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Copyright 2000

Created by Brian Thornton
Click here for more information Capo Creations, Box 1411, Haileybury, Ontario, CANADA. POJ 1KO

Not to be used or copied in any manner without specific written consent of the publisher All Rights Reserved

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Never Cry Wolf

Student Study Guide

Farley Mowat

All answers must be in sentence form.

M & S edition Reprinted 1992
ISBN 0-7710-6663-5

Chapter One--The Lupine Project

  1. Using an atlas, calculate the distance by air between Keewatin and Oakville, Ontario, Canada.
  2. What does the young Farley Mowat use as temporary lodgings for his three captured catfish?
  3. Explain the difference between an avocation and a vocation.
  4. What was Farley Mowat's new occupation?
  5. What is scatology?
  6. Outline the two divergent points of view used to explain the declining deer population.

Vocabulary: sojourn, genteel, amass, loutish, aristocratic, eschew, meandering, expedient, nocturnal, mentor, revered, vocation, esoteric, devious, levity, fetid, fallacious

Enrichment: Invite a biologist into your classroom to discuss their work.

Inuit are known for their soapstone carvings.  Locate some soapstone and make your own carving.

Arrange an outing to either the zoo or a wilderness park to enable you to see and experience wolves.  Be sure to take notes and photos to allow you to make a presentation to your classmates.

 

Chapter Two--Wolf Juice

  1. Who is telling the story?
  2. Why was Mowat surprised to find that his gear contained seven axes?
  3. Why was the pilot (plane jockey) angry at Farley Mowat?
  4. What is wolf-juice?
  5. How is formaldehyde normally used?

Vocabulary: amiable, armament, fiendish, arsenal, superfluous, rebuked, contritely, hostile, precarious, erudite

Enrichment: Write a short biography about the author, Farley Mowat.

 

Chapter Three--Happy Landings

  1. Why did the aircraft refuse to become airborne?
  2. Why was the pilot forced to land?
  3. Why did the pilot give Mowat a "sorrowful" look when he helped the young biologist unload his supplies?
  4. How did the pilot reassure Mowat that despite not knowing where he was, he would be able to make his way to Churchill?

Vocabulary: decrepit, resuscitated, delusions, inauspicious, jettison, recalcitrant, droned, starboard, lethargic, meekly

Enrichment: Make a book cover or book mark for this novel.  Make sure to illustrate it.

 

Chapter Four--When Is a Wolf Not a Wolf

  1. Why was he unable to follow his instructions which called for him to do a general survey of the area by canoe?
  2. What unfortunate discovery did he make while unpacking his portable radio.
  3. Who is the only person he is ever able to speak with on the radio?
  4. How does Farley Mowat hide in an attempt to protect himself from the approaching danger?
  5. What does Farley notice when he peers from his hiding place?

Vocabulary: desolate, tundra, burrowed, deferred, dilemma, pessimistic, credulity, admonitions, fortuitous, acumen, fervently

Enrichment: Learn as much as you can about the author.  Assume his identity and then allow yourself to be interviewed by your classmates.

 

Chapter Five--Contact

  1. Who was Mike?
  2. Why was Mowat pleased that this area had few human inhabitants?
  3. What reason did Mike give for his sudden departure?
  4. What puzzles Mowat about Mike's departure?
  5. What does Farley Mowat see when his head slowly comes over the crest of the ridge?

Vocabulary: supernatural, blandishments, palatial, I.O.U., prevailing, extravagance, implications, obliged, usurp, taciturn, intrude, distress, divert, inveigled, autopsy, pathology, debris, strenuous, interlude

Enrichment: Research how the wolf is being introduced into areas where it has long been extinct.  Is the program a success?  Would Mowat have been surprised by the problems that the naturalists have encountered while reintroducing the wolf into certain regions of the country?

 

Chapter Six--The Den

  1. What happens when Mowat tries counting sheep to induce sleep.
  2. What animal does he compare the wolf to when describing its size?
  3. Explain how the dawning day affects Mowat's confidence?
  4. How did the government publication ("work") describe the wolf?
  5. What are the two white feather boas?
  6. Why is Mowat elated when he discovers the wolf's den?

Vocabulary: muzzle, indelibly, lethal, devoid, pallid, scavenge, impasse, salient, succinct, optimistic, resolutely, perfunctory, morose, vehemently, perplexity, evade, frenzied, overt, avert, stoicism, elated, metamorphosed, encumbered

Enrichment: Conduct a debate with your classmates.  Discuss the pros and cons of reintroducing the wolves to their former habitat.

 

Chapter Seven--The Watcher Watched

  1. What is Mowat doing when he realizes that he is being observed?
  2. What does the young biologist see on his way to Wolf Bay House?
  3. How does he explain the initial absence of any wolves?
  4. Explain what occurs when Mowat spins around to face the adult wolf?
  5. What important realization does Mowat finally come to at this time?
  6. What important conclusion does he reach at the end of this chapter?

Vocabulary: periscope, tripod, vanguard, consummate, chagrin, hypothesis, grievously, negligible, concealment, surreptitious, unabashed, prurient, indignation, vexation, virulence, surmise, turmoil, skeins, wadi, esker, idyllic, imprecations, palpable, persevered

Enrichment: Write a poem pretending that you are the wolf.  Make sure you include your feelings on man's encroachment on your territory.

 

Chapter Eight--Staking the Land

  1. Why did Mowat stay inside the tent for the first few days of his observations?
  2. According to the author who were the most bloodthirsty beasts in the Arctic?
  3. How do the wolves mark their boundaries?
  4. Explain the significance of the title of this chapter?
  5. According to Mowat, where had he erred when attempting to establish his boundary rights?

Vocabulary: tenor, fleeting, insatiable, falter, inconspicuous, evince, nomadic, comprised, ritual, consume, copious, clan, intersected, transgressed, temerity, intolerable, impasse, erred

Enrichment: Farley Mowat has often been accused of fabricating statistics and other facts in his novels.  Conduct a mock trial with Farley Mowat as the accused.   Make sure to appoint a prosecuting lawyer and a defense lawyer.  Ask a jury of your peers (classmates) to reach a verdict at the conclusion of the mock trial.

 

Chapter Nine--Good Old Uncle Albert

  1. How do the foxes inadvertently help the wolves?
  2. What did Mowat feel would be the simple solution to his sleep deprivation problem?
  3. What does Mowat find happening to himself despite his best efforts to maintain scientific objectivity?
  4. Explain why Mowat felt that George and Angeline made a perfect couple.
  5. Describe Uncle Albert's role in the family.

Vocabulary: ratified, enclave, inviolate, adherents, diurnal, cache, immunity, boisterously, confines, vital, drastic, vehemently, austerely, dignity, conscientious, ebullient, epitome, nuptial, promiscuity, longevity, conundrum, bevy, lithe, infantile, sadism, somnolence

Enrichment: Research the caribou using the most recent data.  Make a short presentation to your classmates.

An old adage states, "There are lies, damned lies and then there are statistics".  Explain what is meant by this expression.

 

Chapter Ten--Of Mice and Wolves

  1. What is the main or salient problem concerning the wolves that Mowat has been unable to solve?
  2. According to the Government agencies what was plunging the caribou towards extinction?
  3. Why does Mowat take five loaves of bread to Wolf House Bay and leave them on one of the hunting paths?
  4. Describe Angeline's "encounter" with the ducks.
  5. What does Mowat finally conclude is the wolf's main source of food?
  6. Why is it that Mowat has never seen any food being carried back to the wolf den?
  7. Describe the humorous incident involving George.

Vocabulary: herbivores, extinction, depredations, incontrovertible, recurred, antagonized, mythical, ludicrous, conscript, peregrinations, demented, gaggle, paroxysm, apparition, versatility, swale, carnivores, inference, obscure, regurgitating, misconstrued, scrupulously, rupture

Enrichment: Find ten web sites about the wolf and explain why they are worthwhile sites to visit.

Design your own web site about either this novel or wolves and we will consider linking it to our site.

 

Chapter Eleven--Souris a la Creme

  1. What is the third point that is vital to Mowat's contention that the tiny rodents are the wolf's main source of food?
  2. How does he hope to prove his contention?
  3. How does Mowat counter the bland taste of the food?
  4. What serious flaw does Mowat realize is rendering his experiment invalid?
  5. Why is Mowat reluctant to eat the fried steak offered to him?
  6. Who is Ootek?

Vocabulary: diatetics, validity, contention, suffice, carnivore, metabolic, regimen, corpse, bland, rectify, clutch (eggs), shaman, esoteric, rudimentary,auxiliary

Enrichment: Explain why Ootek has offered eggs to Mowat.  What does Mowat mean when he tells us that the nesting season was well advanced as were the eggs?

 

Chapter Twelve--Spirit of the Wolf

  1. What did Mike think of Mowat?
  2. What did the wolf's diet consist of according to Ootek?
  3. What instructions did Kaila give to Amorak?
  4. According to Mowat, what scientific theory does Ootek's parable illustrate?
  5. How are the skeletons near Mike's cabin finally explained?
  6. Even using very conservative estimates, how many caribou does Mowat suspect are killed annually by trappers?

Vocabulary: taciturn, boon, enlist, spawning, coup de grace, sustenance, dismayed, parable, culling, candor, slaughtered, revelations

Enrichment: Pretend that you are Ootek or Mike and write a character sketch of Mowat from your perspective.

 

Chapter Thirteen--Wolf Talk

  1. What was one of the amazing talents that Ootek possessed?
  2. List the various categories of wolf sounds identified by Farley Mowat.
  3. How was Ootek able to determine that the caribou were coming?
  4. Who eventually verifies Ootek's claim about the caribou movement?
  5. What other piece of exciting information does Ootek glean from listening to the wolf talk?

Vocabulary: vocal, canines, plague, baleful, gist, taciturn, venison, converse, mulled, niggling, amends, dereliction, cavalier, ritual, domestic, mock, obscure, adjourn, ebullient, trek,

Enrichment: Pretend that you are Farley Mowat and write a diary that he might have kept during his sojourn into the Arctic.  Remember to include his thoughts and feelings about his isolation, the wolves, the government and the Eskimos as well as his findings about the declining caribou population.  Share your writings with your peers.

 

Chapter Fourteen--Puppy Time

  1. Why did Angeline refuse to accompany George on the hunt?
  2. Who eventually arrived to "babysit" the pups?
  3. What explanation did Ootek give for the wolves moving to a new den?
  4. Why according to Ootek were there no such thing as orphans amongst the wolf population?.
  5. Why did Mowat feel that Ootek's word about wolves should carry as much or more weight than that of a qualified naturalist?

Vocabulary: pall, entice, knoll, dejection, paramount, surpassed, paean, morosely, vigil, perturbed, exodus, impelled, consult, weaned, slack, truncated, patriarch, bitch, deterred, bereaved, credence, condescending

Enrichment: Write a book review and then submit it to your local newspaper.

 

Chapter Fifteen--Uncle Albert Falls in Love

  1. Why was Mowat unhappy with the site of the new den?
  2. How did Uncle Albert rescue Mowat from his boredom?
  3. What proposition did Mowat put to Mike?
  4. Who is Kooa?
  5. Why did Farley Mowat fire a shot into the ground only a short distance from Albert?
  6. Why did Mike threaten to begin shooting in real earnest?
  7. How did Ootek convince Mike to set Kooa free?

Vocabulary: clutter, aboriginal, myth, ancestry, miscegenation, impetuosity, consummated, celibate, grimace, infatuation, senile, falsetto, salacious, aura, abasement, coyly, assuaged, stalemate, equanimity, cacophony, braggadocio

Enrichment: Make a timeline of all the events in the novel.

Locate mythical stories about the wolf and read one of them.

 

Chapter Sixteen--Morning Meat Delivery

  1. To what animal does Mowat compare the present size of the wolf cubs?
  2. What caused the pups to scuttle for shelter?
  3. Describe the morning meat delivery.
  4. Describe the sounds that caused Angeline to awake with a start thus revealing Mowat's hiding spot.

Vocabulary: outcropping, blunt, rotund, physique, scapula, melee, internecine, retch, convulsive, squeamish, appalling, bloated, mitigate, abdominal, protracted, mute, disdain

Enrichment: Choose a favourite scene from the novel and make a comic strip.
Make a mobile about the story.  Before starting make a list of some of the things you might include in the mobile.

 

Chapter Seventeen--Visitors from Hidden Valley

  1. What happened that gave the wolves a brief holiday or respite from hunting?
  2. Explain the practical joke that Angeline played on George.
  3. Who were the visitors from Hidden Valley?

Vocabulary: devote, lassitude, desultory, droop, insouciance, demeanor, transgressed, slithered, fray, melee, proximity, doldrums, sacrosanct, intrusion, spinster

Enrichment: Mowat uses a very human term in this chapter, describing one of the visiting wolves as a spinster.  Find out the meaning of the word and then research its origin.

 

Chapter Eighteen--Family Life

  1. How had Mowat been guilty of dereliction of duty.
  2. According to Farley Mowat, what was the built in birth-control mechanism that controlled the wolf population?
  3. What is the overriding factor that prevents the wolf population from becoming too large?
  4. According to Mowat what normal protective instinct do the wolves lose if they contract rabies?
  5. Why is Farley Mowat suspect of the Canadian Lance Corporal's claim that he was attacked by a murderous wolf?

Vocabulary: static, sheaf, dereliction, census, competent, revise, continence, communal, incurring, malnutrition, distemper, mange, epidemics, vigilantes, intrepid

Enrichment: Make a list of ten questions that you would like to ask Farley Mowat.  Compare your list to your classmates.

 

Chapter Nineteen--Naked to the Wolves

  1. Why was Mowat reluctant to retrieve his clothes when he saw the wolves?
  2. How many caribou had the wolves killed in the space of one hour?
  3. Who was responsible for stampeding the caribou?
  4. Why did Mowat flee when he saw the Eskimo woman running after him with her three children accompanying her?

Vocabulary: invigorating, stark, solitude, impart, harmony, bask, pallid, quandary, traverse, apathetic, blase, dispersed, discretion, averted, wary

Enrichment: Assume the role of film director.  Together with a small group of your classmates write the script for a short scene (remember it doesn't have to be a complete chapter).  After completing the script, chose some actors and dramatize the scene.  You may wish to record it for posterity.

 

Chapter Twenty--The Worm i' the Bud

  1. Why did the wolves quickly give up a chase when they realized they were pursuing a healthy caribou?
  2. Describe two techniques employed by the wolves when caribou were hard to find.
  3. According to Mowat what did the wolf take great care to avoid when actually bringing down a caribou for the kill?
  4. Why were some of the caribou destined to die even if they had not been killed by the wolves.

Vocabulary: inferior, dispersed, fettle, malformed, rigorous, intimately, infirm, tenet, brittle, dismember, carcass, parasites, deftly, restrain, adjuration

Enrichment: Why might Mowat have mentioned that a caribou being killed by a wolf during the hunt probably suffered no more than a hog being slaughtered for human consumption?

Pretend you are a travel agent and plan an eco adventure in Canada's north.  Design poster to advertise your eco tour.

 

Chapter Twenty-One--School Days

  1. What were the "soot-flecking specks" that hung in the sky above the valley and what did they signify?
  2. Why did the many herds of caribou begin to change direction and head back north.
  3. Why did George suddenly swerve away just as he reached the two fawns?
  4. What is the significance of the title of this chapter?

Vocabulary: russet, ptarmigan, sluggish, lethargically, lichens, doe, slunk, feint, siesta, placid, evasive, fawns, recalcitrant, flank, exertions

Enrichment: Pretend you are Farley Mowat writing a letter to a friend or family member in Oakville, Ontario, Canada.

Write a letter to your own friend about the novel.

 

Chapter Twenty-Two--Scatology

  1. Explain the device used by Mowat for the vegetation study.
  2. Although Ootek was filled with remorse after throwing the hoop, Mowat was quite pleased.  Explain.
  3. Why did Mowat have to soak the scats in two galvanized pails?
  4. What did Mowat discover when he performed his scatological research?
  5. What did he discover in the scats that he was unable to explain?
  6. Why would the Eskimos have been reluctant to drink Mowat's tea?

Vocabulary: pseudo, trivia, peripheral, compliance, lumbar, demented, trajectory, remorse, forceps, idiosyncrasies, don, autopsy, baneful, pliable, revulsion, lugubrious, consternation, timid, rapport, stilted, corroded, spurned

Enrichment: Write up a job posting advertising for a biologist to replace Mowat.  Make sure to include a job description and what the government's expectations are for the replacement.  Then have your classmates prepare a fictitious resume and covering letter to respond to the posting.

Give a five minute book talk to either your class or another on this novel.

 

Chapter Twenty-Three--To Kill a Wolf

  1. What is the ideal size for a pack of wolves when hunting?
  2. Why is winter a perilous time for the Barren Land wolves?
  3. Why do the trappers despise the wolves?
  4. How did the local people at Brochet react when Mowat told them that the wolf had been hunting the caribou for tens of thousand of years without decimating the population?
  5. Describe the scene where Mowat and his Cree companion discovered the slaughtered caribou.
  6. Why did the Cree Indians refuse to report any of these abuses to the authorities?

Vocabulary: taiga, sparse, whim, assault, bounty, subsidy, disseminated, covert, suppressed, vermin, adept, gambit, vilification, decimating, partisanship,

Enrichment: Discuss in detail Mowat's use of humour in this novel.  Pay close attention to his use of exaggeration and irony.   Describe any other methods that he employs to make us laugh.

Explain the origin of the expression "never cry wolf" and discuss why Mowat might have chosen it for the title of his novel.  Can you think of a better title?

 

Chapter Twenty-Four--The World We Lost

  1. What message does Ootek have for Mowat when he bursts into the cabin.
  2. Why were the police have difficulty locating Mowat?
  3. What was the rumour circulating in Churchill about Farley Mowat?
  4. What were the four green lights that Mowat saw in the tunnel?
  5. According to Farley Mowat, what causes his irrational rage?
  6. What does the Mowat mean when he states that we have chosen the "alien" world.

Vocabulary: dither, void, inquisitive, bogy, sleuthing,irrational, appalled, cowering, apparition, alien

Enrichment: Watch the movie, Never Cry Wolf.  Explain the differences and similarities between the movie and the book.

Prepare 15 to 20 questions for a small test to evaluate other students by determining how well they have understood the novel.

 

Epilogue

  1. What ideas does the epilogue reinforce?
A great site for gathering information on the wolf.

Good selection of wolf pictures.

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Copyright 2000

Created by Brian Thornton, Capo Creations, Box 1411, Haileybury, Ontario, CANADA. POJ 1KO

Not to be used or copied in any manner without specific written consent of the publisher All Rights Reserved

Click here for a complete list of the novels