53 pages • 1 hour read
Julie Of The Wolves
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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.
PART 1
Reading Check
1. What effect do the temperature and harsh conditions of the Arctic environment have on the shape of living creatures’ bodies, according to the text?
2. Based on context clues, what is the meaning of the word “amaroq”?
3. What do Inuit hunters believe are the “three riches of life”? (Part 1, Pages 5-25)
4. What does Miyax discover regarding how the wolves are feeding their pups?
5. What type of animal did Kapugen say that the wolves “take”?
6. What vehicle is Miyax able to follow in order to learn a more exact location of her whereabouts?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What does Miyax try to ask of the black wolf? Why does she believe that this request is possible?
2. Why has Miyax run away from home? Where is she going, and what does she hope to find?
3. What are lemmings? How are they important to the local ecosystem?
4. What are some of the mannerisms that Miyax adopts in order to be accepted in the wolf family? What action does she attempt? How does she become successfully accepted?
5. Summarize the most intimate moment that Miyax shares with the wolf pack. How does her relationship with them change after this moment?
Paired Resources
- Britannica provides an overview of the landscape of the Alaskan mountain region, including Miyax’s location of the North Slope.
- This information connects with the themes of The Wilderness Versus Civilization and Independence Versus Solidarity.
- Based on the novel as well as the above resource, what might daily life be like in the North Slope region of Alaska? What are some of the challenges of this natural environment?
PART 2
Reading Check
1. According to Aunt Martha, what event caused Kapugen great emotional anguish?
2. What are the Earth’s “relatives,” and what information do they provide about the Earth?
3. Why is January 24 a significant day?
4. Who is the only person that Julie tells she is leaving Barrow?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Summarize Miyax’s childhood memories with Kapugen. What event causes a change in Miyax’s living arrangements, and what is Kapugen’s advice?
2. Who is Julie? How does her life change after moving to Mekoryuk? How does she enjoy life there overall?
3. Who is Mr. Pollock? What offer does he approach Julie with initially, and what does Julie learn about him later?
4. Describe Julie’s life in Barrow. What is the reality of her daily life there? What conflict determines her future path?
Paired Resources
“Alaska Legislator Urges Ban on Marriage for 14- and 15-Year-Olds”
- Anchorage Daily News’s 2018 article discusses the changing views of child marriage in Alaska. (Registration may be needed to view. Teacher-appropriate; not student-facing due to maturity and complexity)
- This information connects with the theme of Indigenous Wisdom and Traditions.
- This information may help in guiding student discussion about Miyax’s backstory.
“Jean Craighead George, Author of ‘My Side of the Mountain’ and ‘Julie of the Wolves,’ Dies at 92”
- The Washington Post’s 2012 article touches on George’s life works and literary inspirations. (Registration or subscription may be needed to view.)
- This resource connects with the themes of The Wilderness Versus Civilization, Indigenous Wisdom and Traditions, and Independence Versus Solidarity.
- What was George’s inspiration for writing Julie of the Wolves? How did the natural world influence the topics she selected for her writing?
PART 3
Reading Check
1. Who does Miyax realize is stealing her food?
2. What does Miyax refer to as “the guidepost of her ancestors”? (Part 3, Pages 109-122)
3. Who is Tornait?
4. What does Miyax decide to turn her comb into?
5. What does Miyax do when she buries Tornait?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What tradition does Miyax perform while she waits for her dinner to be cooked? How does this tradition help her physically?
2. How are wolves important to the local ecosystem? What is the threat that Miyax observes to this balance?
3. What are the circumstances surrounding Amaroq’s death? How does Miyax respond to the situation?
4. Who are Atik and Uma? What decision does Miyax make for her future based on her interaction with this couple?
5. Summarize the ending of the novel. What difficult realization does Miyax have, and what does she decide to do?
Paired Resources
- The conservation group Wolf Haven International offers information about the behavior of wolves living in packs. If time allows for more investigation, other pages on this site discuss the need for wolf sanctuaries and the importance of education in conservation efforts.
- This information connects to the themes of The Wilderness Versus Civilization and Independence Versus Solidarity.
- What details in the text come to mind with regard to the information offered about wolf and pack behavior in this resource?
Recommended Next Reads
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
- George’s 1959 novel centers on 18-year-old Sam, who becomes interested in surviving in the Catskill Mountains in order to escape his crowded New York City life.
- Shared themes include The Wilderness Versus Civilization and Independence Versus Solidarity.
- Shared elements include North American natural settings, the relationship between adolescents and animals, and mid-20th-century children’s literature.
- My Side of the Mountain on SuperSummary
Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat
- Mowat’s 1961 novel follows protagonist Billy as his adventures into the Canadian natural environment lead him to befriend two owls.
- Shared themes include The Wilderness Versus Civilization and Independence Versus Solidarity.
- Shared elements include North American natural settings, the relationship between adolescents and animals, and mid-20th-century children’s literature.
- Owls in the Family on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
PART 1
Reading Check
1. The text explains that bodies of animals and people tend to be compact with shorter limbs to conserve body temperature in the Arctic. (Part 1, Pages 5-25)
2. Wolf (Part 1, Pages 5-25)
3. “[I]ntelligence, fearlessness, and love” (Part 1, Pages 5-25)
4. The adult wolves regurgitate food for the pups. (Part 1, Pages 25-37)
5. Animals that are old and sick are used as food by the wolves. (Part 1, Pages 37-49)
6. The commercial plane between Fairbanks and Barrow (Part 1, Pages 49-61)
Short Answer
1. Miyax tries to catch the black wolf’s attention in order to ask him for food. She knows that wolves can bring humans food because her father once mentioned that wolves did this for him; he never explained how he spoke to the wolves, however, before he disappeared. (Part 1, Pages 5-25)
2. Thirteen-year-old Miyax has run away from home because she wants to escape her husband, Daniel. She is trying to go to San Francisco to meet her pen pal; however, she is now lost in the arctic tundra. (Part 1, Pages 5-25)
3. Lemmings are small rodents that self-regulate their population. When lemmings are no longer plentiful, the predators have less to eat, resulting in a decrease in other local fauna; this, however, results in higher grass, so more caribou move into the area, followed by more wolves to prey on the caribou. (Part 1, Pages 5-25)
4. After catching the attention of the pack, Miyax realizes that she must act like a wolf in order to be given food. First, she learns the importance of “roughhousing” or playing tough, but she is still not accepted. Then, after patting the chin of Amaroq, she becomes accepted as a part of the tribe. (Part 1, Pages 5-25)
5. One night, Miyax is invited into the wolf den by Amaroq, where she curls up and begins to sleep. She also briefly suckles milk from Silver along with the other pups. This moment marks her acceptance. Later, she observes a caribou killing and is able to store food for the end of the summer. (Part 1, Pages 49-61)
PART 2
Reading Check
1. The death of Miyax’s mother (Part 2, Pages 75-84)
2. Earth’s “relatives,” the sun and moon, indicated to the Inuit people that the Earth was round. (Part 2, Pages 75-84)
3. The sun rises after a period of darkness. (Part 2, Pages 96-104)
4. Pearl (Part 2, Pages 96-104)
Short Answer
1. Miyax recalls her childhood growing up on the seal farm, where Kapugen engages in the Inuit traditions. One day, Aunt Martha arrives and informs Kapugen that Miyax must go to school. Kapugen also knows that he will fight in the war; he leaves Miyax with the knowledge that when she turns 13, she can marry Naka’s son Daniel and return to the traditions. (Part 2, Pages 75-84)
2. Julie is Miyax’s English name that she adopts more often after moving to Mekoryuk in order to live with Martha and attend school. She enjoys life there generally, despite some of the difficulties she experiences adapting to less traditional life. One day, she learns that her father is presumed dead after he has been missing for more than a month. (Part 2, Pages 75-84)
3. Mr. Pollock is a businessman with the Reindeer Cooperation who wants to find a pen pal for his daughter Amy in San Francisco. Since Julie is skilled in reading and writing, she agrees to his offer and becomes Amy’s pen pal. Julie later learns that Mr. Pollock also supports the campaign against alcohol addiction in Barrow. (Part 2, Pages 84-96)
4. Julie arrives in Barrow, where she lives with her husband, Daniel; her father-in-law, Naka; and her mother-in-law, Nusan. Her teenage husband has an intellectual disability. Julie tries to stay positive by making friends, attending school, and supporting Nusan with the work. Her main conflict occurs when Daniel sexually abuses her after he is mocked for not consummating the marriage, leading Julie to flee her life in Barrow. (Part 2, Pages 96-104)
PART 3
Reading Check
1. Jello (Part 3, Pages 109-122)
2. The North Star (Part 3, Pages 109-122)
3. A lost bird that Miyax befriends (Part 3, Pages 122-138)
4. An “i’noGo tied” (totem) for Amarog (Part 3, Pages 138-147)
5. Miyax sings an English song. (Part 3, Pages 163-170)
Short Answer
1. Miyax performs a traditional dance while waiting for her dinner to cook. When she finishes, she no longer feels the cold, and she realizes that the tradition has health benefits as well. (Part 3, Pages 122-138)
2. Miyax remembers Kapugen saying that wolves need to eat the caribou so that there is enough grass for lemmings to feed on, and therefore the rest of the animals can prey upon the lemmings. However, with the onset of the American wolf hunting season, this balance of the local ecosystem is under threat. (Part 3, Pages 122-138)
3. Amaroq is shot by a man from a low-flying plane. Miyax observes the situation and is horrified and angry that American “hunters” kill for fun. She ensures the safety of the rest of the pack and tends to Kapu by stitching his wounds and nursing him to recovery. (Part 3, Pages 138-147)
4. Atik and Uma are a couple living in the nearby town of Kangik. Upon meeting them, Miyax learns two important pieces of information: She no longer has the desire to go to San Francisco but instead wants to return to the traditional way of life in the tundra, and her father, Kapugen, is alive and a well-respected figure in the Kangik community. (Part 3, Pages 147-162)
5. After learning that Kapugen is still alive, Miyax decides to see him. She is excited to continue her traditional way of living, but she realizes that he has married a “gussak” woman and is now living with many modern amenities. She decides to continue back to the tundra, where she can live a traditional life. Leaving Kapugen’s house, she sets out with Tornait, but when the bird dies, Miyax seems to change her mind. She buries the bird while singing a song in English, and the novel’s last line is “Julie pointed her boots toward Kapugen.” (Part 3, Pages 163-170)
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