“To Build a Fire” Jack London

1. “To Build a Fire” Jack London Abby Koff Meagan Kunert Marysol HernandezAlexis Vela

2. Thesis • Humans as a race have the tendency to be so stubborn that they may exhibit behavior that may be detrimental to their overall well-being. - Animals in general often find it easier to be unattached emotionally.

3. Tone • Disconnected from the main character • avoids giving much personal information • Pessimistic outlook on life, until the end of the story “Fifty degrees below zero stood for a bite of frost that hurt and must be guarded against by mittens… Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero.”

4. Purpose • Convey the point that people are irrational when it comes to taking advice. • People’s submission to nature. • Man’s feeling that they can do anything, even when they have been advised against it. “The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below.”

5. Audience • Nature is a much more powerful force than man is • The main character is ultimately conquered by nature as he tries to overcome its challenges • Aimed at the pioneers and prospectors who expected to conquer the new territory “He pictured the boys finding his body the next day…He did not belong with himself anymore, for even then he was out of himself…”

6. Evidence • The main character dies -disregards the power and effects of nature • The dog lives-obeyed his instincts and was able to survive-He sensed what was coming, but was forced to obey the guide “Then it [the dog] turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew, where were the other food providers and fire providers.”

7. Appeals • Logical (logos)- it is understood that without the appropriate preparations, a man would die in the frozen wilderness • Ethical (ethos)- it would be appropriate to take advice which is given to you from people who have experience • Emotional (pathos)- Keeping the readers disconnected from the main character keeps the reader from feeling unsympathetic at the end

8. Assumptions • Nature dominates man “The brief day drew to a close in a long, slow twilight. There were no signs of a fire to be made, and, besides, never in the dog’s experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire.” • Animals have instincts that guide them in dangerous situations “…It was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire.”

9. Style • Syntax- omniscient narrator in plain prose that allows the reader to identify with the dog and the main character • (it was so boring to read I [Meagan] actually fell asleep) • Imagery- vivid descriptions allow the reader to feel what the man experiences • The author sets us up to not identify with the main character and understand his death

10. The End