The Silent Boy

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

A Picture, A Thousand Words, and The Silent Boy

In this activity, students will find archival photos from early 20th-century America to serve as inspiration for a short story, just as Lois Lowry used historical photos as the inspiration behind The Silent Boy.

Lowry was inspired to write The Silent Boy when she came upon a stack of historical photos featuring a series of young children. Those photos appear at the start of each chapter throughout the book.

In this exercise, you’ll mirror Lowry’s creative process, seeking out early 20th-century photos to serve as the basis behind a 2-page short story:

• Research. Look through historical photo banks to find images from Katy’s time (late 1800s to early 1900s) that spark your interest. Select 5-10 photos to serve as the basis of your story.
• Analyze and Reflect. Consider the types of questions that Lowry might have asked herself while fleshing out the characters in The Silent Boy, which may have included the following: Who are the people in the photo? Are they wealthy or poor? What might be some of the main problems in their lives? What is going on beyond the photo? What sort of things do they care about? What are they afraid of?
• Write. Craft a 2-page story that has a beginning, middle, and end. Be sure that your story speaks to 1 of the 3 core themes from The Silent Boy.

Once you’ve completed your story, come together as a class and discuss: What was the experience like writing a story from photos? Did you find it inspiring or that it limited your creativity? Also, discuss as a class if the experience helped students see any of the characters in a new or different light.

Teaching Suggestion: There are a vast array of reputable online resources for finding historical photos online, but if students need assistance, direct them to the Library of Congress’s many collections from this time period, including Children’s Lives at the Turn of the Twentieth Century or the National Child Labor Committee Collection. Also, for students who might benefit from guidance on how to compose short stories, you may want to have them read MasterClass’s “How to Write a Short Story in 5 Steps: Writing Tips for Great Story Ideas.”

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, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

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

1. Multiple forms of prejudice are explored in The Silent Boy.

• How does prejudice impact the main characters’ lives, particularly Katy and Jacob? (topic sentence)
• Compare and contrast the kinds of prejudice experienced and/or witnessed by Katy and Jacob. What are 3 examples in the text when either Katy or Jacob is subject to, or witnesses, discrimination?
• In your conclusion, explore how both gender and disability are connected to Education, Social Class, and Economic Advancement in the novel.

2. The Silent Boy is narrated from Katy’s first-person perspective. 

• How does Lowry’s use of a young narrator (Katy) affect the overall story? (topic sentence)
• What are 3 moments in the novel where Katy’s naivete creates confusion and/or gives her an unusual perspective? 
• In your conclusion, describe how the first-person perspective is a key driver in Lowry’s messaging around Animals, Innocence, and Human Violence.

3. Katy’s father, Dr. Thatcher, has a profound impact on Katy’s development.

• How does Dr. Thatcher compare with other adults in Katy’s life? (topic sentence)
• How does Dr. Thatcher impact Katy’s development and sense of self?
• In your conclusion, explain how Dr. Thatcher has an unusual mode of communication when it comes to Katy, which helps her transition from a girl into a young woman.

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. How are gender roles portrayed in The Silent Boy? Is there a difference in gender roles based on class, or are all boys and girls subjected to the same standards? Reflect upon the characters of Katy, Nell, and Peggy throughout the book. How does gender limit each of them differently, depending on their disposition and/or social class? In your conclusion, discuss the interplay of gender and class in the overall theme of Education, Social Class, and Economic Advancement.

2. The Silent Boy is a coming-of-age story for Katy. What lessons does the novel impart about the tragic and/or painful nature of growing up? Where can you see the author attempting to influence the reader, through Katy’s experiences, to believe certain things, particularly around the character of Jacob? In your conclusion, describe how Katy’s relationship with Jacob leads to her loss of innocence, thus underscoring the book’s messaging about the interconnectedness of Animals, Innocence, and Human Violence.

3. Although they are sisters, Peggy and Nell Stoltz couldn’t be more unlike one another. Compare the two girls, analyzing their character development throughout the novel. How do the two girls also compare to Katy, particularly in terms of their access to education and/or opportunities for social advancement? In your conclusion, explore how these characters reflect the novel’s dominant themes, particularly around Education, Social Class, and Economic Advancement.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. When Katy first enters the Stoltz family home in Chapter 2, what strikes her as unusual about the household?

A) How the floor is filthy dirty

B) The stark, bare nature of the home

C) How the Stoltz children do not wear shoes

D) The freezing temperature of the home

2. In Chapter 4, Peggy tells Katy that Jacob must sometimes drown kittens if too many of them are born at once. This is an example of what literary device?

A) Foreshadowing

B) Irony

C) Allusion

D) Sublimation

3. Which of the following adjectives best encapsulates Nell’s character?

A) Smug

B) Frantic

C) Neutral

D) Defiant

4. Chapter 13 refers to Gene Stratton-Porter’s 1909 novel A Girl on the Limberlost, which is an important nod to what literary tradition?

A) Modernist literature

B) Adventure stories

C) Coming-of-age novels

D) Mystery novels

5. Chronologically, what is the correct order of events?

A) Katy’s mother gives birth to Mary, Peggy tells Katy that Jacob must sometimes drown extra kittens, Paul is sent away to boarding school

B) Peggy tells Katy that Jacob must sometimes drown extra kittens, Katy’s mother gives birth to Mary, Paul is sent away to boarding school

C) Peggy tells Katy that Jacob must sometimes drown extra kittens, Paul is sent away to boarding school, Katy’s mother gives birth to Mary

D) Paul is sent away to boarding school, Peggy tells Katy that Jacob must sometimes drown extra kittens, Katy’s mother gives birth to Mary

6. Throughout The Silent Boy, animals are most likely to represent what thematic concept?

A) Innocence

B) Wildness

C) Sorrow

D) Nature

7. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory incident described in Chapter 7 draws to light what disparity or disparities in Katy’s consciousness?

A) Both racial and class disparity

B) Racial disparity

C) Both gender and class disparity

D) Religious disparity

8. Which of the following best describes the difference in how Katy is treated by her mother versus her father?

A) Katy’s father often belittles her; Katy’s mother, on the other hand, always makes her feel self-confident.

B) Katy’s father ignores her; Katy’s mother, on the other hand, is very attentive.

C) Katy’s father often has serious, intellectual conversations with her; Katy’s mother, on the other hand, tends to only have surface-level discussions.

D) Katy’s father wants her to be a traditional wife; Katy’s mother, on the other hand, wants her to grow up and be whatever she wants.

9. When Katy mentions a “special kind of singing” in Chapter 10, what does this refer to?

A) The sounds the animals make at night

B) The songs that she and her friends sing in their treehouse

C) The way the priest pronounces certain words during church services

D) The noises she and Jacob use to communicate

10. Which of the following characters are antitheses to one another?

A) Peggy and Nell

B) Peggy and Paul

C) Dr. Thatcher and Katy

D) Jacob and Paul

11. Which adjective is most appropriate to describe Paul Bishop?

A) Smug

B) Boring

C) Aloof

D) Rebellious

12. Which of the following best describes why Jacob is particularly vulnerable to the townspeople’s assumptions and prejudices?

A) He tends to be worried about what others think of him.

B) His mother wants him to be accepted by his neighbors.

C) His family will beat him if he brings the family shame.

D) He cannot speak to either explain or defend himself.

13. The contrast between the Stoltz family and the Bishop family is most closely linked to which of the book’s themes and motifs?

A) Education, Social Class, and Economic Advancement

B) Traditional Versus Nontraditional Methods of Communication

C) Animals, Innocence, and Human Violence

D) Fear of the Unknown

14. Which of the following is the strongest example of a narrative frame throughout The Silent Boy?

A) Automobiles

B) Photographs

C) Birthday parties

D) Cincinnati

15.What is the best symbol of the way Katy’s 20th-century society treats the mentally ill?

A) The barn

B) Mary’s nursery

C) The asylum

D) The schoolhouse

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. What is the significance of Katy’s alluding to Little Women in Chapter 2? How might the novel tie into the book’s larger themes?

2. At the end of the novel, Katy hopes that Jacob will be given a kitten in the asylum, though she recognizes that it is unlikely. What is the larger meaning behind why she hopes this for Jacob?