the call of the wild - north allegheny school district · web viewklondike gold rush yukon...

The Call of the Wild

by Jack London

Name______________________________Period_______

English 8Ingomar Middle School

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Pre-reading ActivityReaction Guide

Directions: Read the following statements below. Give your reaction to them by writing a “A” for agree, or “D” for disagree on the line under the YOU column.

In your small group, discuss each statement. Be prepared to support your decision to your group. Support your opinion in a sentence under each statement. Finally, take a vote and note the results in the GROUP column.

YOU GROUP

Statements

A-

D-

1. In any group, a leader will always emerge.

A-

D-

2. If there is no real leadership, the law of the wild will reign.

A-

D-

3. Humans are more capable of surviving the wild because they can use logic and reasoning to survive.

A-

D-

4. Civilization makes people too soft to cope with the hardships of the wilderness.

A-

D-

5. Nature is both a friend and an enemy of humans.

A-

D-

6. Your environment has more influence on your life than does heredity.

A-

D-

7. In nature, the strong should survive; there is no room for weakness.

A-

D-

8. People really have no control over their lives; it is a matter of fate or destiny.

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Jack London Biography

Jack London was a prolific writer; over the period from 1899 until his death in 1916, he wrote 50 books and over 1,000 articles. Though he was made most famous by his stories of the Klondike, he wrote on subjects ranging from boxing to romance, from survival in the Arctic to labor strife in Australia. He led a harsh, erratic life; born illegitimate, raised as a poor "work beast", constantly questing after every adventure and all the knowledge the world might offer, he died young as a result. The fact that his gift for writing was ever realized came to be used as an example of "The American Dream.” London had a rough view of the world and society.

Jack London dropped out of school at the age of fourteen, and worked at a series of low-paying sweatshop jobs until he was sixteen, when his adventures began. London's exploits during the years 1892 and 1893 are part of the London legend: oyster pirate, fisheries patrolman, seal hunter in the North Pacific, rail-riding hobo, and hard-drinking dockhand. In 1894, during America's worst depression until that time, he traveled across the United States and Canada on the rails during which he saw the pains and disorders of American society in one of its most disturbing crises. He saw for the first time that society was badly put together.

By the spring of 1897, London had decided that society would not drag him down and force him to spend his life slaving as a "work beast"; he would become a writer. He wrote fifteen hours a day, composing everything from "ponderous essays and ... short stories... to elephantine epics.” But, like others who were drawn to the “gold”, he joined the masses and headed to Alaska to find his fortune. He was about to find his literary niche.

Jack London had a talent for rapid, intimate perception of his physical surroundings. The scenes in his stories of the Klondike were developed from what he saw and heard during his one winter. His story plots came from rumors, bar-room tales, newspaper clippings, story plots purchased from other writers. In London's stories, the Klondike became "not only a real country, but a territory of the mind," in which his characters lived or died because of what they had inside them.

It is often said that London's characters lack depth, but that seems an unfair criticism. While it is true that much of his "hack-work" suffers from superficial character development, his best work reaches deeply into his characters' hearts, sometimes in the form of anthropomorphism*, as with Buck, the dog-hero in The Call of the Wild. The allegoric use of Buck to represent the struggle of all working-class people to maintain their dignity is often commented on.

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http://london.sonoma.edu/Writings/CallOfTheWild/

Although Jack London was famous as an action-writer, he was a master at describing the physical sensations of slow death. Death is a common theme in London's work; London "was always very much in love with death," and his descriptions make it obvious that he spent a great deal of time thinking about the subtleties and progressions of various ways of dying. In The Call of the Wild, the death-cry of the rabbit that Spitz kills is reverently described as "the cry of Life plunging down from Life's apex in the grip of Death."

Jack London has often been classed as a racist, but he was a man of complex reasoning with many contradictions. As a child, his mother taught him to believe that he was better than the Chinese, the Italians, the Irish, and the other immigrants who were taking away jobs from Americans of good Anglo-Saxon breeding. In his youth, he clearly believed in the inferiority of non-whites, and particularly of those people who were of mixed blood. He definitely did not believe, however, that all Anglo-Saxons were inherently noble creatures; he often portrayed whites as heartless aggressors both against the "weaker races", and against the weaker members of their own race.

In June 1905, the Londons bought the first plot of land that would, by 1914, be a 1,439-acre ranch in the Valley of the Moon. The ranch became the anchor of his life, and his passion. He became noted for his prize stock, state-of-the-art barns, soil reclamation projects, and water conservation measures. As always, Jack London did nothing half-way; "he was always excessive, if not ecstatic, about what he believed at the moment."

Through Jack London, millions of people around the world have experienced the outer edges of the world, the innermost core of the working-class world, and the complex struggles to survive in either place. A literary critic once said that "the greatest story London ever told was the story he lived." On November 22, 1916, that life came to an end.

* anthropomorphism an·thro·po·mor·phism (ān'thrə-pə-môr'fĭz'əm) n. The attribution of human motivation, characteristics, or behavior to nonhuman organisms or inanimate objects.

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http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/attribution

Klondike Gold RushYukon Territory 1897

The Klondike gold rush began in July of 1897 when two ships docked in San Francisco and Seattle carrying miners returning from the Yukon with bags of gold. The press was alerted and papers carried the story to the masses. Soon, miners of all shapes and sizes, called "stampeders", were on their way to the gold fields. Within six months, approximately 100,000 gold-seekers set off for the Yukon. Only 30,000 completed the trip.

Most stampeders knew little or nothing about where they were going, so pamphlets were available to help them on their way. Many of the pamphlets contained little or no real information and made outrageous claims of wealth to be had by everyone. Outfitters sprang up overnight that were happy to sell the stampeders whatever they needed to get started. This included food, clothing, tools and camping, mining and transportation equipment. Helping the outfitters in this regard were the Northwest Mounted Police who required all stampeders to have one year’s supply of goods before they allowed them across the border into Canada. This was roughly one ton of goods per person. Towns such as Seattle made fortunes outfitting the miners.

The easiest and more expensive route to the gold fields was by boat upstream from the mouth of the Yukon in western Alaska. The most difficult route was the "All Canadian Route" from Edmonton and overland through the wilderness. The most common route taken by the stampeders to reach the fields was by boat from the west coast of the continental U.S. to Skagway in Alaska, over the Chilkoot or White Passes to the Yukon River at Whitehorse and then by boat 500 miles to Dawson City.

The Chilkoot Pass trail was steep and hazardous. Rising 1,000 feet in the last ½ mile, it was known as the "golden staircase": 1,500 steps carved out of snow and ice worked their way to the top of the pass. Too steep for packhorses, stampeders had to "cache" their goods, moving their equipment piecemeal up the mountain. Stampeders who gave up often did it here, discarding their unneeded equipment on the side of the trail

Conditions on the White Pass trail were even more horrendous. Steep, narrow and slick, over 3,000 pack animals died on the trail causing it to be dubbed the "dead horse trail". Those who made it across the passes found themselves at Bennett Lake. Here, boats had to be built to run the final 500 miles down the Yukon River to the gold fields. A three week trip, the miners had to survive many sets of rapids before making it to Dawson City. Many miners lost their lives or their possessions when their boats broke up in the rapids.

Those who survived the perilous journey mostly found disappointment once they reached Dawson City. Locals had already claimed all of the gold-bearing creeks and claims of "gold for the taking" were grossly exaggerated. Many stampeders headed home, some worked for others on the claims and still others stayed to work in Dawson City.

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The work that was necessary to retrieve the gold was incredible. Most of the gold was not at the surface, but rather 10 or more feet below. To reach it, the miners had to dig through the permafrost - the layer of permanently frozen ground. The ground had to be thawed before it could be dug. Then the dirt had to be sluiced to separate it from the gold. All digging had to be down during the summer as it was impossible to dig in the winter when temperatures could reach -60°F. It was incredibly difficult work.

The biggest boom to hit this part of the world was a huge bust for the miners. The only ones to strike it rich were the merchants and profiteers who took advantage of those who hoped to "get rich quick".

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Call of the Wild

1. What aspect of Jack London’s life surprised you?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________What common theme did London often use in his works?____________________

2. Write a paragraph describing three characteristics of Jack London that make him a unique and interesting individual. Give an example for each characteristic.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. What does the word "wild" mean to you? Give an example. What is the opposite of wild?______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Explain three (3) reasons that made mining the gold so difficult.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Once reaching the mining locations, why might those people be disappointed? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Chilkoot Trail 1898 SuppliesMcDougall and Secord Klondike Outfit List (clothing & food):

2 suits heavy knit underwear6 pairs wool socks1 pairs heavy moccasins2 pairs german stockings2 heavy flannel overshirts1 heavy woollen sweater1 pair overalls2 pairs 12-lb. blankets1 waterproof blanket1 dozen bandana handkerchiefs1 stiff brim cowboy hat1 pair hip rubber boots1 pair prospectors' high land boots1 mackinaw, coat, pants, shirt1 pair heavy buck mitts, lined1 pair unlined leather gloves1 duck coat, pants, vest6 towels1 pocket matchbox, buttons, needles and thread comb, mirror, toothbrushetc. mosquito netting/1 dunnage bag1 sleeping bag/medicine chestpack saddles, complete horsesflat sleighs

100 lbs. navy beans150 lbs. bacon400 lbs. flour40 lbs. rolled oats20 lbs. corn meal10 lbs. rice25 lbs. sugar10 lbs. tea20 lbs. coffee10 lbs. baking powder20 lbs. salt1 lb. pepper2 lbs. baking soda1/2 lb. mustard1/4 lb. vinegar2 doz. condensed milk20 lbs. evaporated potatoes5 lbs. evaporated onions6 tins/4 oz. extract beef75 lbs. evaporated fruits4 pkgs. yeast cakes20 lbs. candles1 pkg. tin matches6 cakes borax6 lbs. laundry soap1/2 lb. ground ginger25 lbs. hard tack1 lb. citric acid2 bottles jamaica ginger

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Klondike Route Map

~ Canada, High Commissioner. The Yukon District of Canada. London: Printed by McCorquodale and Co., Limited, 1897. 12.

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Map of White and Chilkoot Pass Trails

~ En Route to the Klondike: A Series of Photographic Views, Part III. People's Series. Chicago: W. B. Conkey Co., 1898.

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Cast of Characters

Directions: As you encounter each new character, write two sentences explaining who he/she is and the role the individual plays in the novel.

Names Explain who he/she is and his/her role in the novelJudge Miller

Manuel

Man in the Red Sweater

Perrault

Francois

Scotch Half-Breed

Hal

Charles

Mercedes

John Thornton

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The Call of the Wild Character Chart

Directions: Use the table below to keep track of the dogs: who they are, when they join the team, and what else happens to each.

Dogs DescriptionBuck

Curly

Spitz

Dave

Billee

Joe

Sol-leks

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Dogs DescriptionDolly

Pike

Dub

Teek

Koona

Skeet

Nig

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Name___________________________________ Period____________

The Call of the Wild Before Reading – Chapter 1

Write one paragraph about a pet you have known that behaves almost as if he/she was a person. Detail some examples of this animal's human behavior. FCAs________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Number of Words:_________

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The Call of the WildVocabulary – Chapter 1

1. demesne (2) - noun – an estate (de main’ – from French – like Duquesne)your sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. egotistical (3) – adj. – vain; self-centered; inflated opinion of one’s own importanceyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. tormentors (5) - noun – one who inflicts anguish or tortureyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. assailed (6) - verb – to attack vigorously; to assaultyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. metamorphosed (7) - to change in nature; to change in formyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. primitive (10) – adj. – uncivilized; savageyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. conciliated (10) - verb – to become agreeable; to reconcileyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. your word ______________________(page ) POS________ dictionary definition_______________________________________________your sentence___________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

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Chapter 1 – pages 1-13Reading Check

1. From the Forward: London was inspired by three top-ranking philosophical thinkers of the period, ______________ ____________, ____________ ____________, and ____________ ____________. These scholars shaped London’s thinking and writing. London came to believe that all _______ ___________ _____________ in which the _________ fell, and only the __________could hope to rise. These ideas, which influenced him deeply, appear vividly in The Call of the Wild.

2. To emphasize this central theme, London has Buck come from a large estate in ____________________.

3. Buck’s breed is a mix between ________________________ and ___________________________ .

4. Manuel, the gardener’s helper, sells Buck to some dog traders to pay off his ___________________ debt.

5. Buck’s reaction to being treated violently is ____________________ .

6. In the city of _______________ Buck is delivered into the hands of a “stout man with a red sweater” who carries a club and a ____________________.

7. This man teaches Buck the first lesson of primitive society which London calls the _______________________________. This lesson is that a man with a club in his hand is more powerful than a single dog.

8. Buck is next sold to __________________ for $300. He also buys a Newfoundland named _________________.

9. Buck learns that ______________ and _______________ were “fair men, calm and impartial in administering justice”.

10. When Buck arrives in the Far North and sees snow for the first time it puzzles him, and onlookers laugh at him making him feel _______________.

12. What is the significance of the title of this chapter “Into the Primitive” ?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

13. My question: _______________________________________________

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Name___________________________________ Period____________


Tell about a time you felt nervous, scared, or distrustful of a situation or person. What happened? Were your instincts correct? Explain the details of the situation. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Number of Words:_________

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1. primordial (14) - adj. – first formed; a beginning; fundamentalyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. vicarious (14) - adj. – having felt an experience through others’your sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. diabolically (17) - adv. – devilish, fiendish; outrageously wickedyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. disconsolate (18) - adj. – unable to be consoled; hopelessly unhappyyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. gee (21) - a command word for a draft animal meaning “right”

6. haw (21) - a command word for a draft animal meaning “left”

7. your word ______________________(page ) POS________ dictionary definition_______________________________________________your sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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1. In Chapter 2, Buck learns the second law of primitive society, which London calls the “Law of the __________.” This law simply means survival of the __________, or that only the strongest will survive.

2. When ___________ is wounded and down, she is surrounded by 30 or 40 other dogs anxiously waiting for the primitive kill. Buck is horrified by this scene of injustice.

3. When Buck forgetfully approaches __________ from his blind side, his shoulder is slashed to the bone by this dog.

4. Buck learns to keep warm at night by digging a hole in the _________.

5. Explain the phrase, “the toil of the traces.”______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. After being constantly hungry, Buck learns to ________ food to survive. This marks his __________ and the _________ of his character.

7. Explain Buck’s decivilization (page 22).______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Carrying on with London’s concept of naturalism (which maintains that there is dimension of the primitive in all of us), Buck is beginning to remember back to ancient times when “wild dogs ran in __________ through the primeval forest and killed their meat as they ran it down.”

9. What character traits insure that Buck will survive in the north? How are these traits shown in the story?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. My question: _______________________________________________

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Chapters 1 and 2Critical Thinking and Reading Worksheet

Using Inductive Reasoning

Think about the way Buck learns during his adventure. He uses the information he gets from watching people and dogs to learn about how to survive.

Directions: Read the list of incidents below. For each event, write a rule or lesson that Buck might have learned.

1. Buck is put in harness for the first time.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Buck does not get caught stealing.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Spitz seems to laugh when the dogs attack Curly.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Some men in the saloon are extremely frightened of Buck, but the man in the red sweater is not at all afraid of him.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Dave snaps at Buck’s rear legs while they are following the path.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Buck watches Francois beating a dog that tried to escape from the team.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. Buck tries to sleep above ground, but gets very cold and cannot sleep.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. At the end of the day, all of the dogs bite ice out of their paws.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Name___________________________________ Period____________


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Think about all the activities in which you are involved. Which of these activities do you give your BEST effort? List at least 6 activities below and rank your personal effort for each.

Activity Rank Your Effort 1-5 1=low effort 5=high effort

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

To which activity do you give your best effort? _______________________ .Explain why.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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1. pandemonium (27) – noun – wild uproar, unrestrained disorder, tumult, chaosyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. malingerer (27) - noun – a person (or dog) who feigns illness or other incapacity in order to avoid work or dutyyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. marauders (28) - someone who roams in quest of plunder (riches)your sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. insubordination (34) - noun – the act of not submitting to authority; disobedientyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. insidious (35) - adj – treacherous, deceitful, underhandedyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. inexorable (40) - adj. – unyielding, unalterable, not to be persuadedyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


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1. London begins this chapter by stating that the “dominant _____________ _____________ was strong in Buck,” meaning that the primitive will to survive was now the primary factor in Buck’s life.

2. Though Buck has tried to avoid fights with all of the other dogs, there still exists a bitter hatred between Buck and ____________.

3. Buck is jealous of Spitz because he is the _________ of the dogsled team.

4. When Buck returns to his sleeping hole to find ________ occupying it, he springs upon him with a “fury which surprised them both.” However, their fight is delayed because of the appearance of “four or five score of starving ___________” who invade the camp.

5. After this invasion, half of the ___________ supply is stolen.

6. On their trip to the “Thirty-mile River” with Francois and Perrault, the dogs’ journey is slow because the ________ keeps breaking under them. At one point, __________ falls in, dragging the entire team, except Buck, with him.

7. Because Buck’s paws are in such bad shape, Francois makes Buck four _________________ .

8. Dolly, a normally mild-mannered dog, goes mad and is killed by _____________ with an ax.

9. Buck finds pleasure coming ____ ___________ the dogs who deserve punishment and Spitz. With the covert mutiny of Buck, a general _____________springs up.

10. After seven days in ____________, during which time the dogs recuperate, they begin the return trip. The trip should be rapid, but is slowed by the dissension between ___________ and ___________ which is keeping the dogs from working as a unified team.

11. Buck and Spitz’s final fight happens when Spitz captures a ___________ that Buck is chasing for the kill.

12. In the fight, Buck defeats Spitz because he uses his _______________ and ______________. He tricks Spitz into thinking he is going for his throat, but reverses himself and breaks Spitz’s _________.

13. In what ways was Buck like a bully? Use the information we have discussed during PRIDE meetings.______________________________________________________________

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__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

13. My question: _______________________________________________

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The Call of the Wild

Vocabulary – Chapter 4

1. ob’ durate (42) - adj. – stubbornly resistant to influenceyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. solidarity (44)- noun – the union of people arising from common responsibilitiesyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. toil (45) - noun – verb – hard continuous work; to work hardyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. monotonous (45) - adj. – lacking in variety; boringyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. lugubriously (49) - adv – mournfully; dismallyyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. adversary ( ) - noun – a opponent; a force (or person) who attacksyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


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1. Once Perrault and Francois realize that Spitz is missing they select ___________ to be the lead dog. However, once they realize Buck will not give in to this, they make Buck lead dog.

2. Buck turns out to be the best lead dog that Perrault and Francois have ever seen, and Buck even punishes ________ and _________ for being lazy.

3. When Francois and Perrault receive new jobs, they sell Buck to a “Scotch half-breed” who is driver of the ________ team over the trail to Dawson.

4. When Buck lay by the fire and thinks back on his life in California, he is no longer _________________ and the memories of that life are becoming dim.

5. On one of the trips between Dawson and Skagway, one of the sled dogs, ___________, cries out in pain and is taken off of the team. However, “he could not bear that another dog should do his work” and works until he can work no longer. Finally, Dave’s life is ended by _________________.

6. Explain how the new snow either helps or hinders the dog team.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. My question: _______________________________________________

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After Reading - Chapters 3 and 4Identifying Cause and Effect

Directions: Each of the following sentences relates an event from The Call of the Wild that is either a cause or an effect. On the line above or below each event, write a sentence that explains either a cause or an effect of the event.

1. CAUSE: A herd of wild dogs attacks Buck’s team of dogs.EFFECT:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. CAUSE: Dolly goes mad and attacks Buck.EFFECT:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. CAUSE: Spitz attacks Buck while Buck is recovering from Dolly’s attack.EFFECT:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. CAUSE: Pike hides in his sleeping nest of snow.EFFECT:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. CAUSE: Buck does not allow Spitz to punish Pike properly.EFFECT:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. CAUSE: ___________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________EFFECT: There are constant squabbles among the dog team; their performance deteriorates.

7. CAUSE: __________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________EFFECT: Buck challenges Spitz for the leadership of the team.

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8. CAUSE: __________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________EFFECT: Buck refuses to return to his original position in the harness.

9. CAUSE: __________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________EFFECT: The team covers in one day the same terrain that had taken them ten days before.

10. CAUSE: __________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________EFFECT: Dave is allowed to run alongside the sled instead of pulling it.

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Name___________________________________ Period____________The Call of the Wild

Before Reading – Chapter 5

Think about a time you didn't listen to someone with more experience than you. What happened? What did you learn? Write your experience in the first row below. Then in your groups, share your experiences. Record the rest of your group members’ experiences in the chart below.

Student Name

Event and Decision Effect of the Decision-What Did You Learn?

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1. salient (54) - adj. – prominent or conspicuousyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. callow (54 ) - adj. – youthful; immature; inexperiencedyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. re mon’ strance (54) - noun - protestyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. voracious (60) - adj. – craving or consuming large quantities of foodyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. cajole (60) - verb – to persuade by flatteryyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


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1. This chapter begins ____ days after the dogs have made the long mail pull back to Skagway from Dawson.

2. All of the dogs are thinner and Buck has lost ______ pounds.

3. In the last five months they have traveled ______ miles with only ____ days’ rest.

4. Before they are fully rested, two men from the __________ buy the team “harness and all, for a_________” –meaning that they were bought very cheaply.

5. The older, middle-aged man with “watery eyes and a fiercely uptwisted light mustache” is _____________, and the younger man of 19 or 20 that carries a gun and knife is ___________.

6. The two men are accompanied by _______________, who is ___________’s wife and _______’s sister.

7. It is apparent from the beginning that these owners are _____________ people who cannot cope with the violence and wilderness of the great _____________.

8. When the three attempt to leave, the dogs are unable to budge the sled; ignorantly, _________ assumes that this is merely incompetence on the part of the _________, and beats them severely.

9. Onlookers soon convince them that the ______________________ are frozen fast in the snow and the dogs can’t possibly budge it. This is more proof of the trio’s ineptitude.

10. Throughout the beating of the dogs, ______________ objects strongly, but her present concern for the dogs will be later replaced by a concern for only __________.

11. When the sled overturns and spills most of the load, Charles and Hal decide to buy _______ extra dogs, now making a total of ______ dogs pulling the sled.

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12. Though they add dogs, they do not add to the dogs’ _________ supply. Adding to this problem are the delays caused by the trio. After only having traversed ¼ of the way, ________ cuts the dogs’ rations so badly that it weakens all of the dogs.

13. The dogs begin dying off one by one until only the _________ experienced dogs remain. Adding to their problems, ______________ insists on riding on the sled adding an additional 120 pounds to the load.

14. When all of the dogs are near death, they arrive at ___________ ______________’s camp where Buck is rescued from a severe beating by _________ because he would not go any farther.

15. As Buck watches the team pull away, he sees them fall through the _______, and all of them –dogs and humans—disappear. Hal, Charles, and Mercedes are destroyed, finally, by their own ______________.

16. In this chapter, London shows his contempt for trying to bring too much__________ into this extremely uncivilized country.

17. My question: _______________________________________________

Class Discussion: What is "civil disobedience"? How is Buck exhibiting this principle?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Loading a Sled Quiz

In The Call of the Wild, Hal and Charles had no experience with loading the sled.

They make many mistakes including the following:

They tried to take everything imaginable with them for their journey. The sled is top heavy with all the big items loaded on top.

The pack the sled without properly lashing down the load, making the bundle move when the sled makes a turn.

Hal and Charles are so inexperienced that they do not even know you must break the runners out of the ice before beginning the trip.

Directions: Think about what are the true necessities for traveling in the icy North. Write T for True (you should take it) or F for False (you should not take it.)

_____ 1. a sleeping bag_____ 2. a tent large enough for you and the sled dogs_____ 3. 10,000 calories per day for each dog _____ 4. an axe _____ 5. change of clothing _____ 6. portable grill for cooking _____ 7. inflatable mattress _____ 8. suitable cold-weather parka and footwear _____ 9. hairdryer _____ 10. emergency personal food and water _____ 11. food and feeding equipment for dogs_____ 12. snowshoes _____ 13. slingshot _____ 14. first aid kit for yourself and the dogs _____ 15. headlight _____ 16. Matches_____ 17. stereo_____ 18. a disposable survival blanket _____ 19. books_____ 20. a knife

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1. reverently (72) - adv. – showing deep respectyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. feigned (72) - verb – to invent or to represent fictiouslyyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. tenderfoot (76) - noun – an inexperienced person; a noviceyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. contagion (82) - noun – harmful influence spreading quicklyyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. conjuration (83) - noun – supernatural accomplishment by a spellyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


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1. In this chapter, Buck is characterized as an animal of great ____________, ________________, and devotion. He becomes completely devoted to ___________ ______________, who is characterized as being the ideal master.

2. Thornton is camped next to the river because the previous winter, he had frozen his __________, and his partners left him behind to recover. He now devotes considerable time and patience while nursing _________ back to health.

3. Buck is uncomfortable when Thornton is out of his sight because he remembers how all of his other owners have suddenly _______________.

4. Though Buck relishes living with Thornton, he often hears ___________ _____________ that are mysteriously thrilling and compelling. He often thinks of _____________ toward them except for the fact that “the love of John Thornton drew him back to the fire again.”

5. Buck again proves his devotion when he saves Thornton’s life from some dangerous __________.

6. In Circle City, Buck demonstrates his devotion to Thornton by tearing open the throat of _______ Burton after Burton strikes Thornton.

7. The fourth act of devotion makes Buck famous throughout ______________. Thornton bets a man that Buck can pull a sled with ______ pounds on it even if it is frozen fast in the snow and can pull it ______ yards. Thornton kneels beside Buck’s head and whispers “As you _________me, Buck. As you _______ me.” Buck is successful in the pull.

8. My question: _______________________________________________

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1. obliterate (88) - verb – to remove or destroy all traces of; to destroy completelyyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. formidable (96) - adj. – causing a feeling of awe and admiration; causing fear, apprehension, or dreadyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. calamity (99) - noun – a great misfortune or disasteryour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. discomfited (103) - verb – to make uneasy; uncomfortableyour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. apex ( ) - noun – the tip, point, or vertex; summityour sentence_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. your word ______________________(page ) POS________ dictionary definition_______________________________________________your sentence___________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

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1. At the beginning of this chapter we learn that John Thornton is in possession of __________ dollars.

2. He is now able to pay off his debts, and Thornton, _________, and __________ take off in search of a fabled _________ _________.

3. The search for the lost gold mine is a traditional search found in Western literature similar to the search for the _________ Grail and the fabled ____________ of Youth. In these stories, the _____________itself is as important as the discovery.

4. In their quest, Buck and Thornton are immersed deeper and deeper into nature’s ______________ conditions, and Buck devotedly follows his master.

5. Months pass, and in the spring, they find the place where the large, legendary _________ nuggets are supposed to be. The men pan for gold, and “they heaped the ______________ up.”

6. Buck is now aware of some kind of primitive ___________ which he can not identify. He often springs from sleeping when he hears a howl “unlike any noise made by a _________ dog.”

7. At one point, he follows the sound and sees a ____________ howling at the sky. He runs alongside his “wood brother” and feels that he has done the same thing before—but in another world that is now “only a dim ______________.”

8. When Buck remembers ____________ ______________, he suddenly stops and retraces his steps back to camp.

9. Throughout the next weeks, Buck spends more and more time away from __________. During this time, he fishes for _____________, kills a large black ___________, and finally two ________________ that were eating his kill.

10. Buck has now made the transition to a __________ creature that can live by his own cunning and intelligence. However, he does not kill from ______________ or pleasure, but only when he needs _______________.

11. Buck is extremely patient when tracking a ______________, and spends _____ days in relentless stalking until he finally kills his prey.

12. When Buck returns to camp after the four days, he first sees _______, one of Thornton’s dogs, lying dead from an arrow’s poisoning. Farther on, Buck finds another of the dogs dead and the camp in ________________.

13.Suddenly, Buck sees the reason for the bloody chaos: the ______________, a band of ferocious Indians have attacked the camp.

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14. “For the last time in his life (Buck) allowed _____________to usurp cunning and reason” and began attacking one Indian after another, tearing out their __________. The Indians fled thinking they had seen the Great ___________ _______________.

15. Buck finally finds ________ dead in his blankets, and _____________ dead in the ________________.

16. As Buck surveyed the carnage of the camp, he realizes a strange pride that “he had killed _________, the noblest game of all, and he had killed in the face of the law of ________ and _________.” He had now proven to himself to be superior to men – even men with arrows and spears and ___________.

17. Buck now has no more ties to ___________. When a wolf pack moves close to the camp, Buck is forced to fight the entire _________ alone, but is saved by the wolf he met earlier in the clearing.

18. London closes the novel by telling us that Buck becomes _____________ in proportion and legend spreads from _______________ to _______________.

19. The valley where Buck first encountered the Yeehats becomes known as home of the ___________________________________________.

20. Over the years, Buck creates a new breed of animal marked with _________ patches of hair, which is, of course, inherited from Buck. Buck has truly answered the call of the wild; the ____________ animal has become the leader of a pack of wolves.

21. My question: _______________________________________________

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The Call of the WildSummary of Significant Literary Elements

1. Symbol – a word or object that stands for another word or object. Find at least two symbols in the story and explain their symbolic significance.1._gold_________________________________________________________2._____________________________________________________________3._____________________________________________________________ 4._____________________________________________________________

2. Motif – a recurring object, concept, or structure in a work of literature. Give an example: 1._death________________________________________________________2._____________________________________________________________3._____________________________________________________________4._____________________________________________________________

3. Satire - a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule.

Describe an example of satire from the novel.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Theme – The author’s central message, concern, or purpose in a literary work. A theme can usually be expressed as a generalization, or a general statement, about human beings or about life. The theme is usually presented indirectly. To decipher the theme, the reader must look carefully at what the work reveals about people or about life.

Identify at least two (2) themes:1.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________4.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Name____________________________________ Period_________Adding Commas – The Call of the Wild

Directions: Read the following sentences, and add commas where necessary. Use your “Comma Rules” to identify the exact rule number for each comma, and place the rule number(s) in the blank. If no comma is necessary, write NC.

________ 1. But Buck did not read the newspapers and he did not know that Manuel one of the gardener’s helpers was an undesirable acquaintance.

________ 2. And with the exception of a solitary man no one saw them arrive at the little flag station known as College Park.

________ 3. His jaws closed on the hand nor did they relax until his senses were choked out of him once more.

________ 4. Then the rope was removed and he was flung into a cagelike crate.

________ 5. He did not know why but he felt oppressed by the vague sense of impending calamity.

________ 6. When he flung himself against the bars quivering and frothing they laughed at him and taunted him.

________ 7. That was the man Buck divined the next tormentor and he hurled himself savagely against the bars.

________ 8. Wherever the hatchet fell on the outside he was there on the inside snarling and growling.

________ 9. With a snarl that was part bark and more scream he was again on his feet and launched into the air.

________ 10. And again the shock came and he was brought crushingly to the ground.

________ 11. Then the man advanced and deliberately dealt him a frightful blow on the nose.

________ 12. As he spoke he fearlessly patted the head he had so mercilessly pounded and though Buck’s hair involuntarily bristled at the touch of the hand he endured it without protest.

Name________________________________________ Period_____

The Call of the WildLiterary Devices

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Directions: Read the following sentences and/or phrases from the novel. Identify and write the best literary device for each.

1. page 1 - … or he would have known that trouble was brewing…______________________________

2. page 3 – … for he was king.______________________________

3. page 3 – During the four years since his puppyhood he had lived the life of a sated aristocrat.______________________________

4. page 3 – And this was the manner of dog Buck was in the fall of 1897, when the Klondike strike dragged men from all the world into the frozen North.______________________________

5. page 8 – This time he was aware that it was the club, but his madness knew no caution.______________________________

6. page 9 – All the pain he had endured was as nothing compared with the exquisite agony of this [being hit with the club].______________________________

7. page 12 – [The Narwhal] rolled and pitched and bucked like a thing possessed.______________________________

8. page 13 – It [snow] bit like fire, and the next instant was gone.______________________________

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