Hatchet

What is the plot of the story?

• 13-year-old John and his mother drive south to Tennessee meet his father but, they get in a car accident and are stranded with nothing but their clothes on their backs and a hatchet.

• 13-year-old Brian and his sister, Amanda, fly to Canada to visit their mother who is having health problems. Their car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and they have nothing except the clothes on their back and a hatchet.

• 13-year-old Brian's parents divorce, leaving him to travel to his father's home in Canada. His pilot dies from a heart attack and the plane crashes. He has to survive in the wilderness by himself with just his hatchet his mother gave him.

Answer explanation

The plot is the main part of the story. It describes the main events of the story.

What point of view is the Hatchet?

• First

• Second

• Third-Limited

• Third-Omniscient

Answer explanation

The story uses he and him instead of I or you and the narrator only knows the thoughts of Brian.

What is the two main conflicts of the story?

• Brian finds himself stranded in the Canadian wilderness and he faces the divorce of his parents.

• Brian has to face the death of his father and he has to survive the woods of Tennessee after his car gets in an accident.

• Brian and his mother are stranded on a small island in the Atlantic Ocean having to survive on fish and coconuts with only themselves and a hatchet.

Answer explanation

The main plot of the story is that Brian's parents get a divorce, and he travels to his father's house in Canada. On the way his plane's pilot has a heart attack and his plane crashes and he is stranded in the Canadian wilderness having to survive with only a hatchet his mother gave him.

What is the conflict analysis?

• Character vs. Character

• Character vs. Nature

• Character vs. Society

• Character vs. Technology

Answer explanation

The main character, Brian has to learn how to survive on his own in the Canadian wilderness.

At the beginning of chapter 3, the author says: "The memory was like a knife cutting into him." What figurative language did the author use and how does this relate and add to the plot?

• The author used the simile of a knife cutting into him to add to Brian's grief of his parents divorce. It adds meaning and feeling to that part of the plot.

• The author used the metaphor of a knife cutting into him to add to Brian's grief of his parents divorce. It adds meaning and feeling to that part of the plot.

• The author used personification by comparing his emotions to a knife. It shows how Brian feels about his parent's divorce and how much pain it brings to him.

Answer explanation

By using 'like' in his comparison, the author used a simile, not a metaphor.