Chapter 6

Hatchet

Trailblazers · 4th–6th

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.

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. Brian swallows the berries "pits and all" and eats too many. Was that foolish, or all he could do?Moral reasoning

5. 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

Crossword

1	2	3




	4
				5
		6
	7
8

			9

Across

Across 1. Long and thin.
Across 4. To make smaller or less.
Across 6. Shining as if wet.
Across 8. Crushed into powder.
Across 9. Curled up small and close for warmth.

Down

Down 2. Did not have.
Down 3. Hanging down with weight.
Down 5. Wove together by crossing over and under.
Down 7. With regret and a little sadness.

The words in the chapter

slender The slender branches went up about twenty feet
drooping were heavy, drooping with clusters of bright red berries
diminish he didn't want to diminish any chance he might have of being found
pulverized had also been pulverized by the glacial action, turned into sand
glistening when Brian saw them, glistening red in the sunlight, he almost yelled

tart had a tart flavor that left his mouth dry feeling
lacked that they lacked any sweetness
ruefully looking ruefully at the beach and lakeside
interlaced he interlaced and wove a wall across the opening of the front of the rock
huddled he crawled back in under the rock and huddled and tried to sleep

Define These Words

tart: Sharp and sour to the taste.

Critical thinking

1. Using two pieces of evidence, explain why the stone overhang is a good place for Brian's shelter.

2. Brian decides to keep the lake or the ridge in sight while he hunts for berries. Using two pieces of evidence, explain why.

3. Brian rubs two sticks together and gets no fire. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what he does with that failure.