The Call of the Wild

63 pages • 2 hours read

The Call of the Wild

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1903

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Download PDF

Introduction

Before Reading

During Reading

After Reading

During Reading

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

CHAPTERS 1-2

Get access to this full Teaching Guide and much more!

9,350+ In-Depth Study Guides
4,600+ Quick-Read Plot Summaries
Downloadable PDFs

Reading Check

1. Where does the four-year-old Buck live?

2. Who sells Buck to the stranger?

3. What happens to the dogs who don’t obey the trainer?

4. Which dogs teach Buck to be a good sled dog?

The SuperSummary difference

8x more resources than SparkNotes and CliffsNotes combined
Study Guides you won’t find anywhere else
175+ fresh titles added every month

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What has caused the increase in the demand for sled dogs?

2. Why do Perrault and François like Buck?

3. How does Buck stay warm at night?

Paired Resource

Sled Dogs: The Most Extreme Distance Athletes on Earth

This 15-minute PBS video about sled dogs and their drivers shows how these unique dogs are essential to life above the Arctic Circle. For a shorter clip, you can stop the video after 4:15.
This resource connects to the themes of Be Resilient and Life and Death.
What kinds of challenges do sled dogs and their drivers face? Why are sled dogs so important in the Arctic?

CHAPTERS 3-4

Reading Check

1. Why do the wild huskies invade Buck’s camp?

2. Who is Buck’s rival for dominance?

3. Who is initially chosen to replace Spitz as leader of the team?

4. Why does Buck part ways with Perrault and François?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What happens to Dolly when she is pushed to her limit?

2. How do Perrault and François respond when they learn of Spitz’s death?

3. What is the team’s new job after Perrault and François leave? How does Buck feel about it?

4. Why is Dave left behind? What happens to him?

Paired Resource

“The Myth of the Alpha Dog”

This article from Arizona State University offers a short introduction dispelling the popular myth that each group of dogs has an “alpha” member.
This source connects to the themes of Life and Death and Mutual Respect.
How do dogs interact with each other in wild and domesticated environments?

CHAPTERS 5-6

Reading Check

1. Who buys Buck in Skaguay?

2. Why is Dub shot?

3. Who forces Hal to stop beating Buck?

4. Who are Skeet and Nig?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How are Hal, Charles, and Mercedes different from Buck’s previous owners?

2. Why do the dogs begin to starve?

3. Why does Buck come to love John so much?

4. What does Buck do when John’s boat capsizes?

CHAPTER 7

Reading Check

1. What does John do after winning the bet?

2. What does John find instead of the abandoned mines?

3. How does Buck prove his worth to the wolf pack?

4. What do the Yeehats call Buck?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is the “call” that Buck hears at night? How does he respond to it?

2. What happens to John and the rest of the team? How does Buck react?

3. Why does Buck ultimately answer the call of the wild?

Paired Resources

“How Wolf Became Dog”

Scientific American provides an article that discusses scientific research on how dogs were domesticated from wolves.
This connects to the themes of Be Resilient and Mutual Respect.
How are domesticated dogs like wild dogs and wolves? How are they different?

“Indigenous Cultures of Yukon”

This source gives a helpful introduction to the Indigenous cultures inhabiting Yukon.
This connects to the themes of Life and Death, Be Resilient, and Mutual Respect.
How did the Indigenous people of the Yukon interact with European and American settlers?

Recommended Next Reads

White Fang by Jack London

Jack London’s other short novel about a wild-born wolfdog and his struggles for survival is a natural next choice after Call of the Wild.
Shared themes include You Must Be Resilient To Survive in the Wild.
Shared topics include adventure, nature, and animals.
White Fang on SuperSummary

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

This “Autobiography of a Horse” is another classic first-person novel from an animal’s point of view.
Shared themes include Life and Death Are Intertwined and Dependent on One Another and Mutual Respect and Love Create Functional Communities.
Shared topics include animals and adventure.
Black Beauty on SuperSummary

Reading Questions Answer Key

CHAPTERS 1-2

Reading Check

Get access to this full Teaching Guide and much more!

9,350+ In-Depth Study Guides
4,600+ Quick-Read Plot Summaries
Downloadable PDFs

1. The Santa Clara Valley (Chapter 1)

2. Manuel, one of the farmhands (Chapter 1)

3. They are beaten and eventually killed. (Chapter 1)

4. Dave and Sol-leks (Chapter 2)

Short Answer

The SuperSummary difference

8x more resources than SparkNotes and CliffsNotes combined
Study Guides you won’t find anywhere else
175+ fresh titles added every month

1. The influx of gold-seekers to the Yukon has increased the demand for strong sled dogs. (Chapter 1)

2. The sled drivers Perrault and François like Buck because he is a fast learner and is very strong. (Chapter 2)

3. Buck stays warm at night by digging a hole in the snow and sleeping inside the hole, where it is warmer. This is a trick he learns from one of the other dogs. (Chapter 2)

CHAPTERS 3-4

Reading Check

1. They are starving and want to steal food. (Chapter 3)

2. Spitz (Chapter 3)

3. Sol-leks (Chapter 4)

4. Because the Canadian government gives them a new assignment (Chapter 4)

Short Answer

1. Dolly goes mad and attacks Buck. When she won’t back off, François kills her. (Chapter 3)

2. Perrault and François aren’t surprised to find out that Spitz is dead, having realized that Buck and Spitz would soon fight to the death for dominance in the team. (Chapter 4)

3. After Perrault and François leave, the team is given the task of delivering mail to remote mountain towns. Though Buck does not initially enjoy this job, he approaches it as a challenge that he is eager to meet. (Chapter 4)

4. Dave, an old veteran, grows weaker until he can no longer move, forcing the team to leave him behind. One of the men shoots Dave to end his suffering. (Chapter 4)

CHAPTERS 5-6

Reading Check

1. Hal and Charles (Chapter 5)

2. Because he becomes too weak (Chapter 5)

3. John Thornton (Chapter 5)

4. Two dogs in John’s camp that Buck befriends (Chapter 6)

Short Answer

1. Buck notices that Hal, Charles, and Mercedes are less familiar with the wild than his previous owners; they struggle with tasks like folding their tent and seem uncertain how to treat the dogs. (Chapter 5)

2. Their owners overfeed them initially and deplete their food supply early, causing starvation. (Chapter 5)

3. John treats Buck and his other dogs like his children, and Buck loves him for his kindness. (Chapter 6)

4. When John’s boat capsizes in a river, Buck swims out to save his life, breaking three ribs in the process. (Chapter 6)

CHAPTER 7

Reading Check

1. He prepares to drive the team east in search of abandoned mines. (Chapter 7)

2. A stream full of gold dust (Chapter 7)

3. By fighting them (Chapter 7)

4. Ghost Dog (Chapter 7)

Short Answer

1. Buck feels the “call” of a wilder, primitive time at night, and one night he follows it until he finds a timber wolf. He considers following the timber wolf into the wilderness but decides to stay with John instead. (Chapter 7)

2. John and the rest of the team are killed by the fictional Yeehat tribe. When Buck finds them, he attacks the Yeehats so ferociously that he causes them to flee, though he is too late to save John and the other dogs. (Chapter 7)

3. With John dead, Buck decides to finally answer the call of the wild and join the wolves in the wilderness. Before, his love for John was the only thing keeping him from answering the call of the wild. (Chapter 7)