Chapter 10 and 11/12 Contrast - Old Brian vs New Brian

1) In Chapter 10, Brian refers to himself as a "City Boy".  Even though he's really hungry he is still thinking that eating bugs and raw eggs is kind of gross.  Even though there is no one around him to see or judge him, he is still concerned about what he looks like.  And when he sees the turtle tracks in the sand he thinks about the animal as playing in the sand even though he knows that animals are normally working, not playing because they have to to survive.

Contrast this to Chapter 11 and 12 and some of the ways Brian is thinking and acting more "instinctively" or more "primal" instead of such a "city boy".  Give some examples.  How does this attitude of working and thinking change Brian's success?

2) Often the themes in novels fall into one or more of the following categories:
    Man vs Man
    Man vs Nature
    Man vs Himself
Can you give an example of each of these from Hatchet?

3) Brian begins to really think instead of just survive.  He is starting to think creatively and invent tools and strategies.  Describe his thinking as he worked on his spear.

4) At the end of Chapter 12 Brian is back to feeling hopeless.  What happens that shakes the confidence he has been building back to reality? 

Chapter 9 Thinking

Brian makes fire.  Describe what he learns are the most important things to making fire.

Why does Brian say he now has a friend?

What are some of the good things that will now be possible benefits to having fire? See if you can come up with at least 5 benefits.

Chapter 8 Reflection and Connections

1) This book makes me think of a couple of movies right away.  Watch these clips.  have you seen these movies?  What do you think of them? 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUM6YjaJTUU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkShPTH6SnA

What does this book remind you of? (movie, TV show, book etc)

2) Fire. Is Brian going about making a fire in the right way?  How would you do it?

Chapter 6 and 7 Comprehension and Connections

Ok, building a shelter and finding food always looks so easy on Survivor doesn't it.  This is probably more realistic. Don't you think? Do you watch that show ever?  Do you think they really have to "survive" on the show or is it all a set up / fake?

In this chapter Brain looks for food and builds his shelter:
    How do you picture his shelter to look?
    What kind of berries do you think he found?
    What kind of birds do you think those would be that he found? (Hint: there is a CFL team that has this bird as mascot and it is the title of a famous French folk song).

Brian eats too many berries and gets sick.  I know your dying to tell us a story about a time you got sick from eating too much of something or from eating something you shouldn't have. Not too graphic ok?

However, Brian also figures out what to do to get berries more successfully, save them better and not get sick from them.  A real success in survival.

Were you worried about Brian with the bear?  Why do you think it didn't attack him?

Survival Scenario Game

Scenario:

You and your companions have just survived a small plane crash. Both the pilot and co-pilot were killed in the crash. It’s mid-January, and you are in Northern Canada. The daytime temperature is 25 below zero, and the night time temperature is 40 below zero. There is snow on the ground, and the countryside is wooded, with several creeks crisscrossing the area. The nearest town is 20 miles away. You are all dressed in city clothes appropriate for a business meeting. Your group of survivors has managed to salvage the following items:

• A ball of steel wool
• A small axe
• A loaded .45-caliber pistol
• A can of Crisco shortening
• Newspapers (one per person)
• A cigarette lighter (without fluid)
• Extra shirt and pants for each survivor
• 20 X 20 ft. piece of heavy-duty canvas
• A sectional air map made of plastic
• One quart of 100-proof whiskey
• A compass
• Family-size chocolate bars (one per person)

TASK: Rank these items 1-12, with 1 being the most important to survival and 12 being the least important, then we’ll compare them to an expert’s ranking and see how you stack up in survivor skills.

ANSWERS (Rankings): are on this link as well as a scoring tool to find out how you did.  I scored a 32.
The Rankings

Chapter 5 Deeper Thinking

A) Brian starts to realize that the plane crash and his being stranded IS real.  Until know it has felt like a story on the news or a movie.  Think of a story you have seen recently on the news.  What was the story?  How did it make you feel? How can you connect with it? Put yourself in the situation and describe what you would do in the circumstance of the news story.

B) Brian thinks about being rescued.  He is sure that it will happen soon.  Watch the following famous rescue stories and describe how you would feel if this was you or one of your family.
1) Baby Jessica who fell down a well in Texas and was trapped for 58 hours.
Baby Jessica
2) Chilean Miners rescued from a collapsed mine after 69 days.
Miner Rescue

C) Survival.  Brian does not have some of the basic needs for surviving the woods.  He doesn't have food, matches to light a fire, blankets for warmth etc.  What do you think would be the MOST important items for him to have with him in an ideal situation?  Make a Top 10 list.  What does Brian actually have with him that might be useful?

Chapter 4 Connections

Here are some things from Chapter 4 that I'm sure you can connect to in some way.  Tell us a story about one of the following:
1) an injury (Brian is pretty badly beat up from the crash, describe his injuries and one you've had)
2) mosquitos (Brian calls them vampires.. everyone in Saskatchewan has mosquito stories!)
3) noise and silence (the noise of the city vs the quiet of nature or another situation about noise and quiet)
4) the secret (Brian remembers all the details of seeing the man and his mother... what memory do you remember so vividly?)


In a previous post I asked you about what the lake and spot he crashed looks like.  This chapter has quite a bit more detail.  Either describe in words or draw, scan and post a picture of what this spot looks like in your mind.