Chapter 14 · Hatchet

Copywork

Small mistakes could turn into disasters, funny little mistakes could snowball so that while you were still smiling at the humor you could find yourself looking at death.

Read the passage aloud. What does this one long sentence do that a few short ones could not?

Discussion

Narration Tell the chapter back in order: the skunk, the new shelter, the food shelf and ladder, and the fish pen.

Brian nearly smiles at the skunk before he throws sand at it. What changes in that second? Character
Brian says nothing in nature is lazy. What does the chapter show that makes him say it? Theme
Brian knows a hundred funny cartoons about skunks. Why might Paulsen mention them? Author's choice
After the skunk, Brian tears his shelter down and builds a much stronger one. Why does he think a stronger wall is the answer? Inference
Brian calls storing live fish "a major breakthrough" because it is about saving ahead. Why might that count as such a big step for him? Plot structure

Make a Connection Tell about a time a small mistake taught you something you still remember.

Vocabulary

snowball: funny little mistakes could snowball Grow bigger and bigger.
disasters: Small mistakes could turn into disasters Terrible things that go wrong.
rectify: there was a way to rectify it, make it all right To put right; to fix.
vital: the truly vital knowledge that drives all creatures Needed to stay alive.
devastating: the effect was devastating Causing great harm.
corrosive: The corrosive spray that hit his face Eating away at things by burning.
impaired: or at least impaired Made weaker or worse.
mesh: in so tight a mesh A net of woven strands.
enclosure: thirty or forty small fish in the enclosure A space closed in on all sides.

Critical thinking

Brian says mistakes cost more in the woods than in the city. Using two pieces of evidence, explain why.
Brian builds the second shelter. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what he does differently from the first.
Brian looks for a place to keep food. Using two pieces of evidence, explain why he chooses the ledge over the ground.