Island of the Blue Dolphins

Chapters 1-7

Reading Check

1. Otters (Various chapters)

2. Half of the hunt’s profits (Chapter 1)

Short Answer

1. Years ago, a man named Captain Mitriff led a group of Aleuts to the island, and they exploited the villagers by forcing them to hunt otters. (Chapter 1)

2. Karana feels angry because she considers the otters her friends. (Chapter 3)

3. A battle erupts after Captain Orlov and the Aleuts try to leave without paying the villagers the price they promised. Most of the village’s men die in the battle, and Karana’s father, Chief Chowig, is among the fallen. (Chapter 4)

4. Karana’s younger brother, Ramo, was left behind when he went back for his fishing spear, and she refuses to leave him alone on the island. (Chapter 7)

Chapters 8-14

Reading Check

1. Wild dogs (Chapter 8)

2. Blue dolphins (Chapter 10)

3. Bull sea elephant (Chapter 14)

Short Answer

1. According to Karana’s people’s laws, women are forbidden from making weapons. The village’s authorities, including her late father, told Karana that failure and natural disasters would smite any woman who dared break this law. (Chapter 9)

2. Karana’s canoe springs a leak, and it is too dangerous to continue onward when she does not know how long it will take to reach land in the east. (Chapter 10)

3. Karana constructs a wooden house and a fence made of whale ribs. She also stocks her new home with objects she makes herself, including stone cooking bowls and shelves. (Chapter 12)

Chapters 15-20

Reading Check

1. Rontu (Chapter 15)

2. A squid (Chapter 16)

3. Birds of an unknown species (Chapter 18)

Short Answer

1. The Aleut hunters brought the dog (Rontu) that would later become the wild dogs’ leader to the island and left it behind. Karana knows this because no one saw the gray, yellow-eyed dog before the Aleuts came to the island and because the other dogs are smaller and have brown fur. (Chapter 15)

2. Karana knows that a fight between Rontu and the pack is inevitable. Rontu currently has the high ground, and the dogs might corner him in a less advantageous location later if she drives them away now. (Chapter 17)

3. Karana sees an Aleut ship, which sails from the north and has red sails. (Chapter 20)

Chapters 21-29

Reading Check

1. Cormorant feathers (Chapter 21)

2. A necklace (Chapter 21)

3. Otter (Chapter 23)

4. Rontu-Aru (Chapter 26)

Short Answer

1. Karana gives Tutok a circlet of seashells, which is special because it took five nights of hard work to make. She gives Tutok an even more special gift by sharing her secret name. This second gift is particularly significant because it shows that Karana trusts Tutok, even though her father was killed by Aleut hunters after revealing his secret name. (Chapter 22)

2. After befriending the family of otters, Karana decides to never hunt animals again. She thinks her people would laugh at her for seeing all animals as friends and refusing to kill them, but she doesn't care. (Chapter 24)

3. A ship comes to the island and carries Karana east. Dolphins, which represent good fortune to Karana’s people, appear and swim in front of the ship as though they are leading the way to her new home. (Chapter 29)