Hatchet by Gary Poulson Study Guide
by Barbara Stanners
Hatchet
by Gary Poulson
Study Guide Student Worksheets 1. Plot Outline
3
2. Study guide and Wildlife Experience Sheets
4
3. Language /Vocabulary Worksheets
23
5. Extension Activities
26
Teaching Notes 1. Author
33
2. Context
35
3. Plot Summary and Evaluation
36
5. Setting
62
6. Character Analysis
64
7. Themes
68
8. Language Techniques
71
9. Vocabulary Extension answers
77
PLOT OUTLINE
He thinks about his parents’ recent divorce and "The Secret" of his mother’s affair.
Brian must fly and somehow land the plane by himself.
He crash-lands in the lake but is not too badly injured.
He finds some strange berries to eat, which make him extremely sick. Brian constructs a shelter and a porcupine enters during the night and injures him with its quills.
Brian (13) flies to the Canadian wilderness to visit his father.
The pilot suffers a massive heart attack and dies. The transmitter dies and Brian realises that he is running out of fuel. He has nothing but the clothes he is wearing and the hatchet hanging from his belt. He then finds a raspberry patch, where he spots a bear.
He eventually learns how to create fire.
He finds some turtle eggs and eats them. A plane flies overhead but does not see him. He learns to catch fish and has a feast.
Brian is so depressed he contemplates suicide and harms himself with his hatchet. He is almost blinded by a skunk that sprays his eyes.
He eats his first meat when he catches a ‘fool-bird’.
He is attacked and injured by a rogue moose.
A freak tornado destroys his shelter. Brian builds a raft to go out to the plane. Almost loses the hatchet but manages to find it. Tries to get the radio transmitter to work but it appears broken. A sea plane lands during his meal.
Storm reveals the plane’s tail out in the lake. Manages to retrieve the survival pack from the plane. Gets his supplies back to shore, including food and a transmitter. Cooks himself a meal from the food in the survival pack. A seaplane arrives and he is rescued.
Hatchet Study Guide Chapter 1 “…all of it so fast, so incredibly fast…” 1. What stops Brian from being excited about this first trip in a plane? 2. What impression is the author trying to create about the setting with descriptions such as; “endless green northern wilderness”? Find pictures that fit the descriptions given. 3. List the indications that the reader is given that the pilot is suffering the symptoms of a heart attack. 4. Brian’s personality is indicated by his actions, conversation and thoughts. What first impressions are given? 5. Language techniques have been skilfully used by Paulsen to ‘hook’ the reader’s interest. Comment on the effectiveness of the following examples from this chapter: Detailed description-“engine was so loud, so roaring and consuming and loud, that it ruined any chance of conversation” Rhetorical style – self talking-‘what was it? – Jim or Jake or something’ ---‘There had been the initial excitement, of course.” Vivid vocabulary- “clawed”, “jerking”, “drone” Figurative language Simile: “a jolt took him like a hammer blow” Metaphorical descriptions- “sliding on the wind currents”, “sea of green trees”, “ocean of trees and lakes”. Personification: “The plane clawed for altitude” Hypberbole: “ All was stopped.” Vocabulary and Spelling: slewed, banked, lurched, wincing, grimacing, stricken
Chapter 2 “Nothing could help him now…He felt like a prisoner..” 1. Itemise the main events that occur in this chapter. 2. Describe Brian’s immediate reaction to realising that the pilot was dead and that he was alone in all senses of the word. 3. How does the author allow us to understand the thoughts and feelings that are going through Brian? What methods are used to allow us into Brian’s mind? 4. Find one section in the chapter where this identification with the main character is well done. Comment on why you found it so effective as a way of allowing the reader to connect with the protagonist. 5. What does this chapter tell us about Brian’s personality? How do his actions and reactions flesh out his character for us? 6. Does Paulsen make the events in this chapter seem lifelike? Explain your response by using quotes from the chapter as support. Vocabulary and Spelling: turbulence, ultimately, mocking, static, hurtling, visualise
Chapter 3
“The plane, committed now to landing, to crashing fell into the wide place like a stone, and Brian eased back on the wheel and braced himself for the crash.” 1.
This chapter is characterised by events that happen rapidly. Itemise the key things that occur. Why do you think Paulsen kept this chapter so short? What does he achieve by doing this? There are no thoughts of the divorce, his mother or father or anyone else in this chapter. Why not? Paulsen’s language is very descriptive. Find ten words that are particularly effective in describing the situation. Give their dictionary meanings and comment on the impression they make on the reader.
2. 3. 4.
Vocabulary and Spelling: glide, glittering, desperately, wallow, wrenching, spiralling,
Chapter 4 “I would have been destroyed and torn and smashed.” 1.
Why do you think Paulsen begins the chapter with a flashback? What impact is created? What important piece of information is given? Comment on the way memory is described in the first section of the chapter. What do you think the author is trying to emphasise? How are we made to realise the physical injuries that Brian has suffered? What does Paulsen mean by the phrase “haze-world”? What are the major physical drawbacks that Brian faces? We are given quite a lot of detailed information about the physical setting. What sort of place does Brian seem to be in? Use quotes from the chapter to support your comments and observations. What impact does the beaver have on Brian? What is the impact of using onomatopoeia such as, “Hisses and blurps…hum of insects, splashes from the fish jumping” in the final section of this chapter?
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Vocabulary and Spelling: clump, mumbled, keening, mound, clammy, remnants, battered, abating, smeared, ripples, whine,
Journal Response – Choose one of the following: • • •
Put yourself in Brian’s position and comment on how well you think you would have coped. What makes the opening chapters of the book so exciting? Predict what you think might happen next.
Wildlife Experience Worksheet ~ Canadian Beavers
Brian identifies a beaver by seeing something moving through the water near the edge of the lake. While he has not seen one in the wild before, he recognises it from something he had seen in films. The presence of beavers in the wild can be identified by the beaver lodge that it builds which is usually conical in shape constructed out of sticks and mud.
Beaver Characteristics: • • • • • • • • • • • •
It prefers wilderness habitats that are heavily forested with permanent water. It is the largest North American rodent, weighing in at up to 27 kilos. It has a chunky body which is darkly coloured with a large, flat, scaly paddle- like tail that can be about 6 inches in width. It has waterproof fur making it ideal for the water and the extreme cold of the Canadian wilderness. It has large webbed feet that make it an excellent swimmer as well as powerful hind muscles that allow it to drag heavy loads. It has huge front teeth that keep growing throughout its life and this allows it to chew through sticks and fell small trees. Beavers are vegetarian in diet, eating a range of buds, roots and the bark of a various tree species such as aspen and willow. Food is often stored back at the beaver lodge, especially for the winter. They are mainly nocturnal creatures but they can occasionally be seen early mornings or evenings when Brian spots one. They typically live in colonies of mixed age groups of 6-8. They are renowned for their ability to modify their environment by damming waterways with their lodges which are made up of small sections of sticks and trees meshed together with mud. Their young are called kits and the nesting chamber is constructed above the waterline, even though the entrance to the lodge is underwater.