Hatchet

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay. 

Scaffolded/Short-Answer Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the novel over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. How does Brian use knowledge from books, movies, and life experiences to his advantage?

• A direct answer to this question should serve as your topic sentence.
• Provide at least three examples of Brian’s reliance on his memory of information from books, movies, and life experiences. Analyze each example in a separate paragraph, explaining how the example supports the answer you provided in the topic sentence.
• Finally, discuss in your concluding sentence or sentences how Brian’s use of knowledge connects to his overall success surviving in the wilderness.

2. Brian often talks about luck. Does Brian have good or bad luck? What does the novel say about the concept of luck?

• In your opinion, does Brian generally have good or bad luck? (topic sentence)
• What are three examples that support your assertion of whether Brian’s luck is good or bad?
• Finally, describe in your concluding sentence or sentences the novel’s overall message about luck and survival in the wilderness.

3. What qualities or traits does Brian gain from his experience? How does his experience permanently change his perspective of himself, his life, or life in general?

• How is Brian’s perspective changed by his experience in the woods? (topic sentence)
• What are two or three traits that Brian gains from surviving in the wilderness connected to his change in perspective? Provide quotes and examples to support your assertions.
• Finally, discuss in your concluding sentences how a teenager’s perspective might change if he or she had an experience today similar to Brian’s. Consider the ways technology has influenced the lives of modern teens (e.g., cellphones, social media, food-ordering apps, etc.) and how removal from technology might impact a teenager.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. How does Brian’s character change throughout the novel? Choose three moments or events from the novel, and in a separate paragraph for each event, explain how each one contributed to Brian’s character change or coming-of-age process. Use quotes and/or paraphrase key elements of text to support your assertions.

2. Considering the conflict category of Man versus Nature, how does Brian’s experience and the novel as a whole portray nature? How does it portray the human relationship to the natural world? Give support for your response to these questions using plot events as well as analyses of Paulsen’s use of literary devices such as symbolism, imagery, and connotation.

3. How would Brian’s experience have been different if he had retrieved the survival pack right away? What would he have learned, or not learned, if he had it? Although this question is asking for your opinion, your response should be rooted in the evidence of the novel. Identify one central way Brian would have been different if he had the survival pack from the beginning; discuss two to three points to support that reason. Cite evidence from the novel to support your assertions.