digger bullying JT into being the lookout
while he sabotages the kayak.
Chapter 3: “That’s when I started thinking back on the morning, about the
conversation we had in the driveway, and Digger’s bad mood” (Cummings
17).
Chapter 3: This affects Digger because if he had
just let Brady tell Mr. DiAngelo he wouldn’t
have found himself committing a crime.
Chapter 4: “Middle of winter I almost drowned in a cow pon when I was
little, maybe eight. J.T., Digger, and I were playing ice hockey, and I fell clear
through the ice, but Digger saved me” (Cummings 26).
Chapter 4: Even though Digger did a bad thing
he still has a good heart.
Chapter 5: No evidence
Chapter 5: No evidence
Digger
Chapter 6: No evidence
Chapter 6: No evidence
Chapter 7 “It was terrific how everyone at school responded. Everyone
except for JT and Digger, that is – my best friends.” (Cummings 46)
Chapter 7: If Brady tells other people the truth
then Digger will get in trouble.
Chapter 8: No evidence
Chapter 8: No evidence
Chapter 9: “Just this, Brady, sorry for what happened” (Cummings 56).
Chapter 9: Digger didn’t respond. He is breaking
friendship.
Chapter 10: “I saw Digger, and I know he saw me—because I watched him
do a double take and then turn a complete one-eighty” (Cummings 68).
Chapter 13 “did digger have something to do with sinking the kayak”?
(cummings 98)
Chapter 10: This event effects digger’s life
‘cause he’s too afraid to talk to Brady ‘cause he
tings he knows that Digger killed Ben. Also, he
thinks if he doesn’t confront Brady, it will save
him from court and jail.
Chapter 11: “I couldn’t go crabbing after what happened” (Cummings 77).
Chapter 11: This let Brady know that they are
no longer friends.
Chapter 12: “Digger was still being a total jerk, avoiding me” (?)
Chapter 12: Digger doesn’t want to face Brady
because he is ashamed.
Chapter 13: “Did Digger have something to do with sinking the kayak?”
(Cummings 98).
Chapter 13: Brady now knows what digger did
and might tell.
Chapter 14: “When J.T. looked back at his grandmother, I jumped on my
bicycle and tore out of there. Straight for Digger’s house” (Cummings 105)
Chapter 14:This affects Diggers life because if
Brady didn’t go to Digger’s house, Digger would
have never known Brady found out.
Chapter 15: “At first, silence. But then, a soft scraping noise confirmed my
suspicion, and Digger slowly stood up from where he’d crouched behind a
grain barrel in the corner” (Cummings 109).
Chapter 15: This influenced Diggers life because
if Digger hadn’t stood up from behind the grain
barrel, he wouldn’t have been in trouble/went
to court.
Chapter 16 “I knew how bad it had hurt the past month, then shutting me
out”. (cummings 117)
Chapter 16: Now you know that digger feels
guilty.
Chapter 17: “All week long, every time I saw J.T. or Digger, we avoided one
another” (?)
Chapter 17: Everybody thinks it is awkward and
Digger doesn’t want to be caught.
Chapter 18: “Digger is tough, so he could be a SEAL, but he cares too much
about family to leave them” (Cummings 132).
Chapter 18: Digger won’t leave his family no
matter what.
Chapter 19: “Digger didn’t mean to kill Ben either” (Cumming 143).
Chapter 19: Brady is in denial, so he doesn’t tell
on Digger. Digger will not get in trouble
Chapter 20: “There was a little splash and it was gone” (Cummings 197).
Chapter 20: As long as the drill was gone,
Digger had no consequences.
Chapter 21 “it would just kill her to know what J.T and Digger had done, and
how it was all my idea….” (Cummings 210).
Chapter 21: Digger is avoiding his best friend
because of his choice to sink the kayak.
Chapter 22: “Only I wasn’t thinking about saving the blue crab, I was thinking
about Ben” (Cummings 163).
Chapter 22: If Brady told the truth then Digger
would get into trouble.
Chapter 22 “I was thinking about reaching inside to do the right thing so they
would know the truth.” (Cummings 163)
Chapter 23: “I told him everything” (Cummings 172).
Chapter 23: This changed Digger’s life because
Brady told his dad Digger was involved.
Chapter 24: “’No sir,’ I said, ‘just worried. Worried about what’s going to
happen to my friends, to J.T. and Digger’” (Cummings 177).
Chapter 24: Brady telling the lawyer what
happened, caused Digger to go to jail.
Chapter 25: “The juvenile services staff made reports to the court on? Digger
and J.T. The three of us weren’t allowed to see or talk to one another”
(Cummings 188).
Chapter 25: It influenced his life because it felt
weird not talking to each other.
Chapter 26: “‘Yes’ replied digger, loud and clear. He stood up straight with
his hands by his sides. (Cummings pg193)
Chapter 26: This shows that digger admitted to
his crime and everything that laid ahead of him.
Chapter 26: “’I do,’ sad Digger” (Cummings 193).
Chapter 26: Digger accepts responsibility and
takes his charge.
Chapter 27: “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Digger” (Cummings 198)
Chapter 27:??
Chapter 27: “I want to say I’m sorry too” (Cummings 200).
Chapter 27: Digger feels sorry for Ben.
Chapter 28: “I think a lot about J.T. and Digger” (Cummings 207).
Chapter 28: Digger may still have the potential
of being friends with Brady.
Description: People and events influence our lives. They change us and impact our futures.
Directions: Collect evidence from the text that illustrates how people and events impact Brady and Digger.
People and events that influence Brady’s life.
Chapter #: Evidence from text w/ page numbers
Digger
Analyze/Infer: How does this person or event
impact or change Digger’s life?