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A Map of Ship-Trap Island
In Richard Connell’s short story The Most Dangerous Game, the main character
Rainsford has to struggle to escape from the maniacal Zaroff.
The PLOT of the story can easily be shown by tracing Rainsford’s journey to and
on mysterious Ship-Trap Island.
Your Task: Create a detailed map of Ship-Trap Island and the ocean
surrounding it. On this map, draw a line showing Rainsford’s path throughout
the story. If you do this properly, you will not only show your understanding of
the story’s PLOT, but also its SETTING as well.
Learning Targets: To be successful, you will:
 properly identify important moments from the plot of the story and
sequence them correctly in a visual summary, and
 select well-chosen text evidence to show good understanding of the
plot and setting of the story.
Requirements:
 The map must have a title “Ship-Trap Island,” a compass and a key. If
you do not know what these are, please ask.
 The map must be in color or use creative shading. You are not graded
on your artistic skills, but your product should be visually pleasing,
clean and organized.
 Use a line to trace Rainsford’s path from when we first meet him all
the way up the final scene. Along his path, identify key plot moments.
 To identify key plot moments along his path, use shapes or symbols
AND select a short passage of text from the story to identify some
critical detail from this plot moment.
o A hint about “critical details”: The name of a trap Rainsford
sets is not a critical detail. How he builds it, how it works, or
what it causes to happen would be critical details.
o Copy your critical detail word for word and put it inside
“quotation marks.” Then, cite the page number in
parenthesis like this (7).
 Include important features of the setting, such as Zaroff’s chateau, the
Death Swamp, and the Ship Trap. There are clues in the story about
where these things are located, so make sure to place them in their
proper location on the map.
Plot Accuracy and Choices
20 points
Setting Accuracy and Choices
20 points
Quality of Text Evidence
40 points
Overall Appearance
20 points
All plot events are accurately placed
geographically on the island, based
on clues given in the text. All
geographical features are placed
correctly, based on clues given in
the text. Extra island features, if
added, are appropriate to the
story’s setting.
No major features of the island are
misplaced or missing, but some
details of Rainsford’s path might be
inaccurate. Extra island features, if
added, are appropriate to the
story’s setting.
Text chosen is properly formatted
(in quotation marks, with
parenthetical page citation). The
text chosen accurately represents
the plot moment or setting location.
ALL text chosen is “illustrative”
rather than “declarative.”
Overall appearance is clean,
suitable for classroom display, and
shows significant effort and
attention to detail. Even if it is not
“artistic,” it is clear that the student
took pride in the overall
appearance. Planning is evident.
Text chosen is properly formatted
(in quotation marks, with
parenthetical page citation). The
text chosen accurately represents
the plot moment or setting location.
MOST text chosen is “illustrative”
rather than “declarative.”
Text chosen is properly formatted
(in quotation marks, with
parenthetical page citation). The
text chosen, in most cases,
represents the plot moment or
setting location. SOME text chosen
is “illustrative” rather but most is
“declarative.”
Text chosen may not be properly
formatted. At least a few examples
are “illustrative.”
Overall appearance is clean, easy to
read, and shows effort and
attention to details. Planning is
evident by how organized and laid
out the visual is.
There are serious issues with
formatting. All text is “declarative”
rather than “illustrative.” Text is
missing.
The visual is messy, illegible, or
ineffective due to a lack of planning.
A
All major plot events from
beginning to end are marked on
Rainsford’s path.
The plot events are in the correct
order. Thus, the plot summary is
accurate.
B
One or two major plot events may
be missing OR a couple of plot
events may be in the wrong order,
but generally the plot summary is
accurate.
C
At least three-quarters of the plot
events are present and represented
in the correct order OR all plot
events are represented but there
are errors in sequencing.
No more than one major feature of
the island is misplaced or missing.
Rainsford’s path is accurate enough
to show reading comprehension.
D
Many plot events are missing or out
of order, to the extent that
understanding of the story is not
well communicated.
Rainsford’s path is not accurately
shown, or features of the island are
misplaced.
F
Too many plot events are out of
order or missing to justify reading
comprehension.
Multiple features of the island are
missing, misplaced, or
misrepresented; extra island
features, if added, are not
appropriate to the setting.
Overall appearance is satisfactory to
communicate, but doesn’t
necessarily show exceptional effort.
Some parts may be “squished
together” or poorly laid out,
indicating that pre-planning may
not have taken place.
Overall appearance makes some
parts of the map difficult to read.
The visuals may be overly basic or
clearly put together quickly without
much planning or forethought.