Jack London
1876-1916
How old was he when he died?
Family
 Background Information
 Born in San Francisco
 Father William Chaney: astrologer
 Mother Flora Wellman: “cold”
 Step-father John London: poor farmer
 Helped by step-sister and servant “Aunt Jenny”
 Went to work at 10 years old
 Quit school at 15 to work full-time in factory (salmon
cannery)
 Used books to escape life
Life of Adventure
 Several odd jobs—many of them at sea
Oyster pirate
Fish patrol
Seaman on whaling schooner
 Returned to high school at 19—passed
entrance exam to U of Ca @ Berkley
One semester
Lacked finances
Klondike Gold Rush
 Jack London in the Kondike
 Joined the gold rush to help support his mom
after John London died
 Returned home because of illness (scurvy)
 Ideas for writing gained here
Political Ideas
 Arrested for vagrancy in 1894-one month in
jail
 Fought for poor—Socialist
 Shared wealth—never quit working; worried
about money
Finally earned money writing
 Published over 50 novels; letter writer;
speaker
 Call of the Wild/The Sea Wolf
 “Great Earthquake and Fire” (San Francisco)
written for Collier’s magazine paid 25
cents/word-2500 word article
Adult/Family Life
Married
 Bessie May Madden-April 7, 1900
 Later divorced (1905)—different interests
Children
 Joan—born January 15,1901
 Bess—born October 20,1902
 Third child died at birth
Married (2nd time)
 Charmain Kitterage-November 19, 1905
 Adventures at sea together
 Built large ranch in California
Jack London’s Admonition
 Write what you see!
Jack London’s Style
 Helps reader become involved because he
experienced what he wrote about
 Used vivid language
Adverbs
Adjectives
Unusual word order
Repetition
 Stories are based on experiences-reality based
 Life and death situations
Primary Source
 Eyewitness Accounts—autobiography
 Diaries, letters, news accounts, photos, art
Secondary Source
 Written by someone with no direct experience
with events of person’s life
 Using information from other sources
Famous Books from Jack London
 Websites of Jack London
 Jack London on line collection
Miscellaneous
 The Story of an Eyewitness
 Today in Literature
 Klondike Rush
 Jack London Introduction
 King of Mazy May
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
Power Point
Mazy May
 The Call of the Wild
Brainstorm
(Before Reading)
 Is “manliness” based on strength and bravery?
 What is a “Gold Rush”?
 What are the differences between the ways adults
behave and the ways teenagers behave?
 In this story a young boy does the right thing because
he has a good heart. Think about a time when you
performed a good deed with no thought of reward.
What motivated you? How did you feel?
 Please answer these questions on the back of your
work packet. Thank you!
After reading:
 In what ways do the events in the story
cause a teenager to act like an adult?
 What are three qualities in Walt that
help him defeat the stampeder’s?
 How would you describe living in the
setting of the story?
Story of an Eyewitness- Jack London
 Brainstorm: Think/pair/share

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Have you ever been an eyewitness to a
memorable event, such as an accident, a fire,
a flood?
How did you feel at the time?
Did everything happen too fast for you to
notice the details, or did every detail become
locked in your memory?
Quiz—”The Story of an Eyewitness”
 1. Why was it so difficult to control the fires
that broke out after the earthquake?

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A. The earth kept moving
B. Everyone was too scared to stay and fight
the fires
C. There was smoke everywhere
D. There was no water, and the roads were
blocked.
 2. What case the greatest damage to the city
of San Francisco?




A.
B.
C.
D.
Thieves
Tremors
Fires
Floods
 3. Buildings were dynamited mainly to…



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A. stop the spread of fire.
B. Clear the streets for trucks.
C. Prevent them from falling.
D. Stop thieves from entering.
 4. Why was the government setting up tents
and serving meals in Union Square just four
and a half hours before it caught fire?

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A. No one could go any farther without food.
B. No one thought the fires would spread so
quickly.
C. Everyone wanted to help as much as
possible before the fire came.
D. There was nowhere else to go.
 5.Jack London was surprised that most
people reacted to the earthquake with such



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A. courtesy.
B. yelling
C. meanness
D. Hysteria.
 6. The wind racing into the city on all sides
was caused primarily by the…


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A. earth’s movements.
B. dynamite explosions set off by firefighters.
C. vacuum created by the fire.
D. Movements of the collapsing buildings
 7. The main job of the soldiers in the city was
to



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A.
B.
C.
D.
protect the banks
Arrest criminals
prevent looting
Keep people moving
 8. At the end of the article, London predicts
that the




A.
B.
C.
D.
Fires will return.
City will be rebuilt.
People will starve
Refugees will riot.
 9. A dear book is a book that is..

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A. Old.
B. Tattered.
C. Treasured.
 10. Someone near a conflagration would
feel its



A. Mood
B. Heat
C. Tremors
 11. Someone who is compelled to act feels

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A. Forced.
B. Watched.
C. Bold.
 12. A dog would be a menace if it likes to

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A. Bark.
B. Play.
C. Bite.
 13. Refugees are people who
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A. Flee from their homes.
B. Go on vacation.
C. Fight fires
 14. Why was Jack London called on to report
on the San Francisco fire?
 15. What is the difference between a news
story and a feature story? “The Story of an
Eyewitness” was an example of which?