The novel ‘Winterdance’ , written by Gary Paulsen, is an autobiographical story of author’s own experience both training for and running the Iditarod dog sled race in Alaska. The harsh, vicious conditions of Iditarod effects Paulsen both mentally and physically. Author describes these important settings of Iditarod race to help the readers understand a key character, Paulsen.
Many physical conditions of the race helped us understand Paulsen’s determination and love towards his dogs and how he developed personally through the race. The author illustrates his frightening moment of Happy canyon during the race. Since Paulsen wasn’t told anything specific information about Happy canyon, he was very unprepared for vertical drop down the cliff.
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Through Insane conditions of the burn, he experienced hallucination but he gained trust and love towards his dogs. I believed his experience in the burn has made him more stronger. In page 188, Paulsen said “ They would run. I didn’t have the right to quit. So I went into the cabin and had somebody tape up my chest with the black electricians tape...” This quotes shows how Iditarod has become more than just for him but for his dogs. He became more determined and he even continues the race by taping his chest with an electrician tape. Through these two significant setting of Happy Canyon and the burn, I was able to understand Paulsen’s determination and relationship with his dogs, Iditarod . Also Harsh, physical challenges encouraged Paulsen to develop his strength and trust .
The setting of the race mentally challenged Paulsen and this help us understand him more. Most important event in the race is when barrier between his dog and him is finally fallen. During the race, Paulsen struggles from many problems and settings such as temperature, deathly weather, lack of sleep, injuries, wild animals etc. One of them was extreme hunger, which I consider to be significant. Consuming nutrient is deeply
In the play “Poof” by Lynn Nottage , the author creates an overall message on how abuse in marriages are often overlooked. In the play the two main charters are loureen and Florence , they are both in abusive relationships with their husbands until loureen gets out her relationship by her husband just poofing in thin air.
Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen. The book takes place during present time and during winter. The location is the wilderness in Canada. The surroundings were filled with pine trees and and bushes everywhere. There are many wild animals such as birds, rabbits, and other larger animals. Also the ground was covered in snow and the temperature was freezing. The mood that the setting creates is miserable. For example “But it rained steadily for five days and while it rained it colder, so by the fifth day Brian felt as if he was freezing.” (p. 33) This quote shows how miserable it was for Brian out in the Canadian wilderness.
Gary Paulsen’s whole life reflects his life of adventures and survival in the wilderness and his writing reflects his experiences. Living in the remote Minnesota woods Paulsen released Some Birds Don't Fly in 1966 (Trelease), and began his professional writing career and now has achieved three Newbery Honor Books with his novels - Hatchet, The Winter Room and Dogsong (Pendergast). Paulsen’s most popular book, Hatchet, a story of a young boy named Brian who lands a plane after the pilot dies from a heart attack and must survive in the remote wilderness alone, reflects some of Paulsen’s real life experiences when he used to answer emergency calls and deal with many heart attack victims (Paulsen 2). The plane crash in Hatchet was also created by Paulsen after he was on the scene of a plane crash were the pilots died (Paulsen 7). Gary Paulsen’s experiences from living alone in the Minnesota woods to racing dogs in the Iditarod race has been exposed and reflected in a majority his writings.
In the opening passage of Tomson Highway’s Kiss of the Fur Queen, Abraham Okimasis, a caribou hunter participating in an intense race, strives to reach the finish line with his exhausted self and huskies. Although the chance of success is slim, he perpetuates. Through the use of literary devices, Highway captures Okimasis’ breathless experience during the race; notably, he emphasizes the significance of past promises in empowering one to overcome obstacles to reach his or her ultimate goal.
Gioia, Dana; Kennedy, X.J. “Those Winter Sundays.” Backpack Literature. Fourth Edition. Terry, Joe. 2012. Longman, 2012. 382. Print.
The novel “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer goes into great detail to describe the main character, Chris McCandless, who died traveling alone into the Alaskan wilderness. McCandless, whom in the novel renamed himself Alex, left his home and family to travel to Alaska in 1992. In Alaska McCandless planned to live an isolated life in the desolate wilderness, but unfortunately he did not survive. This non-fiction novel portrays his life leading up to his departure and it captures the true essence of what it means to be “in the wild”.
It is often said that a dog is a man’s best friend. In Cormac McCarthy’s novel, The Crossing, a deep affection and fondness are established between man and animal. In a particular excerpt from the novel, Cormac illustrates the protagonist’s sorrow that was prompted from the wolf’s tragic death. As blood stiffens his trousers, the main character seeks to overcome the cold weather and fatigue with hopes of finding the perfect burial site for the wolf. McCarthy uses detailed descriptions and terminology in his novel, The Crossing, to convey the impact of the wolf’s death on the protagonist, a sad experience incorporated with religious allusions and made unique by the main character’s point of view.
One thing in the book My Life In Dog Years By Gary Paulsen is that Gary Paulsen keeps having a memory that he had and is talking about all his dogs die because of a reason not old age. This shows the mood, which develops after what each dog does that is heroic.
The dog they rescued is a particularly prominent topic, a vestige of the past civilizations. In defiance of the treacherous environment, the dog managed to survive, a feat that even Lisa, the most cold-blooded of the three main characters, could not help but be “impressed by” (Bacigalupi 61). Therefore, the dog is a symbol of hope for the reader, an animal that is in the extreme, completely out of its element, and yet capable of surviving. As a result, nature’s idea of itself is astoundingly resilient, keeping certain species alive as an attempt to return to the normal state of the world. Even after horrendous trauma the natural world is still capable of a stalwart attempt at reclaiming itself. Accordingly, it is never too late to start fixing the damages and help nature’s cause, before allowing it to escalate to such a degree where the oceans are black with pollution and there is no room left for the humans of today. Chen could not help but notice that the dog is different than them in more than just a physiological nature; “there’s something there” and it’s not a characteristic that either them or the bio-jobs are capable of (64). Subsequently, the dog has something that the evolved humans are missing, compassion. In consequence, the author portrays the idea that the dog
Once Aron Ralston gets himself trapped in a canyon for five days, he doesn’t expect himself to come out alive. By getting himself stuck in the canyon, Ralston has certainly ran into trouble, but what is important is how he uses his intelligence and survival skills to overcome it. E. An ill-prepared climber with little experience likely couldn’t survive for such a long time in such a dangerous place. Ralston survived because he knew how to use his tools to his advantage, and keep himself alive long enough to escape the canyon. A. That is not to say that he definitely would’ve survived in the canyon, for he was merely able to miraculously beat the odds. He likely couldn’t have survived against the heat, cold, dehydration, and loss of circulation without conserving his water, constantly moving himself around the boulder and amputating his arm. Ralston didn’t expect to survive by the fifth day, showing how much of a miracle it was even with all the traits he had. E. Ralston’s mental state also helped him survive. During his time in the canyon, he remained calm and collected and had positive visions of the future and his escape. A. A strong positive mindset played an important role in Ralston’s actions. Without the idea of escaping the canyon, there would be no reason to save himself. If that were the case, he might as well go through a slow and painful death. L. As a skilled climber, Ralston used his knowledge of survival to his advantage, when it came to avoiding
In Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”, an unknown man is traveling alone in the extremely dangerous weather of seventy-five degrees below zero along Yukon Trail. Despite being warned about the dangers; he was bent on reaching his destination at the boy’s camp on Henderson Creek. Nevertheless, he tried many things to help keep his body warm but everything he tried failed. Close to death, he finally realized that it was impossible to survive this journey without a partner. The theme illustrates that sometimes it’s best to listen to others advice because everyone isn’t able to defeat nature.
Firstly, the story begins at a large estate at which Buck resides, owned by a wealthy judge, Judge Miller, in the Santa-Clara Valley. The gardener at the estate, Manuel, kidnaps Buck and sells him off to become a sled dog. Buck is sold to become a part of Charles and Hal’s team, two inexperienced sled drivers who are out for the sole purpose of making a profit. Instead of caring for their animals, the two owners mistreat the dogs, beating them and malnourishing them. This depicts the unfavorable form of relationship between man and dog, but in turn teaches Buck how to survive in the wilderness by scrapping for food and taking up for himself. This contrasts to Buck’s life at Miller’s estate. This idea of the differences of morality between civilization and the wilderness recurs frequently throughout the story and is one of the principal motifs in the story.
In the excerpt from Tomson Highway’s Kiss of the Fur Queen, a hunter, Abraham Okimasis, pushes through an intense race with his dogs in the snow. Literary devices, such as imagery and details, reveal the internal and external struggles of Okimasis’ life during the race. His fight to the finish gradually creates suspense as he continues to scramble with the idea losing, while he also battles with nature, self, and beast.
The Serum Run had caught the eye of the national media. From the extreme odds against the mushers and the extreme weather, it was history in the making. There were two sled mushing teams of the twenty that had concurred major feats. One sled dog team lead by Leonhard Seppala and his lead dog Togo(siberian husky), the other team lead my musher Gunnar Kaasen and his lead dog Balto(siberian husky) who actually belonged to Leonhard Seppala. Although both of these team would meet great
Armbruster, K. (2002). “Good Dog”: The stories we tell about our canine companions and what they mean for humans and other animals, 38 (4), 351, 26. Retrieved from http://www.siue.edu/PLL/