[kari07]

Yes I have read to build a fire...

[kari07]

So this was my idea to write in each of my paragraphs is this good... intro: talk about jack london his word choice a little summary of the story and my thesis... 1st paragraph go into detail on one aspect of the forest and how it relates to the characters... 2nd paragraph describe another characteristic of the forest and relate it to the story... 3rd paragraph describe the intensity that forest poses on the story... 4th paragraph make conclusion and tell whether or not the forest did its job in making the story more intense and if the characteristics provide the right story to tell the mans travels..

[Wondergirl]

You're going to ignore what your teacher (and I) said to do about the cold?

I don't understand how you are finding such importance about the forest.

Your intro sounds much too long and complicated.

What is your thesis statement?

[kari07]

Well I don't have a thesis because the one I wanted to use was wrong.. but in my thesis I want to talk about how the cold pushes the man to extreme measures like when he wanted to kill the dog for warmth and how the cold can be a matter of life or death and how challenging it can be to survive... but I don't know how to put it in good sentence structure to make my thesis sound well. Can you help me with that?

[Wondergirl]

You're using "To Build a Fire" as your jumping off point?

How long is the essay supposed to be?

[kari07]

Yes we only have to write about one story and I am going to write about to build a fire.. I am going to talk about setting.. where the story takes place.. analyze why the author chose that particular location, place, room, forest... how does it increase the impact of the story. And does the setting almost become a character.. w hat influence does it have over the characters..

[Wondergirl]

If I were writing this, I would begin by talking about fire in general -- what it is and how it makes us feel. Then I would include a thesis statement about the importance of fire, especially in this Northland.

This sentence caught my eye: "There was the fire, snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame."

[kari07]

Where did you get that sentence from? And okay in my first paragraph discuss the meaning of fire.

[Wondergirl]

I got that sentence from the story --

All of which counted for little. There was the fire, snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame. He started to untie his moccasins. They were coated with ice; the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees; and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration. For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers, then, realizing the folly of it, he drew his sheath-knife.

But before he could cut the strings, it happened. It was his own fault or, rather, his mistake. He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree. He should have built it in the open. But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire. Now the tree under which he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs. No wind had blown for weeks, and each bough was fully freighted. Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree—an imperceptible agitation, so far as he was concerned, but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster. High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow. This fell on the boughs beneath, capsizing them. This process continued, spreading out and involving the whole tree. It grew like an avalanche, and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire, and the fire was blotted out! Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow.

There are other pro-fire sentences when he first built the fire.

[kari07]

Do you know how the cold changed his consciousnous and made him want to kill the dog?

[Wondergirl]

do you know how the cold changed his consciousnous and made him want to kill the dog?

It says exactly why in the story!

[kari07]

IS IT BECAUSE HE thought he could travel with the cold conditions but doesn't listen to the wise man or whatever and so he tries to kill the dog for warmth?

[kari07]

I forgot who told him he couldn't I can't find the page.

[Wondergirl]

What wise man? There was no one else except the dog.

[Wondergirl]

He can't travel and can't even walk. His hands and feet are frozen.

[Wondergirl]

This?

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head. He remembered the tale of the man, caught in a blizzard, who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass, and so was saved. He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them. Then he could build another fire. He spoke to the dog, calling it to him; but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal, who had never known the man to speak in such way before. Something was the matter, and its suspicious nature sensed danger—it knew not what danger, but somewhere, somehow, in its brain arose an apprehension of the man. It flattened its ears down at the sound of the man's voice, and its restless, hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced; but it would not come to the man. He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog. This unusual posture again excited suspicion, and the animal sidled mincingly away.

[kari07]

Is there any way I can send you my essay and you correct it for me please?

[Wondergirl]

How long is it? Can you post it here?

[kari07]

Yeah I will just copy and paste it..

[kari07]

The topic is.. Setting: Where the story or poem takes place. Analyze why the author chose that particular location, room, forest, etc. How does it increase the impact of the story or poem? Does the setting almost become a character? What influence does it have over the character(s)?