The Living

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. What might the lifestyle entail for those who work on cruise ships?

Teaching Suggestion: The protagonist of The Living, Shy, and his friends work on a cruise ship. Studying aspects of that life could help students understand the nuances of the novel’s conflicts and Shy’s perspective and choices. It could be helpful to read the DW article, which offers a more general outlook on the topic, then read the NBC article, illustrating how the expectations for workers aboard cruise ships shifted during the pandemic. When the tsunami hits the ship in the novel, Shy and the others he works with are expected to step up as leaders despite little training and their fear. The NBC article shows a real-life example of these types of expectations.

• “The Truth about Working on a Cruise Ship” from Deutsche Welle, Germany’s public broadcast service, offers insights into the cruise industry, including working conditions.
• This NBC article explores the experiences of people working on cruise ships during the pandemic.