Discuss at your table…

1. Bellringer: On a loose sheet of paper, list all of the adjectives you see in the opening paragraph of “To Build a Fire”. Remember that adjectives are words that describe a noun (cold, gray, etc.) Day had broken cold and gray, exceedingly cold and gray, when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank, where a dim and little-travelled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland. It was a steep bank, and he paused for breath at the top, excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch. It was nine o'clock. There was no sun nor hint of sun, though there was not a cloud in the sky. It was a clear day, and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things, a subtle gloom that made the day dark, and that was due to the absence of sun. This fact did not worry the man. He was used to the lack of sun. It had been days since he had seen the sun, and he knew that a few more days must pass before that cheerful orb, due south, would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view.

2. Discuss at your table… • How would you describe the setting in this opening paragraph? • What is the mood of this opening paragraph? • How does this opening make you feel as a reader? • What is the man's reaction to the landscape?

3. On the same paper as your bellringer, make a chart like the one below. Look back through the story and note passages that discuss knowledge and instinct. Try to find at least three of each.

4. Man vs. Nature(answer these questions using complete sentences on your paper) • How is the relationship between the man and the dog discussed at first? • What did the dog instinctively understand that the man did not? • How does the man and dog's relationship symbolize the man's relationship to his environment?

5. Context Clues • Oftentimes when you come across a word that is unfamiliar, you can make a pretty good guess at what the new word means by using the sentences around it. • This is called using context clues. • Write down the following underlined words, and write down what you guess the definition of the words are using context clues. It’s ok if you aren’t 100% accurate.

6. brute- 2nd to bottom line of page 2 • apprehension – bottom line of page 2 and top of page 6 • keenly – top line of page 4 • gingerly - 6th line of 2nd paragraph on page 4 • hastily – 4th line from the bottom of page 4 • recoiled – bottom of page 6 • extremities – 3rd line of page 7 • conflagration – 4th line of 3rd paragraph on page 7 • threshed – 2nd to last line of 3rd paragraph on page 8 • spasmodically – bottom of 1st full paragraph on page 9 • carcass – 2nd line of 2nd paragraph on page 10 • mincingly – bottom line of 2nd paragraph on page 10 • poignant – top of 2nd paragraph on page 11 • anaesthetic – 2nd to last line of 2nd paragraph on page 12 • chidden – 6th line of last paragraph on page 12

7. beast fear of trouble sharply carefully in a hurry sprung back quickly arms and legs a destructive fire beat over and over with a spasm dead body elegantly distressing to the feelings a drug that relieves pain to scold harshly • brute- • apprehension – • keenly – • gingerly - • hastily – • recoiled – • extremities – • conflagration • threshed – • spasmodically – • carcass – • mincingly – • poignant – • anaesthetic – • chidden –