A Wolf Called Wander

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

Discovering Your Own Wander

In this activity, students will learn more about their hometown’s local ecology, while also flexing their creative writing muscles in finding their own OR-7-like inspiration from local wildlife.

Rosanne Parry first got the idea for A Wolf Called Wander when she read about the incredible real-life story of OR-7, the lone wolf who traveled over 1,000 miles as he made his way from Oregon to Northern California.

In this activity, taking inspiration from authors like Parry, you will write your own short story based on a local animal in your area, while at the same time learning more about the flora and fauna of your neighborhood and the surrounding region:

• Research. Begin by researching the local wildlife in your area, jotting down a list of animals that strike your interest. In your notes, observe some of your animals’ unique characteristics and traits. Review your list, and then choose one animal to be your focus of your story.
• Sketch an outline for your story. Set out to write a 2-page story based around your animal. Be sure that your story has a clear beginning, middle, and end. Additionally, be sure to answer the following questions: What is the conflict your animal is experiencing? What is the setting? Who does your animal meet in this encounter?
• And now—write! As with A Wolf Called Wander, write from the first-person perspective of your chosen animal. Compose a 2-page story that gives a voice—and feelings—to the animal of your choosing.

Go around the room and share your story with the class. Did you learn anything unusual or interesting about your hometown wildlife? Did you find supporting relationships, as with Wander’s relationship with the raven, that they were previously unaware of? Finally, based on your research, talk about if it’s inspired you, as it did with Parry, to take a greater part in conservation efforts toward wildlife in the region.

Teaching Suggestion: For students needing some guidance on how to compose short stories, you may want to have them read MasterClass’s “How to Write a Short Story in 5 Steps: Writing Tips for Great Story Ideas.” Students may also want inspiration from other stories, even beyond A Wolf Called Wander, when it comes to writing from an animal’s POV; if so, encourage them to check out this list of other Stories Told from the POV of Animals, as compiled by the Oakville Public Library. A bonus add-on for this activity—especially if your students’ are artistically inclined—would be to have students draw an accompanying illustration for their short story, to further parallel their story with A Wolf Called Wander.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. The Wolf Star is an important motif that appears throughout A Wolf Called Wander.

• What is the significance of the Wolf Star? (topic sentence)
• Reflect upon who introduces it, along with the various contexts in which it appears in the text. What does it represent?
• In your conclusion, explore how the Wolf Star helps illustrates the relationships that the wolves in the story establish to find their Identity in the Context of the Natural World.

2. Death is an ever-present threat, both to Wander himself and to his loved ones.

• How is death presented in A Wolf Called Wander? (topic sentence)
• Reflect upon Wander’s beliefs around death and dying. How do his ideas about death differentiate between the deaths of his family members and his own need to kill? Analyze how the different deaths affect him in the novel.
• In your conclusion, explain how Wander’s unique coming-of-age narrative is impacted by the harsh realities of death in the natural world.

3. The forest fire in Chapter 9 means Wander must rely on wisdom and quick-thinking to survive.

• How does Wander summon the strength to survive the fire? What is his initial reaction to the fire? (topic sentence)
• What are the strategies he utilizes to stay safe? Examine no fewer than 3 strategies Wander deploys, and discuss the origins of those strategies.
• In your conclusion, describe how a combination of Wander’s knowledge from his family, alongside knowledge he’s acquired by observing the natural world, equips him with the resourcefulness needed to survive the fire.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by textual details, and a conclusion.

1. Contrast the relationship between Wander and Sharp with the relationship between Wander and Warm. What do these early relationships between young wolf pups say about the personality, temperament, and instinct in wolf pups in general? Cite at least 3 examples in the text of how these early traits manifest as the young wolves, and then trace their evolution as they begin to grow older. Which traits are consistent in Wander to the end of the novel, and how does his perspective change because of his interactions with his siblings? In your conclusion, explore how Wander’s relationship with his siblings helps establish the theme of Identity Within the Context of the Family.

2. In Chapter 16, Wander observes the lead stallion of a group of wild horses interacting with his family, causing him to be overcome with emotion and a sense of kinship with the stallion. What characteristics do wolf packs and horse herds share? How are they different? By comparing these two species as portrayed in the narrative, consider why Wander identifies so strongly with these creatures. In your conclusion, explain how both wolves and horses seem to form their Identity Within the Context of the Family.

3. When Wander and Night have their first true, in-depth meeting, it is different than Wander imagined it would be. What are the ways in which the meeting differs from what Wander expected? How does he eventually come to appreciate Night’s fierceness and assertiveness as an asset to their partnership rather than as a threat to his authority? In your conclusion, reflect upon how Wander’s discovery—and acceptance—of Night’s true nature is an important moment in The Coming-of-Age Narrative.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following literary devices is deployed most often in A Wolf Called Wander?

A) Irony

B) Anthropomorphism

C) Onomatopoeia

D) Euphemism

2. What is the object that Wander refers to as a “noisemaker”?

A) A car

B) A firecracker

C) A human

D) A rattlesnake

3. When Father is killed by a rival wolf pack in Chapter 4, what are his last words?

A) “Stay with the pack.”

B) “Survive by any means necessary.”

C) “Carry on.”

D) “Don’t forget me.”

4. How does Wander’s relationship to his older brother Sharp foreshadow how Wander will behave in the wilderness, when he’s separated from the pack?

A) The fact that Wander feels a tight bond with Sharp, despite their differences, foreshadows how Wander will make all sorts of friends in the wilderness.

B) The fact that Wander doesn’t simply accept being subordinate to Sharp foreshadows the inner fortitude that will allow Wander to make his way through the wilderness.

C) The fact that Wander looks up to his brother Sharp foreshadows how one day Wander will assume the role of pack leader.

D) The fact that Wander gets unnecessarily angry at Sharp foreshadows their eventual split when Wander is cast out into the wilderness.

5. Which of the following statements best paraphrase Mother’s advice about men, which Wander recalls in Chapter 12 as he stands over the body of a dead deer?

A) Mankind is a vicious species.

B) Wolves have no need to fear men.

C) Stay away from men, and they’ll stay away from you.

D) There’s no understanding the actions of men.

6. What is the correct order of events?

A) Warm passes away, Wander spies Night for the first time, Wander says goodbye to his raven companion.

B) Wander spies Night for the first time, Wander says goodbye to his raven companion, Warm passes away.

C) Warm passes away, Wander says goodbye to his raven companion, Wander spies Night for the first time.

D) Wander says goodbye to his raven companion, Warm passes away, Wander spies Night for the first time.

7. What does Wander refer to as a “lightning stick”?

A) A flashlight

B) A torch

C) A firefly

D) A firearm

8. Which of the following is the strongest example of the theme of Identity Within the Context of the Family?

A) How Wander’s Mother has spent all her life in Oregon

B) How Wander finds himself by actively rejecting his family to become a rebel “lone wolf”

C) How Wander’s initial name, Swift, refers to his role within the wolf pack

D) How before Wander’s father died, he instructed him to always be true to himself

9. What surprises Wander about the “almost-wolf”?

A) The easy way he can understand its language.

B) The easy way it can track the smell of sheep.

C) The way it wants to escape with him.

D) The way it runs toward the man.

10. Which of the following is not an example of an undesirable animal for Wander to consume?

A) A rattlesnake

B) A human’s pet

C) A calf

D) A bear

11. Which of the following adjectives best encapsulates the spirit of Warm?

A) Loyal, affectionate

B) Unstable, wild

C) Timid, embarrassed

D) Big, bold

12. Which relationship in the narrative is the strongest example of an unexpectedly symbiotic relationship?

A) Wander and the “almost-wolf”

B) Mother and Father

C) Wander and the raven

D) Warm and Growl

13. Which of the following is the symbol of human encroachment into wild spaces?

A) The Wolf Star

B) The raven

C) The black river

D) The stallion

14. What does Night help Wander understand about his own parents’ relationship?

A) That their relationship was successful partially because it was based on equality

B) That they never truly loved one another

C) That Mother often was controlling over Father

D) That their relationship was made stronger once they had pups

15. What activity do Night and Wander do together in Chapter 20, which helps strengthen and solidify their bond?

A) They mark a scent “fence” around their den.

B) They howl at the moon.

C) They nuzzle by the fireside.

D) They hunt an elk together and share it as a meal.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating textual details to support your response.

1.  Even as pups in the den, the wolves’ future roles in their pack already begin to emerge in Chapters 1-5. What are some examples of this in the text, and how do the pups’ roles speak to larger themes in the book?

2. Why does Wander make the decision to lead the cougar away from the horses in Chapter 16? What does this say about Wander’s character, in terms of his evolution?