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Hatchet
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
After the moose and the tornado take nearly everything, Brian says he might be hit but is not done, and that he is tough in the head. Is that real toughness, or a brave face to get through the night?
The tension Brian's taunting of the storm and his claim to be tough pull against the plain fact that, by his own count, he is back to nothing.
Notice how Brian answers losing nearly everything, and what he says to himself in the dark.
Brian goes hunting and kills a foolbird with a feathered arrow. A moose then drives him into the lake and hurts his ribs. That night a tornado takes his shelter, fire and tools. In the dark, hurt and bitten, he tells himself he is not done. In the morning he finds a little left and sees the tail of the plane, and he says a few words for the pilot.
Start with the night after the tornado. Ask what Brian has left and what he says to himself.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: the hunt, the moose, the tornado, the night, the morning, and the plane's tail.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes three short sentences in the same pattern: what hit someone, what they will do, and what they still have.
Debate Take sides on the big question: is Brian's toughness real, or a brave face to get through the night? Each side must use at least one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why Paulsen follows Brian's best day so far with his worst.
Easier Read the night after the tornado aloud together and talk through discussion questions 3 and 4 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 talks to himself in the dark, and to add it to a critical-thinking answer.
1. After the moose, Brian falls asleep "trying to make the moose have reason." Why might he need the attack to make sense?Inference
What it asks It asks why Brian reaches for a reason behind something that looks senseless, and what a reason would do for him.
A reason would make the world feel safer, because he could then avoid it next time.
such an insane attack for no reason and he fell asleep with his mind trying to make the moose have reason
He is worn out and hurt, and his mind keeps turning over what it cannot settle.
She had done more damage than he had originally thought, the insane cow—no sense at all to it.
letting sleep cover the pain in his Chest
A strong answer Brian calls the attack insane and says it had no reason, and then his tired mind keeps working at it as he falls asleep. A reason would make the moose something he could understand and avoid, as he did with the bear. A strong answer says what a reason would do for him and does not pretend the chapter supplies one.
2. In the water, Brian moves only when the cow's hair is down and stops when it goes up. What has he worked out about her?Inference
What it asks It asks what Brian understands about the moose from watching her hair, and how that understanding gets him out alive.
He has learned her warning: raised hair means she will charge if he moves.
her head turned and her back hair went up—like the hair on an angry dog—and he stopped, took a slow breath, the hair went down and she ate
He has learned she will let him go if he seems hurt and harmless.
he stayed hunched over, pretended to be dead
she seemed to accept that and let him crawl, slowly, out of the water
A strong answer Brian reads the cow the way he has learned to read the woods: when he moves her hair goes up, so he stops, and when he stops it goes down and she eats. Moving a half-foot at a time, he gets to the edge of the water. A strong answer says what Brian has worked out and what it saved him from.
3. The chapter calls the waterspout "beautiful and terrible at the same time." What in the scene makes it both?Tone
What it asks It asks the student to find the two feelings in one picture and say what the words of the scene do to make them.
It is beautiful because of what Brian sees: a column of light rising from the lake.
rose in a spout of water going up into the night sky like a wet column of light
It is terrible because of what it does and sounds like: great sucking sounds and waves that fight each other.
the great, roaring sucking sounds of water
the water slamming in great waves that went in all ways, fought each other
A strong answer The picture is lovely: a spout of water rising like a wet column of light. It is also frightening, with great roaring, sucking sounds and waves that fight each other, and Brian is hurt and clawing at the rocks. A strong answer names what makes it beautiful, what makes it terrible, and why both can be true at once.
4. Brian says the day was "A flip of some giant coin." Is that a fair way to see what happened to him?Theme
What it asks It asks whether the day's disasters were luck, or whether any of Brian's own doing mattered.
It is fair: he did nothing wrong and both blows came from nowhere.
such an insane attack for no reason
But it was too late, too late to do anything.
It is only partly fair: some of what he did earlier still helped him through.
grateful that the coals were still glowing and that he had thought to get wood first thing in the mornings to be ready for the day
A strong answer The moose came from the forest behind him and the tornado came with the roar of a train, and nothing Brian did called either one. But he was also grateful for things he had done: the coals were glowing and he had enough wood. A strong answer says what was luck and what was not, and does not have to say the coin picture is simply right or wrong.
5. Paulsen puts the moose and the tornado in one day. Why might he give Brian two blows so close together?Author's choice
What it asks It asks what the author gets by stacking two disasters, instead of letting one stand alone.
It shows how fast things can fall apart after a day that went well.
inside of one day, just one day, he had been run over by a moose and a tornado, had lost everything and was back to square one
It tests Brian a second time, so we see how he answers when the first blow has already hurt him.
Later he would think of it and find that it was the same as the moose. Just insanity.
But there is a difference now, he thought—there really is a difference.
A strong answer The chapter starts with a Brian who is almost fat, happy and sure of everything, and ends with him back to square one, so the two blows make a long fall in a short time. They also give him two tests, and the second shows how he answers when he is already hurt. A strong answer says what stacking the blows does for the reader and gives a reason from the chapter.
1. Brian has improved as a hunter since the day of First Meat. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how.
What it asks It asks the student to find two ways Brian's hunting is better than the day he first killed a bird.
His tools are better: he now has arrows that fly correctly.
put slivers of feather on a dry willow shaft and make an arrow that would fly correctly
His way of approaching has become a method he can repeat.
he had perfected this method after many attempts
paused when the head feathers came up and it made a sound like a cricket—a sign of alarm just before it flew
A strong answer Brian's arrows now carry feathers, so they fly correctly, though he never got really good with them. He has also perfected a way of approaching: he stops when the bird's head feathers come up and moves on when they go down. A strong answer names two ways he has improved and uses two different moments.
2. In the morning Brian looks around the camp. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what he finds that he can start from.
What it asks It asks the student to find what the tornado left behind and what Brian can do with it.
Some of what he built is still there: the pond and wood from the wall.
the fish pond was still there, although the willow gate was gone
some of the wood for the wall was scattered around the beach but was still there
The bow, broken as it is, still has its string, which was hard to make.
saw his bow jammed into a driftwood log, broken but with the precious string still intact
A strong answer The fish pond is still there, though the willow gate is gone, and some of the wood for his wall is scattered on the beach. The bow is broken but its precious string is intact. A strong answer says what is left that he can use and gives two different moments.
3. Brian sees the tail of the plane and thinks of the pilot. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what he feels and what he does.
What it asks It asks the student to see how Brian responds to the pilot, and how he decides what to say.
He feels sadness and a sense that he owes the pilot something.
a shiver and massive sadness that seemed to settle on him like a weight
he thought that he should say or do something for the pilot
He does what he can, even without the right words.
he didn't know any of the right words, the religious words
focused it on the pilot and thought: Have rest. Have rest forever.
A strong answer Brian feels a shiver and a massive sadness that settles on him like a weight, and he thinks he should say or do something. He does not know the right words, so he focuses his mind the way he does when hunting and thinks: Have rest. Have rest forever. A strong answer says what he feels and what he does, using two different moments.