IMPORTANT: Comprehension questions will be in chronological order as you read through the story. Page numbers are approximate, and will vary with different editions of the book.
Section 1: Chapters 1 – 7
Vocabulary
- alliance: a union or association formed for mutual benefit, especially between countries or organizations; a relationship based on shared interests.
- emissary: a person sent on a special mission, usually as a diplomatic representative
- hail: to call out (to someone) to attract attention
- justice: just behavior or treatment; the administration of law
- oration: a formal speech, especially one given on a ceremonial occasion
- rabble: a disorderly crowd, mob
Vocabulary Usage in the Book
- Some joined his great alliance willingly. (Ch. pg. 4)
- Rawhunt is the perfect emissary.(Ch. 3, pg. 24)
- Whenever the thunder sticks roared, they shot out a hail of small stones that made terrible wounds when they struck a person. (Ch. 1, pg. 3)
- But he was not done with his words about my father’s justice. (Ch. 1, pg. 8)
- An oration was made why Captain Smith was not to be admitted of the council as the rest. (Ch. 6, pg. 39)
- Long shall I remember how when a Mediterranean storm came upon us, the rabble of pilgrims of diverse nations going to Rome cursed both by myself and our dead sovereign Queen Elizabeth. (Ch. 2, pg. 10-11)
Comprehension Questions
- The Outsiders first take Young Deer to Kew-ba, and then to their home (Spain). (Ch. 1, pg. 3)
- When the Rappahnnock man picks up the Songleesuk tool, the Great Man kills the man. Then the other Coatmen burn the town, kill some of the people and take others captive before sailing away. (Ch. 1, pg. 5)
- On April 10th, 1606, King James I granted a patent for The London Company to settle in Virginia. (Ch. 2, pg. 10)
- The first planter to arrive in Virginia came on three ships: The Susan Constant, captained by Christopher Newport, The Godspeed, captained by Bartholomew Gosnoll and The Discovery captained by John Ratliffe. (Ch. 2, pg. 11)
- John Smith’s motto, “Vincere est vivere,” means, “To conquer is to live.” (Ch. 2, pg. 14)
- When John Smith sneeks up on his enemies at the gallows he overhears them plotting to do away with him. (Ch. 2, pg. 18)
- Freshly painted, dressed in her finery Pocahontas planned to present herself to the new Tassantassuk by singing and dancing a welcome song. (Ch. 3, pg. 23)
- John Smith describes the eagerness of Captain Newport’s landing party as being like seeing sight of home and family left behind. (Ch. 4, pg. 26)
- As the landing party prepares to return to their ship they are attacked by the “naturals” – the native peoples armed with bows and arrows. (Ch. 4, pg. 28)
- Rawhunt describes “those Tassantassuk,” like the wind from the ocean, unpredictable, one minute warm and fair, the next stormy. (Ch. 5, pg. 33)
- Uhomatomakkin’s prophecy was that a nation would rise from the Great Salt Water Bay that would tear apart and bring to an end all that the Mamanatowic has made. (Ch. 5, pg. 34)
- The purpose of three boxes was to ensure that there were three copies of the name of those men appointed to the council that was to govern the new colony. (Ch. 6, pgs. 38-39)
- The planters name their plantation James Fort. (Ch. 6, pg. 40)
- After being deeply offended Wowinchopunck orders his men to take back the deer that they had brought in friendship to the planters and to walk away. (Ch. 7, pg. 43)
Section 2: Chapters 8 – 14
Vocabulary
- ballast: heavy material, such as gravel, sand, iron or lead, placed low in a vessel to improve stability
- hornet: a large stinging wasp that typically nests in hollow trees
- ignorant: lacking knowledge or awareness; uneducated or unsophisticated
- skirmish: an episode of irregular or unpremeditated fighting; a short argument
- sturgeon: a very large primitive fish with bony plates on its body
- warrant: a document issued by a legal or government official authorizing the police or some other body to make an arrest or search of premises
Vocabulary Usage in the Book
- Little did we know then that our false gold was but antimony and those rocks worth no more than the weight of ballast. (Ch. 10, pg. 62)
- The Coatmen had been wandering around like foolish children shoving sticks at the nests of hornets. (Ch. 9, pg. 56)
- I think that although they are Outsiders, they are still human beings like ourselves, even if they are ignorant and foolish, (Ch. 13, pg. 74)
- The salvages, a valiant people, came up almost into the fort, and shot through the tents in this skirmish which endured hot about an hour. (Ch. 8, pg. 52)
- There are many branches of this river which run flowing through the woods with great plenty of fish of all kinds; as for sturgeon, all the world cannot be compared to it. (Ch. 8, pg. 46)
- “…I will not yield to your warrants.” (Ch. 14, pg. 80)
Comprehension Questions
- When Paspihae first arrives at the plantation, John Smith describes his body as being painted crimson and powdered with silver ore. (Ch. 8, pg. 47)
- After traveling upriver the first “kingdom” that the planters encounter is the kingdom of Wynauk. (Ch. 8, pg. 50)
- While the exploration party is away 200 naturals along with their king attack the unprepared planters at the fort. (Ch. 8, pg. 51)
- The head of all the priests is named, Uttomatomakkin. (Ch. 9, pg. 54)
- Opposunoquonuske says the Coatmen smell like the black-and-white ones. (Ch. 9, pg. 56)
- John Smith advises that the land around the fort be cleared so that an attacking party has no cover, but the council does not listen. (Ch. 10, pg. 60)
- The gold veins in the rocks turn out to be false (fools) gold. (Ch. 10, pg. 62)
- Rawhunt thinks there are fewer deer in the forest to hunt because there are more people than in the times when Pocahontas’ father was a child. (Ch. 11, pg. 65)
- Pocahontas begins to feel sorry for the Coatmen because they are bad hunters, know very little about growing crops, cannot forage in the forest and have no women to show them the right way. (Ch. 11, pg. 68)
- Fishing day and night would not provide enough food for the hunger of 104 men as the supply was already dwindling. (Ch. 12, pg. 70)
- The president hoards oatmeal, sack, oil, aqua vitae, beef and eggs. (Ch. 12, pg. 71)
- Pocahontas “sees” herself walking with the Coatmen in the future. (Ch. 13, pg. 75)
- When the breeze changes Pocahontas can smell salt marsh, rotting grass, dead fish and the rank odor of the Coatmen and their filthy clothes. (Ch. 13, pg. 77)
- On the two and twentieth day of August, Captain Bartholomew Gosnoll, the best man on the council dies. (Ch. 14, pg. 81)
Section 3: Chapters 15 – 21
Vocabulary
- conceits: excessive pride in oneself
- medicine: the science or practice of the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease
- pinnace: a small boat, with sails or oars, forming part of the equipment of a warship or other large vessel
- righteous: person who shows moral, right conduct
- stockade: an enclosure bound by a barrier formed from upright wooden posts
- victuals: food or provisions, typically as prepared for consumption
Vocabulary Usage in the Book
- God, the absolute disperser of all hearts, then altered their conceits. (Ch. 20, pg. 106)
- Also, those Coatmen do not seem to have any hunting medicine.(Ch. 21, pg. 114)
- I was committed to a sergeant and sent to the pinnace, but I was answered with if they did me wrong they must answer it. (Ch. 18, pg. 95)
- He then wiped something which looked much like a bit of conserve from his mouth and continued his righteous discourse. (Ch. 16, pg. 89)
- “They lived inside the walls of their stockade in holes dug into the ground, like woodchucks.” (Ch. 19, pg. 100)
- It pleased God after a while to send those people who were our mortal enemies to relieve us with victuals, as bread, corn, fish, and flesh in great plenty, which was the setting up of our feeble men, otherwise we had all perished. (Ch. 16, pg. 87)
Comprehension Questions
- According to Green Reed it is not hard work to harvest the fields because the whole village works together and many hands make the work light as a feather. (pg. 85)
- Master Wingfield gave Richard Mutton four strokes of the rod across his shoulders. One for each day of his desertion. (Ch. 16, pg. 88)
- On the tenth of September, Smith, Ratliffe and Martin go to the president’s tent with a warrant to depose him as president. (Ch. 16, pg. 90)
- One job that is hard for Pocahontas’ father is to punish those who do not keep their promise. (pg. 92)
- Stealing or taking things and then giving them to Mamanatowic is an honorable deed, worthy of bragging about because he will use the item/s for the good of the people. (pg. 94)
- Captain Martin accuses Wingfield of poor service to the community and of starving his son. (Ch. 18, pg. 97)
- Nauiraus is able to keep a close watch on the Tassantassuk as they often use him as a guide. (Ch. 19, pg. 100)
- When the Coatmen fire their thunder sticks over the heads of the Kecoughtan, the men stop their war song; the men who carried Okeus fell to their knees and others fled. (Ch. 19, pg. 102)
- The new president and Martin turn over all management of the fort to Captain Smith. (Ch. 20, pg. 106)
- In John Smith’s absence, Wingfield and Kendall convince some of the sailors and confederates to take the pinnace that had been fitted for trade and alter her course for England. (Ch. 20, pg. 108)
- Kendall reveals that the Master President has been using a false name, that his real name is Sicklemore. As such he has no authority to pronounce judgement. (Ch. 20, pg. 110)
- When Pocahontas’ father dies she will no longer be the favorite daughter of the Great Chief. She will no longer be Amonute, the favorite one, but simple Pocahontas. (Ch. 21, pg. 112)
- Rawhunt describes the Coatmen’s attempt to hunt deer as foolish. They don’t know where deer can be found, they stumble in the woods as if blind and make more noise than a wounded bear. (Ch. 21, pg. 114)
- Rawhunt says that in order to have a successful hunt now that the deer have become so scarce, they must have a communal hunt. These men must have fires so that the deer can be driven into the circle where they can be killed. (Ch. 21, pg. 116)
Section 4: Chapters 22 – 24
Vocabulary
- conjuration: a magic incantation or spell
- courtier: a person who attends a royal court as a companion
- league: a collection of people, countries, or groups that combine for a particular purpose, typically mutual protection or cooperation
- porcupine: a large rodent with defensive spines or quills on the body and tail
- quagmire: a soft boggy area of land that gives way underfoot
- requital: to respond to in regards to love; to return a favor
Vocabulary Usage in the Book
- This led me to…the king’s habitation at Pamunkee, where they entertained me with the most strange and fearful conjurations… (Ch. 26, pg. 140)
- More than two hundred of those grim courtiers stood wondering at me, as if I had been a monster, till Powhatan and his train had put themselvesin their greatest braveries. (Ch. 26, pg. 142)
- Some come because they are werowansuk in league with my father and they must make plans together or gain his approval for their actions. (Ch. 23, pg. 122)
- There were many who wanted to tie him to a tree and fill him with arrows until he looked like a porcupine. (Ch. 25, pg. 136)
- Minding the salvages more than I did my steps, I stepped fast into the quagmire. (Ch. 24, pg. 130)
- This was, I suppose, in requital of some beads and toys I had given him at my first arrival in Virginia. (Ch. 24, pg. 132)
Comprehension Questions
- The Council wants John Smith to go and discover the head of the Chickahominy River. (Ch. 22, pg. 118)
- John Smith orders Robinson and Emiry to keep watch while he goes to explore the land and to keep their matches lit so that they might be able to fire their guns if he needs to retreat from Indians. (Ch. 22, pg. 120)
- According to the legend of Arakun he is always washing his face and hands in the river to wash off the hot ashes the old woman threw at him. (Ch. 23, pg. 121)
- Mamanatowic believes that his power comes from the bravery of the man and the good minds of the women of the nations. He believes he would not remain in power without their support. (Ch. 23, pg. 123)
- Little Red-Haired Warrior differentiates himself from the Coatmen who were killed because he knows how to fight! (Ch. 23, pg.127)
- When John Smith hears the cries coming from his men who are under attack he assumes his guide, Nauiraus has betrayed him. (Ch. 24, pg. 129)
- Smith gives an ivory compass to the King of Pamaunkee. (Ch.24,pg. 130)
- If a guard falls asleep while guarding the Great Chief, he is beaten as punishment. (Ch.25, pg. 134)
- Pocahontas credits the earth (the quagmire) for the defeat of Little Red-Haired Warrior. (Ch. 25, pg. 135)
- Pocahontas’ uncle and father hope that Little Red-Haired Warrior will understand that it is better to live as they do and that he will join them, give them thunder weapons and help get rid of the useless Tassantassuk. (Ch. 25, pg. 137)
- John Smith tells the King he wants to write a letter to the men at the fort telling them that he has been treated well so that they will not take revenge thinking him dead. (Ch. 26, pg. 139)
- The circle of meal, corn and sticks signify the naturals country, the sea and Smith’s country. The three day ceremony is done to determine if Smith’s intentions are good or bad. (Ch. 6, pg. 141)
- The big lie that John Smith tells the king is that the Coatmen only landed at Chespiock because they had been overpowered in a fight with the Spanish. (Ch. 26, pg. 142)
- As she kneels and hugs John Smith, Pocahontas says, “You are my older brother, I will always be your child.” (Ch. 27, pg. 146)