Chapter 3 · Hatchet

Copywork

But he needed one right in front. He desperately needed a lake right in front of the plane and all he saw through the windshield were trees, green death trees.

Read the passage aloud. What changes from the first sentence to the second?

Discussion

Narration Tell the chapter back in order: the engine's silence, the search for a lake, the crash through the trees, the water, and the shore.

When the controls go loose and frighten Brian, he pushes the wheel back in. Was that the right choice? What makes you think so? Character
Everything seems to hang, and Brian sees a moose standing in a pond. Why might Paulsen slow the chapter down for that moment? Author's choice
In the water someone screams, and Brian does not know the sound is his own. What does that tell you about the state he is in? Inference
Brian sees "green death trees," and the water is "trying to kill him." Is the world against him here, or is it his fear talking? Theme
The chapter ends on the single word "Nothing." Why might Paulsen end it there? Plot structure

Make a Connection Tell about a time you had to act fast and could not stop to think.

Vocabulary

desperately: He desperately needed a lake right in front of the plane In a way that shows great and urgent need.
windshield: all he saw through the windshield were trees, green death trees The front window of a plane or car.
altitude: The plane went into a glide, a very fast glide that ate altitude How high something is above the ground.
wallow: This caused the plane to slow dramatically and almost seem to stop and wallow in the air. To roll about heavily and clumsily.
committed: The plane, committed now to landing, to crashing, fell into the wide place like a stone Bound to a course with no turning back.
braced: Brian eased back on the wheel and braced himself for the crash Got ready, tensing up for a hard hit.
wrenching: There was a great wrenching as the wings caught the pines A hard, twisting pull.
momentarily: He was momentarily blinded and slammed forward in the seat For a very short time.
coarse: felt his face in the coarse blades of grass Rough, not smooth.
spiraling: spiraling out into the world, spiraling out into nothing Turning round and round as it moves away.

Critical thinking

Brian's brain screams that he is going to die, yet he holds the nose down and hunts for a lake. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what that shows about him.
Using two pieces of evidence, explain how well Brian handles the plane in the last seconds before it hits the trees.
Using two pieces of evidence, explain how hard Brian has to work to get out of the plane and reach the shore.