In a previous lesson, you read the first twenty-five pages or so in Julie of the Wolves. You may have noticed that the novel, while focused on the fictional story of Miyax, also delivers many facts about wolves and wolf behavior. You probably recognized some of those facts in the Gray Wolf fact sheet you read earlier in this lesson. Indeed, fictional stories--especially novels--can be full of facts. Some novelists perform enough research about a story's setting, conflict, or characters to become experts on a topic.

Of course, a fictional story has other goals besides sharing facts. The main purpose of a novel is to entertain readers while encouraging them to see the world from a different point of view for a while. In Julie of the Wolves, that point of view is Miyax's. The book's narrator focuses exclusively on the way Miyax sees things, what she knows and what she learns from her experience. Therefore, any facts that appear in the book are revealed through Miyax's experience, including her thought process as she works through problems.

As you continue reading Part I of Julie of the Wolves, look for facts that you also read in the Gray Wolf fact sheet, and think about how the novel delivers those facts. Also, try to notice how your experience of learning about wolves is different when you read the novel, compared to the fact sheet. Over the next few days, you should read the second third of Part I, Amaroq, the Wolf. If you have the most recent edition of the novel, you should read from page 25 to page 49. If you have a different edition, and Part I is not 70 pages long, figure out how many pages would equal two thirds of Part I, and set that as your goal for today.

As you continue reading the novel, see if you can answer these questions for yourself:

When you finish the reading assignment for this lesson (the second third of Part I), return to this lesson to complete the remaining activities and the lesson quiz.