Study Questions for Rendezvous by David Ransom - Ida&Rebecca

Study Questions for Rendezvous by David Ransom ­­­­­­__________
Ida & Rebecca

1)      Write a short summary of the short story Rendezvous.

The story is about Payton and Kim. Kim is 15, and she is running away, to give her parents a lesson. Payton is driving, and drinking. He is hearing the drums, and it gives him energy. At the end, he picks the young girl up (like he has done 5 times before, with the 5 other young girls that he killed)

 

2)      What genre is the text?
It is a short story.

3)      How does the author build suspense?
He starts the story by Payton’s point of view. We do not know who he is. All we now is, that he is driving and drinking, hearing the drums. After this, the author changes the point of view to Kim. We find out that Kim is running away from her parents. The author changes the point of view through the story, which makes it kind of confusing and interesting, because you see both Kim’s and Payton’s point of view. She also uses the drums, to build up the suspense.

 

Content:

4)      Why has Payton been visiting a priest and going to funerals? (lines 10-26, p. 52)

We think he visited the priest to confess. Confess his sinners to get forgiveness, but instead the Priest told him to call the police. We think Payton visited the funerals, to try and make it “okay” again, even though we think he knows it never will be. But he just cannot stop doing it.

 

5)      What happens at the end? (give arguments for your claims)
We think that when he picks up Kim, she is his new victim. We claim that because he has done it 5 times before (lines 20-23, p. 52). He also tries to forget what the priest said, about calling the police to tell everything (line 24, p. 52).

 

Content (continued):

6)      Make a thorough character sketch of Payton and Kim.
Payton: Payton has long dirty hair (line 7, p. 51), which makes him an unstructured and unhygienic man. He does not care about other people, the laws and the community, because he is driving and drinking at the same time, which is illegal (Lines 2-4 and 11, p. 51). He has a cobra tattoo on his left bicep (line 8, p. 51). He is a psychopath because he kills young girls, and afterwards shows up at their funerals with flowers, in his own way of giving an apology.
Kim: Kim is a 15 years old girl (line 24, p. 51). She is running away from home, to give her parents a lesson. She thinks that she is ‘perfectly capable of running her own life’ (lines 24-25, p.51. She wants and tries to be something she is not: an independent adult.

 

Content (continued further ;-))

7)      What could be the symbolic meaning of the drums?

It could be a symbol of his heartbeat and maybe his excitement about what is going to happen. We think he gets an adrenaline kick, when he picks up the girls, and drives fast while drinking.

8)      And of the tattoo?
The cobra could symbolize evilness. A snake is very sneaky and gets off with a lot of things. It is a selfish animal that does not care about others, even not its own kind.

 

9)      What are the themes of the text?
Moral – Payton goes to the priest to talk about his sinners, but does not listen to the priest. He also drives and drinks at the same time.
Murder – Payton has killed 5 young girls, about to kill number six.
Growing up – Kim is about to grow up. She is learning, and she is in a phase of her life, were she is very impressionable.