The Red Pyramid

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Often, characters do not go on adventures alone. Why do you think it is common to have companions on adventures? How can disagreements or conflicts between characters add depth to an adventure story? How does the relationship between characters change as a result of shared adventures?

Teaching Suggestion: This question can help students understand the importance of Carter and Sadie’s relationship to the events and character development in the novel. This is also a very effective chance to discuss the hero’s journey, if your class has been studying this. If applicable to your class, you could ask this question: How can a companion help a hero on their journey? This question can also be used to introduce the theme of The Flexibility of Family Structure, as Bast becomes a companion and mother figure to Carter and Sadie. It may be helpful to brainstorm different adventure stories from popular novels or movies, such as Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, which feature character development from shared adventures. You may wish to return to this question throughout the novel to track the events that shape the relationship between Sadie and Carter. You may also wish to ask your class which other characters become companions or mentors for Sadie and Carter as the novel progresses.

• This article from National Geographic discusses a pair of real-life adventurers, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, and how they helped each other to become the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest. This resource may be useful to discuss the importance of companionship on adventures.

Short Activity

Choose a god or goddess from Egyptian mythology to research. What characteristics does your god have? What are some myths associated with your god? What does your god look like?

Teaching Suggestion: This activity gives students background knowledge on the characters in the novel. While the novel gives a description of the different gods when they appear, it may be beneficial to introduce the different gods beforehand. Consider using a KWL (Know Want-to-Know Learned) to gauge students’ familiarity with the topic. Students with background knowledge about Egyptian mythology could research more obscure minor deities. After students investigate their chosen deity, you may want to have students present to the class so they will all have background knowledge on the different gods and goddesses.

• This article is from the author’s own website about Egyptian gods and goddesses. Riordan has a background in history and is considered a reputable source of knowledge on mythology.
• This page from the Egyptian Museum provides more information about the different gods.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who would benefit from assistance in identifying a deity to research, you may want to provide a list of deities of various importance. Providing curated resources at different reading levels may help these students as well. For visual learners, consider asking them to draw an outline of their god and include visual representations of their characteristics inside the outline.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

Think about a time when people made an assumption about you based on how you look. How did these assumptions make you feel, and how did you react? How did you challenge their assumptions?

Teaching Suggestion: This question introduces the theme People Are More Than One Thing. This may be a good opportunity to introduce the idea of microaggressions, which Carter and Sadie face as biracial children. They each deal with microaggressions in their own way based on which parent they most closely resemble and how they were raised. If students have not faced microaggressions themselves, consider discussing stereotypes and how those stereotypes may make people feel.

This page from the University of Minnesota gives examples of microaggressions that students may have heard and the message those microaggressions send. If students have not faced microaggressions themselves, this page could be useful in understanding others’ experiences.