- What was Dave Conroy doing out in the wilderness? (motivation) David Conroy was a trapper traveling through the wilderness to reach a village where he can sell his furs.
- At what point does the reader know the protagonist is in serious trouble and not likely to
make it to MacMoran’s cabin? (plot) It is not likely for him to make it to MacMoran’s cabin when his fingers freeze, and he drops the lighter in the snow. - What three critical mistakes did Conroy make? What are some of the things he could
have done to prevent himself from freezing? (plot) Conroy could’ve prevented himself from dying by stopping after his gloves and boots got wet, it he had just stopped there and started a fire under a tree and decided to dry his mittens, socks, and boots, and called it a night there instead of trying to make it to the cabin. - Determine the elements of plot in this story: exposition, complicating incident, 3 crises,
climax, and the denouement. The exposition of the story was a description of what Conroy was doing in the snow and of the condition of him and the snow. A complicating incident was when his ski fell into the broken ice and his socks and mittens got wet. 3 Crises were when Conroy couldn’t move his fingers, when he dropped his lighter in the snow so he couldn’t start a fire and when he put his gear back on and it is mentioned that he has no sensation in his feet or hands. The climax was the sun rising and Conroy slowly fading from consciousness and there wasn’t much denouement, it was a very immediate ending from the biggest part in the story. - Describe the setting – how does the setting affect the plot and the theme of the story?
What is the theme – write a theme statement for this story. From the start the author was making it very clear that it was very cold and snowy, painfully obvious that the conditions were not in the favor of Conroy. Later, that ends up becoming the cause of death for Conroy and the reason he couldn’t make it to MacMoran’s cabin. A theme statement for this story could be to always prepare and trust your gut instinct in life threatening situations. - Find one example of symbolic setting (concrete place that represents something abstract)
and explain its meaning. On page 92 it is mentioned that if he slept, the fire slept with him. This couldn’t be literal because fire is an object and cannot sleep. The meaning was that it was too cold and when he slept the fire wouldn’t make a difference in his temperature, he would be freezing either way. - Quote four images from the story that make effective comparisons (figurative language:
simile, metaphor, and personification) “The cold was nibbling at him” pg. 97
“Small dry twigs under a spruce tree would flame like paper” pg. 96
“Set the forest moaning beside him” pg. 94
“But no log walls rose to greet him” pg. 95
A Mountain Journey
