Preview

Older Run

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
626 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Older Run
Analyzing Two Adventurers, Gary and Karana

Gary Paulsen, the narrator and author of “Older Run” and Karana, in an excerpt from Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell, are both some type of adventurer. Their adventures and reactions are similar in various ways and are diverse in others.

Gary Paulsen experiences a real-life survival adventure with his sled dogs. He is a dogsledder with a team of ten dogs. The dogs have been through vigorous preparation so he is sure that they will have had enough strength and training to satisfy him throughout the run. The run starts out well; Gary was carrying enough extra food and decides to do an open run. He decides this because he wants to steer clear of the forests, the younger dogs might forget what they’re doing and run into trees. As they reach a trestle, Gary discovers that some nutcase had stolen the plywood from the trestle. As a result of the plywood being taken, Gary performs a suicidal maneuver that causes him to fly twenty feet, and then land into the snow. After he realizes his luck, he works to prepare his dogs to recuperate so he can finish his journey. Gary tries in vain to get back his dogs but each time he is met with failure. But, his dogs come back for him as he merrily drives them to their destination.

Karana also experiences real-life adventure which is like Paulsen’s in some ways. Both Paulsen and Karana are vengeful torward someone or an animal. Paulsen is vengeful toward the maniac that tore out the plywood from the trestle because the missing plywood caused him a sufficient amount of difficulty. Karana is vengeful toward the dag that killed her brother because now she was alone on the island except for other animals, including a pack of vicious, menacing dogs. Like Paulsen, Karana also feels determined. She feels determined when she built the fire to drive the dogs out of the cave because it will give her a chance to kill some of the pack. Paulsen feels determined

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Case Study: Mannie Vazquez

    • 1156 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Officer Meyer is working his regular patrol, the night shift at 1 a.m., he notices the Greensberg license plate and become suspicious because of the drugs that come from across the border into Greensberg. He and another officer, officer Cross, question the clerk and discover the car is a rental, so they call a K-9 unit to the scene who arrives at 3 a.m. The two officers arrive to Vince and Mannie’s hotel and Vince agrees to let them search the vehicle. The K-9 is led throughout the hotel room as well as the car and does not make any noise. Mannie has trouble understanding questions and allows them to search the room at 3 a.m with the K-9 unit and three officers. The dog is led…

    • 1156 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Judge Miller’s dog, Buck, a half sheepdog and half St. Bernard, was recently captured by a gardener on the estate, and was sold to dog traders. He was beat in an effort to instill obedience into him. Soon after, Buck is sent to the Klondike region. Two mailmen, named Francois and Perrault, take him as their property. As Buck assimilates to his new sled-dog life, he develops a rivalry with Spitz, one of the lead dogs on his team. One day, Buck gets into a fierce encounter with Spitz, where Buck ends up killing Spitz, and subsequently, becomes the new leader of the team. Francois and Perrault, being inexperienced, force the dogs to carry much heavier loads, resulting in one dog becoming ill. The mailmen send the group of dogs to an assembly of gold hunters, Charles, Hal, and Mercedes. The new masters treat the dogs perfunctorily, and end up falling through a section of ice, pulling in the dogs and the humans into a frozen lake. The dogs are then pulled into John Thornton’s camp, a caring master whom Buck treats with devotion. However, a growing attraction for the wild pulls him away from society. He makes friends with wolves, bears, and moose while the men look for gold. In a battle with the Yeehats, an Indian…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On his journey, Ben discovers a burnt out house. Looters have killed the occupants, but Ben finds a small cattle dog and supplies in a hidden cellar. With supplies and a bicycle he has found, Ben continues on, this time accompanied by a dog.…

    • 976 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jeff Bennett 53 year-old men spend his time flying around the world to save animals. He is a volunteer pilot for Pilots N Paws, a charity in South Carolina that helps transport animals from crowded areas to a safer room. "He donates his time, plane, and money for fuel to Pilots N Paws, a South Carolina-based charity that enlists small-plane pilots to transport animals from overcrowded shelters to foster homes, rescue groups, and less-crowded shelters that don't put animals to sleep."(paragraph 2) He has a mission to save 23 dogs who's lives is in endangered. He has been flying around the world for a year finding cats, dogs, and other animals.…

    • 221 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Will Stoneman was a 17 year old boy from Birch Ridge, South Dakota. He lived on a farm with his parents and his team of sled dogs. When Will and his father were out exercising their dogs, Will’s father slipped into the icy water and drowned. After that, the farm was in danger of being sold. Will is determined to win this 522 mile race to save the farm. After weeks of harsh training, he takes a train up to Winnipeg, Canada, were the race begins. He enters the race and fearlessly battles his way through 13 days of freezing weather, evil competitors, and injuries. Will Stoneman is as determined, courageous, and admirable as a 17 year old could…

    • 426 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Danny Pickett lives with his father, Ross, on Mr. Haggin's land in the wintapi. Red, Mr. Haggin dog, (an irish setter) was very fond of Danny from the moment they met and they really hit it off together. Red would follow Danny around every where. After Mr. Haggin's let them live on his land, Red followed Danny and Ross to their house, this was the next morning when Ross woke up Danny with a scream telling Danny to take Red back to Mr. Haggin as soon as possible. On the way there, Red smelt or heard something in the woods and ran after it. Danny chased after red, having no idea red was chasing after a legend in the wintapi wilderness... a large monsterous bear named, Old Majesty. Danny became more frantic after realizing who Red was chasing, running as fast as he can trying to make sure Red is unharmed. Danny then returned Red to Mr. Haggin, he then took Danny to the side and told him he needs some one to take care of Red, and Danny is the best choice, for Danny and Red got together like they were old friends. The only bad thing is that Mr. Haggin used Red in dog shows and not to hunt animals, (at this point in the summary it is important to tell you that Danny and Ross are trappers, they hunt animals and sell…

    • 556 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Mark Haddon the main character is Christopher Boone who is a 15 year old boy. His mother ran away with his neighbor Mr. Shears and then Christopher’s dad and Mrs. Shears try out a romance too. However Mrs. Shears backs out though, so Christopher’s father kills her dog with a pitch fork. Then being the animal lover and curious person he is, wants to investigate the death of the dog. Christopher’s investigation was provoked by Mr. and Mrs. Shears; additionally, each of these characters enhanced Christopher’s life in different ways.…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When you're reading a story do you ever wonder who and why they wrote it? In the stories ’’Hatchet, Island of the Blue Dolphins,and The father of Chinese Aviation’’ contains people that have survived or have had life changing experiences. In these stories it explains a part of Karana, Brian, and Feng Ru’s life changing experiences that they faced.…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gary Paulsen had a rough but adventurous childhood. He was born in May, 1939. To start off with, he had pnumonia twice before age four. The doctors were sure he wouldn’t make it, but he pulled through. Paulsen had a bad family life. His parents fought constantly, and at seven years old, he went to live with his grandmother. Later on, his mother brought him to the Philipines where his father was currently living, and their fighting continued. Both his mother and his father had new boy/girl friends. He found comfort in his dog snowball.…

    • 172 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A tale of adventure can pertain to an individual’s journey, whether it is a story in which the character physically journeys from one place to another, or a story encompassing a journey within the character. Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and The Sea of Stories takes readers on a journey of their own as they experience the enchanting tale of a young boy, Haroun, and his heroic journey from one realm to another. In a way, this story amounts to the structure of the standard hero’s journey, however revising the structured way the series of events unfolds. Characteristic of a hero’s myth, Haroun is an ordinary young boy at the beginning of the novel. His father tells stories, yet never comes forth with a legitimate explanation of their creation. As it turns out, the stories that Haroun’s father has told are in fact magically gathered from a different world than is known to ordinary man. Haroun encounters the magical water genie that provides his father with his flow of stories. This water genie notes the beginning of a profound journey between different…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To me, this makes me picture a cold night in the forest with snow all around. Somewhere where the snow can’t rest, where it has no home, no place to stay. It paints a sad picture, where the captain and the huskies are homeless, unresting, much like the snow.…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The grating cold and bleak surroundings “made no impression on the man” (6) while the dog became “depressed by the tremendous cold” (7), painting the man as a figure unaffected by the severe conditions, immortal and daunting. He viewed the conditions as “cold and uncomfortable, and that was all” (6), which gave him a tough aspect of character, showing the ultimate power and force of nature over man, no matter how fortifying and strong he may be. These characteristics illustrates a contrast between the state of mankind and the state of nature. The animal also provides a comparison of the ignorance of humans’ instinct in comparison to the animal who understands the ferocity of nature. Allowing the environment to kill the man indicates that he is weak both mentally and biologically, while on the other hand the dog is stronger by surviving the same harsh surroundings of the brutal Yukon. “The brute had its instinct” (7) and “its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man” (7), because the man was “not much given to thinking”, displaying his obvious ignorance about the ways of nature and how the animal’s instincts trumped his own. Although the man was “keenly observant” (8), he was woefully inept at survival and despite the man’s tough aspects of character, his utter ignorance and over-confidence in himself led to his demise and allowed nature to shape his grisly…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Dogs Could Teach Me

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The overwhelming theme in in the two stories is the relationship between musher and dogs. In “The Dogs Could Teach Me” Gary Paulsen has an accident while sledding, He falls down a frozen waterfall, about twenty feet in height, and dislocates his knee. Instead of abandoning him and running on, his dogs find…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The current event, Racing to save the stray dogs of Sochi, takes place in Sochi, Russia. This event is about Sochi having a huge abundant of stray dogs, roaming the streets where the Winter Olympics took place. Sochi’s government decided to pay a pest removal company to come out and take care of the problem. What the company did was throw raw poisoned meat out for them to eat or they had shot them with a poison that suffocated them. This effort to remove the dogs began in October, and about 300 dogs a month were killed.…

    • 914 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Alistair McLeod The Boat

    • 1487 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Cited: Macleod, Alistair. The Boat (1968). The harbrace anthology of short fiction (2012): 223-235. Print…

    • 1487 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics