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Chapter 3

Hatchet

Trailblazers · 4th–6th

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.

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

Crossword
12
3
4
5
6
7
89
Across
  • Across 1. In a way that shows great and urgent need.
  • Across 3. Bound to a course with no turning back.
  • Across 5. For a very short time.
  • Across 6. Got ready, tensing up for a hard hit.
  • Across 7. To roll about heavily and clumsily.
  • Across 8. Rough, not smooth.
Down
  • Down 2. How high something is above the ground.
  • Down 4. The front window of a plane or car.
  • Down 7. A hard, twisting pull.
  • Down 9. Turning round and round as it moves away.
The words in the chapter
  • desperately He desperately needed a lake right in front of the plane
  • windshield all he saw through the windshield were trees, green death trees
  • altitude The plane went into a glide, a very fast glide that ate altitude
  • wallow This caused the plane to slow dramatically and almost seem to stop and wallow in the air.
  • committed The plane, committed now to landing, to crashing, fell into the wide place like a stone
  • braced Brian eased back on the wheel and braced himself for the crash
  • wrenching There was a great wrenching as the wings caught the pines
  • momentarily He was momentarily blinded and slammed forward in the seat
  • coarse felt his face in the coarse blades of grass
  • spiraling spiraling out into the world, spiraling out into nothing

Critical thinking

1. 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.

2. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how well Brian handles the plane in the last seconds before it hits the trees.

3. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how hard Brian has to work to get out of the plane and reach the shore.