TEACHER'S GUIDE FOR ANOOKA'S ANSWER
A coming of age story set in the Stone Age
by MARJORIE COWLEY

HOW CAN THIS GUIDE HELP YOU?

1.The CHAPTER BY CHAPTER section is designed to provide opportunities for students to explore some of the information, ideas, and relationships presented in the novel. The questions posed in this section may be used for class discussions or homework assignments.

2.The SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES offer student participation in various projects that have been designed to bring prehistory to life.

3.Throughout this Guide, students are invited to compare the similarities and differences between the prehistoric life presented in the novel with the way we live today.

STORY OUTLINE:

Anooka, a girl approaching adulthood, lives with her clan on the bank of a river. She has never stopped yearning for her mother, who left the clan when Anooka was a little girl. Her relations with her father and sister are troubled, and the person to whom she feels the closest is the shaman of the clan. Anooka discovers a strange kind of mud while walking along the river and finds she has a talent for shaping the clay into small animal figures. Because her actions resemble carving, a practice prohibited to clan women, Anooka is forbidden to make her animals. Increasingly restless and unhappy, she is surprised by a visit from a mysterious and striking woman--her mother--who invites Anooka to share her life as an itinerant healer. Anooka must make a momentous decision: should she stay with her clan or join her mother in order to begin a new life.

PREHISTORIC BACKGROUND:

More than 99% of the four million year-old human span is prehistoric, or before the invention of writing. What we call history begins with the written word, a comparatively recent 5,000 year-old innovation. Anooka's Answer takes place 12,000 years ago, after the great herds of bison, horse, and mammoth that once roamed Europe have dwindled. Long before Anooka was born, her clan had given up the nomadic life to settle by a fish-laden river. Although hunting and gathering still play a role in sustaining the clan, their primary source of food is salmon, believed to be a gift from the animal spirits.

CHAPTER BY CHAPTER SECTION:

The people who lived in the Upper Paleolithic had brains as large as ours and were biologically indistinguishable from us. We can identify with them because we experience the same gratification in exploration, invention, and creation. Of equal importance, we share with Anooka and her people the full range of human emotions, such as longing, loneliness, fear, pride, envy, grief, anger, and joy.

CHAPTER 1: THE LION CUB WAITS

Q: What are Anooka's feelings toward her father?
A: She finds him uncommunicative and without understanding or sympathy for her.

Q: Why is Tor displeased with Anooka when he comes to wake her up?
A: He feels that she has shirked her responsibilities to help with the bearskin; he is also irritated with Anooka's dream of longing for the return of her absent mother.

Q: How does Anooka react to her sister, Nomi?
A: She's envious of Nomi's beauty and skills; she finds her too parental; she resents her easy acceptance of clan ways. She is also aware that Nomi is good to her.

CHAPTER 2: SINGING ON THE RIVERBANK

Q: What is Anooka feeling as she works alone on the bearskin?
A: She feels anger and embarrassment at being left behind on the festive first salmon run of the season.

Q: What is the relationship between Anooka and Durgun?
A: Anooka admires his compassion and understanding; the shaman is sensitive to her unhappiness and admires her strong spirit, although it troubles him.

Q: What does Anooka find out from Durgun's silence?
A: That there must be a reason for his refusal to talk to her.

Q: How does the sudden memory of her mother change Anooka?
A: She becomes more forthright in her attempts to find out the truth about her mother.

CHAPTER 3: BEARS

Q: The Salmon Clan has created a life dependent on the annual arrival of fish to their river. A useful discussion could be centered on the clan's cooperative effort to secure food compared to the way we grow and distribute food today. What can go wrong in providing a steady food source for a community?
A: Anooka's clan would face a serious food shortage if the salmon did not return to their river. Historically, irrigation systems have failed; warfare can prevent planting and harvesting; crops may be destroyed by insects or drought; top soil may become depleted; etc.

Q: Do you think that Anooka's discovery of clay and its uses was a fluke or one based on good observation?
A: She observes the clumsiness of the little bear out on the spit; she notices that the clay hardens; she sees how pliable the clay is as she works with it.

Q: Why is she apprehensive when she's modeling the clay?
A: She knows that the women of the clan are not permitted to carve.

Q: What has Anooka discovered about herself?
A: In clay modeling, she has found something she loves doing.

Q: Have you ever suddenly come upon something that you love doing?
Is it an activity that you have had a natural attitude for or did you work hard to master the skill?
Which trait do you think is more important, persistence or a natural talent?

CHAPTER 4: THE DANCE OF THE SALMON SPIRIT

Q: What are Anooka's feelings when she can't decide if she should eat with the girls or the women or sing with the children or the adults?
A: She is on the verge of womanhood and is unsure of where she belongs; her situation has been made more difficult because there are no other girls her age in the clan.

Q: Throughout human history and world-wide, shamans have played an important role in their groups. Often they were healers, dancers, musicians, and artists. They helped unify their communities by telling or acting out important legends and stories, by being an intermediary between their human society and the world of the spirits, and by officiating at ceremonies. We, too, have authority figures who help guide and hold their groups together. Who are some of these people?
A: Religious leaders; elected political officials; school principals, staff, and student body officers; the executives of important groups, etc.

Q: Ceremony was and is an important element in providing group identity and security. For example, people join in celebrating an important event or person, to grieve, to pray, or to give thanks. Name some of our own ceremonies, both public and private.
A: Graduations, New Year celebrations, birthday parties, weddings, funerals, awards to athletes and actors, Memorial Day parades, presidential inaugurations, baby christenings, family reunions, etc.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITY:

Have groups of students create an "animal spirit" ceremony. The animal chosen should have qualities that have a powerful significance for the group. Consider the strength of bears; the dramatic strikes from the sky by hawks or eagles; the hunting skills and cooperative behavior of wolves and lions. Show how the clan symbolically uses these desirable qualities to reinforce its own group identity. The ceremony could include a flute or drum, dancing or singing, a shaman, and/or the presentation of a creation or "in the beginning" story featuring the animal chosen.

CHAPTER 5: CHEE-BOY

Q: How did the clan try to solve the problems that led to Lulaq's disappearance and the difficulties that followed after she left?
A: They took a vow not to speak of Lulaq or the circumstances of her leaving in the hope that the clan could remain united.

Q: Was this solution satisfactory?
A: There was no consideration given to the possibility that it would be difficult for Anooka to grow up knowing nothing about her mother. Anooka senses that clan members do know the story of Lulaq's disappearance, but will not talk to her about the past.

Q: Why does Durgun break the clan's vow by talking to Anooka about her mother and brother?
A: He tells Anooka the truth because he cannot bear to have her think that she was the cause of her mother's disappearance. His concern for her increases her affection for him.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITY:

By focusing on ancient human patterns and conflicts, we can see more clearly how all of us have developed ways to satisfy common needs and solve common problems.

Divide the entire class into two clans that come together at an annual meeting (called the Gathering in the book) to solve mutual problems or individual disagreements.

Difficulties could range from a dispute over hunting territory to the uneven distribution of other resources, such as water, fish, or flint.

• Discuss what mechanisms are needed to help solve disagreements.
• Does the clan need rules and should these rules be reinforced by threats or penalties?
• Should there be a presiding authority figure or should everyone be a part of the decision making?
• If everyone participates, must they all agree to a joint solution or should the issue be decided by voting?

CHAPTER 6: SISTERS

Q: What is bringing the sisters closer together?
A: Nomi shares her memories of a happy family, which Anooka needs to know was a part of her own early childhood; Nomi speaks to Anooka like a sister, not like a substitute parent.

Tor tells Anooka that she is like her mother in being disrespectful of clan traditions.
Q: What does it feel like to be told that you share an undesirable trait with another person?

Anooka destroys something she loves out of anger.
Q: Do you understand this behavior?
Q: Have you ever done anything similar?

CHAPTER 7: THE SECRET CAVE

Q: Feeling angry and estranged from her father, what does Anooka do?
A: She finds a hidden place and defiantly continues her clay work.

Q: What is she learning as she works with this new material?
A: She patiently solves the various problems related to clay modeling.

Q: What qualities does Anooka bring to her clay work?
A: Persistence, the ability to learn from problems and failures, and an increasing sense of her own ability to create a satisfying, private world for herself.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITY:

Give a small amount of clay to each student and have them model an animal figure and construct a simple story around it. The animal should be a part of Anooka's environment, such as wolf, fox, lion, eagle, hawk, deer, bison, hyena, or salmon. Reference books could be used for drawings or photos of the animals.

CHAPTER 8: INTRUDER

Q: Who would be the likely winner in this battle of conflicting wills between Anooka and her father?
A: Tor not only holds parental authority, but feels he must maintain the traditions of the clan.

In almost every society, there is an ongoing battle between traditionalists who value stability and those who want to try out new ideas or ways.
Q: Can you think of examples from our own lives?

CHAPTER 9: THE TOC CALL

Q: What are Anooka's feelings on seeing her mother again?
A: She feels both anger and longing. In spite of her conflicting emotions, the important life of a healer that her mother offers her is tempting and comes at a time when Anooka feels rejected by her father and sister and is eager for another kind of life.

CHAPTER 10: TELLING NOMI

Q: Why is Anooka surprised and shaken by Nomi's reaction to the news of their mother's return?
A: Believing in Nomi's surface tranquillity and focused on her own feelings, Anooka has had no appreciation for the depth of her sister's own anger and sadness over her mother's abandonment of her.

CHAPTER 11: THE SINGING BOW

Q: When Anooka senses how sick Durgun is, both undergo changes. What are these changes?
A: Anooka decides there should be no more secrets between them. Durgun, moved by her openness and her concern for him, tells her he will decide if working in clay is to be considered carving; if it is not, it would not be prohibited to her.

Listening to Durgun, Anooka begins to understand people who have chosen loneliness; this new perception will help her make decisions in the future.
Q: What are some of the problems or consequences in living without family or close friends?

CHAPTER 12: THE VIGIL

Q: Anooka, yearning to share her sorrow over Durgun, is rebuffed by her father and feels it is useless to try to change him. Have you ever given up, or perhaps persisted, in trying to change a person's behavior?

Q: If you've been able to bring about desired changes in someone else, why do you think you were you able to succeed?

Q: Have you ever tried to change your own behavior? Were you successful?

CHAPTER 13: TRANSFORMATIONS

Three transformations take place in this chapter: clay hardens through firing; Durgun moves from life to death; Tor gives up his role as a controlling father and abruptly gives Anooka her freedom.
Q: Have you ever had something happen in your life that transformed or profoundly changed it?

Q: When Anooka discovers that clay has hardened in her cave hearth, what does she do?
A: She immediately perceives that there is a possibility that the bear she angrily threw in the fire has also hardened.

CHAPTER 14: PREPARATIONS

Instead of feeling victorious, Anooka is filled with apprehension when her father gives her the freedom to go to her mother.
Q: Have you ever wanted permission to do something, then found that you were not certain that you had the competence to do it? If you've ever been on your own and far from home, how did it make you feel?

CHAPTER 15 & 16: NIGHT CREATURE and CIRCLE OF FIRE

Q: How do you think Anooka manages when the journey begins and she faces a world of challenges new to her?
A: She uses her clay wolf pup for comfort; she sings to keep up her pace; she tries to become familiar with her spear; she manages to light a fire in the rain; when threatened by the lion, she gathers wood and forms a circle of fires; she keeps her fires burning through the night; she does not panic as the lion comes close, but takes up arms to defend herself.

CHAPTER 17: TRACKING

In helping her father bring down the lion, Anooka demonstrates courage that she wasn't sure she possessed.
Q: Have you ever been braver than you thought you'd be? Have you ever been less brave?

Q: What is the message that Anooka silently takes in when her father tells her that the old, sick lion was without his 'clan' and had trouble coping on his own?
A: Many creatures, especially those old and infirm, need a group for support and usually do poorly without it.

CHAPTER 18: COMING CLOSER

Q: How does the relationship between Anooka and her father change?
A: Tor becomes more open with Anooka, who listens and tries to understand his feelings; she assumes new responsibilities without being asked; Tor gives her the lion's tooth in appreciation for her courage.

CHAPTER 19: THE FORK IN THE RIVER

Anooka is dazzled by her mother's bow and arrow, a weapon she has never seen before.
Q: What are other weapons invented later that increase the safety of the hunter or combatant?
A: Cannons, guns, dynamite, bombs, land mines, missiles, etc.

Because we pride ourselves on our advanced technology, we are apt to judge other people without it as inferior. Bear in mind that in most societies, significant inventions are made by a only a few people, and then they are used by many. Who in this class can make or repair a bike, a microwave, or a computer?

CHAPTER 20: ANOOKA'S ANSWER

Q: Anooka makes her answer to her mother's invitation. Why do you think she decides not to go with her?
A: Her mother refuses to discuss or apologize for the abandonment of her family. Although Anooka recognizes her mother's skills, courage, and the determination it took to start a new life as a healer, she sees that her mother has left the tender part of herself behind. Anooka feels she is being manipulated into caring for her mother in her old age when her mother did not care for her when she was a child.

Q: What could be an indication of Anooka's new maturity?
A: In spite of her unmet needs and disappointment, Anooka is able to feel both admiration and compassion for her mother.

CHAPTER 21: AWAKENING

Q: What has Anooka gained from her experiences?
A: She's more competent in taking care of herself; she looks forward to deeper relationships with her family and clan; she has come to accept both her father and mother for who they are regardless of who she might want them to be.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Q: What are some of the advantages in using a bow and arrow?
A: The new weapon has greater range and power; the hunter no longer needs great strength to be successful; with a quiver full of arrows, the hunter has many chances of bringing down prey.

Q: Are "natural" healing remedies worth investigating?
A: Drug companies spend a great deal of effort and money trying to determine if herbal medicines are useful.

Q: Do you think it be would be difficult for a clan member to live the way we do today?