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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. As Karana looks down at the empty harbor, what is she thinking?

2. What does Karana see as she gathers supplies to repair her canoe?

3. What does Karana do with the wounded sea otters that the Aleut hunters leave behind?

4. What is Karana doing in the darkness of night?

5. What does Karana do after the first tidal wave strikes?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Karana do after the Aleut girl finds her and Rontu at the cave?

2. Other than training the birds, how does Karana pass the time throughout the spring?

3. What does Karana do with the young, wounded otter she finds after the Aleutian ship departs?

4. What does Karana do when she finds Rontu lying in the back of the lair in which he once lived?

5. Summarize Karana's feelings toward the animals on the island

6. Summarize the method Karana uses to tame the two young birds, nesting in a tree above her house.

7. What does Karana see while she is out looking for supplies to fix her canoe, and what is her reaction?

8. Karana watches for Tutok from a brushy ledge the morning after finding the necklace. What does Karana do when Tutok arrives, then turns to leave when she sees that Karana has not taken the necklace?

9. What is the great discovery that Karana and Rontu make as they travel around the island in the canoe?

10. What is Karana worried about when she takes her new spear to go and hunt devilfish?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

1) Explain the belief by the tribe of Ghalas-at with regard to women hunting.

2) How does this belief affect Karana when she is stranded on the island?

3) What are her feelings toward the belief?

4) In what way is Karana justified in her reaction to the Ghalas-at belief?

Essay Topic 2

1) Analyze Karana's coming of age while living on the island.

2) What fears and emotions does she experience as she grows on the island?

3) How do her attitudes change as she develops from a young girl into a young woman while on the island?

Essay Topic 3

1) Imagine you are an historian reading the Island of the Blue Dolphins.

2) Would you see the story as historically accurate?

3) Use details from the story to support your answer.

4) What plot or setting descriptions would you change to make it more historically accurate?

(see the answer keys)

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