Hatchet – Chapter
Seatwork Figurative Language
Figurative language is used when a writer describes something using comparisons that
go beyond literal meaning. The words mean more than what they say on the surface. This
gives the writing a fresh look at a common subject. Figurative language is not meant to
be interpreted in a word by word sense. The objects that are being compared are different
in enough ways so that their similarities, when pointed out, are interesting, unique and/or
surprising. Figurative language is used in poetry and fiction, as well as in everyday
speech. Below are three types of figurative language:
Determine which type of figurative language is used for each item below.
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.
a) metaphor
b) personification
c) simile
2. Page 13 - The pilot did not move except that his head rolled on a neck impossibly
loose as the plane hit a small bit of turbulence.
a) metaphor
b) personification
c) simile
3. Page 28 - 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.
a) metaphor
b) personification
c) simile
4. Page 31 - The memory was like a knife cutting into him. Slicing deep into him
with hate.
a) metaphor
b) personification
c) simile
5. Page 33 - 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.
c) simile
1
b) personification
Page
a) metaphor
6. Page 34 - Be asleep, his mind screamed at the pilot.
a) metaphor
b) personification
c) simile
7. Page 36 - 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.
a) metaphor
b) personification
c) simile
8. Page 37 - 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.
a) metaphor
b) personification
c) simile
9. Page 46 - 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.
a) metaphor
b) personification
c) simile
10. Page 54 - Gradually, like sloshing oil his thoughts settled back and the panic
was gone.
a) metaphor
b) personification
c) simile
What figurative writing device is the follow...water that tore the windshield out
A) simile
B)personification
C)repetition
D) metaphor
What figurative writing device is the following...water as hard as concrete
A) personification
B) repetition C) simile
D) metaphor
B) repetition C) simile
D) metaphor
Page
A) personification
2
What figurative Writing device is the following...Somebody was screaming, screaming
Hatchet – Chapter One
Seatwork
Chapters 1 & 2: Please answer the following questions using complete sentences. Be
sure that you restate the question in your answer.
What lesson does Brian recall from Mr. Perpich, his English teacher? Literal
How does that lesson help Brian as he sits beside the lake?  Inferential
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
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? Inferential
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Page
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
3
Does Brian seem like a real thirteen year old? List an action that you might expect of a
thirteen year old and list another action that you would not expect of a thirteen year old.
Inferential
Hatchet – Chapter Two
Seatwork
Why is Brian visiting his father in Canada? How does Brian feel about his mother?
Inferential
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Which sequence best describe the order of events in Chapters 1-2?
1) The plane ran out of gas. 2) Brian leaves New York. 3) The pilot dies.4) Brian's
mother gives him a hatchet. 5) Brian used the radio to call for help every ten minutes. 6)
The pilot teaches Brian how to steer the Cessna. 7) Brian corrected the plane's altitude.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Page
4
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Hatchet – Chapter Three
Seatwork
When there is no answer from the radio, Brian thinks about his situation and decides
that he has two choices. What are the two choices? What does Brian decide to do, and
why does he decide this?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Where does the plane crash? How does Brian get out? What does he do when he gets
out?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
What happens at the end of chapter 2?
Page
5
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Hatchet – Chapter Three
Seatwork- Idioms
Give it a shot
Speak your mind
A piece of cake
Slipped my mind
Cross your fingers
Be in hot water
It cost an arm and a leg
It’s in the bag
___
___
___
___
___
___
___
___
I forgot
Say what you really feel
It was expensive
Try
Be in trouble
For good luck
It’s a certainty
Very easy
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
Get cold feet
A rip off
Get a kick out of
Read between the lines
Have mixed feelings
Draw a blank
Have a change of heart
Be second to none
___
___
___
___
___
___
___
___
Be the best
Changed your mind
Can’t remember
Unsure how you feel
Find the hidden meaning
Enjoy
Too expensive
Be nervous
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
Get your act together
Play it by ear
Have second thoughts
A basket case
Have a shot at
Be in the same boat
Out of the blue
A grey area
___
___
___
___
___
___
___
___
A crazy person
Be in the same situation
With no warning
Behave properly
Have doubts
Something unclear
Improvise
Have a chance
Page
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
6
Idioms word combinations which have a different meaning than the literal meanings of each
word. Try your hand at matching the idioms to their actual meanings
Hatchet – Chapter Four
Seatwork
Does Brian feel he has good luck or bad luck? Explain your answer.
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Much of Brian's knowledge about life in the wilderness comes from watching TV or
movies. This chapter has two examples of this. What are they?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
What does Brian hear in his new environment? Why is he surprised about this?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
What is the problem with the mosquitoes? Why is this so unbelievable to Brian?
Page
7
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Hatchet – Chapter Five
Seatwork
Page
8
Below, draw a picture of the environment that Brian sees. Write labels on each of the
things that he sees. (If you don't want to draw a picture, write a paragraph in your own
words that describes his surroundings)
Hatchet – Chapter Five - Plot
The plot is the story that is told in a novel, play, or movie. The plot has five
components.
Plot Structure Components
Exposition Rising Action  Climax  Falling Action  Resolution
The exposition is the introduction of the story. It contains the setting, introduces the
main characters, and gives background information. It is the information needed to
understand a story.
The rising action is the portion of the story where a character tries to solve the conflict.
This is the longest part of the story.
The climax is the tensest moment of the story. It is the turning point in the story that
occurs when characters try to resolve the complication.
The falling action is where the characters begin to apply a solution to the conflict and tie
up loose ends.
The resolution is how everything turns out in the story. It is the set of events that bring
the story to a close.
Practice
Matt and Charlotte had never met their grandparents because they live across the country.
Matt and Charlotte decided one day that they would like to meet them. All the way home from
school, they talked about how they could contact them and possibly even go to see them.
They decided to ask their parents for help. The parents seemed very anxious after talking to
Matt and Charlotte. They said they needed time to think it over. Matt and Charlotte couldn't
wait to get home from school the next day to see if their parents had made a decision.
Finally, the school day was over. Matt and Charlotte ran in the house. Their parents smiled
and handed them airplane tickets. Matt and Charlotte were headed to California to see their
grandparents. Matt and Charlotte thanked their parents and ran to start packing.
Page
A. Matt and Charlotte are going to see their grandparents.
B. Matt and Charlotte attend school.
C. Matt and Charlotte ask their parents to go and meet their grandparents.
D. Matt and Charlotte had never met their grandparents.
9
What is the resolution in this passage?
Hatchet – Chapter Five - Plot
Cara’s I-Jet
“Cara, the airbus is approaching. The monitor has picked up the signal less than three miles
away. It will be here in less than a minute,” Mother said.
“Can you send the AB a delay request?” asked Cara. “I can’t find my I-Jet, and it has my
homework stored on it for this whole semester.”
“You’ve already used your delay allotment for this month,” answered Mother. “I believe you’ll
just have to be on the hovermac, with or without your I-Jet, when the airbus arrives.” Cara
rushed back to her room. She looked under her sleeping station, but there was nothing there
but dust and some old memory chips. She opened the doors of her clothing dock and
rummaged through her AB suits. Cara found her grandmother’s old MP3-player stuck in the
pocket of one of her AB suits. The MP3-player had been a keen device when her
grandmother was a child, but the old piece of technology hadn’t worked in 50 years. Cara just
kept it as a reminder of how difficult life used to be.
“20 seconds,” Mom shouted from the food unit.
Frustrated, Cara gave up the search. She grabbed an AB suit from the clothing dock and
slipped it on. She ran outside to the hovermac and pushed the silver button, signaling the
airbus that she was ready to be uploaded. The airbus appeared and hovered over the
hovermac, lowering the platform to the ground.
As Cara stepped onto the platform, she put her hand in the pocket of her AB suit and felt a
cool steel casing. She pulled it from her pocket and opened the case. Inside was her I-Jet,
just as she had left it. “There it is!” she exclaimed, relieved that her months of work would not
have to be duplicated. A smile spread across her face as she and the platform disappeared
inside the airbus.
How is the conflict resolved?
A. The airbus lowers the platform for Cara to get on.
B. Cara searches her sleep station for the missing I-Jet.
Page
D. Cara finds the I-Jet in the pocket of her AB suit.
10
C. The airbus uploads Cara safely and transports her.
Hatchet – Chapter Six
Seatwork
Chapters 5 & 6: Please answer the following question using complete sentences. Be
sure that you restate the question in your answer.
Page
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
11
Survival Kit
Create a survival kit for Brian of at least 5 items that would be important to have in his
situation. Write a paragraph explaining why you have chosen the item and how it would
help Brian.
Hatchet – Chapter Six
Seatwork homonym/homophone/homograph
This word set can be confusing, even for word geeks. Let's start with the basics. A
homograph is a word that has the same spelling as another word but has a different
sound and a different meaning:
lead (to go in front of)/lead (a metal)
wind (to follow a course that is not straight)/wind (a gust of air)
bass (low, deep sound)/bass (a type of fish)
A homophone is a word that has the same sound as another word but is spelled
differently and has a different meaning:
to/two/too
there/their/they're
pray/prey
Not so bad, right? The ending –graph means drawn or written, so a homograph has the
same spelling. The –phone ending means sound or voice, so a homophone has the
same pronunciation. But here's where it gets tricky. Depending on whom you talk to,
homonym means either:
A word that is spelled like another but has a different sound and meaning (homograph);
a word that sounds like another but has a different spelling and meaning (homophone)
homograph or a homophone.
Page
say many dictionaries. However, other dictionaries allow that a homonym can be a
12
In the strictest sense, a homonym must be both a homograph and a homophone. So
Hatchet – Chapter Six
Seatwork homonym/homophone/homograph
Homonyms: Words that have the same spelling and same pronunciation, but
different meanings. Directions: Choose (a) or (b)
Example: I hope you are not lying _(a)_ to me.
My books are lying _(b)_ on the table.
(a) telling a lie
(b) being in a horizontal position
1. The kids are going to watch ___ TV tonight.
What time is it? I have to set my watch____.
(a) small clock worn on the wrist
(b) look at
2. Which page _____ is the homework on?
Please page _____the doctor if you need help.
(a) one sheet of paper
(b) to call on an electronic pager
3. Let’s play ___ soccer after school.
The author wrote a new play ___.
(a) participate in a sport
(b) theater piece
4. Ouch! The mosquito bit ___ me!
I’ll have a little bit ___ of sugar in my tea.
(a) a tiny amount
(b) past tense of bite
5. My rabbits are in a pen ___ outside.
Please sign this form with a black pen ___.
(a) a writing untencil which uses ink
(b) an enclosed area
Homographs: Words that have the same spelling, but different pronunciations and
(a) ribbon (rhymes with so)
(b) bend at waist (rhymes with how)
2. All the students are present ___ today.
The boss will present ___ the award at 10:00.
(a) here (rhymes with pleasant)
(b) give (rhymes with resent)
3. Please close ___ the door.
The boy sat close ___ to his uncle.
(a) near (rhymes with dose)
(b) shut (rhymes with toes)
4. The rope was wound ___ around his ankles.
The soldier received a wound ___ in the battle.
(a) tied around (rhymes with pound)
(b) an injury (rhymes with moon)
5. I don’t know if I will live ___ or die.
Last night I saw the band play live ___ in concert.
(a) to have life (rhymes with give)
(b) in real time (rhymes with hive)
Page
1. The singer made a low bow ___ to the audience.
Maria placed a red bow ___ on the birthday gift.
13
meanings. Directions: Choose (a) or (b)
Hatchet – Chapter Six
Seatwork homonym/homophone/homograph
Homophones: Words that have the same pronunciation, but different spelling
and different meanings. Directions: Choose the correct word.
Example: Please try not to (waste, waist) paper.
1. Can I go to the party (to, too, two)?
2. This is my favorite (pare, pair, pear) of jeans.
3. I (sent, scent, cent) a letter to my aunt in Vietnam.
4. The children got (bored, board) during the lecture.
5. Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez like to work in (there, they’re, their) garden.
6. Alec is going to (wear, ware) his work boots today.
7. Do you think it is going to (rein, rain, reign) this afternoon?
8. I saw a restaurant just off the (rode, road) about a mile back.
9. David’s brother is in a (band, banned) which plays Russian music.
10. Juana wants her socks because her (tows, toes) are cold.
11. The teacher walked down the (aisle, isle) between the rows of desks.
12. Hadil has a (pane, pain) in her shoulder.
13. The school (principal, principle) spoke to a group of parents.
14. The clerk wants to (sell, cell) as many TVs as possible.
Page
14
15. I don’t want to talk about the (passed, past) anymore.
Hatchet – Chapter Seven
Seatwork
According to the text Brian started to cry after looking at his reflection in the lake. Infer
why he began crying.
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
In the text it stated that Brian was running away from the bear and then stopped. What
does Brian come to understand?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Page
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
15
At the end of this chapter, when the rain is pouring down, Brian feels much different
from how he had felt in the morning Why?
Page
16
Hatchet – Chapter Eight Seatwork PSSA PREP
Page
17
Hatchet – Chapter Eight Seatwork PSSA PREP
Page
18
Hatchet – Chapter Eight Seatwork PSSA PREP
Page
19
Hatchet – Chapter Eight Seatwork PSSA PREP
Page
20
Hatchet – Chapter Eight Seatwork PSSA PREP
Page
21
Hatchet – Chapter Eight Seatwork PSSA PREP
Page
22
Hatchet – Chapter Eight Seatwork PSSA PREP
Page
23
Hatchet – Chapter Eight Seatwork PSSA PREP
Page
24
Hatchet – Chapter Eight Seatwork PSSA PREP
Page
25
Hatchet – Chapter Eight Seatwork PSSA PREP
Page
26
Hatchet – Chapter Eight Seatwork PSSA PREP
breathed
initial
gesturing
frustration
Chapter 9
exasperation
beautiful
consuming
positioned
afterthought
incredibly
Chapter 10
precious
advantage
stomach
forgotten
surprisingly
awakened
Chapter 11
transferred
connection
terror
remembering
emerged
reburying
Chapter 12
imagine
effective
frightened
actually
persistent
shielded
Chapter 13
disappointment
beautiful
fashioned
released
knowledge
celebration
Chapter 14
disasters
incredibly
completely
except
enclosure
together
Chapter 15
memorable
exasperated
immediately
different
instantly
distance
Page
Chapter 8
slithering
scraping
27
Hatchet Spelling Words
Hatchet – Chapter Eight
Seatwork
Brian explicitly thinks to himself "So fast. So fast things change." What causes him to
think this?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
The author stated that Brian breaks down and cries until he is cried out. Why is he
crying? What does he discover after he finishes crying?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Page
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
28
On pages 83 and 84 the author describes a dream that Brian has. What message does
he get from his dream about his friend Terry and his father?
Hatchet – Chapter Nine Seatwork
According to the text, what are the difficulties Brian encounters when he is trying to
make a fire?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
On pages 92-93, his mood swings from happy to sad. What causes these two
emotions?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
1. What did Brian use as fuel that worked when building a fire?
a. small sticks b. birch bark c. pine cones
d. dry leaves
2. Which of the following was NOT a reason Brian wanted a fire?
a.
b.
c.
d.
The fire would keep away animals like the porcupine.
The smoke from the fire kept the mosquitoes away.
Brian could heat his raspberries on the fire.
Brian could build a signal fire.
Page
a. only a few minutes to build after he learned the hatchet made sparks on the flint
stone.
b. several days of hard work to build.
c. most of the day to get started trying different kinds of kindling
d. a few hours using only grass and twigs as kindling
29
3. Building the fire took Brian
Hatchet – Chapter Ten
Seatwork
Brian discovers that the insects do not like the fire. What can you infer about Brian’s
attitude about the fire?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
How long has Brian been here?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Explain why Brian decides to dig up the sand.
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
What does Brian decide to do with the 17 eggs?
Page
30
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Hatchet – Chapter Eleven
Seatwork
Page
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
31
Brian has changed in so many ways since the beginning of the story. Think of several
examples and create a paragraph that describes some of the changes. Create a
comparison of how he was in the beginning and how he is now.
Hatchet – Chapter Twelve
Seatwork
Please answer the following questions using complete sentences.
you restate the question in your answer.
Be sure that
Food is such an important focus on Brian’s mind in chapter 11. He is tired
of eating berries. What are two other food choices,
Literal and what
Inferential What might you do
Inferential
problem does each choice currently pose?
for food if you were in his place?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Why does Brian feel that it is necessary to clean up his camp area?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Page
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
32
When he is looking for some wood to make a bow, "he was absolutely terrified
by an explosion under his feet." This isn't a real bomb; explain what it is.
Lesson 4 - Figurative Language
Figurative language is used when a writer describes something using comparisons that go
beyond literal meaning. The words mean more than what they say on the surface. This gives
the writing a fresh look at a common subject. Figurative language is not meant to be
interpreted in a word by word sense. The objects that are being compared are different in
enough ways so that their similarities, when pointed out, are interesting, unique and/or
surprising. Figurative language is used in poetry and fiction, as well as in everyday speech.
Below are three types of figurative language:
Determine which type of figurative language is used for each item below.
1. Page 63 - 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.
a) metaphor
b) personification
c) simile
2. Page 70 - 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.
a) metaphor
b) personification
c) simile
3. Page 84 - He wiped his mouth and tried to move his leg, which had stiffened like
wood.
a) metaphor
b) personification
c) simile
4. Page 88 - 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.
a) metaphor
b) personification
Page
5. Page 89 - 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.
33
a) metaphor
b) personification
c) simile
c) simile
6. Page 92 - 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.
became worms, glowing red worms
big as a quarter
a) metaphor
b) personification
c) simile
a) metaphor
b) personification
c) simile
7. Page 92 - But the flames were thick and oily and burning fast, consuming the ball of
bark as fast as if it were gasoline.
a) metaphor
b) personification
c) simile
8. Page 93 - I have a friend, he thought - I have a friend now. A hungry friend, but a
good one. I have a friend named fire.
a) metaphor
b) personification
c) simile
9. Page 100 - 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.
a) metaphor
b) personification
c) simile
Page 107 - 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.
Page
Hatchet – Chapter Thirteen
Seatwork
34
a) metaphor
b) personification
c) simile
This chapter jumps ahead in time several weeks. Then he remembers back into
the past and he thinks about how he has changed since he heard the airplane
fly away.
At the beginning of the chapter, what is he looking for?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Suddenly, "something he did not understand had stopped him." He remembers when
this happened before. What does he remember? What does he see this time? How
does he feel towards it?
in the past:
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
this time:
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
How much time has passed?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
What happened to Brian just after the plane flew away? How did he handle it?
What two things did he decide?
Page
35
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Hatchet – Chapter Fourteen
Seatwork
1. Why are mistakes more significant now than they were in the city?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
2. Describe the skunk story.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
3. What two things does he learn from the skunk? How does he take care of
these two things?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
4. How does he solve the problem of storing the fish?
Page
36
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Hatchet – Chapter Fourteen
An adjective is a word that describes, identifies, modifies,
or quantifies a noun or a pronoun.
Example: John is playing with a red ball.
Underline the adjectives in the sentences below.
1. I like red juicy apples. (2 adjectives)
2. John went to the big church. (1 adjective)
3. My mother is a good cook. (1 adjective)
4. In the winter I wear woollen clothes. (1 adjective)
5. They ate a large pizza. (1 adjective)
6. The baby waved her tiny hand in the air. (1 adjective)
7. Tim is reading an exciting book about water animals. (2 adjectives)
8. The old woman walked slowly. (1 adjective)
9. I painted a pretty picture. (1 adjective)
10. There are eleven boys and ten girls in our class. (2 adjectives)
11.Babies have little fingers and toes. (1 adjective)
12.February has fewer days than January. (1 adjective)
15. The short man married a tall woman. (2 adjectives)
Page
14.My sister is nice to me. (1 adjective)
37
13.We have ten new chickens. (2 adjectives)
38
Page
39
Page
Theme 11-12
After learning and practicing theme, write a THEME for the Story
Hatchet. There could be more than one theme for this story.
Theme
The theme is the insight about life or human nature that the writer
shares with the reader. It is usually not stated directly, but must be
inferred.
The theme is the message of a story. It can also be called the
moral or value of the story. Ask yourself this question. What do you
think the author wants you to learn from the story?
Page
Practice
40
Example: Theme Using Weasel
1. THE LION AND THE MOUSE
by Aesop
A lion asleep in his den was wakened by a mouse running over his face.
Losing his temper, he seized it with his paw and was about to kill it. The
mouse, terrified, pleaded to the lion to spare its life. "Please let me go,"
it cried, "and one day I will repay you for your kindness." The idea of so
small a creature ever being able to do anything for him amused the lion
so much that he laughed aloud and let it go. But the mouse's chance
came after all. One day the lion got tangled in a net. The mouse heard
the lion’s roars of distress and ran to help. Without hesitation it set to
work to gnaw the ropes with its teeth and succeeded before long in
setting the lion free. "There!" said the mouse, "you laughed at me when
I promised I would repay you; but now you see that even a mouse can
help a lion."
What is the theme of the story "The Lion and the Mouse?"
A. A hunter's net cannot hold a lion for long.
B. A mouse is good at chewing things.
C. Lions and mice make good pets.
D. Size doesn't matter when doing a good deed.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (excerpt)
L. Frank Baum
Page
2. What is the theme of the passage?
41
Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle
Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife.
Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by
wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which
made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cookstove, a
cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds.
Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a
little bed in another corner.
A. the plain life of a prairie farm family
B. the things found in a home on the prairie
C. building a prairie home
D. living away from your parents
“The Fox and the Goat” by Aesop (paraphrased)
One day a fox fell into a deep well and could not escape. A goat,
very thirsty, came to the same well. When the goat saw the fox, he
asked if the water was good. The fox, hiding his unfortunate problem by
being cheerful, said the water was excellent. He encouraged the goat to
jump down. The goat, paying attention to only his thirst, jumped down
without thinking. Just as he drank, the fox told him of the difficulty they
were both in and suggested an idea for their escape. "If," said he, "you
will place your front feet upon the wall and bend your head, I will run up
your back and escape, and will help you out afterwards." The goat
gladly agreed, and the fox leaped upon his back. Steadying himself with
the goat's horns, he safely reached the mouth of the well and made off
as fast as he could. When the goat scolded the fox for breaking his
promise, the fox turned around and cried out, "You foolish old fellow! If
you had thought before you jumped into the well, you would never have
gone down before you knew how to get back up, and you would not
have exposed yourself to dangers from which you had no means of
escape."
Choose the best answer.
3. What is a universal theme in this story?
A. Look before you leap.
B. Be kind to your enemy.
C. Slow and steady wins the race.
Page
42
D. Do not attempt too much at once.
In chapter 13, page 122, you see the word “Clouddown” What do you think this means?
Inferential Why did Brian come to feel this way? literal
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
______________________________
In chapter 13, page 123, Brian thinks about no longer being the same person. Give two
examples from the chapter that demonstrates how he is different. ? literal
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
_______________________
Story Mapping (13-14)
Now that you have learned about character, setting, point of view, plot,
theme, and conflict, get a story map page from your teacher and fill it out
representing the novel Hatchet.
Tornado Safety (15-16)
Page
Tornado (15-16)
43
Make a Tornado Safety poster teaching others of what they should do during
dangerous weather.
Tornado
Make your on tornado. Tornado tubes can be bought at many toy
stores for under $2.00. This tube attaches two plastic soda bottles
together.
Page
44
Simply fill one bottle 2/3 full with water and screw the Tornado Tube
onto this bottle. Then attach the second plastic bottle to the other end
of the Tornado Tube. To create the tornado shake the bottles in a
circular motion. Set the bottles on a flat surface and watch the
"tornado" in the top bottle.
45
Page
The Cessna crashes because ________________.
A. it runs out of gas
the plane has engine failure
B.
C. a bird hits the propeller
D. the plane hits a tree
2. When Brian woke the next morning his legs were cramped and drawn up and his back hurt
when he tried to move, but worst of all was ___________.
A. the throb in his head
the pounding in his jaw
B.
C. the twisting of his stomach
D. the cut on his chest
3. Before the sun came up Brian was bothered by ______________.
A. bats
mosquitoes
B.
C. bees
D. snakes
4. Brian saw ___________________ when he was riding his bicycle with his friend Terry.
A. a bank robber shoot a policeman
his mother with a blond headed man
B.
C. his father with another woman
D. his friend stealing a candy bar
5. What happened to Brian when he was 9 years old?
A. Brian broke his collar bone while skate boarding.
Brian was hit in the nose with a baseball.
B.
C. Brian had to get stitches around his eye where he was hit by a rock.
D. Brian drove his bike into a car and broke his ankle.
6. Brian had a hard time trying to stay awake after the plane crash.
A. True
False
B.
7. Brian thought the place where he had landed was ugly with its brown trees.
A. True
False
B.
8. Brian is troubled by the secret.
A. True
False
B.
Page
10. Which sequence best describes the order of events in Hatchet? 1) The plane crashed into the
lake. 2) Brian felt like his legs were on fire and his head felt like a hammer was hitting him.
3) Brian vomited. 4) The pilot had a heart attack and died.
46
9. A piece of metal from the plane stabbed Brian in the leg during the plane crash.
A. True
False
B.
A.
B.
C.
D.
2, 4, 1, 3
1, 2, 4, 3
3, 2, 4, 1
4, 3, 1, 2
11. The author of Hatchet, Gary Paulsen, most likely wrote Hatchet to ____________.
A. inform readers how to survive a plane crash
entertain readers with a story about a courageous boy
B.
C. persuade readers to learn how to drive a Cessna 406
D. amuse readers with a funny story
12. Which statement from Hatchet contains a cause-effect relationship?
A. The pilot in the plane, down into the water, down into the blue water strapped in the
seat . . .
The crash is over and I am alive, he thought.
B.
C. Because of the mosquitoes the backs of his hands were puffy and his eyes were almost
swollen shut, and he saw everything through a narrow squint.
D. He raised himself and crawled out of the water, grunting with pain of movement.
5. Compare and contrast the wilderness to the city by creating a Venn diagram or a two-column
chart.
6. How do you think Brian will have to change in order to adapt to his new surroundings?
7. The book says that “Nobody had ever told him if you could or could not drink lakes.” What do
you learn about Brian from this statement?
8. What movies or TV shows have you seen that might help you if you were in Brian’s situation?
Describe things you have already learned about surviving. How does Brian’s knowledge gained
while watching TV help him?
9. What did Brian remember his English teacher Perpich always talking about? How did this help
him?
http://pages.duneland.k12.in.us/hatchet/home
Page
Conflict
After practicing this skill, write what kind of conflict is happening in Hatchet.
List whether is it Person vs. Person; Person vs. Self; Person vs.
47
Conflict (7-8)
Environment; or Person vs. Technology or a combination of these. Once you
pick what type of conflict it is, summarize the conflict.
LEARN ABOUT CONFLICT AND PRACTICE HERE.
Conflict is the struggle between the opposing forces on which the action in a
work of literature depends.
In short stories, there is usually one major conflict. In longer stories, there
could be several conflicts.
Some forms of conflict include the following:

Person vs. Person

Person vs. Self

Person vs. the Environment

Person vs. Technology
Page
Examples
From Where the Red Fern Grows Billy and his dogs are attacked by a mountain lion, and they
must do everything they can to survive.
From Weasel Nathan is captured by Weasel, an Indian fighter. Earlier in
48
A person vs. person conflict is between two forms of
like beings.
the book, Weasel had attacked Nathan's pa, had taken away
Pa’s riffle, and had killed the farm animals.
In a person vs. self conflict the main
character has a problem within
him/herself.
Examples
From Weasel
Nathan spends the winter months struggling with his
conscious. Should he go back to Weasel’s cabin to seek
revenge or forget about Weasel?
In a person vs. the environment conflict a
character is struggling against the forces of
nature.
Example:
From Where the Red Fern Grows Little Ann and Old Dan tree a coon in the tallest tree in the
river bottoms.
From Where the Red Fern Grows Billy enters the championship coon hunt and encounters the
snowstorm
Page
Example
From Hatchet Brian flying the airplane after the pilot dies.
Practice
49
In a person vs. technology conflict, a
character has a problem with robots or
machines.
The house could have easily been the scene for a horror movie. On the
outside, its fading paint job, broken windows, and creaking porch swing
provided a hint to what we would find on the inside. The front door
swung open to the inside, forcing us to enter the building before we
could glimpse the contents. Several families had lived in the house
through the years, most recently the Duttons. Every inch of the front
room was covered in dust, and cobwebs hung in every corner. We
immediately started hearing sounds, soft moans like those of a sick
person. The scariest thing we saw was a portrait of an evil looking man
above the mantle. His eyes appeared to follow us as we moved farther
into the room.
1. Which sentence that describes the setting of a story is most likely to
lead to the main conflict?
A. The front door swung open to the inside, forcing us to enter the
building before we could glimpse the contents.
B. Several families had lived in the house through the years, most
recently the Duttons.
C. Every inch of the front room was covered in dust, and cobwebs hung
in every corner.
D. We immediately started hearing sounds, soft moans like those of a
sick person.
The Missing Chip
Page
50
“Here, Chip. Come here, boy.” Jackson stood in the open doorway,
calling to his dog. The boy stood still and listened. He hoped he would
hear the sound of Chip’s rustling the bushes as he came bounding to the
door. As the boy stood there, he heard the birds chirping in the
treetops. He heard the tractor in the field across from his house. He
heard many sounds of nature, but he did not hear Chip. Jackson closed
the door and spoke to his mother.
“I don’t know where Chip could be,” he said. “I haven’t seen him since
yesterday morning.”
“Why don’t you ride your bike around the neighborhood to see if you
can find him?” suggested Mom.
Jackson put on his shoes and his jacket and headed for the door. “Be
careful on the road,” said Mom. “If a car comes, pull your bicycle over to
the far side of the ditch.”
Jackson rode across the creek bridge, calling out to his dog. “Chip, come
here, boy. Here, Chip!” The daffodils fluttered as he rode past them.
Jackson looked across the field. He scanned the cow pasture as he rode
along the fencerow. There was no sign of the dog. Jackson stopped his
bicycle in front of Mr. Yoder’s barn. He stood still and listened. He
thought he could hear a faint whimpering sound coming from the barn.
He pedaled quickly toward the barn. “Chip! Here, Chip!” he called as he
raced. He climbed off his bike quickly and let it fall to the ground. The
whimpering sound was coming from inside the barn.
Jackson climbed over the barn gate and went inside. His eyes panned
the stalls and the hay, but he saw no sign of Chip. Just then he heard
movement from the left side of the barn, and the whimpering began
again. “Chip, I’m here, boy,” Jackson said as he rushed to a broken
board behind a small wagon. Chip had somehow climbed between the
broken boards and was stuck in the wall.
“How did you get in there, boy?” Jackson asked. The hole was much
smaller than the basset hound. “You must have chased something
behind the boards, and that’s how you got stuck. I’ll get you out of
here,” Jackson said. The boy sat on his knees and tugged on each board
until he found one that was loose. He wriggled the board and pried the
nail loose until the board finally came off, enlarging the opening. He
reached his arm inside and pulled the dog back through the hole.
Page
2. What is the main conflict of the story?
51
Chip shook the dust from his coat. Jackson scratched his hound behind
the ears. “Come on, boy,” he said. “Let’s go home.”
A. Jackson cannot find his basset hound, Chip.
B. Chip rides his bike through the neighborhood.
C. Jackson has to find a way to free his dog.
D. Chip could not find the hole in the barn.
The Cardboard Surprise
“Mom, have you seen Jasper?” Marie asked as she walked into the
kitchen. “I can’t find her anywhere.”
“Did you check the garage?” Mom replied. Marie turned in her
tracks and headed outside to check the garage. She grabbed her
coat and mittens, which were hanging by the door. She flipped on
the porch light and shut the door behind her.
“Here, Kitty, Kitty,” she called as she walked along the driveway to
the garage behind the house, the noise of the city traffic nearly
drowning the sound of her voice. Marie opened the garage door
and shut it behind her. The noise remained outside. “Jasper Kitty,”
she sang. “Where are you, Jasper?” She flipped on the light so that
she could see in the shadows.
“There you are,” she cried, spying the calico in a cardboard box
underneath some old shelves in the corner. “Come here, girl,”
Marie pleaded, but she could not get the cat to move.
Page
“Oh, my!” she said. “No wonder you didn’t come when I called!
You have baby kittens!” Marie rubbed Jasper’s belly as the
52
“Well, if you won’t come to me, I will go to you,” Marie reasoned.
She moved the junk that was in her way. She pushed a tricycle to
the left. She lifted two old boxes and balanced them on the tricycle
seat and handlebars. She stepped her feet gingerly between piles
of rope and stray yard tools. Finally she reached the box where
Jasper rested. Marie tipped the edge of the box out into the light
so that she could see inside it.
newborn kittens wriggled their heads into their mother’s fur. “One,
two, three, four…” Marie counted. “You have four baby kittens!”
3. What is the main conflict of the story?
A. The family keeps too much junk in the garage.
B. The girl, Marie, found the cat and her kittens.
C. Marie cannot find her cat, Jasper.
D. The cat, Jasper, had four kittens.
4. How is the conflict resolved?
A. Marie cannot find her cat, Jasper.
B. Jasper has had four new kittens.
C. The girl cleans out the garage, throwing the junk in the garbage.
D. Marie found the cat with its new kittens in a box in the garage.
The Jump Drive
“Jontez, it’s 7:15. The school bus will be here in five minutes,” Mom
hollered up the stairs.
“I’m almost ready,” Jontez replied from his room on the second floor.
Less than a minute later, Jontez bounded down the stairs. “Have you
seen my math binder?” Jontez asked.
“No, I haven’t seen it,” said Mom.
“The binder has my jump drive in it. My math project is due today, and
it is saved on my jump drive,” Jontez explained.
Page
53
Mom thought for a moment. “What were you doing with the binder the
last time you had it?” she asked.
“I was using it as a hard surface to write my spelling words on,”
answered Jontez.
“Where were you, Tez, while you were writing the spelling words?”
“Sitting on my bed,” he said.
“And what did you do when you were finished?”
“I walked downstairs and got a soda from the kitchen,” replied Jontez.
“Did you bring your binder with you?” questioned Mom.
Jontez thought for a minute. He retraced his steps in his mind. “Yes, I
did,” he said finally, his face lighting up. Jontez walked over the counter
beside the refrigerator. There was a stack of papers lying there. “I put it
down right here,” he said, lifting the top half of the papers. “And here it
is!” he exclaimed.
Just then Jontez heard the bus’ brakes squeal as the bus stopped
outside his house. “Thanks, Mom,” he said, and he quickly kissed her
cheek before heading out the door.
5. How is the conflict resolved?
A. Jontez’s mother punishes him for losing the binder.
B. Jontez finds the binder on the counter in the kitchen.
C. The binder is found under the bed where Jontez had been working.
D. The boy cannot find the binder that has his math project in it.
Page
There was--this is important--no television. There were just two
channels in the major cities on the East and West Coasts. Almost
nobody in town had a set. A TV set at that time was a huge
buzzing, hissing black-and-white monster that had the added
benefit of being dangerous. The coating on the inside of the picture
54
6. Read this excerpt from Gary Paulsen's book How Angel
Peterson Got His Name.
tube required no less than forty-two thousand volts to operate, an
amount that could easily kill fifteen or twenty horses. When
television finally did come to the small towns up in Minnesota many
a cat was turned into something close to a six-hundred-watt
lightbulb by sticking his nose back in the power supply area of a
console television set, trying to investigate the little crackling
sounds and blue glow that came out of the ventilation holes. On his
twelfth birthday, my pal Wayne Halverson licked the end of his
finger and stuck it near the ventilation panel on his family's new
RCA set. (Even though there was no television station
programming to watch for nearly two more years they used it for a
conversation piece and a place to put their bowling trophies, but
my grandmother said the Halversons had always put on airs ever
since Dewey, who was Wayne's great-great-grandfather, was
kicked in the head by a workhorse and found that he could do
accounting.)
Wayne never actually touched the top of the main rectifier tube and
so didn't get the full jolt, which would have cooked him on the spot,
but it arced over to his finger and a lesser charge, say enough to
light two or three single-family dwellings for a week or so, slammed
him back into the wall and left him unconscious for several
minutes. He later claimed that the incident was what made him the
only one in our group who could actually talk to girls.
Which type of conflict is present in this reading?
A. Person vs. Person
B. Person vs. Self
C. Person vs. the Environment
Page
7. Read this excerpt from Gary Paulsen's book Brian's Hunt.
55
D. Person vs. Technology
He dreamt of it often and at first his dreams sometimes had the
qualities of nightmares. He dreamt he was sitting there in the small
plane, the only passenger, with the pilot dying and the plane
crashing into the lake below. He awakened sometimes with sudden
fear, his breath coming fast. The crash itself had been so wild and
he had been so out of control that the more he had grown in the
years since, the more he had learned and handled difficult
situations, the more insane the crash seemed; a wild, careening,
ripping ride down through trees to end not in peace but in the
water, nearly drowning--in the nightmares it was like dying and
then not dying to die again.
Which type of conflict is present in this reading?
A. Person vs. Person
B. Person vs. Self
C. Person vs. the Environment
D. Person vs. Technology
Page
And so Caesar entered my life. He became many things to us –
friend, entertainer, horror show – but he was never, never boring
and his life comes back now in a montage of memories. There was
the Halloween when he greeted a little boy who came to the door in
a werewolf costume. There was one moment, priceless, when the
two eyed each other, hairy monster-mask to Great Dane muzzle, at
exactly the same height. I’m not certain what the little boy
expected but he didn’t quail – he leaned forward and growled. I’m
not sure what Caesar had expected either but it certainly wasn’t an
angry werewolf. He made a sound like a train in a tunnel and
disappeared into a dark corner of the bedroom closet and would not
come out until all the little people stopped coming and the doorbell
quit ringing. And it might be noted that he had a remarkable
memory. Every one of the seven years that he was with us, when
56
8. Read this excerpt from Gary Paulsen's book My Life in Dog
Years
the first trick-or-treater came to the door on Halloween, no matter
the costume, Caesar went into the bedroom closet, pulled a
housecoat over his eyes, and would not come out until it was over.
He had great heart, but courage against monsters wasn’t in him.
Which type of conflict is present in this reading?
A. Person vs. Person
B. Person vs. Self
C. Person vs. the Environment
D. Person vs. Technology
9. Read this excerpt from Gary Paulsen's book Guts.
There was a kind of bleeeeekkkk, hoarse and very loud, coming
from directly behind me and accompanied by a crashing in the
brush, and I turned, raising my rifle (about as useful as a BB gun in
these circumstances but we use what we have), to see two glaring
red eyes coming at me at what seemed like sixty or seventy miles
an hour. . . . .At the first instant I didn't realize that it was a large
bull moose. He's lost the previous year's antlers and hadn't grown
new ones yet. I just saw brown. I saw big. I saw death coming at
me, snorting and thundering. I think I may have thought of
phantoms, wood spirits, wild monsters-I most certainly did not
think of moose.
Which type of conflict is present in this reading?
A. Person vs. Person
B. Person vs. Self
Page
D. Person vs. Technology
57
C. Person vs. the Environment
10. Read this excerpt from Gary Paulsen's book The Beet Fields.
The sun was hot when it came up late. There was no early-morning
coolness, no relief. An early heat came with the first edge of the
sun and by the time the sun was full up, he was cooking and
looking for some relief. He tried hoeing with his left hand low, then
his right hand, then leaning forward more, then less, but nothing
helped. It was hot, getting hotter, and he straightened and spit and
resettled the straw hat he had bought in Grafton. It had a piece of
green plastic in the brim that looked cool but wasn't.
Which type of conflict is present in this reading?
A. Person vs. Person
B. Person vs. Self
C. Person vs. the Environment
Page
58
D. Person vs. Technology