1. By Gary Paulsen
Hatchet Notes

2. Vocabulary: Amphibious: able to function on both land and water
Audible: able to be heard
Hummocks: small, rounded hills
Turbulence: irregular air motion, especially as felt by airplane passengers
Wince: to shrink back; to flinch
Dormant: asleep; inactive
Eddy: to move in a current contrary to the main current
Flue: a passage for allowing flame and smoke to escape
Gratify: to please; to satisfy

3. Vocabulary: Ruefully: with regret
Staff: a stick carried for support while walking
Corrosive: having the power to weaken or destroy gradually
Fuselage: the central body portion of an airplane
Propel: to drive or push forward
Sear: to burn
Jolt- push or shake

4. Vocabulary: Imbed- implant: fix or set securely or deeply
Stymie- Prevent or hinder the progress of; stump; puzzle
Altitude- The height of an object or point in relation to sea level or ground level
Persistent- Continuing in a course of action in spite of difficulty
Murky- Dark and gloomy, esp. due to thick mist; (of liquid) Dark and dirty; not clear
Stabilize- Make or become stable; Cause (an object or structure) to be unlikely to overturn

5. Setting:
The story takes place in Hampton, New York, and the forests of Northern Canada, in the present day.

6. Main Character(s) Brian Robeson The Pilot Brian’s parents
A thirteen year old boy who, on the way to spend the summer with his divorced father in Canada.
The Pilot
An older man, who flies the boy toward northern Canada until he has a heart attack and dies at the controls.
Brian’s parents
His mother (the secret)
His father is a mechanical engineer who has designed a new drill bit for the oil drills on the tree line of Canada.

7. Protagonist Conflict: The protagonist is Brian Robeson
a thirteen year old boy
intelligent
finds a way to survive when his plane crashes
hurt by a Secret
he must put the Secret aside and learn to be a man.

8. Conflict: Antagonist Nature Brian himself Dangers and beauties
Brian must learn to live within the boundaries that Nature forces upon him and accept his fate.
Brian himself
He battles against just giving up when
He must end his obsession with the Secret

9. Foreshadowing Examples:
The pilot teaching him how to control the plane prepares us for him landing the plane himself.
The fact that his mother gave him a hatchet as a going away gift prepares the reader for Brian’s need for a basic tool to survive in the woods.
His hatchet which bounces off the rock with a shower of sparks foreshadows how he will figure out how to make a fire.

10. Irony Examples:
Brian’s mother gives him a hatchet as a gift before he leaves, because it is the tool that will mean survival for him.
Brian finally finds the survival kit even though he has learned on his own how to survive.
Just as he is savoring his new-found wealth that nearly killed him to recover, he is rescued.

11. The climax of the story occurs when…
Brian finally finds a way into the tail of the plane after a tornado.

12. POINT OF VIEW: Third-person Omniscient.
written as if viewed by a source outside all the action.

13. THEMES: Never Giving Up Maturity Education. most prevalent
without hope, life is meaningless.
Maturity
Brian must grow up to hone his survival skills
Education.
flying was just like anything else: it just takes learning
he spends each day learning something new about survival and life in general.

14. Outcome: After Brian obtains the treasure:
he finds an emergency transmitter
he takes pleasure from all the other supplies he finds in the pack.
he hears the sound of another plane which lands on the lake.
The pilot had picked up the signal from the emergency transmitter a
Brian says what he learned from his survival experience