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Gary Paulsen's Woodsong

462 Words2 Pages

The book I read for my non-fiction book report was Woodsong. Woodsong is 132 pages from cover to cover. The book is a non-fiction written by Gary Paulsen. In my book there was only one main. The main character is Gary Paulsen the author of the book. Paulsen displays clear qualities of ingenuity, survivability, determination, and wisdom. His view on animal life will strike many as controversial, as he raises animal worth to a level almost comparable to that of humans. The only other characters in the story are Paulsen’s sled dog team. The book starts with Paulsen retelling a story in which he watched wolves kill and devour a deer in the woods. This event showed Paulsen that nature was gruesome. He then reflects back on how he was once a beaver …show more content…

Some of the incidents include times he has been carried to safety by his sled dogs after breaking his knee on the trail, became violently ill in the midst of extreme cold conditions, and a variety of other happenings. In all his adventures Paulsen bonds closely with all of his dogs. Storm, his favorite dog has taught Paulsen many life lessons about nature and life. Part One closes, and Part Two begins with Paulsen entering a team of fifteen of his dogs in the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. The race proves to be long and unyielding. Extremely cold conditions and difficult terrain put both Paulsen and his team to the test. He is repeatedly afflicted by hallucinations during the race. After nearly seventeen days, he at last crosses the finish line in Nome. He places last in the race, but the accomplishment and adventure are all that matter to him. This book had a hard christian theme to find. I really had to search, but came up with always trust God. Paulsen went through many tough times from barely having enough money to pay the bills to almost dying out on the trail. Paulsen never mentioned God, but if he was a christian trusting God in these situations would’ve helped a

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Drew Da Dogs, Moose, and Beaver. Oh My! Do dogs smile? Author Gary Paulsen, in his memoir Winterdance, uses symbol, theme, and metaphors to further the reader’s understanding of the dog-human relationship. Paulsen lives in Minnesota, he decides to starts running dogs on a trapline.

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Gary was training the dogs so that they are ready to run with snow. In iditarod there was lots of people more people with dogs. They made them run 1000 miles and in gary paulsen they made them run 100 miles. In iditarod they made them use husky’s and in gary paulsen they used dogs. In the gary paulsen book and iditarod they were at a snowy place to

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Over the course of his journey, Brian learns that staying motivated is the key to survival in the wilderness. The experiences and events he is put through, such as remembering Perpich, getting left behind by the plane, and having to start from scratch, teaches Brian the importance of staying motivated. Brian matures into the concept and puts it to use throughout the novel. Brian has grasped the idea of staying motivated to survive, which is one theme of Gary Paulsen’s thrilling adventure story,

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A major theme in the true story, A Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park is perseverance. Perseverance is to stay steady in what you are doing or in a purpose, especially when you are faced with difficulties. This is a perfect theme for A Long Walk to Water because the main character, Salva Dut, an 11 year old Sudanese boy, faced many difficulties and kept going. He took things ‘bit by bit, one step at a time’, a lesson he learned from his uncle that helped him get through the desert, and he applied it to his life and kept going and believing his family was alive. Even though he almost died many times, he did not give up, and he went back to his home country and helped many people have better lives by building wells and giving them clean drinking water.

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Throughout the book, Paulsen highlights the theme of man versus nature. He does this by employing literary techniques like similes and metaphors. Some examples that prove this are, on page 63, Paulsen uses a simile to show that a porcupine had attacked Brain, “his leg was instantly torn with pain, as if a hundred needles had been driven into it” (Paulsen, pg. 63). Paulsen also uses a metaphor on page 121 to show that Brian is being attached by a moose, “he saw a brown wall of fur detach itself from the forest to his rear and come down on him like a runaway truck” (Paulsen, pg. 121). This evidence proves that Brain had to work against the dangerous animals of the wilderness to survive.

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