Writing an Analysis of "To Build a Fire," Part 3 — Unit test Answers

Read the passage from Part 1 of “To Build a Fire.”The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold. It knew that it was no time for travelling. Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the man's judgment. In reality, it was not merely colder than fifty below zero; it was colder than sixty below, than seventy below. It was seventy-five below zero. Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero, it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained. The dog did not know anything about thermometers. Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the man's brain. But the brute had its instinct.

Jackson has written this topic sentence in his literary analysis:Many prospectors at the turn of the century were unsuccessful on their journey along the Yukon and Klondike trails, as Jack London depicts in "To Build a Fire.”

Read the passage from Part 1 of “To Build a Fire.”He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances. Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty odd degrees of frost. Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable, and that was all. It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature, and upon man's frailty in general, able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold. . . . Fifty degrees below zero stood for a bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens, ear-flaps, warm moccasins, and thick socks.

Read the excerpt from Part 2 of “To Build a Fire.”When all was ready, the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark. He knew the bark was there, and, though he could not feel it with his fingers, he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it. Try as he would, he could not clutch hold of it. And all the time, in his consciousness, was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing. This thought tended to put him in a panic, but he fought against it and kept calm.

Which detail from "To Build a Fire" best supports the idea that most of the real Yukon prospectors had little experience for surviving in cold weather?

Which statement is true about the prospectors of the Klondike Gold Rush and the main character of "To Build a Fire"?

Read the passage from Part 1 of “To Build a Fire.”Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the man's brain. But the brute had its instinct. It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it and made it slink along at the man's heels, and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire.

Read the passage.The words stung, and Jonah leaned away. His teacher, Ms. Jacoby, leaned forward though, and closed the gap between them. She pointed to the red marks on the paper, quietly explaining their meaning. Her tone dripped of disappointment, and Jonah lowered his eyes to the floor. He could hear students whispering to one another at the back of the room.