The Red Umbrella

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Where is Cuba, and what is this country like?

Teaching Suggestion: Allow students to read and view the resources listed below. You might want to point out to students that in addition to the ideas that are directly discussed, they can also make observations based on the images they see within those resources. What are the people doing? What do the buildings, cars, landscapes, and homes look like?

• A factsheet from National Geographic Kids showing both the urban and natural landscapes of Cuba
• A 4-minute video by Al Jazeera English News describing a food shortage from a Cuban’s perspective

2. View this timeline that describes key events in the relationship between Cuba and the United States. What events (before 1961) might make Cuba think of the US as an enemy? What events (before 1961) might make the US think of Cuba as an enemy?

Teaching Suggestion: With sensitivity in mind, especially regarding background and heritage, divide students in pairs or small groups and ask half the students to write about Cuba’s perspective and the other half to write about the US perspective.

• A 5-minute video from Sky News offering a quick overview of the historical roots of the conflict between the US and Cuba
• An NPR article focusing on modern consequences of the conflict

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

Sometimes people think that it is okay to do the wrong thing in order to accomplish a “good” goal. For instance, a person might think it is okay to give a friend answers on a test because the test is important and their friend really needs to get a good grade. Or a person might think it is okay to lie to a parent in order to keep a sibling from getting in trouble. Think of a time like this—in real life or in a book you have read or a show you have seen. What was the good thing the person was trying to accomplish? What bad thing did they do to accomplish their goal? Was the person right or wrong to do what they did? Why?

Teaching Suggestion: Connect everyday moral choices to the high-stakes choices the characters must make in the novel. Discuss moral gray areas and how they might react to these situations. Ask them about what kinds of consequences a person might face for deciding to do the wrong thing for the right reason, and what kinds of consequences the person might accidentally create for others. Students should compare their examples of moral gray areas to dilemmas people face when they are living under an oppressive government. How far should people be willing to go in order to overthrow a dictator? What kinds of consequences might they create for themselves and others?