Study Guide Comprehension

Question 1

Ch 13 - Why is she going toward the sea elephants?

Answer 1

She wanted one of their teeth to make a weapon, something bigger and sharper than anything else she had

Question 2

Ch 13 - What was she worried about?

Answer 2

what could go wrong, including the superstitions invented to stop women from using weapons (eg, weapon would break when needed the most)

Question 3

Ch 13 - Why did she pick the bull she picked?

Answer 3

He was the smallest, so probably easiest to kill with her weapon, he didn’t have a herd (babies and cows) to protect, so he would be less wary

Question 4

Ch 13 - Why do you think Karana wants the young bull to win?

Answer 4

MAYBE she is hoping for bigger teeth from the old bull? or maybe the old bull is uglier (Karana thinks the bulls are ugly animals, bad-tempered, jealous, quick to fight)

Question 5

Ch 14 - Why does Karana think the dog with yellow eyes was an Aleut dog?

Answer 5

She had never seen him before the Aleuts came, he was bigger and different colored than their own dogs, or their wild dogs

Question 6

Ch 15 - Why did Karana not kill the big gray dog?

Answer 6

“Why I did not send the arrow I cannot say.” He had raised his head a little, then dropped it - that surprised her greatly. “My hand would not let it (the arrow) go.” Because the dog did not move, Karana may have felt safe, not threatened by him

Question 7

Ch 14 - When does Karana start to realize she cares about the big gray dog? What does call the feeling?

Answer 7

For the first few days leaving the dog in her home with the door open, she hoped he would leave. But the 4th day when he did leave, and wasn’t there when she got back, a “strange feeling” - she realizes that she is starting to want his company.

Question 8

Ch 15 - Describe Karana’s plan to kill the leader of the pack of wild dogs.

Answer 8

Prepare weapons: She started by wanting to kill a sea elephant to get a tooth, the only thing that would be big and sharp enough to make a spear to kill the lead dog. She made a spear using the tooth of the dead bull sea elephant, her biggest weapon ever.
When the whole pack is in the cave, she carries brush to the entrance and sets it on fire, then waits for them to run out.
When the lead dog finally comes out, she decides NOT to use the spear, because she had more practice and skill with bow and arrow. So, she would save all her arrows for him, because she most wanted to kill him. (Why? he was the leader, the biggest, an Aleut dog, so maybe revenge)

Question 9

Ch 15 - Why did she spare the dog’s life and nurse him back to health?

Answer 9

When she finds him lying wounded and helpless, she is unable to kill him. She does not know why, but if he had moved more than his head, she would have killed him. So when he lifted his head only to look at her, she probably felt no more fear of him. Maybe she felt sorry for him when he was wounded.

Question 10

Ch 15 - Describe the change in Karana’s feelings toward the leader of the wild dogs.

Answer 10

At first, she wants to kill the lead dog, because he led the pack that killed her brother, he is a danger to her, and he is an Aleut dog, so he belonged to the people who killed her father. But after she wounds him, she begins to feel sorry for him, and nurses him back to health. Then, she feels disappointed when he leaves her house, which shows that she now likes his companionship.

Question 11

Ch 17 - How would you characterize Karana in this chapter? Choose 3 words that describe her and cite examples to support each.

Answer 11

Determined, persistent: making a spear to catch the giant devilfish (she failed with her current spear), spend a lot of time working to make this new spear, “many errors and many hours of work”
Worried - because Rontu wanted to leave when the wild dog pack showed up, worried he might not come back, or become her enemy
Patient - waits to see how Rontu could defend himself, because of his good position with his back to the cliff. If Rontu were to win, he will be better off because the other dogs will respect him as the winner.

Question 12

Ch 18 - Explain why Karana kept clipping the wings of Tainor and Lurai.

Answer 12

Karana kept clipping the wings of Tainor and Lurai because then they couldn’t fly away, but once they became used to her house, she could let their wings grow out because they had learned not to fly away

Question 13

Ch 18 - Why (do you think) was Karana so concerned with her appearance?

Answer 13

[I think] Karana was concerned with her appearance because she thought that the white men would come - she walked along the cliff looking for the white men’s ship which she hoped would come get her and take her to her tribe

Question 14

Ch 18 - What was the mood of this chapter?

Answer 14

Happy “It was a happy time” - she has new pet birds, Rontu for companionship, beautiful spring flowers and birds everywhere, she enjoys making a new skirt, hair pins, flower wreaths

Question 15

Ch 20 - What precautions did Karana take to keep from being tracked by the Aleuts?

Answer 15

She packs her birds, food, tools, weapons, and moves EVERYTHING to the cave near the ravine
She threw the abalone she was starting to dry off the cliff.
She threw the gull-scaring abalone shells off the cliff
She brushed away her footprints with a pelican wing
She buried the ashes of her fires
She hid her canoe by lifting it onto the shelf in the cave (every night)
She threw sand over the shelves and the floor

Question 16

Ch 21 - Why didn’t Karana take Rontu with her when she left the cave to spy on the Aleuts?

Answer 16

she knew Rontu would bark if the Aleuts brought dogs, and then the Aleuts would see her or find her.

Question 17

Ch 21 - Analyze the ways that Karana’s life became more difficult because the Aleuts were on the island.

Answer 17

She didn’t want them to know she was there, so she had to move out of her home near the shore, and move everything to the cave near the ravine. She had to get food and water at night and sleep during the day.

Question 18

Ch 21 - Guess why Karana did not throw the spear at Tutok although she feared that Tutok might return with the hunters.

Answer 18

Karana did not know why, but maybe she doesn’t want to kill a human, or maybe she realized that if she killed the girl, the Aleuts would come looking for her, and maybe kill Karana. Also, Tutok smiled at her, and admired her cormorant skirt, so those were friendly actions.

Question 19

Ch 22 - Why, do you think, did Karana finally tell Tutok her secret name? Do you have a secret name? Whom would you tell about it?

Answer 19

After about 3 days of friendship, she must have trusted Tutok enough to tell her secret name.

Question 20

Ch 22 - What gifts did Karana and Tutok exchange?

Answer 20

Tutok gave Karana a necklace of black oval stones. Karana made Tutok a circlet for her hair made out of abalone and olivella shells.

Question 21

Ch 22 - When the Aleuts left the island, it was a bittersweet moment for Karana. Explain.

Answer 21

Karana was happy the Aleuts left because they were potentially dangerous enemies, and she could now go back to her home and work during the day instead of night. However, she was sad because she would miss the companionship of Tutok, whom she had become friends with.

Question 22

Ch 23 - Based upon what you read in this chapter, make a judgment about the hunting practices of the Aleuts who visited the Island of the Blue Dolphins.

Answer 22

In my judgment, the Aleuts’ hunting practices were horrible, because they left behind many wounded otter, and I do not like to see animals suffer.

Question 23

Ch 23 - Why was Karana worried about her food supply?

Answer 23

She had thrown all her dried abalone over the cliff so that the Aleuts wouldn’t know she was there, so she had no stored food for stormy days. And when feeding Mon-a-nee, she had found it hard to catch fish every day, so she worried it would be hard all through the winter.

Question 24

Ch 24 - Karana’s attitude toward the animals of her island changed. Explain.

Answer 24

At first, she had to kill them for her lifestyle or even just to make beautiful clothes, but she becomes friends with a wounded otter, whose life she saves by feeding it fish when it was wounded. As she watched it feed and teach its own babies, she felt like the animals were her friends. She then decided never to kill any more otter, cormorants, sea elephants, seals, or wild dogs. She feels the animals are now her friends, or could be.

Question 25

Ch 24 - Why did Karana change Mon-a-nee’s name to Won-a-nee?

Answer 25

Karana changed the name to mean “girl with big eyes” when she saw her babies nuzzle her (which was probably giving them milk).

Question 26

Ch 24 - Why did Karana think frequently about Ulape and Tutok?

Answer 26

Karana probably thought about Ulape and Tutok because she missed them. She wonders if Ulape is married to Kimki has lots of children, and what she would think of Karana’s pets.

Question 27

Ch 25 - Explain why Karana felt that it was useless to count the moons.

Answer 27

Karana stopped keeping track of how long she had been on the island because so many months went by with no one coming back, neither Aleuts nor the white man’s ship. After years living there, it felt pointless to keep track of the months.

Question 28

Ch 25 - Why did Rontu stand at the fence and bark to be let out?

Answer 28

He knew he was dying and wanted to be alone, or maybe in a quieter place?

Question 29

Ch 26 - Why didn’t Karana go to the reef that winter?

Answer 29

She didn’t go to the reef that winter because she didn’t have Rontu as a companion, and it was too stormy most of the time.

Question 30

Ch 26 - What did Karana do to make up for the loss of Rontu? Have you ever lost a pet? Can a new pet take the place of the on that you’ve lost? Give your opinion.

Answer 30

Karana caught Rontu’s son by drugging the water the dogs drank with something that made them sleep (xuchal), then carried him to her home, tied him there and fed him till he became tame.

Question 31

Ch 27 - Why, do you suppose, did Rontu-Aru prefer the cold?

Answer 31

he had a thick fur coat like his father, so he doesn’t get cold easily but gets hot easily.

Question 32

Ch 27 - Karana described the effects of the tidal wave using her senses of sight, sound, and touch. Find examples of each.

Answer 32

Sight: 1) first thing that caught my gaze was the gleaming stretch of beach on the southern slope of the sandpits. 2) Like two giants, they crashed against each other (the waves), 3) in the red light of the sun the spray that flew around them looked like blood. 4) I saw a great white crest moving down upon the island.
Sound: 1) rumbling sound like thunder, 2) faint sound like some giant animal were sucking air in though its teeth, 3) there was a roar as if great spears were breaking in battle
Touch: 1) Tongues of water dragged at my hands and bare feet gripping the ledge 2) The air was suddenly tight around me. 3) Water was already rushing around my knees, pulling from every direction. 4) though the rocks were slippery with sea moss I found a hold for a hand and then a foot.

Question 33

Ch 28 - Why did the tidal waves cause a worse problem than the earthquake for Karana?

Answer 33

The tidal waves washed away her food and weapons and all the canoes, but the earthquake did little damage.

Question 34

Ch 28 - Do you think that Karana was wise to have hidden from the men? What would you have done?

Answer 34

Since Karana has little chance fighting multiple men from the ship, it might be wise to hide and find out if they are enemies or friendly. I would have done the same for the same reasons, being afraid of what might happen to me if multiple men were to attack me.

Question 35

Ch 29 - Why did the men insist that Karana wear a dress? How did Karana react to this new article of clothing? How would you have felt if you had been Karana?

Answer 35

probably because the cormorant skirt wasn’t as covered up as their dress would be. Karana acted like she liked it, so that they wouldn’t be upset with her, but she did not like the dress.

Question 36

Ch 29 - What was the vocation of the man in the gray robe?

Answer 36

Catholic priest, missionary

Question 37

Ch 29 - How do you think Karana felt about leaving the island? Give reasons for your opinion.

Answer 37

bittersweet. She was sad to miss her animal friends like the little fox and Won-a-nee, her canoe and all the happy days. She was happy to be looking forward to living with humans and hearing their voices, and still had her pet birds and Rontu-Aru.