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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why do Captain Orlov and his Aleut hunters camp on the high ground of the island?

2. Who vainly packs earrings and blue clay into the luggage?

3. Where does Chief Chowig dispatch several young men?

4. What does Karana find in Ghalas-at when she returns?

5. How did the name, Island of the Blue Dolphins, possibly originate?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why didn't Karana want to return to the Island of the Blue Dolphins after her canoe starts to leak?

2. After the tribe recovers the school of white bass that are stranded on the rocky ledge, two of the Aleuts come to ask for some. What does Chief Chowig tell them?

3. What events take place after Chief Chowig demands the rest of the chests be brought to shore before the otter pelts are loaded onto the ship?

4. Karana moves her home to a high rock ledge, but the wild dogs continue to circle below. She decides to go against the tribe's taboo about women making weapons. What does she fear will happen if she makes the weapons?

5. When Karana goes to the spring to gather more water in her baskets, she seeks refuge from the wild dogs in a cave. She plans to turn the cave into another house. What does she do to the cave to make it habitable?

6. Ramo decides to go to where the canoes are hidden and bring one back to Coral Cove, so he and Karana can fish and look around the island. What happens when he goes on this mission?

7. Describe what happens when Karana goes hunting sea elephants. Does she manage to kill one?

8. After Karana finishes building her home, she decides it is time to kill the wild dogs on the island. What does she need to do the job?

9. Why isn't the autumn and winter peaceful in Ghalas-at, even though there is plenty of food for everyone?

10. What fills Karana with happiness the morning after she returns to the island in the leaking canoe?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The story takes place on a remote island off the southern coast of California.

1) How does this setting affect Karana's situation and experiences?

2) How does living on the island affect the final resolution?

3) What does the setting symbolize in Karana's life?

Essay Topic 2

1) Discuss how Karana grows as a character from the beginning of the novel to the end.

2) How do her attitudes change toward the wild dogs?

3) How do her feelings change toward the Aleuts?

4) How do her feelings toward life on the island differ from the beginning to the end of the novel?

Essay Topic 3

1) Compare the theme of survival and maturity in Island of the Blue Dolphins to similar events in real life.

2) What insights does the story give to current day situations of an adolescent in today's world?

3) Why would teenagers today relate or not relate to this story?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 990 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample