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Hatchet
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Brian says the plane passing, and the despair that followed, made him new. Is it fair to credit the worst night with the change, or the choices he made afterward?
The tension Brian names the disappointment as what made him new, while nearly everything the chapter shows of the new Brian is what he did afterward: the mistakes, the bows and the fish.
Notice what Brian says changed him, and what the chapter actually shows him doing afterward.
Forty-seven days after the crash, Brian stands hunting at the lake and meets four wolves. The chapter then looks back: after the plane passed, he fell into despair so deep that he hurt himself and wished for death, and the next morning he decided he would not die. It tells of his early mistakes, a bow that broke and arrows that missed because of the water, and the first fish. It ends on a feast day and what Brian calls tough hope.
Start with the wolves. Ask what Brian does when the wolf looks at him, and what that shows about him.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: the wolves, the plane passing, the first morning, the mistakes with the bow, the first fish, and tough hope.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes three sentences in the same pattern: a plain claim, a sentence with the cause, and the claim again with a little more.
Debate Take sides on the big question: should the worst night or Brian's later choices get the credit for changing him? Each side must use at least one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why Paulsen shows the calm Brian before the despair that came before him.
Easier Read the wolf scene and the first fish aloud together and talk through discussion questions 1 and 5 only. The teacher may decide how much of the hardest night to read aloud.
On level Talk through all five discussion questions, then have the student write one critical-thinking answer with two pieces of evidence from the chapter.
Harder Ask the student to find one more place where the chapter shows Brian learning from a mistake, and to add it to a critical-thinking answer.
1. Brian feels afraid when the wolf looks down at him, then nods and smiles. What changes between those two moments?Character
What it asks It asks what turns Brian's fear into calm in a few seconds: how he sees the wolf, or what the wolf does.
He changes how he sees the wolf: it is part of the woods, not an enemy.
Brian knew the wolf for what it was—another part of the woods, another part of all of it
The wolf's calm settles him, since it looks at him and does nothing.
He knew Brian, knew him and owned him and chose not to do anything to him.
A strong answer At first Brian is afraid because the wolf is so right, as if it owns everything below it. Then the fear moves away. Brian decides the wolf is another part of the woods, and the wolf, which chose to do nothing to him, never threatens him. So Brian relaxes his spear, nods and smiles. A strong answer says what changes first, how Brian sees the wolf or what the wolf does, and gives a reason.
2. Something Brian cannot explain stops him at the lake before he hears anything. Where might a warning like that come from?Inference
What it asks It asks where Brian's sudden warning comes from, using what the chapter says about his senses and about the bear with cubs.
His senses are doing the work below thought: he has learned to listen and watch.
letting his eyes and ears go out and do the work for him
Turn, smell, listen, feel and then a sound, a small sound
It comes from experience: the bear with cubs taught him to trust the feeling.
It had happened before this way, something had come into him from outside to warn him and he had stopped.
He paid attention to the feeling now and he stood and waited, patiently
A strong answer Brian cannot explain the warning, but the chapter shows what he does to receive it: he holds still, breathes gently and lets his eyes and ears go out. It has also worked before, when it stopped him just before he stepped between a mother bear and her cubs. A strong answer says where the warning might come from and uses one of those moments.
3. Paulsen tells us about Brian's worst days only after the wolves have gone. Why might he put them in that order?Author's choice
What it asks It asks what the reader gains from meeting the calm Brian first and learning the hard days afterward.
Showing the calm Brian first lets us see the change before we learn what it cost.
He was not the same now—the Brian that stood and watched the wolves move away and nodded to them was completely changed.
Telling the hard days second makes the calm look earned, by contrast.
When the plane had come and gone it had put him down, gutted him and dropped him and left him with nothing.
In measured time forty-seven days had passed since the crash.
A strong answer The chapter opens with Brian calm enough to nod at wolves, and only then tells how he fell after the plane passed. The reader meets the changed Brian first and then learns how far he had to come, so the calm seems earned and not given. A strong answer says what the order does for the reader and gives a reason from the chapter.
4. Brian says the hope of rescue is gone, yet he is full of "tough hope." What kind of hope is that, and is it enough?Theme
What it asks It asks what Brian is hoping in now that he is no longer hoping to be found, and whether that can carry him.
It is enough: he can learn, survive and feed himself.
Hope in the fact that he could learn and survive and take care of himself.
It may not be enough, since the hope he gave up was a hope of leaving.
Not hope that he would be rescued—that was gone.
Tough hope, he thought that night.
A strong answer Brian's old hope was that someone would come for him, and that is gone. His new hope is in himself: he can learn, survive and take care of himself. It is tough because it does not depend on anyone else. Whether it is enough is open, since it cannot take him home. A strong answer says what the hope is and weighs whether it can carry him.
5. The chapter opens with Brian at the lake, where he "was the water." What does that sentence tell us about how he feels?Tone
What it asks It asks what mood the opening sets, and what a sentence like that shows about how Brian now stands in the woods.
It shows calm and belonging: he is part of the place.
watched the water, smelled the water, listened to the water, was the water
It shows a hunter's stillness: every sense is working and nothing moves.
breathing gently through his mouth to keep silent, letting his eyes and ears go out and do the work for him
A strong answer The sentence lists four things Brian does with the water, ending on becoming it, which is a calm, quiet, almost belonging feeling. The next lines show the same stillness as a hunter's: he does not move, breathes gently, and lets his eyes and ears do the work. A strong answer says what mood it creates and which words create it.
1. Brian has no string and no feathers for his arrows. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how he solves each problem.
What it asks It asks the student to see how Brian solves problems with what he already has, and how he decides what he can do without.
He finds a use for something he is already carrying: his shoelaces become a bowstring.
He had no string and that threw him until he looked down at his tennis shoes.
one lace cut in half would take care of both shoes and that left the other lace for a bowstring
He thinks about what the arrow must really do and leaves the feathers off.
He had no feathers so he just left them bare, figuring for fish they only had to travel a few inches.
A strong answer For the string Brian looks down at his tennis shoes and sees that one lace cut in half takes care of both shoes and leaves the other for a bowstring. For the feathers he reasons that a fish arrow only has to travel a few inches, so bare shafts will do. A strong answer gives one moment for each problem and says what Brian did to solve it.
2. Brian holds his first fish against the sky. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what that catch means to him.
What it asks It asks what Brian feels when the fish is on the arrow: that he has found a way to live, or that he has done something with his own hands.
It means he has a way to stay alive.
With his bow, with an arrow fashioned by his own hands he had done food, had found a way to live.
It means pride, and he feels one with everything he has made.
felt his throat tighten, swell, and fill with pride at what he had done
seeing them as they fit his arms, as they were part of him
A strong answer The catch means Brian has found a way to live: he has done food with an arrow made by his own hands. It also fills his throat with pride, and as he walks away holding the fish, arrow and bow, he sees them as part of him. A strong answer says what the catch means and backs it with two different moments.
3. Brian smiles as he remembers his mistakes with the bow. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what each mistake taught him.
What it asks It asks what the two failures taught Brian about the bow and about the water, and how each lesson changed his next try.
The first bow taught him it was too stiff, so he made a gentler one.
Too stiff.
He had made a new bow, with slender limbs and a more fluid, gentle pull
The missed shots taught him the water bends light, so the fish are not where they seem.
he had forgotten that water refracts, bends light
They were lower, just below, which meant he had to aim just under them.
A strong answer The first bow exploded in his hands because it was too stiff, so he made a new one with slender limbs and a gentler pull. The second problem was the water: the arrow seemed to bend because water refracts light, so the fish were lower than they looked and he had to aim just under them. A strong answer gives one lesson for each mistake and says what he did differently.