Page 80 - SpringBoard_Writing_Workshop_Grade6_Flipbook

Then the rope tightened. There was a large noose-knot on the end and it tightened My Notes and started pulling up and when the knot hit I grabbed and held and the dogs pulled
me out of the hole and back up onto the ice. There was still very little time. I had a
quart of white-gas stove fuel on the sled for emergencies and I threw it on a pine tree
nearby and lit a match and set the whole tree on fire and, in the heat, got my clothes off
and crawled into a sleeping bag. I stood inside it and held my clothes near the flame to
dry them.
I would have died if not for Cookie.
She saw me drop, instantly analyzed the situation, got the team up—she must have jerked them to their feet—got them pulling, and they pulled me out.
That was January 1980. It is now 1997 as I write this, and everything that has happened in the last seventeen years—everything: Iditarods, published books, love, living, life—all of it, including this book, I owe to Cookie.
After Reading
When you have finished reading, respond to the questions below in the space provided. Be prepared to discuss your answers with your classmates.
4. What is the main focus of this narrative?
It tells the story of how Cookie saved the author’s life.
5. Narrative passages that contain a great deal of detail and longer sentences feel slower than other parts of the story. Passages that have shorter sentences and active verbs move more quickly. What are some techniques Paulsen uses to manipulate the narrative pace of his story? He presents a shocking statement (end of paragraph 1), then he makes the reader wait by pausing to give background before moving into the events (paragraph 2).
He uses short paragraphs (4–8) and mostly short sentences to briskly present the events as they happened.
He suspends time by breaking from the events to describe the feeling of falling (5).
He uses a longer paragraph to slow down time and emphasize his thoughts as he thinks he’s about to die (9).
He uses long sentences with lots of conjunctions to show confused, rushed actions (10).
He uses a one-sentence paragraph to emphasize a conclusion (11).
6. Re-read the title of the narrative. Now that you have read it, what is the significance of the title? What does this reveal about the significance of the event to Paulsen?
Students might respond that the title shows how Paulsen’s life since that day has been thanks to a smart, loyal dog. He counts his years of life from the moment his dog saved him.
7. What are two or three things the narrator does that engaged you as a reader?)
Answers will vary, but may include the following:
He creates suspense with a provocative statement in the introduction. He uses short paragraphs to create brisk pacing.
He makes Cookie seem like a person.
He vividly describes falling through the ice.
Writing Workshop 7 • Narrative Nonfiction 3
ACADEMIC VOCABULARY
Narrative pace determines how quickly or how slowly the writer takes a reader through a story,
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