Fairy Tales vs. Reality
Gary Paulsen states that before he was forty, he was "gulled" into believing a false version of nature made famous by this company.
What is Disney?
Paulsen recites part of an ancient chant from this Native American tribe to capture the peaceful, overwhelming beauty around him.
Who are the Navajo?
The lead dog on Paulsen’s team, who ducked as the doe flew right over his head, was named this.
Who is Dollar?
In Paulsen's experience in the woods prior to this morning, predators usually do this when hunting prey.
What is fail?
In the sentence "I once saw a beaver come out of a hole on the ice near his lodge," the word lodge functions as this part of speech.
What is a noun?
The author used to believe that nature always worked out this way, even when he went hunting himself.
What is with a happy ending (or that nothing ever really got hurt)?
According to Paulsen, fear in an animal isn't just visible—it also has a distinct physical smell described as these two characteristics.
What is metallic/coppery (and mixed with urine/feces)?
Paulsen stopped his sled from sliding into danger by hooking his snow-hook onto this type of small tree.
What is a poplar tree?
Paulsen recalls seeing an animal inflict severe damage on four wolves from its winter hole. That animal was a...
What is a beaver?
Among the multiple dictionary entries for lodge, the definition that best fits the beaver's lodge in the text is this.
What is a small house or dome-shaped shelter built by animals/beavers?
The main reason Paulsen mentions his early belief in Disney-style nature is to do this.
What is to contrast his past fantasy beliefs with the harsh reality of nature?
Paulsen describes the doe’s extreme horror through these two specific physical details on her head.
What are wide eyes bulging out and her mouth jacked open with her tongue hanging out?
The seven predators chasing the doe were not large timber wolves, but this smaller type of wolf (also called northern coyotes).
What are northern brush wolves?
Other than beavers, Paulsen mentions these two smaller prey animals outwitting foxes and teasing martens in the woods.
What are rabbits and red squirrels?
Arrange these two events in chronological order:
(A) Paulsen recalls a Navajo chant
(B) The doe runs onto the ice
What is (A) first, then (B) second?
This specific event on a December morning shattered Paulsen's "fairy-tale" idea of the forest forever.
What is watching a pack of brush wolves hunt down and attack a doe on thin ice?
Paulsen's inclusion of the "Beauty above me..." prayer primarily demonstrates this about his relationship with nature.
What is that he feels a deep spiritual connection to nature?
Paulsen is forced to react quickly and secure his team because he suddenly fears this.
What is losing control of his sled and sliding down the lake bank toward the wolves and thin ice?
The central idea of Chapter 1 is best summarized as: while prey animals often escape in nature, there are never any...
What are guarantees (or "this time it was not to be")?
Put all four story milestones in the exact chronological order they occur in the excerpt:
Doe runs onto the ice
Paulsen remembers a beaver fighting wolves
Paulsen concludes he lived with a false ideal
Paulsen recalls a Navajo chant
What is 3, 4, 1, 2?
At the beginning of the run, Paulsen describes himself and his dogs as doing this with winter, showing his joyful feeling before the attack.
What is "dancing with winter"?
The main emotion Paulsen feels when witnessing the doe's intense terror is best described as this.
What is being overwhelmed or in awe of her pure fear?
The doe lost her critical lead on the wolf pack when this catastrophic thing happened to her on the lake.
What is breaking through the thin ice into the water?
Paulsen's detailed explanations of brush wolf sizes, pack structures, and hunting styles prove this about him as a narrator.
What is that he is highly knowledgeable and observant about wilderness wildlife?
The author writes that he was "gulled by Disney." Based on context clues in paragraph 1, gulled most nearly means this.
What is fooled, tricked, or deceived?