Hatchet
Chapter 15 — Teaching Companion
Gary Paulsen · Trailblazers 4th–6th
Coaching, not a script — and not an answer key: every question here has more than one defensible answer.
This chapter's big question
Brian says he is looking wrong, and the hunt only works once he sees the birds as a shape. Was it new seeing that won him his first meat, or how badly he wanted it?
The tension Brian's hard-won new way of seeing pulls against the chapter's insistence that it was want, and the refusal to quit, that drove him.
Today's focus
Notice how Brian learns to see the foolbirds, and what keeps him hunting until he does.
Two core ideas
- Brian learns by changing how he looks: he stops searching for feathers and color and looks for an outline instead.
- He is driven as well as clever: he sets out to get a bird and eat meat, and he does not give up.
The shape at a glance
Brian marks time in events, and his big event here is First Meat. He craves meat, sees small animals, and is driven mad by the hidden foolbirds. After a morning of failures he sees the shape of a flying pear, and the hunt opens up. He gives up the bow, lunges with the spear, and kills a bird. He cleans it, cooks it, and ends on his first bite.
A way in
Start with the day he went out only to get a bird. Ask what he does when it does not work, and when it does.
Lesson plan
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: marking time in events, the craving, the foolbirds, the flying pear, the spear, the cleaning and cooking, and the first bite.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two sentences in the same pattern: what someone was looking for, then the one thing they had to look for instead.
Debate Take sides on the big question: did new seeing or the want for meat win the first meal? Each side must use at least one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why Paulsen gives a whole chapter to one day when Brian says days are nothing.
Easier Read the flying pear moment aloud together and talk through discussion questions 2 and 3 only.
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 Brian changes how he looks at a problem, and to add it to a critical-thinking answer.
Discussion
- Brian says a day is nothing, but events are burned into his memory. Why might he keep time that way?Character
What it asks It asks what Brian's way of marking time shows about how his life out here feels, and why days alone do not hold on.
One reading
The days are all alike, so only the things that happen stay with him.
A day was nothing, not a thing to remember—it was just sun coming up, sun going down, some light in the middle.
The days had folded one into another and mixed
Another reading
Events are what change him, so they are how he knows his own story.
But events—events were burned into his memory and so he used them to remember time
to keep a mental journal
Listen for
- Says what makes a day different from an event.
- Uses what Brian does to keep track, the marks and the mental journal.
If stuck
- How does Brian mark the days?
- What does he call the days that he remembers?
A strong answer The days fold into one another, so Brian marks them with a stone near the door but does not trust them to hold a memory: a day is only sun up, sun down and some light in the middle. Events are different, burned into his memory, and he keeps them like a mental journal. A strong answer says what makes an event worth remembering and what that shows about Brian.
- The foolbirds nearly drive Brian insane, and it is "almost insulting" how they hide. Why do you think they get under his skin so much?Tone
What it asks It asks what is it about the birds that makes Brian more annoyed than afraid, and what that shows about where he is now.
One reading
They make him feel foolish, since they are "dumb" and still beat him.
they were so dumb, or seemed to be so dumb, that it was almost insulting the way they kept hidden from him
They exasperated him to the point where they were close to driving him insane.
Another reading
They keep scaring him just when he is at rest, so he is always on edge.
only to explode into deafening flight just when Brian least expected it
he spent the whole time jumping and jerking in fright as he walked
Listen for
- Says what the birds do and what Brian feels about it.
- Notices that Brian is annoyed, not just afraid.
If stuck
- What happens when Brian rests near a bird?
- What does he think about how smart they are?
A strong answer The birds are so well hidden that one can stand two feet away and blow up into flight just when Brian least expects it, so he spends each walk jumping in fright. Brian also thinks they are dumb, so being beaten by them feels almost insulting. A strong answer says what upsets him most and uses a line from the chapter.
- After the hunt Brian gives the insides to the fish and saves the long wing and tail feathers. What does that show about how he thinks now?Inference
What it asks It asks what Brian's small choices after the kill show about how he has learned to use everything he has.
One reading
He wastes nothing: even the insides do a job by bringing fish to his pond.
The fish would eat them, or eat what they could, and the feeding action would bring more fish.
The rest he threw in the water, saw the small round fish begin tearing at it
Another reading
He thinks ahead: the feathers may solve the arrow problem he already has.
There might be some use for them, he thought; maybe work them onto the arrows somehow.
Listen for
- Names something he saves and something he gives away.
- Connects the feathers to a problem he already has.
If stuck
- What is wrong with his arrows?
- What does feeding the pond bring?
A strong answer Brian gives the feathers and insides to the fish pond, because feeding them brings more fish, and he keeps the stiff wing and tail feathers because his arrows have none. That shows a boy who thinks about what each thing might be for. A strong answer says what he saves, what he gives, and why each makes sense.
- Brian decides to eat the bird even though it is "black on the outside and hard and hot." Was that patience running out, or good sense?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks the student to weigh Brian's own rule about patience against his hunger, at the moment he stops waiting.
One reading
Patience ran out: he had just said so much of living is patience, and then he gives in.
Patience, he thought. So much of this was patience—waiting and thinking and doing things right.
there came a time when it didn't matter if the meat was done or not
Another reading
It was good sense: he cooked it as far as he could and a hungry boy needs to eat.
He settled back, turning the bird slowly, letting the juices go back into the meat
He tore a piece from the breast, a sliver of meat, and put it in his mouth and chewed carefully
Listen for
- Weighs how long Brian waits against how hungry he is.
- Uses what he says about patience.
If stuck
- What does Brian find when he first tries to pull meat off?
- How does he eat the first piece?
A strong answer Brian has just told himself that so much of living is patience, and then there comes a time when it does not matter if the meat is done. But he also turns the bird slowly and chews the first piece as carefully as he can, so the patience has not fully gone. A strong answer decides whether this is patience running out or good sense, and says why.
- Paulsen ends by listing every food Brian ever loved before saying he never tasted anything finer. Why might he make the list so long?Author's choice
What it asks It asks what the long list of foods does for the reader just before the last words, and why the author builds it this way.
One reading
The list shows how much Brian once had, so the first bite weighs more.
all the hamburgers and malts, all the fries or meals at home, never in all the candy or pies or cakes
Another reading
The repeated 'never' sounds like Brian making a vow, with the whole old life set aside.
never never never had he tasted anything as fine as that first bite. First Meat.
Listen for
- Says what the list does, not only that it is long.
- Notices the words 'First Meat' at the very end.
If stuck
- What kinds of food are in the list?
- What are the last two words?
A strong answer The list is full of the foods from home, hamburgers and candy and pies, and each one is set aside, so the first bite of a plain bird is made to taste larger than all of them. The repeated never and the final words First Meat also read like a vow. A strong answer says what the list does for the reader and gives a reason from the chapter.
Critical thinking
- Brian gives up on the bow for the birds. Using two pieces of evidence, explain why it does not work there.
What it asks It asks the student to see what makes the bow fine for fish and wrong for birds.
One reading
The arrows fly badly, because they have no feathers.
they were little more than sticks that flopped out of the bow, sometimes going sideways
the arrow would turn without feathers to stabilize it
Another reading
The bow is built for fish at close range, not for any distance.
It had worked all right for the fish, when they came right to the end of the arrow
it wasn't good for any kind of distance
Listen for
- Two separate pieces of evidence, not one told twice.
- Says what the bow can do and what it cannot.
If stuck
- What is missing from the arrows?
- How close are the fish when he shoots them?
A strong answer The arrows have no feathers, so they flop out of the bow and turn sideways even at seven or eight feet. The bow also worked for fish only because they came right to the end of the arrow, so it is not good for distance. A strong answer gives the problem with the arrows and the problem with the bow, using two different moments.
- Brian finally gets close enough to a bird. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what he does with the spear.
What it asks It asks how Brian turns the spear, which failed for fish, into a tool for birds.
One reading
He learns that throwing will not work, so he lunges instead.
He tried throwing the spear but he was not good enough and not fast enough
he could get close enough to put the spear point out ahead almost to the bird and thrust-lunge with it
Another reading
He learns to approach the bird in a way that does not scare it.
if he saw the bird sitting and moved sideways toward it—not directly toward it but at an angle, back and forth
He came close twice
Listen for
- Two separate pieces of evidence, not one told twice.
- Says what Brian changes after the throw fails.
If stuck
- Why does throwing the spear not work?
- How does Brian walk toward the bird?
A strong answer Throwing fails because the birds fly amazingly fast, so Brian tries something else: he moves sideways toward a sitting bird at an angle, gets the spear point out ahead, and thrust-lunges with it. A strong answer says what he gives up, what he does instead, and uses two different moments.
- Brian cooks the bird over the fire. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what goes wrong and how he fixes it.
What it asks It asks the student to follow the trial and error in the cooking, which is the same way Brian learned everything else out here.
One reading
The heat is wrong, so he moves the bird to the side.
The fire was too hot. The flames hit the fat and the bird almost ignited.
finally he moved it to the side a bit and there it seemed to cook properly
Another reading
It cooks on one side, so he finds a way to turn it.
Except that it only cooked on one side and all the juice dripped off.
he found a forked stick and stuck it in the sand to put his cooking stick in
Listen for
- Two separate pieces of evidence, one for each problem.
- Says what Brian does about each problem.
If stuck
- What happens to the bird when it is too close to the flames?
- What does Brian use to hold the stick?
A strong answer The fire is too hot at first and the bird almost ignites, so he moves it to the side. Then it cooks only on one side and the juice drips off, so he sets a forked stick in the sand to hold the cooking stick and turns it slowly. A strong answer gives one problem and one fix and uses two different moments.