By Jack London

Jack London - BrainPop

BrainPOP | Jack London

Jack London

Born in San Francisco on January 12, 1876

His family was very poor and he had to leave school after 8th grade to work and help support his family

He was a big reader and went to the library often to read books and learn new things

Jack London Jack London was an adventurer and held

many different jobsPirateWhaler who went sailing to JapanHobo – traveling across the United States

Eventually, he became sick and returned home to finish high school and spent a semester at college

In 1897 he left college to head up to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush

Jack London

In 1897 he left college to head up to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush

He did not become rich, instead he learned all about the adventures of living in the Arctic and began his career as a writer

The Call of the Wild

Published in 1903 Jack London’s most famous novel The story is told from the perspective of

a dog named Buck and his adventures and life living in Alaska

This book helped make Jack London the most famous writer of his time period in the world

People loved his adventure stories

American West in the 1890’s What do you think of when you think of

the American West in the 1890’s?

The Spirit of the American West Jack London and his stories embodied

the “spirit of the American west” and living life on the frontier – the line between civilization and the wild, unexplored parts of America – specifically Alaska

Setting of the Story

Place:Santa Clara Valley, California (for a short

time)AlaskaKlondike region of Canada

○ Northland (snow) vs. Southland (sun)

Time: 1890’s

Santa Clara Valley

Alaska

Klondike Region

Where would you rather live? Would you rather live in the snowy

Northland or sunny Southland?

How is the Santa Clara setting different from Alaska and the Klondike region?

Anthropomorphism

Giving human qualities to non-humans Jack London wrote the story from the

perspective of Buck, a dog This technique is known as

anthropomorphism

Plot

Buck, the main character and protagonist of the story, is a dog who lives a happy, comfortable life in Santa Clara

He is kidnapped from his owner and sold as a sled dog and sent to Alaska

Buck has to fight for survival and becomes uncivilized and goes back to his wild, primitive, animalistic roots

Klondike Gold Rush

Klondike Gold Rush

The Quest for Gold in the West

Dog Sledding

Welcome to Discovery Education Player

Characters

Buck

  A powerful dog, half St. Bernard and half sheepdog

He is stolen from a California estate and sold as a sled dog in the Arctic.

Buck gradually evolves from a pampered pet into a fierce, masterful animal, able to hold his own in the cruel, kill-or-be-killed world of the North.

Characters

Judge Miller -  Buck’s original master, the owner of a large estate in California’s Santa Clara Valley.

Manuel -  A gardener’s helper on Judge Miller’s estate. Manuel kidnaps Buck and sells him in order to pay off his gambling debts.

Buck

Spitz Buck’s enemy and the original leader of

Francois’s dog team. Spitz is a fierce animal—a “devil-dog,”

one man calls him—who is used to fighting with other dogs and winning

He doesn’t care about right or wrong

Francois and Perrault

French-Canadians who buy Buck and use him as a sled dog to carry mail

Hal

An American gold seeker, Hal comes to Canada in search of adventure and riches.

Mercedes

Charles’ wife and Hal’s sister. Mercedes is spoiled and pampered She is meant to represent spoiled,

civilized women who do not belong in the wild or wilderness

Charles

Hal’s brother-in-law and Mercedes’ husband. Charles shares their inexperience and poor planning.

Hal, Mercedes, and Charles They are inexperienced, terrible

masters, as they run out of food during the journey and fight among themselves.

Hal and his companions are meant to represent the weakness of overcivilized men and to embody the man-dog relationship at its worst.

John Thornton

Buck’s final master, a gold hunter experienced in the ways of the Klondike.

The perfect man – dog relationship They both love each other deeply and

save each others lives

Other Dogs

Dave -  A dog on Buck’s team

Sol-leks -  An older, more experienced dog on Buck’s team.

Curly -  A friend of Buck’s, met on the journey to the North.

Themes: Survival of the Fittest Only the smartest and the strongest can

survive in this world

BrainPOP | Natural Selection

The Power of Instinct

Human beings as well as animals have natural instincts passed down through the genetic code.

Animal instinct is very important throughout the story.

Buck's ability to listen to his instinct makes him more and more powerful and draws him more and more deeply towards the wild – why the story is named Call of the Wild

Civilization vs. Wilderness Civilization: human society

Includes:○ Science○ Culture○ Government

Wilderness: a wild region where only animals live Examples:

○ Forests○ Deserts○ Mountains.

Power

All of the dogs have power, and must use it in order to survive

The dogs can give up their power to a bigger and stronger dog and hope that that dog will protect them.

Dogs

The Wild Side of Dogs