Looking for Alaska

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-10

Reading Check

1. Where is Miles going to boarding school?

2. What is Miles’s roommate gifted at memorizing?

3. What nickname does Chip ask Miles to call him?

4. Which last words does Alaska find interesting?

5. Who is the teacher of World Religions?

6. At the Smoking Hole, what talent does Takumi demonstrate?

7. How many basketball games in a row has the Colonel been kicked out of?

8. Which subject does Alaska tutor friends in at McDonald’s?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What are two reasons Miles goes to the boarding school he chose?

2. Who are the Weekday Warriors, and how are they viewed by the Colonel, Alaska, and Takumi?

3. How did Alaska get her name?

Chapters 11-20

Reading Check

1. What do Miles and his friends get sent to Jury for?

2. Who sets up a date between Miles and Lara?

3. Where does Miles get a concussion?

4. Who floods Alaska’s room?

5. What does Alaska say she thinks the labyrinth is?

6. When snooping in their rooms, what do Alaska and Miles realize the Weekday Warriors value?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. After the triple-and-a-half date, during the rainstorm, how is Alaska acting?

2. When Takumi tells Miles about Alaska ratting out Marya, what does Miles realize?

Paired Resource

“How (and When) to Think Like a Philosopher”

• NPR’s article provides some examples of philosophical thinking and a link to a longer article by Alan Hájek.
• Both articles connect to the theme of Religion and Philosophy.
• How might the ideas offered in the article help Miles complete his final exam for Dr. Hyde?

Chapters 21-30

Reading Check

1. What is the pre-prank called?

2. Who is involved in the pre-prank?

3. What bites Miles during the pre-prank?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why do Alaska and the Colonel plan a pre-prank?

2. What does Alaska reveal about her Worst Day and how it has affected her?

Paired Resource

“Why Friendship Makes Us Healthier”

• The BBC article examines the importance of friendship in our lives.
• The article connects to the theme of Religion and Philosophy.
• How are his new friendships helping Miles?

Chapters 31-40

Reading Check

1. Who dies?

2. What does the Colonel start memorizing?

3. What question does Dr. Hyde leave on the board for the rest of the semester?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why do Miles and the Colonel feel guilty?

2. What are some ways Miles and the Colonel deal with their grief differently?

Paired Resource

“Kelsey Low: How to Transform Grief into Growth”

• In this 8-minute Ted Talk, Kelsey Low explores how loss led to her growth.
• Theme connections include Guilt and Forgiveness and Religion and Philosophy.
• What advice do you think the speaker would give Miles and the Colonel as they face their grief?

Chapters 41-50

Reading Check

1. Why are Miles and the Colonel avoiding Takumi?

2. Whom does the Colonel call to try to get more answers about Alaska’s death?

3. Where do the Colonel, Takumi, and Miles decide Alaska was NOT going on the night she died?

4. Whom does Takumi convince Miles to stop avoiding?

5. What does Miles believe Alaska was doodling right before she got so upset the night of her death?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How is Takumi facing his grief?

2. Why is the ritual the friends complete to honor Alaska important to Miles?

Paired Resource

“Grief for Beginners: 5 Things to Know about Processing Loss”

• This link offers a 20-minute audio and a shorter article from NPR about suggestions for facing grief.
• Theme connections include Guilt and Forgiveness, Friendship and Loyalty, and Religion and Philosophy.
• Which of the strategies here do Miles, Takumi, the Colonel, and Lara act on or not act on?

“The Greatest Philosopher You’ve Never Heard of”

• NPR’s article examines 13th-century philosopher Eihei Dogen.
• Theme connections include Guilt and Forgiveness and Religion and Philosophy.
• How do Dogen’s ideas connect to Miles’s year at Culver Creek?

Chapters 51-58

Reading Check

1. Whom does Miles give credit for the Speaker Day prank?

2. After visiting the crash site where Alaska died months ago, what do Miles and the Colonel do?

3. When does Takumi leave the note for Miles and the Colonel?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does the Eagle react to the Speaker Day prank?

2. What is the meaning behind the white flowers?

3. Why did Takumi wait so long to tell Miles and the Colonel he saw Alaska the night she died?

Recommended Next Reads 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

• Hazel and Augustus meet at a support group for teenagers facing cancer. As they get to know each other, they must decide if true love is worth the pain if the other person dies.
• The book connects to the themes of Guilt and Forgiveness, Friendship and Loyalty, and Religion and Philosophy.
• Shared topics include growing up, death and loss, love, identity, and new experiences.
• The Fault in Our Stars on SuperSummary

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

• Simon begins exchanging online letters with a boy he only knows as Blue. When he is blackmailed and then outed, he discovers whom he can trust and decides what he wants his next steps to be.
• The book connects to the themes of Guilt and Forgiveness and Friendship and Loyalty.
• Shared topics include growing up, love, friendship, school, and identity.
• Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda on SuperSummary