Woods Runner by Gary Paulson Presentation by Claudia Foushee Grade 5 Ms. Webb

Setting: The Revolutionary War US Territory 1776 A Family Farm Journey through the Forest New York Pennsylvania

Characters: Samuel’s Family, Friends & Enemies Mother Father Annie Friends Annie Coop Abner Annie’s parents Enemies Loyalists/Red Coats Hessians Indians

Point of View: Samuel Woods Runner is told from the point of view of Samuel Smith a 13 year old boy who was raised in farm lands and forests during frontier times.

Plot: Samuel’s journey to find his parents Samuel’s settlement was burned down and his parents taken prisoner one day while he was out hunting. On his journey to find his parents he saves a girl named Annie and meets a friendly Person named Abner who helps him through his journey. With Abners help he rescues his parents and adopts Annie whose parents were killed.

Conflict and Resolution: Patriots & Loyalists The main conflict in this story is war. Through out the story people are fighting and killing. Samuel experiences the sadness and difficulties of war after the British attacks his home and takes his parents captive.

Theme: fight for what you want The main theme in Woods Runner is determination. Samuel was determined to find his family and save them. Samuel’s thoughts (pg. 41- 42): “He had no idea what to do except to follow his parents’ tracks-he saw their footprints now and then. He had to follow and rescue them. How could he do that, free his parents… he’d have to wait and see. Wait until he knew more.” Samuel’s response to Abner (pg. 104): “I don’t have a plan just yet. All I know is to follow them as best I can then work on something if I find them. When I find them.”

Flashback and Foreshadowing Flashback (pg. 117 ): “Sit-down meals were always rare In his life even before the war-he winced at the word before the war.” Foreshadowing (pg. 11): “He could not stop his wondering about what lay on the east. The world. It was supposed to be a better place than the frontier, with a more sensible way to live.”

Tone and Mood War is harsh and brutal Samuel (pg. 29 ): “He knew that if he lived to be a hundred, he would never lose the taste, the smell or images of what he had seen: the madness of what men could do to other men in savage rage. ”

Figurative Language ( pg. 112) “King George,” Abner said, “they say he’s teched, crazy as a bag of hazelnuts.” ( pg. 51) “And just then, as he settled back to wait and on some way to get to the captives without being discovered-his whole world blew up.”

Dialogue ( pg. 94) “What’s to think about?” Annie said, “We go to New York to get our Ma and Pa.” ( pg. 11) “Those people in the world who were supposed to be civilized, full of knowledge and wealth… were caught in the madness of vicious, bloody war. It didn’t make sense.” ( pg. 16) “Well, I think we should do nothing but wait and see how the wind blows.”

How does Samuel change through out the book? Samuel changes from the provider of the family to the leader of his family. (pg.158) “It was over now, he knew. The run, the madness, listening to every crack of a twig, worrying over every brush of a leaf. His parents and Annie would be safe now.”

My review I think this book was interesting and informational. I like how Gary Paulson puts information at the end of each chapter. I like that the point of view is from a 13 year old. One thing that I think would make me like this book better is if it was told from a girls point of view. “As he embraced the forest, his skill at hunting grew. Actually, the forest embraced him, took him in, made him, as the French said, a courier du bois, a woods runner.”

Thanks for listening!