“The Most Dangerous Game”

Foreshadowing
 Clues that hint at events that will come later in the
story.
 Foreshadowing is a way the author adds SUSPENSE
to the story.
 As you read “The Most Dangerous Game”, look for
hints as to what will happen in the story.
Setting
 The setting can be used to set the mood of the
story.
 Mood is the atmosphere or feeling of a story or
scene.
 What is the setting of “The Most Dangerous Game”
and what type of mood does it create?
Summary of 1st Half
 Rainsford, an excellent hunter, falls off his ship and
swims to Ship-Trap Island, a place known for its evil.
 Rainsford meets General Zarroff, another excellent
hunter who has created a home on the island.
 General Zarroff tells Rainsford how he bought the
island and imports what he considers the “most
dangerous” game to hunt (because he grew bored
of hunting animals that can not reason)
 Zarroff hunts humans!
Summary #2
 General Zarroff explains that he gives each human he
hunts a head start and supplies them with a knife.

We can see that he is not truthful about having them on
an equal playing field. He has a gun, knows the forest,
and can rest.
 Rainsford realizes that Zarroff has him as a prisoner and
will be hunting against him. If he survives three days, he
wins.
 Zarroff follows the first trail Rainsford takes and finds
him, but lets him live. Zarroff is winning at this point
Summary #2 Continued
 Rainsford begins to develop traps. The first one injures
Zarroff when a tree falls on him, the second one kills a
dog when he falls into a pit, and the third kills Ivan,
when he runs into the knife.
 Zarroff chases after Rainsford and Rainsford jumps into
the sea. Zarroff assumes he killed himself rather than
playing the games.
 That night, Zarroff has a nice dinner and goes to bed.
Rainsford is waiting on him in his room and kills him.
 Rainsford sleeps in General Zarroff’s bed that night.
Rainsford wins.
Metaphor
 A figure of speech in which a
comparison is made between two
things without using “like” or “as”.
 The night is my eyelids.
Simile
 A comparison between two unlike
things using “like” or “as”
 The night was like moist, black
velvet.
Personification
 A figure of speech in which
animals, ideas, things, etc. are
represented as having human
qualities.
 A sharp hunger was picking at
him.
Imagery
 Using vivid, colorful, descriptive
language that paints a mental
picture in the reader’s mind.
 The dank, tropical forest
loomed.
Theme
 The message or point an author wants to make to
readers of their text.
 Themes are universal ideas, meaning they can apply
to anyone, anywhere, and can hold true over many
generations.
 Themes are also not specific to a text. When writing
a thematic idea, you would not mention and
specifics from the story, because then it is not a
generalization that can apply to all readers.
Symbolism
 DEFINE IT! <3
Motif
 Repeating idea in a piece of literature that adds
more meaning to the text through it’s use.
Character Motivation
 Why does the character act the way they do?
 What drives their behavior, actions, and changes
over the course of the text?
 What does the author accomplish by using specific
character motivation through their writing?