Hatchet Part 3 Chapter 10-13

         In this part of the book, Brian is frustrated with himself because he can't make a fire. He strikes the side of the cave in anger and sparks fly. Surprised with his luck, Brian gathers some tinder and starts a fire. He spends the next couple of hours finding wood and tinder to keep the fire going. Brian decides he needs to find eggs or something to cook over the fire. He watches a bird from his shelter and proceeds to climb the tree it keeps flying to. He finds eggs in a nest and gently takes them.
        An important quote from this text would be "Brian was amazed at his luck to come across this abundant fire source." This is crucial because Brian was so used to having everything at his hands whenever he wanted in New York. Now here in the bush, he is so happy just to find something simple as a fire source.
       I can relate to text like this because in some video games I play, you start with nothing and have to build yourself up, just like Brian in the woods. He was thrown into a situation where has can't make a bad move otherwise his life is on the line.
       

Hatchet Part 2 Chapter 6-10

             In this part of the book, Brian realizes that he is very hungry and thirsty. He drinks a lot of water from the lake and finds some unfamiliar red berries he eats until he isn't hungry. Brian finds a small overhang under a bluff. He then gathers sticks and weaves them in and out and makes a wall for the overhang with a door.
             I can relate to this part of the book because I really like survival shows and movies. They really interest me and I think it looks challenging but fun. I don't think it would be fun if my life was on the line though.
            "Brian was not the same anymore, he would never let death in again. He has been too close to it several times and it was time that he started to show death who is boss." This quote is important because it shows how Brian is a new person and ready for anything after the plane crash. If he can survive that he can survive anything the wild throws at him.

Hatchet Part 1 Chapter 1-5

            Brian Robeson is on a small plane from New York to visit his dad in the middle of Canada. There is only one pilot and in the middle of the flight, he has a heart attack. Brian is stuck alone thousands of feet in the air. Survival mode turns on in him and he takes control of the plane. He knew how keep it going steady and straight from movies but had no clue how to land or anything of that sort. Eventually the plane runs out of gas and starts to summit into the deep Canadian woods. Brian attempts to land it in a small lake. He barely gets out alive and almost drowns. All he has is a Hatchet his mom gave him and the clothes on his back. He takes shelter in a nearby cave next to the lake. 
          "Brian looks back on when he sat in the dark cave and thought of it as when he learned the most important rule of survival, which was that feeling sorry for yourself didn't work. It wasn't just that it was wrong to do, or that it was considered incorrect. It was more than that—it didn't work." This is an important quote because Brian realizes it is bad to feel sorry for yourself.
         I can connect to this passage because I am very interested in survival. My friends and I used to go out in the woods with only a couple key tools and build shelters and sleep in them for a night. It was a lot of fun and challenging. 
         

Brian's Hunt 75-113

Brain' Hunt Pages 75-113
       Brian decides to go see if the others are alive. He finds the mother mauled on the shoreline. He knows they have three kids. Brian searches far and wide for them, but they are no where to be found. Then he sees someone paddling a canoe towards him. It is one of the cree trappers kids, it is a girl, about his age. She tells him the other children are in Ontario visiting family. Her name is Susan. Susan says she was out berry picking  and when she came back to camp, the bear had chased her to the canoes and she had been out on the canoe staying away from the bear for over 3 days. Susan hadn't slept at all since then, and she proceeds to fall asleep. Brian decides that he will go find and kill the bear. Susan calls a helicopter to pick her up. Then Brian is alone. He walks around the island with a bow and arrows. The bear suddenly attacks him from behind. Brian thinks he is about to die when the dog jumps on its back. It is just enough of a distraction for Brian to grab his knife and kill the bear. The story is finished.

      A good quote from the passage would be when Brian was just about to be killed by the bear, and he gives up. "The last thing he saw was an enormous wall of fur coming over him and he thought, all right, this is how it ends. This is how it all ends." Brian gives up because he thinks the bear is about to kill him. But it shows to never give up. Once he thinks he is just about done, the dog jumps on the bear and Brian gets a chance to kill him.

     I can connect to this part of the story because Brian thinks he is done and there is no coming back. In basketball games before, I sometimes think we are done at halftime and that we will lose. But then we start playing well and they started playing badly. Things can change so easily. Things changed very quickly for Brian and he is lucky they did, otherwise he would have been killed.

Brian's Hunt 50-75 reflection

       I read pages 50-75 of Gary Paulsen's Brain's Hunt. Brian and the dog ride down the river to the Cree- trapper's house on an island in the middle of a lake. Brian thinks the dog might be theirs, so he wants to return it if it is. What he finds there is horrifying. The trappers have been mauled and killed by a bear. He doesn't know how it happened because the trappers were amazing at sensing animals. He realizes it must have been a very strong, quick, agile bear.

       One important quote from this text comes from when Brian discovers David, the father of the family's dead body. "He reached for a corner of the torn sleeping bag and pulled it away and saw the body, a human body doubled up and jammed back in the corner, covered, and it was the father, David, destroyed, face torn, neck torn open, one arm half ripped of the body, stomach torn open..."I think this is an important quote because it shows the true damage of what animals can do to humans if they want to. Some people think humans are truly dominant over every other animal. This is true to a certain extent, because if a human has a gun, it can take down the bear. But in a fight between a bear and a human, no gun, no knife, no weapon, the bear would make mincemeat out of the human.

      I can connect to the text because when I was 10 years old, I went to Canada on a fishing trip with my dad and my cousins and uncles. It was a great trip, but we did have a small scare. Our cabin was on in island in the middle of a lake, just like the book. One afternoon when my cousin and I were playing near the shore, we heard a what sounded like a growl not too far away. Across the lake, probably only 300 yards away was a giant black bear looking at us. I was happy the lake wasn't frozen over, because if it felt like it, the bear could have easily got to us.

Horror Story Reflection

1. I saw an episode of the show Supernatural a couple years ago that has always stuck with me about a little girl living in a big house's walls. I decided to throw a little twist on the end with a cult, which I also find creepy.

2.I thought the whole story was pretty easy to write, besides the dialogue.

3. I had some trouble writing the dialogue, other than that, it was easy.

4. I think I give myself an 8. My story was pretty scary in my opinion, but I should have elaborated more.

5. I honestly think I should get a "B" because I worked hard on it, but its not perfect so I shouldn't get an A

6. On my next writing project I will elaborate more and connect the reader to the main character better. I will also work harder on my dialogue.

Brian's Hunt Pages 20-50

           Brian catches a northern pike and guts it. He goes to sleep and is awaken by a whimper.It is a an injured dog  with a big gash in it's side. It is a female dog and Brian talks to her while he stitches up the wound. He feels as if he has seen this type of dog before, possibly one of the Cree trapper's dog who he found when he was rescued. Brian sleeps by the dog for the rest of the night and wakes up to go hunting for some meat for the dog. He shoots and rabbit with his bow and arrow and takes it back to his camp. Brian and the dog both eat fish and rabbit. He doesn't know how the dog was injured but I have a feeling he is going to find out.

          "You're such a tough dog. I couldn't take this, I know. You must have tough genes, a tough mother and a tough father, to take this pulling and pushing and poking" Brian says this to the dog while he is stitching up it's wound. He calms the animal by talking and he can tell that she likes him.
       
          I can relate to this because I have two dogs and know if I ever saw one of them wounded that badly, I would try and help them as much as possible. I wouldn't stitch them up myself but I would try to get them to a vet as soon as possible. I can't stand the thought of any of my dogs getting hurt, I would be very upset.

Brian's Hunt Pages 1-20

The book begins with Brian flashing back about when he crashed in a very remote area of Canada. He was flying to see his dad when the pilot had a heart attack and died. Brian purposely crashed the airplane into a lake so he had a chance to swim out. He survived and almost drowned. Brian lived in the wilderness and learned the way of living off the land through trial and error.  When the winter came, he found some Cree trappers who he lived with until the spring. He found living back in the city was very hard because of all the noise and business. He was so used to silence and not a lot of movement. So he goes back and lives in the wilderness on the same lake with a canoe, cooking materials, dried food, etc.

An important quote from the text is on page 11, Brian is talking about living in the bush rather than the city and how he has changed. “And though he had come back to the bush now because he couldn’t be with the people back in civilization, and because he knew he would probably never fit in, he did not hate school or the concept if studying and learning” This quote shows how Brian couldn’t get used to the business of the city so he decided to bring books out to the wild with him and teach himself things he would learn in school.

I can connect to the text because I am very interested in survival in the wilderness. When I was little my favorite thing to do was build shelters in the woods out of nothing. I would spend full days getting dirty and gathering materials. There are still several “forts” as I would call them standing today, 5 years later.

I am Tiger Woods

I wake up to birds chirping outside my window in the middle of July. It is 10 o'clock and I have nothing to do all day. I go to the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day, but when I look in the mirror, I double take and see someone different. I have changed in to another person. I have grown taller, much taller. Also I am more broad and much stronger. I look exactly like Tiger Woods. I wonder if I can hit a golf ball like he can, because then I can make a lot of money. My parents are not home so I drive to the golf course. I go to the driving range and people are amazed, they think they are golfing next to Tiger Woods himself. The clubhouse manager comes out and tells me he is honored that I am golfing at his course, and tells me I can golf for free. This is great. I hit the golf balls with a strength I have never felt before. My drives go easily over 300 yards, and are extremely accurate. I decide it is time to go to the first hole tee box. My drive is bombed down the middle of the fairway. I easily chip up and drain the putt for a birdie. The next 17 holes were a blur because I was having such a good time. Every hole I either birdied or eagled. In my old body I usually finished with a 86. Now I just shot a 55! It is a course record and I get payed $10,000! I go to bed that night with more money and much more confidence. In the morning I wake up and go to the bathroom, but I have changed again. I'm back to my old self. Although I am sad, I look at the great time I had yesterday, and  want to do that again. I know if I work hard at it and practice whenever I can, I could be as good as Tiger Woods one day. I am inspired and know I will be a professional golfer.

Haunted House

My perfect haunted house would be full of hidden rooms, creaky floors, and objects moving by themselves. Right when you walk in through the giant double doors, a skeleton's head will be on the floor looking right up at you. There is a chainsaw started up somewhere in the back of the house. The doors close behind you and lock. When you walk up the stairs, you fall through one of the steps and into the basement. You land on something soft, squishy, and wet. It is a pile of what seems to be brains. You quickly get off and the basement is all dark except for a single light in the corner of a room. When you walk over to investigate, A doll in a chairs turns around and laughs creepily at you. You run upstairs and a chainsaw dives through the ceiling, almost hitting you. A window is open and you jump outside. You find yourself in a graveyard. A shadow rises out from one of the graves and yells in your face to GET OUT! You swiftly run around to the other side of the house to find the gallows. There is a body hanging from the noose, and it rotates around to face you. A man looks into your eyes and says hello. Then you hear a chainsaw come around the corner. The person carrying the chainsaw is running right at you. Just when he is about to catch you, a tree falls on him. You find a path that goes back to the road where you came from. You get back into your car and try to turn it on. It won't start. That's when you hear a chainsaw start in the woods you just came from.

Story Symposium Presentation

Our group consists of Chris Anderson, Sam Higginbotham, and Kyle Keehan. We were thinking about doing a talk show where someone would be “the author” of The Most Dangerous Game, someone would be “the director” of the movie The Most Dangerous Game, and someone being the talk show host. We will have to work hard and efficiently in and out of class in order for this presentation to work. We were planning that the author would explain the plot, main characters, setting, conflict, theme, ect. Then we would show a clip from the movie on youtube, and then get the director’s perspective on all of those things. He will then also point out the literary devices found in the story. Then the talk show host will finish things up saying how he thinks it relates to the human experience and why he thought it was a good story/movie. 

Zombie Attack Plan Blog

When I hear that the zombie apocalypse has begun, I will quickly get all my food in my house and start organizing it all into crates. I will also grab all of my guns and ammo in the basement of my house. Along with all of my knives and hunting tools too. Then I will get in my car and drive down to Ephraim with all the supplies that I have gathered. I will go to where I work (South Shore Pier Boat Rental) and throw all of the supplies on the biggest pontoon boat. Then I will take all of the gas cans from the other boats and put them on the boat that has the supplies. This will turn out to be 26 gas cans. Which will be about 52 hours of full throttle riding. After that I will leave the dock and ride all the way to Washington Island. There I will loot some of the local stores as long as they are abandoned and get as much food as possible. I will then drive it to the Chambers Island in Fish Creek and build myself a sturdy shelter and set up a new home. Some other people live on the island, so hopefully I can team up with them. If not, there are plenty of other islands around Door County. Occasionally I'll ride the boat to nearby towns and look at everything through binoculars. If everything is clear, I will dock and try and get some more food somehow. We will survive and build a safe haven on the island. I will also get different boats from abandoned marinas. We can fish for food and hunt too. The winters will be very harsh but with the right gear and clothing, we will live on. I am happy that I have a good plan for a zombie attack, I really hope it doesn't happen though.

Box

We all jump backward as the box suddenly shakes. I cautiously approach the cardboard container and flip open the lid. A small doll size human is running around the box. It swiftly hops over the walls of the box and starts running out the door of the classroom. I start to chase after it, as soon as I turn the corner out of the door, my teacher is standing there with an angry expression. I go back to the room and sit in my desk. My teacher explains to me that the small man is a scientific experiment that her husband accidentily made. He was working on a cloning machine when his daughter dropped her toy doll into it. Somehow it went through the machine and came out alive on the other side. Her husband hasn't told anyone about it but somehow the F.B.I. found out about the man. This morning when they came to take the little human, her husband panicked and made her take it and go to school so that the F.B.I. couldn't take credit for something he did. That's why she dropped off the box and went to call her husband to tell him it is safe and in the room. Now the little man is lost somewhere out in the school and we need to help her find the mini human. We search for an hour and a half and find nothing but one of his small shoes. Then suddenly I see him running in to the science lab. I can tell he sees me too, and he drops a beaker onto the floor. Glass shatters everywhere and my leg is full of glass shrapnel. He jumps into the sink full of water. I am just about to grab him from the water when he swims down to the bottom and pulls the plug holding the water from draining. Then he is gone, down the drain forever. That is when I wake up from my dream about the little human. I walk to my bathroom to brush my teeth. When I spit the toothpaste in to the sink, I am surprised to see two small eyes looking up at me.

Author Bio

Hello everyone, my name is Sam. I am 15 years old and live in Northern Wisconsin. I am a sophomore in High School. My favorite classes are History and English. When I’m not in school, you can find me golfing, working, or hanging out with friends. My favorite sports are golf, basketball and football.  Right now, it is football season and I have practice after school every day, so I don’t really do anything besides homework and go to practice.  On weekends I hang out with friends and play videogames and watch football. My favorite color is blue and my favorite food is nachos.