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Year 8 Short Unit

Hatchet

By Gary Paulsen

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Summary

Brian Robeson, a thirteen year old boy travelling in a small airplane to Canada to spend the summer with his father, is involved in a plane crash in an uninhabited part of the Canadian woods after the pilot dies of a heart attack. Brian then must find a way to survive and in the process, discovers much about himself and becomes a man. One of the motifs within this story is a bildungsroman, or a young boy’s coming of age.

Chapters 1-5 Questions

1. Brian uses his skills of observation to take stock of his surroundings. Record what Brian finds as he checks out his possessions and predict how he might use each one to help him survive.

2. Why is Brian visiting his father in Canada and how does he feel about his mother?

3. What conclusions can you draw about Brian from the actions he takes before the crash?

4. How does the lesson from Brian’s English teacher help Brian?

5. Sometimes Brian’s thoughts go back to an earlier time when he was with his mother. What effect do these breaks have on the story?

6. Are Brian’s reactions to the pilot’s death and the crash realistic?

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Chapters 6-12 Questions

1. As he sets up camp and settles in, Brian uses his hatchet for a variety of purposes and in several different ways. In the left-hand column, write down each way in which Brian uses his hatchet. In the right-hand column, write down what he gained by using it.

2. How did you react to what happens to Brian in these chapters?

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3. Where does Brian find shelter and why does he consider the find lucky?

4. What does Brian see among the blackberry bushes and what does he learn from this experience?

5. What wild visitor helps Brian figure out how to build a fire? How? What does the fire mean to Brian?

6. What do we learn about Brian from his dreams and memories?

7. What does Brian mean when he reminds himself that self-pity does not work?

Chapters 13-19 Questions

1. As Brian learns how to survive in the wilderness, he becomes aware that he is different

from the person he was when he began his trip. He notices differences in the way the “new Brian” thinks and gets things done. Record some of the changes he notices in a table like the following. The first one has been done for you.

What the old Brian would have done What the new Brian does

Fears wolves Stands, watches and nods

2. Were you surprised by the events in the Epilogue? Did you wish things had turned out differently?

3. What tools does Brian make and what does he use them for? How does this accomplishment make Brian feel about himself?

4. In what two ways does Brian measure time? Which has the most meaning for him and why?

5. What causes Brian to rebuild his shelter twice? Why does he spend so much time on rebuilding?

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6. The author spends more than two chapters describing Brian’s trip out to the plane and

back. What effect does this have on the reader?

7. Why might Brian have mixed feelings about some of the items in the survival pack?

8. How did Brian develop as a character over the course of the novel?

9. What lessons does the reader learn from the novel?

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Imagery

Imagery is when an author uses words and phrases to describe a place, person, or event in such a manner that the reader feels as if s/he is experiencing the place, person, or event first hand. The best details come from closely observing the world, then using specific words that can be felt by our five senses. These help a reader mentally live through what the characters in the book are actually experiencing.

Example 1: Read this passage from Hatchet Page 1.

Brian Robeson stared out the window of the small plane at the endless green northern wilderness below. It was a small plane, a Cessna 406 - a bush plane - and the engine was so loud, so roaring and consuming and loud, that it ruined any chance for conversation.

Now imagine if Gary Paulsen had written the same passage this way: “Brian Robeson stared out the window of the plane. He could not talk over the loud engine.”

Clearly the best passage is the first one. Why?

Example 2: Read this passage from Hatchet Pages 14 - 15

Brian had to get the headset from the pilot. Had to reach over and get the headset from the pilot or he would not be able to use the radio to call for help. He had to reach over. . .

His hands began trembling again. He did not want to touch the pilot, did not want to reach for him. But he had to. Had to get the radio. He lifted his hands from the wheel, just slightly, and held them waiting to see what would happen. The plane flew on normally, smoothly.

All right, he thought. Now. Now to do this thing. He turned and reached for the headset, slid it from the pilot's head, one eye on the plane, waiting for it to dive. The headset came easily, but the microphone switch at the pilot's belt was jammed in and he had to pull to get it loose. When he pulled, his elbow bumped the wheel and pushed it in and the plane started down in a shallow dive. Brian grabbed the wheel and pulled it back, too hard again, and the plane went through another series of stomach-wrenching swoops up and down before he could get it under control.

When things had settled again he pulled at the mike cord once more and at last jerked the cord free.

Do you feel as if you are in the plane with Brian watching him as he struggled to free the headset? This is called imagery. Imagery is when an author uses words or phrases that can be felt by the five senses. By using imagery the reader feels as if s/he is experiencing the same event as the character.

Underline the words or phrases that can be felt by the five senses.

Example 3: Read another short passage from Hatchet Page 23

“There was a great wrenching as the wings caught the pines at the side of the clearing and broke back, ripping back just outside the main braces. Dust and dirt blew off the floor into his

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face so hard he thought there must have been some kind of explosion. He was momentarily blinded and slammed forward in the seat, smashing his head on the wheel.

Then a wild crashing sound, ripping of metal, and the plane rolled to the right and blew through the trees, out over the water and down, down to slam into the lake, skip once on water as hard as concrete, water that tore the windshield out and shattered the side windows, water that drove him back into the seat. Somebody was screaming, screaming as the plane drove down into the water. Someone screamed tight animal screams of fear and pain and he did not know that it was his sound, that he roared against the water that took him and the plane still deeper, down into the water. He saw nothing but sensed blue, cold blue-green, and he raked at the seatbelt catch, tore his nails loose on one hand. He ripped at it until it released and somehow - the water trying to kill him, to end him - somehow he pulled himself out of the shattered front window and clawed up into the blue, felt something hold him back, felt his windbreaker tear and he was free. Tearing free. Ripping free.”

What if Gary Paulsen simply said: The plane crashed into the lake. Brian managed to get free. What makes Paulsen's writing so interesting? As you read about the plane crash you can feel, see, and hear what Brian is experiencing. This is called imagery.

Take each bold phrase from the passage and place it into the chart below. A few have been

done for you.

See

Feel

Smell

Taste

Hear

momentarily blinded

dust and dirt blew

great wrenching

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Read this excerpt from Hatchet Pages 23 - 24

But so far! So far to the surface and his lungs could not do this thing, could not hold and were through, and he sucked water, took a great pull of water that would - finally - win, finally take him, and his head broke into light and he vomited and swam, pulling without knowing what he was, what he was doing. Without knowing anything. Pulling until his hands caught at weeds and muck, pulling and screaming until his hands caught at last in grass and brush and he felt his chest on land, felt his face in the coarse blades of grass and he stopped, everything stopped. A color came that he had never seen before, a color that exploded in his mind with the pain and he was gone, gone from it all, spiraling out into the world, spiraling out into nothing. Nothing.

Underline phrases that are examples of imagery.

Choose one of the photos below. As you look at the photograph pretend you are Brian and this is the Canadian wilderness. You are seeing, feeling, experiencing the area for the first time.

Fill in the chart opposite with precise words, describing what you are experiencing.

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See

Feel

Smell

Taste

Hear

Use the words you listed above to write a descriptive paragraph or a poem. Imagine you have just stepped into the wilderness for the first time. You look around. Describe what you feel, see, hear, smell, etc. What are you doing? Do you try to walk around? Do you simply stand still and watch? Include this information in your paragraph or poem. Be creative!

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Figurative Language

Paulsen also uses figurative language to make his writing interesting.

Personification gives human characteristics to objects. “the plane rolled to the right and blew through the trees” “water that tore the windshield out” Can a plane blow or water tear? Similes are a comparison using “like” or “as” “water as hard as concrete” How can water be like concrete? Repetition is used to emphasise feelings. “Somebody was screaming, screaming. Tearing free. Ripping free.” What feelings are evoked by this repetition? Metaphors are a direct comparison between two things, without using ‘like’ or ‘as’. “Someone screamed tight animal screams of fear and pain.” How might the scream of a person be similar to that of an animal?

Determine which type of figurative language is used for each item below:

metaphor/personification/simile.

1. Page 3 - He seemed more a machine than a man, an extension of the plane.

...the pilot seemed the same way. Part of the plane, not human.

2. Page 11 - The pilot did not move except that his head rolled on a neck impossibly

loose as the plane hit a small bit of turbulence.

Page 22 - 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.

Page 25 - The memory was like a knife cutting into him. Slicing deep into him

with hate.

3. Page 26 - He tried to move, but pain hammered into him and made his breath

shorten into gasps and he stopped, his legs still in the water.

4. Page 34 - Be asleep, his mind screamed at the pilot.

Page 29 - With it came some warmth, small bits of it at first, and with the heat

came clouds of insects-thick, swarming hordes of mosquitoes that flocked to his

body, made a living coat on his exposed skin, clogged his nostrils when he

inhaled, poured into his mouth when he opened it to take a breath.

5. Page 30 - And when the sun was fully up and heating him directly, bringing steam

off of his wet clothes and bathing him with warmth, the mosquitoes and flies

disappeared. Almost that suddenly. One minute he was sitting in the middle of a

swarm; the next, they were gone and the sun was on him.

Vampires, he thought.

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6. Page 35 - But there was a log extending about twenty feet out into the water of the

lake - a beaver drop from some time before - with old limbs sticking up, almost

like handles.

7. Page 43 - Gradually, like sloshing oil his thoughts settled back and the panic

was gone.

8. Page 51 - The slender branches went up about twenty feet and were heavy,

drooping with clusters of bright red berries. They were half as big as grapes but

hung in bunches much like grapes and when Brian saw them, glistening red in

the sunlight, he almost yelled.

9. Page 56 - He was dirty and starving and bitten and hurt and lonely and ugly and

afraid and so completely miserable that it was like being in a pit, a dark, deep pit

with no way out.

Page 67- He wiped his mouth and tried to move his leg, which had stiffened like

wood.

Page 71 - Not twenty feet to his right, leaning out over the water were birches and

he stood looking at them for a full half-minute before they registered on his mind.

They were beautiful white and bark like clean, slightly speckled paper.

10. Page 72 - Then back to work, the sun on his back, until at last he had a ball of

fluff as big as a grapefruit - dry birchbark fluff.

11. Page 73 - The red glow moved from the sparks themselves into the bark, moved

and grew and became worms, glowing red worms that crawled up the bark

hairs and caught other threads of bark and grew until there was a pocket of red as

big as a quarter, a glowing red coal of heat.

12. Page 74 - But the flames were thick and oily and burning fast, consuming the ball of

bark as fast as if it were gasoline.

13. Page 74 - I have a friend, he thought - I have a friend now. A hungry friend, but a

good one. I have a friend named fire.

Page 80 - He reached into the nest and pulled the eggs out one at a time. There

were seventeen of them, each as round as a ball, and white.

Page 87 - From his height he could see not just the lake but across part of the

forest, a green carpet, and it was full of life.

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Your Own Descriptive Writing

In the Canadian wilderness Brian came across many wild animals. Brian saw porcupine, turtle, wolf, skunk, squirrel, rabbit, bear, and moose.

Choose one animal that you might encounter if you were in the wilderness of Canada. You will need to research some factual information about the animal you choose.

Now imagine you are in the wilderness and you run across this animal. Your "meeting" may be humorous, scary, or even a blessing.

Next fill out the Imagery Chart and the Figurative Language Chart.

Imagery Chart

See

Feel

Smell

Taste

Hear

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Figurative Language Chart

Now you are ready to write your first draft. Remember the following:

Add imagery. Use your chart to describe the animal the way your character does. Include some figurative language to make your writing interesting. Determine which point of view you will write from and STICK TO IT. Be sure you are writing through the eyes of your character and not just describing the animal as if you were writing a research paper.

Metaphor

Joe is a nut.

Personification

The paddle pounded the ball.

Simile

Bob swam like a fish.

Alliteration

flying feathers fluttering

freely

Onomatopoeia

BANG POW

Hyperbole

Tom carried his financial responsibilities

around with him.

Repetition

hello hello hello hello

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Map Work

As Brian becomes acquainted with his surroundings, the reader does too. Chapters 4 – 13 offer descriptions of the lake, the woods and Brian’s camp.

Your task is to create a map of these surroundings, using the clues from the text.

The map needs to adhere to the following:

A4 size – landscape

Neat and colourful

Title: Brian’s Surroundings

Labelled features

The following features must be included:

Chapter 4 pages 31-33

L shaped lake

Forest

Small hills

Rocky ridge

Sticks and mud mound

Chapter 5 page 35

Edge of lake

Chapter 6 pages 46, 50, 52

Ridge

Low brush

Berry bushes

Shelter

Chapter 7 pages 58-59

Raspberry bushes

Bear

Chapter 8 page 64

Porcupine

Chapter 9 page 71

Birch trees

Chapter 10 pages 77, 79

Firewood

Turtle eggs

Chapter 11 page s 86-87

Signal fire

Kingfisher

Chapter 12 page 90

Spear

Chapter 13 page 98

Wolf

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Literary Elements

1. Where is the story set?

2. Write a character profile for each of the following characters:

Brian Robeson

The pilot

Brian’s parents

3. How does Brian fit the role of protagonist? (consider his age, circumstances, the Secret and

its effect, growing up)

4. Explain how nature and Brian himself can be considered antagonists.

5. Explain how each of the following is a theme of the story?

Hope

Perseverance and determination

Growing up

Education

6. Identify the moods in the story and explain why the author has chosen these emotions.

7. Explain why the story is written from an omniscient point of view.

8. Foreshadowing presents clues of something that will happen later in the novel. Give two examples of foreshadowing in the novel.

9. Irony is when something happens, or is seen, or is heard that we may know, but the

characters do not, or that appears opposite of what is expected. Give four examples of irony from the novel.

10. A motif allows the author to run an important idea throughout the story by using images to create the thought for the reader. How are the following considered to be motifs: Bildungsroman and a “deus ex machina” (translated, a god by way of a machine).

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11. Symbols are ideas that represent something else. What are the symbols for the following:

The Secret

The large bird flying from the top of the forest

Mr. Perpich, Brian’s English teacher

Brian’s changing body

Signal fire

‘Clouddown’

the hatchet

15. Metaphors are direct comparisons made between characters and ideas. Explain how the following are metaphors:

Brian is repelled by his bleeding face, matted hair, his cut, dirt

The bear and the wolf

‘tough hope’

Brian blinded by the skunk

The Day of First Meat is metaphorical for the steps in Brian’s maturation and growth.

The attack of the moose and the devastation of the tornado

The plane’s tail standing out of the lake and religious connotation

The rifle

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Extension Activities

1. Write a set of diary entries kept by Brian featuring important highlights before, during and after his time in the wilderness.

2. Hatchet ends rather abruptly. Rewrite the ending of the book. (1/2 page)

3. Explore an issue raised in the novel that is of personal interest to you. (1/2 page)

4. Design a new book cover and write 1/2 page explaining your decisions.

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Important Quotations

1.) “All flying is easy. Just takes learning. Like everything else. Like everything else.”

This quote emphasises what Brian will come to know about survival: everything can be learned.

2.) “If you keep walking back from good luck, he thought, you’ll come to bad luck.”

Here, Brian shows his first sense of despair.

3.) “You are your most valuable asset. Don’t forget that. You are the best thing you have.”

These are the words of Mr. Perpich, Brian’s English teacher, which he remembers just as needs hope that he can survive.

4.) “If his mother hadn’t begun to see him and forced the divorce, Brian wouldn’t be here now.”

These thoughts reveal that Brian is so angry about his mother’s infidelity that he uses it when he needs to assign blame for his situation.

5.) “Long tears, self-pity tears, wasted tears.”

These words reveal that when Brian gives in to his despair, he is wasting his time, because there is no one there to help him; he must help himself.

6.) “Fire. The hatchet was the key to it all.”

Here Brian discovers that the hatchet could help him build a fire.

7.) “. . . two things, his mind and his body, had come together as well, had made a connection “

These words reflect that idea that Brian is growing and maturing.

8.) “Clouddown, Clouddown through that awful night.”

Here Brian remembers the night he contemplated suicide with the hatchet.

9.) “I am full of tough hope.”

This is Brian’s description of how he finally comes to the realization that suicide is not the answer and that he can survive.

10.) “So much of this was patience - waiting and thinking and doing things right.”

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These words reflect Brian’s understanding that life doesn’t go right without patience at just time.

11.) “A flip of some giant coin and he was the loser.”

At this point, Brian has been attacked by the moose and nearly destroyed by a tornado all in the same day, and he once again is having doubts about his ability to survive.

12.) “He . . . focused on the pilot and thought: Have rest. Have rest forever.”

Brian prays here for the soul of the man who died at the controls of the plane. It is the first time he shows the compassion of a grown man.

13.) “It was a strange feeling, holding the rifle. It somehow removed him from everything around him . . . he wasn’t sure he liked the change very much.”

Brian observes how close he has come to the wilderness he once feared.

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