The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Vocabulary to know

(In order of appearance in the story, going down the left column first, then the right)

Eccentricity Blunderer

Hobo Awkward

Treachery Ancestors

Orchard Striving

Wicked Supremacy

Sag Skulking

Unbridled Moccasins

Fiend Inevitable

Thrash Afoot

Agonizing Eerie

Fierce Chant

Deliberately Menacingly

Slouch Summit

Courier Excel

Gloomy Perplexed

Morose Wretched

Culprit Brute

Combatants Uncanny

Peculiar Lavishly

Virgin snow Vigilant

Famished Ferocity
Questions

About the author

1) What is the author’s real name?

2) When was he born and where?

3) What are the major themes in his literary works?

4) What was his style of writing?

5) What influenced his style of writing?

6) What was his first job?

7) How did he explore America?

8) What event in his life developed into the novels White Fang and The Call of the Wild?

9) What helped his career as a writer?

10) His experiences at sea resulted in another novel. Which one?

About the story

1) What did the men rushing to Canada want to use?

2) What kind of life did Buck have?

3) What was Manuel’s weakness?

4) What did he sell in order to support his weakness?

5) How much does Buck weigh?

6) Where can a dog get hurt the most?

7) Which lesson for life did Buck learn?

8) How much did the Canadian courier pay for Buck?

9) Spitz is not as friendly as he seems. What does he do?

10) Buck sees something for the first time. What is it?

11) What are the people and dogs in Dyle Beach like?

12) What happens to Curly?

13) What does the name So-Leks stand for?

14) How do the dogs keep warm at night?

15) What happens as Spitz and Buck fight over Buck’s sleeping quarters?

16) Why was Perrault chosen for the post of a government courier?

17) The driver does something nice for Buck. What is it and why does he do it?

18) What happens to Dolly?

19) Spits and Buck finally give up their fighting. Why?

20) Dave gets too ill to continue the travel. One of the men does what out of mercy?

21) The lady, Mercedes, is not happy about how the dogs are being treated. She secretly does what?

22) Later on she stops caring about the dogs’ well-being. Why do you think that is?

23) At some point, Buck refuses to go on. Hal is about to club him. What happens?

24) Why do you think John Thornton reacts this way?

25) Life with John brought back what for Buck?

26) But Buck was always afraid that John might do what?
 27) When John was attacked in a bar, what did Buck do?

28) John entered a daring bet, what is it?

29) What was “the call” for Buck?

30) Buck began killing large animals, such as………….?

31) What had happened when he finally returned to John’s camp?

32) The Indian thought of Buck as what?

33) What cut Buck’s ties to humans for good?

34) What became of Buck in the end?

About the Gold Rush

1) When and where did the Gold Rush start?

2) How did it start?
3) What was invented during this time?
4) Another gold rush emerged, where?
5) How much did a glass of water cost during that time?
6) How could people afford to pay that much for water?
7) Which famous author came to California during the gold rush?
8) Did he, too, come for the gold?
TEACHER COPY

Questions

About the author

11) John Griffith Chaney

12) Jan 12, 1876, San Francisco
13) Struggle to survive
14) naturalistic
15) experiences in his life
16) government fish patrol
17) traveling as a hobo on freight trains
18) traveling to the harsh Arctic
19) invention of the modern press
20) The Sea Wolf

About the story

35) Hardy dogs

36) A very happy one, he was “the king” of his farm
37) Gambling in the Chinese lottery
38) Buck
39) 140 pounds
40) On the nose
41) He cannot stand a chance against a man with a club
42) $300
43) He backstabs, steals Buck’s food
44) snow
45) savages
46) he is torn to pieces
47) the angry one
48) they bury themselves in the snow
49) wild huskies attack the camp
50) he was fearless and determined
51) he makes moccasins for Buck out of the tip of his shows
52) she goes crazy
53) buck establishes himself as the superior dog
54) shoots him
55) she sneaks them extra food
 56) this is an opinion, answers may vary; the harsh travel conditions made her harden her heart
57) John Thornton attacks Hal

58) He values the life of dogs (opinion, answers may vary)

59) happiness

60) desert him

61) he rips the attacker’s throat open

62) that Buck can pull 1,000 pounds

63) to return to the wild and join his ancestors, the wolves

64) bear, moose

65) Indians had attacked

66) An evil spirit

67) John’s death

68) He became the leader of a wolf pack

About the Gold Rush

9) California, mid 19th century

10) A man named John Sutter immigrated in order to set up agriculture and he found some gold and
couldn’t keep it a secret
11) Jeans
12) Klondike, Canada
13) $100
14) Miners made $25 - $35 a day, and water was sparse
15) Mark Twain (Huckleberry Finn)
16) No, he came to work as a newspaper reporter