Compare and contrast the characters of Dallas, Tiller, Florida, and Sairy. Which of the characters identify most with one another? How are their behaviors similar, and how are they different? What are the interests each of the characters share? How do each of these characters change over the course of the story, and who influences the most change?

Teaching Suggestion: It may be helpful for students to create a 4-circle Venn diagram to compare the characters of Florida, Tiller, Dallas, and Sairy before responding to the prompts. Students may benefit from analyzing the characters in small groups to generate ideas.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who would benefit from additional assistance with abstract thinking, it may be helpful to provide a few hard-copy excerpts from the text to annotate with notes, questions, and ideas on connections between characters. It may also be helpful to allow students to work with peers to identify other excerpts that may apply to the similarities and differences between characters in the novel.