Q 01/05

In The Cay, what kills Timothy after he shields Phillip Enright with his own body?

A) A hurricane

B) A tsunami

C) A waterspout

D) A lightning strike

Answer · why

A) A hurricane

A hurricane tears across the island in July, earlier in the year than Timothy expects such weather. Timothy takes the full force of the wind and drive...

Q 02/05

Which actor played Timothy in NBC's 1974 television film of The Cay?

A) Sidney Poitier

B) James Earl Jones

C) Ossie Davis

D) Louis Gossett Jr.

Answer · why

B) James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones took the role opposite child actor Alfred Lutter as Phillip, with Gretchen Corbett as the boy's mother. The film premiered on October...

Q 03/05

In The Cay, what danger fills the sea when Phillip tumbles off the raft at the first sight of land?

A) Jellyfish

B) Barracuda

C) Sharks

D) Sea snakes

Answer · why

C) Sharks

Sharks swarm the warm water around the raft, so Timothy dives straight in after the boy. He hauls Phillip back aboard by the hair and orders him to cr...

Q 04/05

Theodore Taylor dedicated The Cay, published in 1969, to which American civil rights leader?

A) Frederick Douglass

B) Booker T. Washington

C) Medgar Evers

D) Martin Luther King

Answer · why

D) Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King had been assassinated the year before the book came out. Taylor later summed up the story as a simple message of understanding and ...

Q 05/05

In The Cay, how do Timothy and Phillip keep count of their days on the island?

A) Knots in a cord

B) Pebbles in a can

C) Notches on a stick

D) Shells on a string

Answer · why

B) Pebbles in a can

Pebbles in a can mark the days, one for each. By late May the can holds 48, and Phillip keeps the count going alone after Timothy's death.