Whale Talk

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

CHAPTERS 1-3

Reading Check

1. What is T.J.’s legal first name?

2. What does T.J. decide to call his swim team?

3. What is Oliver Van Zandt saving money for?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What event does T.J. believe is the beginning of the chain of events in the novel?

2. How does T.J. kindly convince Chris to stop wearing the varsity jacket?

3. How did the conflict between T.J. and Rich Marshall begin?

Paired Resources

“Common Views and Myths About Bullying”

• This factsheet from PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center offers brief and clear responses to common misunderstandings about bullying.
• This resource relates to the theme of Violence and Bullying.
• What kinds of bullying happen among the students in Whale Talk? Based on the factsheet you just read, what advice would you give T.J., Chris, and others in this story? What do you think the adults around T.J. should be doing differently to prevent bullying? Are any of the adults being bullies or encouraging bullying? What can students do when adults are part of the problem?

“Mother Says Coaches are to Blame for Entitled Athletes”

• This 5-minute video clip from a Dr. Phil episode features several opposing views regarding student athletes and their sense of entitlement.
• This resource relates to the theme of Athletes and the Issue of Entitlement.
• How does the term “entitlement” apply to T.J.’s feelings about athletes at his school? In the video, what different ideas do people have about where this behavior comes from? Which of these ideas do you think applies best to the way some of the athletes in Whale Talk behave? Do you think that Crutcher is being fair to athletes, or is he stereotyping them?

CHAPTERS 4-6

Reading Check

1. Whom does T.J. see as responsible for giving him the sense of calm he needs to manage the Mermen?

2. Who serves as the Mermen’s unofficial coach when they first begin practicing together?

3. Whom does T.J. believe he saw talking to people at a Neo-Nazi parade?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does T.J. think is better about his own situation when he compares it to the lives of Chris and Carly?

2. What tragic event does T.J. say shaped his adoptive father’s character?

3. When he is talking with Mr. Simet, what does T.J. say his purpose is for making sure that all the Mermen get letter jackets?

Paired Resources

“Adoption” and “What Is Adoption?”

• The first resource is a brief and moving poem by Alison Kolodinsky sharing the perspective of an adoptive parent on the developing bond with their child. The second resource is a Psychology Today article exploring the variety and complexity of adoptee experiences.
• These resources relate to the theme of Adoption, Blended Families, and Traditional Families.
• Who is the speaker in the poem? What is this speaker feeling, and why? After reading the Psychology Today article, how do you feel about the poem? Do you think T.J. would feel that his experiences are better represented by the poem or by the article? Why? Do you think that your answer would be the same for Abby and John Paul?

“‘Going Quiet’: Black Students and the Struggle to Keep Our Identities at White Schools” and “The Struggle of Being the Lone Black Student”

• Both of these articles are opinion columns written by Black students who have experienced isolation in primarily white educational environments.
• These resources relate to the themes of Race and Racial Identity and Loneliness, Individuality, and Belonging.
• What experiences do these two writers have in common? How do their experiences relate to T.J.’s experiences at his school? What does T.J.’s response to this situation reveal about his personality?

CHAPTERS 7-9

Reading Check

1. Aside from T.J. himself, whom does T.J. see as the best swimmer on the team?

2. Whom does Andy say he wishes he could kill?

3. Which student threatens to use his position on the Athletic Council to try to keep the Mermen from getting their letters?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. When T.J. finally speaks to the person who has been following him around town in their car, why is the encounter unexpectedly positive?

2. While the bus is stuck in the snow, what does Andy say that causes T.J. to question his own motives in assembling the Mermen?

3. How does John Paul reassure Heidi after she accidentally spills food at dinner?

Paired Resource

“Male Privilege”

• This 3-minute video by a domestic abuse counselor highlights the beliefs that male abusers often hold about women.
• This resource relates to the theme of Violence and Bullying.
• How is Rich’s behavior reflected in the comments this counselor makes about domestic abusers? In what way does Rich’s attitude toward Alecia support the novel’s thematic interest in Violence and Bullying? How does T.J.’s relationship with Carly demonstrate that T.J.’s identity is not constructed around male power and privilege? In what other ways does T.J. reject unearned privilege and unjust power hierarchies? Besides male privilege, what other sources of unearned privilege and unjust power does Rich rely on in his relationships with other people?

“You Don’t Own Me”

• This 2-minute video features Lesley Gore performing her classic hit about a woman’s desire to have power over her own life. (A text version of the lyrics can be found here.)
• This resource relates to the theme of Violence and Bullying.
• Which characters in Whale Talk would agree with the ideas in this song? Which characters would disagree? In what way is Whale Talk a novel about people trying to claim the right to have power and control in their own lives? What forces are these people fighting against?

CHAPTERS 10-13

Reading Check

1. After the accident with the toddler, what does John Paul say he spent a lot of time wishing he could be?

2. Whom does Mike assault at the school dance?

3. What weapon does Rich leave in the Joneses’ yard?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What lesson about being judgmental does John Paul tell T.J. he learned from the toddler’s accidental death?

2. What does John Paul tell T.J. about T.J.’s desire to protect victims by going after the people who have hurt them?

3. When Coach Benson calls T.J. in to talk about the conflict with Mike, what does Coach Benson’s main interest seem to be?

CHAPTER 14-EPILOGUE

Reading Check

1. Who are the two people that T.J. proposes a swimming competition between to settle the question of the Mermen’s letters?

2. Whom do the coaches agree to let run the swim-off at All Night Fitness?

3. Whose hometown does T.J. visit in the book’s epilogue?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What lie about her whereabouts does Alicia tell the Joneses, and why does she lie?

2. At the athletic banquet, what makes T.J. feel as if he has lived up to his first name?

3. What items does T.J. notice in Kyle’s office that demonstrate a strange connection to John Paul, despite Kyle never having met him?

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