Deep Water

How does Key create tension throughout the novel? Consider plot events and structure, setting, literary devices, and the novel’s themes as you prepare your answer.

How does Julie’s character demonstrate the novel’s theme of Resilience and Discipline? Use a variety of examples to support your response.

How does the money motif contribute to the novel’s theme of Family Relationships? What conclusions can you come to about the role of finances in family relationships based on Julie and Shane’s experiences?

Key’s audience is middle-school-age readers, yet he deals with complex topics that many readers may not have experience with, such as survival, death, and scuba diving. How does he make such topics relatable and understandable for his audience?

What are three instances of foreshadowing within the novel, and how does each one contribute to the novel’s mood and themes?

Even though Julie’s parents are not present with her for most of the novel, they are featured as main characters. How does Key incorporate them into the narrative despite their absence, and how are they significant to the novel?

What kinds of figurative language does Key use to provide vivid descriptions? How do such descriptions relate to the theme about The Unyielding Force of Nature?

Identify the narrative arc of the story (exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution). Choose two sections to analyze. Explain how Key’s presentation of events in those sections contributes to the reading experience.