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Jack London BY: Carlos Vergne, Kevin Rosario, and Gabriel Casal. To Build a Fire. Naturalism. Literary movement that focused on all of the negative things in this world; most of them human. ABOUT THE AUTHOR. Jack London.
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Jack London BY: Carlos Vergne, Kevin Rosario, and Gabriel Casal. To Build a Fire
Naturalism • Literary movement that focused on all of the negative things in this world; most of them human.
Jack London • Jack London, whose life symbolized the power of will, was the most successful writer in America in the early 20th Century. He wrote many fiction novels, which made him very famous. He also wrote a few short stories packed with hardships against nature which often came from his own experiences. • Jack London was a naturalist/ realist writer because in his works he wrote about the daily life of characters, and about society in general.
Jack London What literary era did Jack London Belong to? • Romanticism • Realism • Naturalism • Post-Modernism • The Age of Reason • Option B. and C. • Option E. and A. • All of the above
Jack London For which of the following Genres did London become rich? • Autobiographies • Fiction Short stories • Essays • Love Poems
To Build a Fire • “To Build a Fire”, by Jack London is considered to be one of the prime examples of the Naturalist movement. • It’s the quintessential man-vs.-nature story. • This story was inspired by London’s own experiences in Alaska during the Klondike gold rush. • In this story, London’s literary ability and taste is highlighted throughout this epic battle against nature.
Reading Comprehension • SETTING • A man turns off from the main trail in the? • A: Yellowstone • B: Yukon • C: Serbia • D: Kodiak
Reading Comprehension • The newcomer, indifferent about the cold, sets off to meet , a dog tags along. • A: His “Homies” • B: “The Guys” • C: “The Boys” • D: “The Men”
Reading Comprehension • As the man gets colder his cheeks start to freeze and starts to worry. He tries hard to avoid , and builds a fire to warm off and eat his lunch. • A: The hidden springs • B: Wolves • C: Frostbite • D: The dinosaurs
Reading Comprehension • His lunch consisted of? • A: Grilled Chicken • B: Beaver • C: Soup • D: Biscuits • E: Bread • F: Taters
Reading Comprehension • The man remembers that The old-timer from Sulphur Creek had warned him of the dangers of going into the frigid Yukon Territory. He emphasized that . • A: It was too cold. • B: Wolves came to hunt at the time. • C: His instincts were not fit for surviving. • D: Traveling alone at those temperatures was dangerous.
Reading Comprehension • He notices that it was probably below freezing point, by . A:. -50 degrees F. (-75 F’) / Spitting in midair. B: -20 degrees F. (-55F’) / Trying to feel his fingers. C: It was actually 12 F. / None D: -5 degrees F (-25F’) / Thermometer.
Reading Comprehension • As the man continues on, he , cursing his luck. • A: Lost the dog. • B: Loses sense of his hands. • C: Eats the remainder of his lunch. • D: Falls through the snow.
D: Falls through the snow. • Kewl
Reading Comprehension • All wet, he realizes he will need to make another fire to dry himself off. But as he does, his fire is . • A: Extinguished by the snow that drops from his moccasins. • B: Extinguished by the snow on the tree above it. • C: Headshotted…….in the head. • D: Extinguished because the dog buries it in snow while in panic.
Reading Comprehension • In a panic and scared for his life, the man quickly tries to build another fire, by trying to . • A: Break a leg. • B: Light a match. • C: Use what was left of his old fire. • D: uselessly wait for a spark by rubbing two sticks against each other.
Reading Comprehension • He lights all 70 of his matches, but . • A: They extinguish soon after they are ignited, by the upcoming breeze of frost. • B: The matches fall in the lake. • C: The matches fall down to the snow. • D: They are extinguished by some moss.
Reading Comprehension • After so many unsuccessful attempts, the man finally decides to . • A: Give up and die peacefully in the snow. • B: Send the dog to get help. • C: Kill the dog and use his body for warmth. • D: Panic and struggle to the ever nearing camp.
Reading Comprehension • The dog backs away from the man when he tries to go through with his plan, because? • A: It knows not to trust humans. • B: He was looking for food and not paying attention. • C: It detects fear in the man’s voice. • D: The dog is in denial.
Reading Comprehension • The man realizes that his next stop was straight towards death. He makes a last effort to run towards the camp but his endurance fails him. He keeps stumbling until at last he lays down willingly thinking that . • A: He would be forever forgotten and will become one with nature. • B: His friends would find his body the next day. • C: He should’ve followed the old timer’s advice.
Reading Comprehension • The dog does not understand why the man is sitting in the snow like that without making a fire. As the night comes, it comes closer and detects death in the man's scent. It runs away in the direction of the camp, "where were the other food-providers and fire-providers."
Analysis • Which of these traits DOES NOT make Jack London a realist/ naturalist writer? • A: Some of his novels often showed psychological impulses, and a Darwinian attitude to the growth of societies. • B: A general atmosphere of suffering and cruelty - the man's burning flesh, his attempt to kill the dog and warm his hands inside the body, and above all Nature's iron laws. • D: Describing the emotional aspect of his characters.
Analysis • To Build a Fire" sounds almost like an instruction manual, but the title also implies . • A: Instinctive supremacy • B: The need of survival. • C: A verb • D: Intellectuality over instinct.
Analysis • What other clue leads you to think that the author puts minimum importance to the characters. • A: The indifferent behavior of the dog. • B: The fact that they are anonymous characters. • C: Nature is not merciful. • D: A sad, cruel, and hostile Atmosphere. • E: All of the above.
Analysis • The man throughout the story seems pretty dumb, he ignores warnings, remains indifferent when facing grave danger, and thinks that a newcomer like himself will be able to survive the trip, but this may also be the lack of . • A: Intellectuality • B: “Smarticles” • C: Instinct……what the dog has, and therefore survives. • D: Not ^ that^ one.
Analysis • The man in the story, most likely represents . • A: Humanity • B: Ignorance • C: “The Man” • D: Overconfidence.
Analysis • ANTAGONIST • Who, throughout the story, has been the constant adversary of the main character. (Man)? • A: The Dog • B: The Old timer • C: The cold • D: Nature
Analysis • How does realism pertain to “To build a fire”? • A: The dog knows that he has to survive so he does whatever is necessary in order to survive • B: The man accepts his cruel fate, and nature predominates at the end of the story. • C: The man’s intellectuality underestimates nature. • D: A and B.