Song for a Whale

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

Multiple Choice

1. Why does Iris feel compassion for Blue 55?

A) Like the whale, she was born of parents from two worlds—one Deaf, one hearing.

B) She knows what it is like to be surrounded by people who do not understand her.

C) She understands Blue 55’s lack of effective communication with Mara.

D) She does not want the whale to be alone in the ocean.

2. How do people who are Deaf rhyme?

A) Through repetitive sounds

B) Through similar vibrations

C) Through repeated frequencies

D) Through repetitive hand signals

3. Why does Iris feel some resentment toward her father?

A) He never learned to effectively communicate using sign language.

B) He does not realize the importance of Blue 55.

C) Her father never learned to communicate with her grandparents.

D) He lacks perspective in understanding her.

4. Which best describes how Iris feels in her hearing school?

A) Inspired

B) Hopeful

C) Isolated

D) Desperate

5. Why might Wendell feel more belonging and connection than Iris?

A) His family is fluent in sign language, and he attends a Deaf school.

B) He is able to communicate verbally, and Iris is not.

C) He can hear and can communicate with both worlds.

D) He is better at communicating in sign language because his parents are Deaf.

6. Which of the following best illustrates the novel’s theme of The Gap Between the Deaf and Hearing Worlds?

A) Iris’s family does not understand her obsession with old radios.

B) Her family does not recognize her need to meet Blue 55.

C) Nina attempts to communicate but only Iris knows it is nonsensical.

D) Iris is unable to make friends on the cruise ship.

7. What connection does Iris draw between the radios she fixes and her own life?

A) Like the radios, she feels that she is worth listening to.

B) She feels she is old-fashioned but still useful, just like the radios.

C) She considers radio communication, like sign language, to be particularly effective.

D) She thinks the radios, like herself, are used and then discarded as unwanted.

8. How does Iris’s character develop over the course of the novel?

A) She learns to open up to others about her frustrations in the hearing world.

B) She shifts from autonomy to trusting others with her goals.

C) She starts to communicate more effectively with those around her.

D) She finally begins to make friends with other children.

9. What do Iris’s necklaces symbolize in the novel?

A) Memories of her grandfather.

B) The direction she needs to take.

C) The items she keeps close to her heart.

D) Her desire to meet Blue 55.

10. Why does Iris experience isolation?

A) She does not know how to communicate well in the Deaf world.

B) She is unable to communicate with those in the hearing world.

C) She cannot fully communicate in either the Deaf or hearing worlds.

D) She has a particular accent associated with her sign language.

11. Which of the following is an example of Iris’s new acceptance of imperfect communication?

A) She decides to attend the Deaf school even though she does not understand everything they say.

B) She is willing to laugh with Bennie when she mistakenly signs something unintelligible.

C) She accepts Wendell’s teasing about her own signing being slower.

D) She forgives Nina for making mistakes because she makes them too.

12. What do vibrations symbolize in the novel?

A) Blue 55’s inability to communicate.

B) Iris’s frustration with the hearing world.

C) The passion Iris feels for Blue 55.

D) Iris’s ability to connect with others.

13. What does Iris’s experience with Blue 55 inspire her to do?

A) Advocate for herself and her best interests.

B) Encourage her grandmother to do things that will make her happy.

C) Forgive Nina for her failed attempts at communication.

D) Reach out of her comfort zone to find friends.

14. Why might Iris have difficulty depending on others at the beginning of the novel?

A) Her parents often fail to understand what she is communicating.

B) Her teachers often mistreat her.

C) Some in the hearing community have proven to be untrustworthy.

D) She believes only Blue 55 really understands her.

15. What factor harms Iris’s ability to communicate and fit in?

A) Nina often misrepresents Iris’s intentions and needs at school.

B) She is not permitted to attend school with people who are Deaf.

C) Iris’s grandmother takes her to Alaska without parental consent.

D) Tristan does not listen to her when she advises him.

Long Answer

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

1. Iris’s father expresses regret that Iris is unable to hear the whales. She responds in the novel by saying she “could hear the whales, just not in the same way he did.” What is being communicated about Iris’s father? How does it relate to the novel’s theme of The Gap Between the Deaf and Hearing Worlds?

2. What is the role of technology in Song for a Whale? How do the characters use technology to communicate and solve problems?