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Copywork
About This Passage
This passage shows Brian working the whole day at one task (wood) and noticing a second gift inside the first — the smoke that keeps mosquitoes away. Paulsen uses exact measurements ('as high as his head and six feet across the base') and strong wilderness words ('overhang,' 'swarmed,' 'eddied') to show us that Brian is starting to see the forest as a real place with real rules, not just a scary blur. The passage rewards noticing: Brian finds the second discovery ONLY because he is out gathering wood for the first one.
He chopped and broke and carried wood back to the camp, stacking the pieces under the overhang until he had what he thought to be an enormous pile, as high as his head and six feet across the base. Be...
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Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell chapter ten in your own words. Begin with Brian's promise to the fire: 'I will not let you go out... not ever.' Move through his all-day work gathering wood and his discovery that smoke drives off the mosquitoes. Tell about his second discovery — that he could use a burning stick to build a signal fire. Then tell about the strange sound in the night, the tracks in the morning, the 'City boy' thought, and the moment of finding seventeen turtle eggs buried in the sand. Finish with Brian eating six raw eggs, saving the rest, and remembering he must 'keep hoping' for the searchers.
Discussion Questions
- When Brian realizes smoke keeps the mosquitoes away, Paulsen calls it 'a wonderful discovery' that 'lifted his spirits.' Why do you think this discovery matters so much? What does it tell us about what Brian has been suffering through that we might have missed?
- Brian calls himself 'City boy... with your city ways' when he guesses the turtle came up to 'play' in the sand. Why do you think Paulsen has Brian laugh at himself instead of getting frustrated? What does this tell us about how Brian is learning?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Moved in small swirling circles, the way smoke or water sometimes does — the smoke eddied near the shelter and drove the mosquitoes away.
Item 2
A sign sent on purpose to get someone's attention — Brian plans to build a signal fire on top of the rock.
Item 3
Soft and tough like leather, not hard and brittle — the turtle eggs have leathery shells that bend when squeezed.
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Critical Thinking
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