Chapter 6 · Hatchet

Copywork

He could not believe it was that easy. It was as if the birds had taken him right to the berries. The slender branches went up about twenty feet and were heavy, drooping with clusters of bright red berries.

Read the passage aloud. Which words help you see the berries?

Discussion

Narration Tell the chapter back in order: the game with Terry, finding the shelter, the hunger and the Thanksgiving memory, the berry hunt, and the night under the ledge.

Brian wishes Terry were here with "a gun and a knife and some matches." What does that wish show about the game the two boys once played? Inference
In the middle of Brian's hunger, Paulsen gives us a Thanksgiving dinner with his father. Why might he put that memory here? Author's choice
When thoughts of his mother push in, Brian tells himself he "Had to stop that kind of thinking." What might that save him, and what might it cost? Character
Brian swallows the berries "pits and all" and eats too many. Was that foolish, or all he could do? Moral reasoning
Brian almost thinks of the shelter as "home." What does the chapter show about what makes a place feel like home? Theme

Make a Connection Tell about a time you believed something would be there before you had any proof.

Vocabulary

slender: The slender branches went up about twenty feet Long and thin.
drooping: were heavy, drooping with clusters of bright red berries Hanging down with weight.
diminish: he didn't want to diminish any chance he might have of being found To make smaller or less.
pulverized: had also been pulverized by the glacial action, turned into sand Crushed into powder.
glistening: when Brian saw them, glistening red in the sunlight, he almost yelled Shining as if wet.
tart: had a tart flavor that left his mouth dry feeling Sharp and sour to the taste.
lacked: that they lacked any sweetness Did not have.
ruefully: looking ruefully at the beach and lakeside With regret and a little sadness.
interlaced: he interlaced and wove a wall across the opening of the front of the rock Wove together by crossing over and under.
huddled: he crawled back in under the rock and huddled and tried to sleep Curled up small and close for warmth.

Critical thinking

Using two pieces of evidence, explain why the stone overhang is a good place for Brian's shelter.
Brian decides to keep the lake or the ridge in sight while he hunts for berries. Using two pieces of evidence, explain why.
Brian rubs two sticks together and gets no fire. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what he does with that failure.