The Call of the wild

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The Call of the wild

• By Jack London

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Jack London - BrainPop

• BrainPOP Jack London

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Jack London

• Born in San Francisco on January 12, 1876
• His family was very poor and he had to leave
  school after 8th grade to work and help support
  his family
• He was a big reader and went to the library often
  to read books and learn new things

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Jack London

• Jack London was an adventurer and held many
  different jobs
• Pirate
• Whaler who went sailing to Japan
• Hobo traveling across the United States
• Eventually, he became sick and returned home to
  finish high school and spent a semester at
  college
• In 1897 he left college to head up to Alaska
  during the Klondike Gold Rush

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Jack London

• In 1897 he left college to head up to Alaska
  during the Klondike Gold Rush
• He did not become rich, instead he learned all
  about the adventures of living in the Arctic and
  began his career as a writer

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The Call of the Wild

• Published in 1903
• Jack Londons most famous novel
• The story is told from the perspective of a dog
  named Buck and his adventures and life living in
  Alaska
• This book helped make Jack London the most famous
  writer of his time period in the world
• People loved his adventure stories

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American West in the 1890s

• What do you think of when you think of the
  American West in the 1890s?

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The Spirit of the American West

• Jack London and his stories embodied the spirit
  of the American west and living life on the
  frontier the line between civilization and the
  wild, unexplored parts of America specifically
  Alaska

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Setting of the Story

• Place
• Santa Clara Valley, California (for a short time)
• Alaska
• Klondike region of Canada
• Northland (snow) vs. Southland (sun)
• Time 1890s

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Santa Clara Valley
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Alaska
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Klondike Region
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Where would you rather live?

• Would you rather live in the snowy Northland or
  sunny Southland?
• How is the Santa Clara setting different from
  Alaska and the Klondike region?

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Anthropomorphism

• Giving human qualities to non-humans
• Jack London wrote the story from the perspective
  of Buck, a dog
• This technique is known as anthropomorphism

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Plot

• Buck, the main character and protagonist of the
  story, is a dog who lives a happy, comfortable
  life in Santa Clara
• He is kidnapped from his owner and sold as a sled
  dog and sent to Alaska
• Buck has to fight for survival and becomes
  uncivilized and goes back to his wild, primitive,
  animalistic roots

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Klondike Gold Rush

• Klondike Gold Rush
• The Quest for Gold in the West

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Dog Sledding

• Welcome to Discovery Education Player

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Characters
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Buck

•   A powerful dog, half St. Bernard and half
  sheepdog
• He is stolen from a California estate and sold as
  a sled dog in the Arctic.
• Buck gradually evolves from a pampered pet into a
  fierce, masterful animal, able to hold his own in
  the cruel, kill-or-be-killed world of the North.

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Characters

• Judge Miller -  Bucks original master, the owner
  of a large estate in Californias Santa Clara
  Valley.
• Manuel -  A gardeners helper on Judge Millers
  estate. Manuel kidnaps Buck and sells him in
  order to pay off his gambling debts.

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Buck
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Spitz

• Bucks enemy and the original leader of
  Francoiss dog team.
• Spitz is a fierce animala devil-dog, one man
  calls himwho is used to fighting with other dogs
  and winning
• He doesnt care about right or wrong

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Francois and Perrault

• French-Canadians who buy Buck and use him as a
  sled dog to carry mail

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Hal

• An American gold seeker, Hal comes to Canada in
  search of adventure and riches.

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Mercedes

• Charles wife and Hals sister.
• Mercedes is spoiled and pampered
• She is meant to represent spoiled, civilized
  women who do not belong in the wild or wilderness

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Charles

• Hals brother-in-law and Mercedes husband.
  Charles shares their inexperience and poor
  planning.

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Hal, Mercedes, and Charles

• They are inexperienced, terrible masters, as they
  run out of food during the journey and fight
  among themselves.
• Hal and his companions are meant to represent
  the weakness of overcivilized men and to embody
  the man-dog relationship at its worst.

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John Thornton

• Bucks final master, a gold hunter experienced in
  the ways of the Klondike.
• The perfect man dog relationship
• They both love each other deeply and save each
  others lives

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Other Dogs

• Dave -  A dog on Bucks team
• Sol-leks -  An older, more experienced dog on
  Bucks team.
• Curly -  A friend of Bucks, met on the journey
  to the North.

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Themes Survival of the Fittest

• Only the smartest and the strongest can survive
  in this world
• BrainPOP Natural Selection

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The Power of Instinct

• Human beings as well as animals have natural
  instincts passed down through the genetic code.
• Animal instinct is very important throughout the
  story.
• Buck's ability to listen to his instinct makes
  him more and more powerful and draws him more and
  more deeply towards the wild why the story is
  named Call of the Wild

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Civilization vs. Wilderness

• Civilization human society
• Includes
• Science
• Culture
• Government
• Wilderness a wild region where only animals live
  
• Examples
• Forests
• Deserts
• Mountains.

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Power

• All of the dogs have power, and must use it in
  order to survive
• The dogs can give up their power to a bigger and
  stronger dog and hope that that dog will protect
  them.

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Dogs

• The Wild Side of Dogs