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Chapter 4

Hatchet

Trailblazers · 4th–6th

Copywork

If the plane had come down a little to the left it would have hit the rocks and never made the lake. He would have been smashed. Destroyed.

Read the passage aloud. Why might the last sentence be only one word?

Discussion

Narration Tell the chapter back in order: the memory of the Secret, waking at the lake, the first night and morning, the mosquitoes, and the view over the water.

1. Brian thinks, "I'm alive," and soon after, "Like the pilot." What might each thought do to him?Character

2. Brian screams awake from the memory of the Secret. Why might it come back to him now, after the crash?Inference

3. On the still lake Brian sees "an upside-down forest to match the real one." Why might Paulsen give us that picture here?Author's choice

4. Brian says the nature shows "never once" mentioned the mosquitoes. What might he have expected the wilderness to be like?Theme

5. The chapter opens with the Secret and ends with Brian asleep by the lake. Why might Paulsen begin with the memory?Plot structure

Make a Connection Tell about a time something good and something bad came from the same event.

Vocabulary

Crossword
1234
5
6
7
8
9
Across
  • Across 1. Broken to pieces by a hard blow.
  • Across 5. Very great pain.
  • Across 7. Beaten up and bruised.
  • Across 9. Damp, cold and unpleasant to touch.
Down
  • Down 1. A large crowd of insects moving together.
  • Down 2. Grew weaker or less.
  • Down 3. Wrecked so badly it cannot be used or saved.
  • Down 4. A foggy, unclear state of mind.
  • Down 6. The small pieces that are left.
  • Down 8. In a fierce, cruel way.
The words in the chapter
  • smashed He would have been smashed.
  • destroyed Driven into the rocks and destroyed.
  • abated some of the sharp pain had abated
  • battered Just battered around a bit.
  • clammy His clothes were wet and clammy
  • remnants the torn remnants of his windbreaker
  • haze But all in a haze, all in a haze-world.
  • swarm One minute he was sitting in the middle of a swarm
  • viciously attacked the new soft flesh of his back so viciously
  • agony almost crying in frustration and agony

Critical thinking

1. Brian feels himself over after the night. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how badly he is hurt.

2. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what Brian tries against the mosquitoes and what finally stops them.

3. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how this new place feels to Brian: strange, peaceful, or both.