1. The Yukon Territory and the Klondike Gold Rush
An Introduction to Call of the Wild

2. Jack London’s formal education ended when he was in elementary school, but he was a voracious reader and never stopped learning.
London and his brother-in-law, Captain James Shepard, joined the 1897 Klondike Gold Rush
While it ended tragically for both ( Captain Shepard died and London was came down with scurvy), it inspired Jack London’s many stories of adventure in the wilderness.

3. -The Call of the Wild is his most famous work -His experiences, especially his time looking for gold in Canada, are seen in The Call of the Wild -Wrote over 50 books and was at one time the most popular writer in America -His works focused on the exploration of new frontiers, including the American West -They celebrated violence, power and strength

4. Where is the Yukon Territory
Where is the Yukon Territory? The Yukon Territory would cover more than two-thirds of the western United States

5. “…put a hundred pound pack on your back and then walk from New York to Chicago through dense forest and over huge mountains, subsisting only on what food you could hunt along the way, while working twenty-four hour days, panning and picking for gold in every stream or rock gorge.” -Gary Paulson

6. In preparation for the Klondike, the Canadian government required everyone team of prospectors to carry 1000 pounds of supplies in order to make it over the mountains. Most of that weight came from food: 20 pounds of flour, 12 pounds of bacon, 12 pounds of beans, 3 pounds of coffee, and 5 pounds of cornmeal. Heavy equipment and WARM clothing made up the rest.

7. Once prospectors arrived in Dawson City, many of them found their land staked by other miners. Some would work for other miners, or work in bars, hotels, or supply shops. The city was also known to be full of con-man. Both in town, and in the wilderness, the Klondike was a dangerous place to be.

11. Genre: Adventure; Beast Fable Setting: The Late 1890s Canada; Alaska
Literary Focus:
Date of Publication: 1903
Genre: Adventure; Beast Fable
Setting: The Late 1890s
Canada; Alaska
two regions that are diametrically opposed—the Southland and the Northland. The former represents civilization and the latter the wild. In the South, Buck lived a domesticated and perfectly stable life. When Buck arrives in the North, he realizes that survival is the only concern.

12. Point-of-View: Third-Person
Literary Focus
Point-of-View: Third-Person
The Call of the Wild is told from a very unusual point of view—that of a dog. Yet a human narrator stands outside of Buck's consciousness and makes sense of the dog's universe to human readers.
Protagonit: Buck
Antagonist: Nature; Selfish, Irresponsible Owners

13. Literary Focus: Allegory
An allegory tells two stories at once—one set in the reality of the story and one with more symbolic significance
On one level the story is simply about a dog answering the “call of the wild.”
On a deeper level, however, the novel may be voicing London’s opinion that man is inherently savage and, like Buck, must learn to survive by any means necessary