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Nathan Renfro
Dr. George
English 300
April 25, 2011
Five Questions Before Reading "To Build a Fire"
1.
What would you do in order to survive if you were in danger?
I decided to have my students answer this question because it allows them to think of
what they should do if they were in a dangerous situation. Many young people do not think about
their fragile mortality and introducing this question allows them to understand the situation the
protagonist in Jack London's To Build a Fire is in and gives them a platform to relate to the
protagonist.
2.
Is it better to learn from someone else's mistakes or continue to learn from your own?
Question two was chosen because it allows students to reflect on both the lessons they
learned from someone else's mistake and through their own experiences. This deeper thinking
allows the text to be framed so students may understand the protagonist has learned a lot from
watching others but failed to think about the consequence of his own actions. This may help
students begin to think of the consequences of their own actions.
3.
If you were to put a dollar amount on the value of your life, what would it be?
Question three was chosen because the setting of the story was to be closely compared to
the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897. Many men traveled similar terrain in search of gold and many
died from the cold climate. This question helps students begin to understand the reasoning
behind such actions and why people risk their life and suffer for things such as money.
4.
Where would you live if you didn't have a home?
Question four was chosen because this question allows students to think about the value
of possessions and how the protagonist had to live while he trekked through the harsh terrain of
ice and snow. This frames the text for the students to understand how important it was for the
protagonist to get to the camp and out of the lethal climate. It brings a natural element to the
mindset of the students needed to understand the setting and events of the story.
5.
Why do you think people risk their lives for money?
Question five and three coincide with each other. This final question was chosen because
it allows students to understand the reasoning behind what people do for money and, in a sense,
survival. This ties directly into the story because, like the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897, the
protagonist is searching the terrain for profitable areas to harvest and, seemingly blinded by the
potential possibility of making money off the land, does not consider the danger he is in until it is
too late. This allows the students to begin thinking of the measures they themselves will take in
their lives to earn money.
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Focusing the Reader
I will begin the lesson by showing the movie trailer for 127 Hours starring James Franco.
It is a movie about a young man who treks across the desert near his home for recreation. On a
hike through the desert, he slips and falls in a crevice. A small boulder falls with him and pins
his arm in a way he is not able to get free. He faces a very similar situation the protagonist in "To
Build a Fire" does; death in solitude against the forces of nature. No sane person wants to die, yet
we all do. It is a major motif in Jack London's story.
This exercise allows the students to begin pondering about their existence and how the
English language visually captures the elements of life and events depicted in both the movie
trailer and the story. It gives the students a practical approach to the protagonist’s position.
Before reading the text I will have the students answer the "Five Questions Before Reading". I
may have them write a short response describing what they would do-or could do-if they were in
similar position. This allows more time for them to think about what they would do in a situation
the protagonist faces in Jack London's story. I will also use the interrupted summary exercise to
continuously reinforce the events from readings from previous classes so the students will
remain refreshed with the events in the story as they continue to the story’s end. (Gallagher 48)
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Metaphors to Use
I want my students to recognize the setting’s effect on a story’s characters as an
important element of the story. I will have my students answer these questions after reading the
story to line 258: “How is the man like a popsicle?”, “How is the dog’s fur like a coat?”, and
“How is the fire like a life jacket for someone lost at sea?”. These questions promote higher level
thinking and attach a student’s current knowledge with that which is unknown to answer the
metaphorical questions.
The answers I hope my students will come up with should be similar to: “The man is like
a popsicle because he is freezing”, “The dog’s fur is like a coat because it is keeping him warm
in the cold”, and “The fire is like a life jacket for someone lost at sea because without it the man
would most likely die.” The evidence in the text that supports the metaphor of the man being
similar to a popsicle is the description of the setting as “fifty-degrees below zero [and] eightyodd degrees of frost.” (McDougal 82) The evidence in the text that supports the metaphor of the
dog’s fur being like a coat can be found when the author describes the dog as “a big native
husky, proper, gray-coated without any visible temperamental difference from the wild wolf.”
(McDougal, 83) The fire can be supported as a life preserver when the author describes the wolf
expecting the man “to go into camp and build a fire. The dog had learned fire, and it wanted fire
to burrow away from the air” (McDougal 83) All of this textual evidence supports each metaphor
to the story.
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Character Analysis Metaphor
Brake Pedal, Accelerator Pedal: This additional metaphor allows the students to analyze the
character’s position against the text’s setting. Students analyze to consider how the environment,
the intrapersonal traits of a character, and the advice given from other characters influences other
character’s behavior. An example of this would be when the “fear of death came to him and
threw him into a panic, he turned and ran along the trail.” (McDougal 93) This would go on the
“accelerator pedal” of the exercise because it accelerated the protagonist’s reaction. For the
“brake pedal”, students would list the advice the protagonist remembered from the “old-timer
from Sulphur Creek” because it slowed down his panic from suffering the cold weather.
(McDougal 89)
Anticipation Guide for “To Build A Fire”
Before Reading
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
1
2
Strongly agree
3
Young people should listen to
advice from older people.
Younger people are right more
often than older people.
There is no greater force that
controls your life other than you.
If you believe you can achieve
something, nothing can stop you.
If you know you are unable to
complete a task, you should
never start it.
Humans know how to survive
better than animals.
If you don’t follow certain rules,
you can risk your life.
You can prepare yourself for
anything.
You can do anything you want as
long as no one is there to get you
in trouble.
4
5
6
7
Somewhat Agree
After Reading
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
8
9
Strongly Agree
10
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Theme Spotlight
A major theme in Jack London’s To Build A Fire: Nature places obstacles in people’s lives that
everyone must try to overcome.
While reading Jack London’s story, the students will examine a part of nature’s influence
on mankind. One of the ideas presented in the story is there are natural elements of life humans
must overcome to survive. I want students to begin thinking about how extrinsic elements cause
intrinsic changes to characters. This is something they can relate to real life because all of my
students have experienced something that has changed them. Sometimes people are not able to
overcome natural elements. Below are 10 examples of natural elements people experience often
in life. Students should rank them 1-10, with 1 being the event they wouldn’t mind experiencing
and 10 being the event they would least like to experience:
1
Experiencing a horrendous earthquake
_____
2
Being stuck in an unfamiliar place with no water or food
3
Falling from a cliff and breaking your leg
4
Getting bit by a poisonous snake
5
Getting lost on a hike in the middle of nowhere with no GPS/Cell phone
6
Being caught in a flood and losing your home
_____
7
Being caught in your home while it’s on fire
_____
8
Being caught in a tornado
9
Experiencing a car crash _____
10
Breaking up with your boyfriend/girlfriend
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
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Daily Focus Questions
The first twenty-four lines of Jack London’s story captures the setting well and is
extremely vital to the mood of the events that follow. Below are daily focus question examples to
assist student comprehension of the text:
Text-Dependent:
1
What are a few words that describe the setting of the story?
2
What mood is set by the use of those words?
3
Where is this man and how many feet of ice is he walking through?
4
Define intangible and use it in a new sentence of your own.
5
What time is it at the opening of the story?
Text-Independent:
1
Why do you think the man began his journey alone?
2
What do you think the title has to do with the story?
3
Would you travel alone in such weather? Why or why not?
4
What would you do if you were all alone as the man in the story was?
5
What are a few things you would need to survive in such cold conditions?
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Text Frames with Gaps
1) Lines 145-161:
-Man travels two hours in the freezing
-Man has close call and almost falls through iced over river
-Dog made quick efforts to lick off ice from its paws
2) Lines 189-205:
- Man gets out his matches
-Dog moves close to man for warmth
-Man forces dog to continue through the cold
3) Lines 277-307:
-Man pulls out knife to cut more firewood
Man realizes he should not have built fire under Spruce tree
-Man is shocked at what has just happened
-
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Time-Line with Questions
What Happened
(page; lines)
Man walks over
Man builds first
Man falls through the ice. Man tries to
Man sits down at
iced river and feels
fire. (p. 87: 189)
(p.87; 220)
capture dog for
conclusion of
it begin to break.
warmth.
story. (p. 94; 470)
He forces the dog
(p. 92; 390-410)
to walk in front of
him. Dog falls
through ice and
gets wet.
(p. 85; 136-161)
Why Events
Happened/Questions
That Arise
Why would the
The man built fire
Man fell through ice b/c
Man wanted to
He was tired from
man risk the dog’s
to rest, eat, and get
he was overconfident and
kill dog, cut it
running and was
life before his
warm. Dog needed
did not take necessary
open, and put his
freezing to death.
own?
the same.
precautions.
hands in it for
warmth.
What Happened After
Event
Man rushes to
Man smoked his
Man was wet from the
Dog sensed
Man dies in the
help dog get ice
pipe, thawed out
knees down. He rushed
something was
snow. Dog runs
off its paws.
a little, and left
to the bank to build a
wrong and did
to camp.
fire to continue
fire. (p. 87; 224)
not return to
journey.
man.
Man panics and
begins to run.
(p. 93; 433)
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Mystery Envelope
Twenty-five questions for small groups to answer:
1
If this story’s setting had been in a desert, like the movie 127 Hours, what would be
some concerns for survival the protagonist would have?
2
Do you think the dog would have the same fate as the man after the end of the story?
Why or why not? Provide textual evidence to support your argument.
3
What caused the second fire to go out?
4
Why does the man have difficulty building the second fire?
5
What traits of the main character caused him to make mistakes?
6
What do you blame most for the man’s fate?
7
Identify three mistakes the man made in the story. Provide references.
8
Find two places in the text where the dog seemed to know the dangers of their
environment.
9
What are some differences between the man and the dog noted in the story that may
have helped the dog to survive?
10
What point do you feel the author, Jack London, was trying to make about instincts
from the differences mentioned between the dog and the man?
11
How does the description of the setting help control the mood?
12
What did the man use at the beginning of the story to calculate the temperature?
13
When is a person most likely to use his/her instincts?
14
Find a part in the text that foreshadows the man’s fate.
15
What term is given to the man that defined him as a “newcomer”?
16
Define conjectural, record where it was used in the text, and use it in a new sentence.
17
Define intangible, record where it was used in the text, and use it in a new sentence
18
Define apprehension, record where it was used in the text, and use it in a new
sentence.
19
Who seemed to be more knowledgeable about the weather-the man or the dog?
Support your answer with evidence from the text.
20
List 10 things you would need if you were in the same setting as the protagonist.
21
What is a spirit-thermometer? Draw a picture.
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10
Define peremptorily. Who was the last person to speak to you in a peremptorily
manner?
23
How did the dog respond when the man tried to coax the dog to come to him after the
last fire went out? How did the dog know something was not right?
24
What was the man’s struggle at the beginning of the story?
25
What became the man’s struggle from line 430 to the end? How did his struggle
change from the beginning of the story to the end?
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Theme Triangle
There are many themes found in Jack London’s To Build A Fire and each group will have the
task of creating a “theme triangle”.
Ex: “Survival” is not a theme, it is a topic. “What not to do in a tundra to survive” is a theme.
Theme Triangle for To Build A Fire
People will go
to extreme
lengths to
survive.
Film: 127 Hours starring James Franco
Newspaper Article: Aron Rolston
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Metaphorical Graphic Organizer
Ten-pin Alley:
In this graphic organizer, students will use the text to identify one major event (bowling ball) that
caused ten separate events to happen (bowling pins). This demonstrates cause-and-effect to be
recognized in a story and helps organize the many events in a story.
Pin 1:
Pin 6:
Pin 2:
Pin 7:
Pin 8:
Pin 3:
Bowling Ball:
Pin 4:
Pin 5:
Pin 9:
Pin 10:
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Issues Graphic Organizer
Students will relate the issues found in today’s world to Jack London’s To Build A Fire in
this graphic organizer. The students will find an idea they think to be very valuable taken from
the reading of the text. Students will then find a newspaper, journal, or magazine article that
illustrates the valuable idea and write why they believe the idea is still valuable today.
Place article here:
This idea is still valuable today because:
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Scholarly Articles
Article One
Sean Rudey's article Putting On A Game Face for Reading: How Pre-Reading Strategies
Create Individualized Reading Experiences mentions the most effective pre-reading strategy to
help enhance students' reading comprehension is the activation of students' prior knowledge. The
article begins by emphasizing a teacher should use an exercise that helps students explore their
own beliefs about the reading's topic before it is read in class. This helps the reading become
authentic to the students' individual personal experiences. The article explains how this prereading strategy deepens literary understanding and invites individuality to be shared at the end
of the lesson.
In discussing the metacognitive elements of the pre-reading strategy, Rudey mentions the
desired outcome of the exercise is for students to "be able to describe their thought processes
while reading and enable them to verbalize why certain behaviors are characteristic of good
readers." (52) Rudey wants his students to be able to identify what elements of a reading they
understand and what elements of a reading confuse them. Rudey describes writing as a major
positive influence to pre-reading strategy because writing helps students begin to develop their
own feelings as they read the text. The article closes with an in-depth examination of how
observations can show readers "understanding is enhanced when they appear to know who they
are." (56) These are the reasons Rudey gives in supporting that writing before reading is
successful.
The exercise I would use to utilize this pre-reading strategy would be the "Five Questions
Before Reading 'To Build a Fire'".
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Article Two
Paola Pilonieta's article Instruction of Research-Based Comprehension Strategies in
Basal Reading Programs begins by outlining a few implications the 2002 No Child Left Behind
Act mandates on instruction. It then continues on to define what is meant by the use of the term
"comprehension". The article then discusses research done for basal readings in multiple classes
in the kindergarten through sixth grade classrooms. What was found was the amount of reading
comprehension improved greatly when teachers were consistent with reading strategies and
taught their students the reasoning and rationale behind the strategies. The research showed
major inconsistencies throughout the U.S. and found the best readers came from classrooms
where there was monitored discussion, frequent repetition, and constant questioning of the texts
being read by students. The main point of this article was the need for consistency in classroom
readings.
I intend to raise awareness during class readings to monitor and improve the reading
comprehension of my students by frequently stopping during the readings and guide my students
to reflect on what they have just read. I will continue by asking questions, completing exercises
similar to the metaphorical graphic organizers listed above, and completing outlined reading
questions at certain points throughout the texts.
Article Three
Nancy Gallavan's article After the Reading Assignment: Strategies for Leading StudentCentered Classroom Conversation recommends the use of one exercise to touch all the multiple
intelligences outlined by Howard Gardner (musical-rhythmic, bodily-kinesthetic, verbal-
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linguistic, naturalistic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, logical-mathematical, and spatial) to get
students' brains actively involved in the text after reading. This helps the students show their
thoughts and any ideas they may have had while reading the text.
The article recommends splitting the class up into eight groups of three to five students
and give each group an activity from one of the multiple intelligences. The teacher then
introduces the eight multiple intelligences to the class and has them become more familiar with
Gardner's multiple intelligences. Once the group has discussed their exercise for the outlined
multiple intelligence, the rest of the class has to guess which multiple intelligence that group had.
This allows the students to work through the confusion of new material together, promotes
individual learning in a student-centered assignment, and allows students to synthesize new
understandings from the text they already know.
A student-centered exercise outlined in the article that I can use in my classroom is the
"Graffiti Wall". The teacher takes poster boards with topics from the text on them and hangs
them on the wall. Each class is proportionately split into groups according to how many poster
boards there are and each group writes their own opinions about the topic on the poster board.
Each group then rotates to the different posters and either writes something new about that topic
or comments on what has already been written. Students can draw an image associated with the
text or a quote they liked from the text. This exercise is to reinforce the text and continue to
influence student thought.
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Works Cited
Gallavan, Nancy P., E.K. "After the Reading Assignment: Strategies for Leading StudentCentered Classroom Conversations." The Social Studies. Volume 93 Issue 6 (2002): 267272. Web. 15 April, 2011.
McDougal, Holt. Literature: Grade 10. San Antonio: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing
Company, 2010. Print.
Pilonieta, Paolo. "Instruction of Research-Based Comprehension Strategies in Basal Reading
Programs." Reading Psychology Volume 26 Issue 3 (2005): 150-172 Web. 15 April,
2011.
Ruday, Sean. "On A Game Face for Reading: How Pre-Reading Strategies Create Individualized
Reading Experiences." The Virginia English Bulletin Volume 57 Issue 2 (2007): 50-58
Web. 10 April, 2011.