The Most Dangerous Game By Richard Connell Ms. Rogers 8th Grade Language Arts

Richard Edward Connell Author of “The Most Dangerous Game.” Born in Poughkeepsie, New York on October 17, 1893. Began writing at a young age when he was put into jail for his father’s crime. By the age of 10, he was covering baseball games for his father’s newspaper (10 cents a game). At 16, he became editor of the Poughkeepsie News-Press.

Richard Connell (cont.) Attended Georgetown College and Harvard University where he edited literary magazines. Volunteered to serve in World War I, where he edited “Gas Attack.” Lived in Europe until 1924, when he moved to California with his wife (1919). He became a freelance writer in 1919.

Richard Connell (cont.) Wrote over 200 short stories, two of which won the O. Henry Memorial Award: “The Most Dangerous Game” “A Friend of Napoleon” Several of his short stories were turned into movies. The same sets for “King Kong” were used for “The Most Dangerous Game” movie. Connell died of a heart attack on Tuesday, November 22, 1949, in his home in Beverly Hills, Ca.

Elements of the Short Story Setting Characters Complications Conflict Climax Falling Action Resolution Figurative Language Similes Metaphors Imagery Personification Foreshadowing Characterization Stereotypes

“The Most Dangerous Game” What can the title mean?? Let’s take a trip to Ship Trap Island!

SETTING

       

What do you remember? “Sea breaking on a rocky shore” “Tangle of trees and underbrush” “closely knit web of weeds and trees” “jungle” “crook in the coastline” “lofty structure with pointed towers” “cliffs dived down” “Death Swamp” “gloomy gray stone” “cove” “twenty feet below, the sea…”

Create Your Own Map BE CREATIVE!!! You will create a map of Ship Trap Island. You must be sure to include: Chateau Death Swamp 3 traps Rainsford uses Map Key Caribbean Sea BE CREATIVE!!!

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis We'll break it up into it's various parts: Pneu -- having to do with the lungs like pneumonia mono-- one like monocle, monorail ultra--very like ultra-conservative, ultra-clean microscopic-- small to see like microscope silico -- dust like silicon Volcano -- just like it is, combined with the part before -- volcanic dust con - with like conjoined, conjunction iosis -- condition or disease-related like halitosis

Put it all Together: One, very small to see piece of volcanic dust which causes a disease or condition of the lungs.

General Sense of the Sentence or Passage TYPES OF CONTEXT CLUES Examples Synonyms Antonyms General Sense of the Sentence or Passage

EXAMPLES The context of a word often contains an example of a behavior associated with the word: Martin Luther King was famous for his eloquence; he could hold an audience spellbound by the power of his words.

SYNONYMS Context clues are often found in the form of synonyms: one or more words that mean the same or almost the same as the unknown word. The noise in the nursery school classroom was incessant; the crying, laughing, and yelling never stopped for a second.

ANTONYMS Antonyms -- words and phrases that mean the opposite of a word -- are also useful as context clues. In other words, an antonym will tell you what a word doesn’t mean. He had been silent and withdrawn in his youth, but old age had made him loquacious.

GENERAL SENSE OF THE SENTENCE OR PASSAGE Sometimes it takes a bit more detective work to puzzle out the meaning of an unfamiliar word. In such cases, you must draw conclusions based on the information given. Imagine my chagrin when I looked in the mirror right after giving a report in front of class -- and discovered that on my shirt was some of the chili I had for lunch. (How would you feel? Embarrassed?)

DICTIONARY A dictionary is a last resort. Stopping to look up words only slows you down. First, try to determine what the word means using context clues and some structural analysis. If and only if you don't understand what the author is talking about, then get the dictionary and look the word up.