The Red Umbrella

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, and oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the play over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Explain the symbol of the red umbrella.

• What does the red umbrella represent? (topic sentence)
• Describe three different times in which the umbrella appears in the story, and use evidence from the text to show how Lucia’s feelings about the umbrella change over time.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain how these story details connect the umbrella to the novel’s theme of Loss of Innocence and Coming of Age.

2. On page 62 of Chapter 5, Papa says “Sonia, don’t you see? This revolution is all about control. They’re watching me, you, everybody. [...] They’re going after anyone they think is a threat.” Explain how the author uses plot details to support the idea that Papa is trying to express.

• What idea is Papa trying to convey in this quote? (topic sentence)
• Explain three separate places in the plot where the Cuban government’s actions support the idea Papa is expressing.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how the idea expressed in this quote supports the larger meaning of the novel.

3. Compare and contrast the cultures of Cuba and the United States as depicted in the novel.

• What similarities and what differences does the novel illustrate between the cultures of the US and Cuba? (topic sentence)
• Choose three different cultural categories and use details from the novel to show how each is either similar or different in these two countries. For example, you might write about family life, education, government, food, or traditions.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain how these similarities and differences relate to the novel’s concern with The Conflict Between Cuba and the US.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Analyze the significance of the chapter titles that Diaz Gonzalez has chosen. What kinds of ideas and feelings might they provoke in a reader because they are newspaper headlines, not just chapter numbers or made-up titles? Do the newspaper headlines also function in some ways exactly like ordinary, made-up chapter titles? What do these titles emphasize? How do they match—or not match—what is happening in Lucia’s life in each chapter? Whose perspective are these titles written from? Do they always match the perspective of the Cuban people to whom these events are happening? How do these titles remind the reader of the impact U.S. media has on Lucia? How do these chapter titles relate to the novel’s concerns with The Conflict Between Cuba and the US and the Loss of Innocence and Coming of Age?

2. Analyze The Red Umbrella as a book about Loss of Innocence and Coming of Age. What kind of a person is Lucia in the beginning of the book? How do her responses to early events show that she is not really an adult yet? What is the importance of her fifteenth birthday? Where does she end up spending this birthday, and why does this matter? How do events in the middle of the book show that the events in Lucia’s life have caused her to grow and change? What kind of a person is she at the end of the book? Use plot details and Lucia’s words and actions throughout the text to support your ideas as you explain how this story shows a young person’s Loss of Innocence and Coming of Age.

3. Compare and contrast the dissolution of Lucia and Ivette’s relationship with the dissolution of Papa and Antonio’s relationship. In the beginning of the story, what do these two relationships have in common and how are they different? What is similar about the forces driving Papa and Antonio apart and the forces driving Lucia and Ivette apart? How do Papa and Lucia both end up feeling betrayed? Is either or both of them justified in their feelings? What different choices do Papa and Lucia make in response to their feelings of betrayal? What consequences result from their choices? How is the breakup of these two relationships related to the novel’s concern with The Conflict Between Cuba and the US?