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1. At what age did Pete decide to begin his journey? Pete began his journey at age 20, his third year in college. 2. If Pete is considered the protagonist in this creative non-fiction, who or what is the antagonist? The antagonist in this story is nature. 3. Remember protagonist and the antagonist are supposedly locked in "agon" - a contest? The antagonist is in the story to create disharmony with the protagonist, to egg him on so-to-speak. In fact, the pivotal, or climatic point in the book, will stem from an action or inaction of the antagonist towards the protagonist, so that the protagonist is forced to do (or not do) something different; this can be as brazen as to start a war or as sublime as a character's offering a small token of affection where before this would not have occured. So think carefully about your response here. The contest is between Pete and nature. Pete believes that being isolated in the middle of nowhere on his own will be a breeze, he comes to find out that taming natures forces isn't as easy as he once thought. 4. All characters in a creative non-fiction story such as this are there for a reason. With that thought in mind, what is the purpose of a. His parents - Bring opposition and to make sure that is really what he wanted, but also to help to keeping going, to be an encouragement b. Paul, his twin - The reason behind him getting into swimming, Paul got hurt. c. Boone - To have some type of company out in the wilderness, the friend that keep Pete going. d. Jeff Rader - Shows what the "normal life" was and what Pete would have been and what he would have went through if he stayed. e. and f. Hugh Glass and Jim Bechworth - Didn't play a big role, but in some ways prepared Pete for what he was about to do. g. Sponz - Before Pete left he wasn't too important, although once he did he became important, and Sponz took his place of unimportant. h. The Jersey girl - Gave Pete the opportunity to take this adventure. They didn't say her name to give some mystery to the book. I The warden - The warden was there for his safety but also the ability to have some type of outside communication. j. Old Ironsides - Showed Pete that there are two sides to everything, but also was good for Pete. k. Magruder- Served as the place where Pete could indulge himself (by taking a bath). I. His first visitor other than the wardens- served as his first admirers. Pete felt that they respected him for what he was doing. m. Two farmers from Idaho- served as ones to praise Pete. He realised how much he liked the feeling of being complimented. He knew that he wanted that in his life. n. The group of hunters Pete met at Paradise, one of whom was quite drunk- showed Pete that mountain men were not so perfect and that what he had been striving for all along was not really so wonderful. o. The outfitter and his guide, Brian- served as everything that Pete still wants to be. He describes them as his coaches. He's training to be a mountain man and he feels he's almost there. p. The district wildlife biologist- served as Pete's "way out". He could leave for the weekend, back to civilization. q. Cary and Phil- serve as reality checks. He realizes that mountain men are fantasy, and only that. r. The Sunday drivers- served as the old him. Those people who stop by for an hour but don't leave when it gets cold. He is left behind, for the remaining months. s. Lorrie- served as what he had been missing in civilization. t. Joe, the little brother- played the role of the old Pete. 2. What is mooching around? Give an example of it? Mooching means to wander or roam. An example is when Pete mooched around the forest alone while his family drove to the guided nature walks. 3. What is the purpose of the mountain man idea in this story? The purpose of the mountain man story is to show Pete's desire to be respected and liked. He feels he has to be like a mountain man to prove that he can be respected. 4. Why was romance important to Pete? Romance was important to Pete because he was eluded with it. This was the driving force behind his past and future inspirations. This was what caused Pete to passionately and absent-mindedly take this seven month journey. 5. What were some of the arguments Pete used to convince his parents (particularly his mother) that his choice to take over the seven month position was a good one? Some of the arguments that Pete used to suede his parent's judgement were that the seven month trip would be a positive experience for him personally and professionally (he told them he would need this kind of experience to get a job as a wildlife biologist). 6. What were some of the parent's counter arguments? Pete's parents argued that he would not be able communicate and that he could get hurt and with no one there, what would he do? They also reminded him about how he would possible stay warm and the fact that he would be dropping out of school, for-fitting his scholarship. Another aspect that Pete had forgotten to address with himself was that of paying for his own food. His parents made sure they covered all the bases. Smart people. 7. Fromm uses some four letter words in his text; does it add to it? Detract from it? The four letter words used in this book added to it. When the four letter words were used, which was rarely, they gave the story added truth. It was realistic for Fromm to put these words in the story and it added that extra mountain man feel. Can you honestly think of a mountain man that would say something like, "ohh, darnit my leg has just been bitten off by a bear", I don't think so. Using the extra language also helped reflect on the kind of books that Pete read, the infamous mountain men stories. Because he respected them so much, he would likely mimic their behavior. 8. What were some of the items Fromm packed that were unnecessary? What did he forget to bring with him on his journey? Some items that Pete brought that were unnecessary were an overflow of beans and a buffalo horn. Some things that Pete forgot were more books to read, batteries, maps 9. In The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell purports that all humans must experience a hero's journey if they are to be truly human and whole. Thus, they must take tremendous risks, experience loss and pain, overcome insurmountable odds. They must even willingly go into the darkness in order to pass through to the light on the other side. Is Pete's journey, a hero's journey? Show whether you agree or not by using examples from the text. Pete's journey was definitely a hero's journey. Pete shows his ability to take risks when he goes out into the unknown to search for his brother and father. These quotes show a small slice of what he endured, " The minimum thermometer read thirty below. When I entered the thicker trees even the starlight was blotted, and I started to wander off the snowmobile track, floundering up to my hips in the snow" (81). The loss and pain that Pete suffered were that of his dog (in the end), his close friendships with civilization and his friends, and his family affairs. One family experience that was lost was Thanksgiving, " I thought again of my family, and everyone else's, all sitting down to well-planned get-togethers, and I wound up leaving my dry little dinner and walking around in the silent trees until long it was fully dark." These experiences among others help distinguish Pete's growth and passing from darkness to light. 10. What were the books that Fromm took on his journey? Were his choices good ones? The books that Fromm took on his journey were " The Big Sky", "Foxfire", Bradford Angier's books on outdoor survival, and a Herter's pamphlet on wilderness recipes. These books were not good choices, he didn't learn much from them and he need something to keep him entertained. 11. What was main character's experience with rope? With a chainsaw? Pete's experience with a chainsaw was none, " Later when I cut my first tree down (it was a
snag, I'd learned, not a dead tree) I picked one that was leaning so far over it couldn't help but fall
that way (26)." 12. What was one of his first successes when left alone in the woods? Where he lets out a "war whoop" that he didn't know he had in him? His victory was cutting down his first tree. 13. Why and how many times did Fromm go to Missoula before the road closed for the winter? Fromm went to Missoula two times to get his last glimpse of his friends and civilization before he could no longer do so. He also had more send-off parties and brought a couple friends back with him to keep him company for a few days. 14. What was Paradise? Paradise is a camp for "the big outfitters", as well as, a ranger station. 15. Pete spent a lot of time with wood, chopping down trees, stacking it, arranging it. Why? Pete needed to spend time with wood because he simply had nothing else to do. He didn't have enough books to read or any other form of entertainment so that's what he did. He did need wood for fires but he went above and beyond his quota for the winter. "Over eleven cords (36)" to be exact. Maybe he was trying to prove how experienced and responsible he was to the wardens (they told him that he would need seven cords). 16. How did Fromm feel after his first kill? Pete felt proud of the first animal he killed. He killed a squirrel and he felt that this would be helpful experience for when he was out in the isolated Indian Creek. 17. Why did he begin to make lists? Pete made list in order to convince himself that he had things that needed to be done. I imagine it would be difficult to find things to do, if it was possible he jumped at the chance. He kept himself busy. Pete had routines and schedules all his life (in which he provided) and this was just another list to follow. Making lists and following routines is a great way to avoid thinking about the real issues, like why you have to avoid them in the first place. Pete is an expert at this in the beginning. 18. What did Fromm do on his first holiday at Indian Creek? How did he cope? Fromm spent his first holiday picking at a dry grouse remembering and missing his family traditions. To deal with his sadness he through himself into trapping. 19. Why the ice have to chopped on the stream each day? The ice had to be chopped on the stream every day in order for the salmon eggs to hatch. If the ice was allowed to build up all winter then the eggs would freeze. Pete had the job of keeping the ice clear so that as many as the eggs could hatch as possible. 20. How did he feel about his first successful trapping experience? Fromm felt bad about his first kill because he caught a squirrel in a Marten trap. It was frozen solid. 21. Did Pete get to take a bath at all? Where? When? Were there costs involved for such simple pleasures? Pete was able to take a bath at Magruder. Magruder was not only many miles away, but there were storms to be had and snow to fall. There was also the risk of the truck getting stuck in the snow or worse, the river. Then what would the wardens think? 22. Describe Fromm's elk experience? Well Pete was trying so hard to impress his father and brother with a big kill that for days on end he try to kill an elk, he heard them, and saw their tracks, but never could seem to catch one. So he had been waiting a an ramp for hours but ended up falling asleep on it and waking up the next morning drenched, and he never did catch an elk. 23. What kind of correspondence did he carry on with his family? He was pretty close to his family, although he didn't get to communicate with them very much, but did and said things for them to let them know his love for them. 24. Why did he bother giving Christmas gifts? He wanted to let them know that even though he wasn't there, he still was thinking about them, and how much he cared for them. 25. On page 56, he seems to undergo a transformation when his leaves? What do you think is happening to him? I think that is just changing as a person and things that have and haven't happened thus far are starting to get to him. Throughout the book Pete grows a person qualities that he didn't have he now has. There is a lot of transforming that goes on throughout this process. 26. What is Fromm's feeling about his father and brother coming to see him? When he heard the news about his father and brother coming and seeing him he was excited, but also felt obligated to get a big animal so they could feast together. 27. What was his experience with the moose? Well considering that when he finally did kill the moose it was on accident although he was excited that he did kill something to show his father and brother. Then after realizing that the moose was really dead, he didn't know how he would skin it or how to get it up the hill. It was too big to carry up and so he decided to cut it into pieces and carry it up that way. Although this experience took him quite a while, he had a sense of accomplishment. 28. What injury did he sustain and how does that play out in what's really happening with this story? While Pete was cutting the moose into pieces he cut his finger, and it wouldn't stop bleeding, so he decided to butterfly it the best of his ability. Throughout the story Pete made poor decisions due to frustration and these usually ended up taking more time than if he could have responded with patience. 29. On page 72, Fromm seems pretty confident that all was well with the arrival of his family despite the warning of the warden…should he have worried more? I believe that Pete should have told the warden that his dad and brother had never experienced something like this especially in the freezing temperatures. I do think that he should have been a little more worried, but on the other hand it probably would have stressed him out to think about them not showing up. 30. What should he had done differently when he realized his father and brother were probably in trouble? Instead of spending days to look for his father and brother, he should have walked a few miles and called the wardens, and asked them to go and look for them. Even though Pete was worried, he as well as his family could have been in danger considering the weather was very cold. 31. Pages 80-81 seem pivotal to the story, almost the climatic point, as this is where the boy becomes a man some say. Do you agree, or do you think the climax is at a later point in the book, and that this episode is a foreshadowing of the true climatic point? At this point in time he is really starting to change tremendously, it isn't just about him anymore.
Once he was out in the wilderness he realized how much he loved and missed his family, and things that
use to be important to him were so important anymore. During this time I believe that his priorities
really begin to change. So I would say that this is an almost the climatic point. 32. What about Fromm and the mountain lion? What is that about? Look beyond the physical and think of Campbell's idea. When he sees that mountain lion he is excited and ready for anything he had just killed a moose and was feeling pretty good about himself. Then he realizes that he is hurt and that the dead deer and him had gotten into something. So his whole mindset changes from thrill and excitement to just allowing the lion to be put out of his misery, and that's what he does he kills it. 33. At one point Fromm states, "I thought of what a fragile thread held everything together out here (88). Would you consider this the theme or the moral of this essay? I would consider it the theme only because throughout his experience if he does something totally wrong the adventure ends, and it is no longer fun anymore. Just like when the moose was out on the ice if it would have moved wrong the ice would have cracked and the moose would be in the bone chilling water. You could easily relate this quote to everyday life, because we all have two options the right or the wrong one and if we choose poorly then we have to deal with the consequences of our actions. 34. In another incidence with Brian, Fromm does not admit to the killing of a moose, which was against the law. Is the action of a man or boy? That is an act of a boy, when you do something wrong or something that you feel is wrong you are to
face the consequences. I feel that if you do something and you need to do whatever it takes to make it
right. 36. "They kept talking about how impressed they were that I'd actually spend an entire winter in
here alone. It was the kind of talk I'd reveled in during the fall, but now all I could think was that
these sons of bitches had just walked into my tent poked around in my home without an invitation,
without a thought" (118)? What's this statement about? And how does it connect with the final line
of the chapter, "I was not just a visitor" (119). 37. His friends show up a bit later, and after they leave he tells us, "Now they were getting
married. And I had missed the whole thing sitting in here, playing mountain man" (130). 38. After another attempt at leaving his camp, he is thwarted by the inspection of wardens. Yet, when
he gets back to camp, with the bobtail cat, something has occurred. He tells us, "…if I'd gone a
day earlier or later I would have missed the whole bobcat story. The whole time I was worried about what
I'd miss outside, in civilization, I'd never once wondered what I'd miss in here" (138). Some say
while this is not as dramatic as the other pivotal point, that this is where the tension breaks, and the
protagonist carries with himself a new self, one with deeper insight -- he has met the antagonist and
overcame it. Later, he even mentions transformation during the time of the eclipse. What do you think? 39. Just before the end of the book, he is confronted with a possible fatal illness? Why would the author choose to include this in the book. It is just one more thing that he has to overcome, and it is to test his ability to hang in there and to fight for what he deserves. If you think about it this is near the end and he has experienced several things that he has never before although he persevered through those. It is the last string, and if he is willing to fight for everything and continue to hang in there even at the end, when he could easily say "well I have come this far I have done enough no one can complain, " but he didn't. 40. Why did Fromm have to go to the wedding, then back out to the camp? What was the point? Does
losing Boone during trip have an underlying meaning? Again, think in the larger scheme of things. 41. Once he finds Boone, getting home becomes a challenge. Why? First of all they couldn't just drive into the wilderness due to the snow, and they didn't really have the money to rent two snow machines. So they rented one snow machine for both of them, but ended up dying several miles before Pete's tent. So he told Radar that he and Boone could just walk back and that's what they did, even in the weather and the countless miles they had to walk. 42. On page 170, he compares himself to an eagle? Why? The eagle represents how he felt. Through the duration of his experience there were several ups and downs to the experience. When the eagle spread his wings and was soaring that represented the successes and the confidence, but then when he swooped down it signified the rough parts, but always being able to overcome what is up in front him. 43. At the end of the story, when Pete Fromm is forced to give Boone to the Texas woman, we know that
the dog symbolizes something? What? Boone always had courage and a fight in him, was willing to do anything and also was a protector. Boone was one reason that Pete made it through those seven months; he gave Pete hope.
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