Island of the Blue Dolphins: Chapter 20–Afterword

by Scott O'Dell
Karana's people have left her behind on the island where she was born. Now she must learn to survive while contending with fearsome wild dogs, an unforgiving landscape, and her own loneliness.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–9, Chapters 10–19, Chapter 20–Afterword
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. league
    an obsolete unit of distance of around 3 miles
    Tall Rock was more than a league from the island and was black and shimmering because it was covered with cormorants.
  2. cormorant
    large, dark-colored, long-necked seabird
    Tall Rock was more than a league from the island and was black and shimmering because it was covered with cormorants.
  3. oblong
    deviating from a shape by being elongated in one direction
    Each one had eyes fashioned of round or oblong disks of abalone shell, but the rest of their faces were blank.
  4. glimpse
    a brief or incomplete view
    I waited a long time for a glimpse of Coral Cove, but finally the sun burned away the fog.
  5. deserted
    forsaken by owner or inhabitants
    The little harbor was deserted.
  6. prow
    the front part of a vessel
    The Aleut ship with its red-beaked prow and red sails had gone.
  7. hobble
    walk unevenly due to pain, injury, or weakness
    Then, because he was not old enough to fly, he began to hobble around the yard.
  8. frisk
    play boisterously
    They frisked around for a while, as I watched them from the brush, and trotted away.
  9. vanquish
    defeat in a competition, race, or conflict
    Slowly the second wave forced the first one backward, rolled slowly over it, and then as a victor drags the vanquished, moved in toward the island.
  10. strew
    spread by scattering
    The sandspit was strewn with hills of kelp.
  11. in vain
    without a successful result or effect
    I thought of Rontu lying there beneath the stones of many colors, and of Won-a-nee, wherever she was, and the little red fox that would scratch in vain at my fence, and my canoe hidden in the cave, and of all the happy days.
  12. occasional
    occurring or appearing at usually irregular intervals
    As the centuries passed, California changed from Spanish to Mexican hands, the Americans arrived, but only occasional hunters visited the island.
  13. restrain
    hold back
    From the reports of Captain Hubbard, whose schooner carried away the Indians of Ghalas-at, we know that the girl did jump into the sea, despite efforts to restrain her.
  14. excavation
    the site of an archeological exploration
    For years historians thought that it had been settled some six centuries ago, but recent carbon-14 tests of excavations on the island show that Indians came here from the north long before the Christian era.
  15. indebted
    owing gratitude to another for help or favors
    In the writing of the Island of the Blue Dolphins, I am deeply indebted to Maude and Delos Lovelace, to Bernice Eastman Johnson of the Southwest Museum, and to Fletcher Carr, formerly curator of the San Diego Museum of Man.
Created on Tue Nov 24 11:15:43 EST 2015 (updated Thu Aug 14 15:54:49 EDT 2025)

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