Introduction to The Most DangerousGame-1

The Most Dangerous Game By: Richard Connell

Lesson Standards

• 9.1(A)
• 9.2(A)
• 9.2(B)
• 9.3
• 9.4(C)
• 9.4(F)
• 9.4(G)
• 9.5(C)
• 9.5(D)
• 9.5(G)
• 9.6(A)
• 9.6(B)
• 9.8(F)
• 9.9(C)

Learning Objectives

• Students will analyze the elements of plot, characterization, and theme in "The Most Dangerous Game."
• Students will make inferences about the text based on evidence from the story.

Language Objective

I will be able to orally discuss the elements of plot and characterization in the story, using academic vocabulary related to literature, such as plot, characterization, and theme.

Success Criteria

• I can accurately identify and summarize the main events of "The Most Dangerous Game" in their own words.
• I can analyze and explain the motivations and characteristics of the main characters.
• I can identify and provide examples of literary devices used in the story.

Warm Up

What is the most thrilling or suspenseful story you've ever read or seen in a movie? Briefly describe why it was so exciting.

Background

• Our ancient ancestors hunted big game for sustenance. As weaponry improved, however, hunting developed into a sport—the potential, if extreme, consequences of which Richard Connell explores in “The Most Dangerous Game.”
• Our ancient ancestors hunted big game for sustenance. As weaponry improved, however, hunting developed into a sport—the potential, if extreme, consequences of which Richard Connell explores in “The Most Dangerous Game.”
• Today, many proponents of trophy hunting—the hunting of big game for their skins, horns, or taxidermied bodies—argue that the money generated through hunting fees helps sustain endangered animal populations in places like Africa by supporting conservation areas. Opponents argue that not enough money is generated through hunting fees to offset the damage being done to endangered wild animal populations, such as lions, elephants, and white rhinos.

Richard Connell

• Born in 1893 in New York.
• He attended Georgetown College and Harvard University.
• Connell served in France with the US Army during WW1. During this time, he was editor of his camp’s newspaper.
• The Most Dangerous Game was published in 1924 but it was originally published under the name, “The Hounds of Zaroff”.
• He went on to write over 300 short stories, many of which were published.

Richard Connell

During the 1920s and ’30s, the work of author Richard Connell (1893–1949) appeared frequently in magazines and newspapers before he became a successful, Oscar-nominated screenwriter. To this day, his most beloved and anthologized work remains the short story “The Most Dangerous Game,” a suspenseful tale first published in Collier’s magazine. In this story, a famous big-game hunter becomes stranded on a dreaded island in the Caribbean, where he soon finds himself the pawn of an aristocrat’s twisted new hobby.*Watch StudySync Video

Vocabulary

• indolently- lazily; so as to avoid activity
• mirage- an optical illusion found in the desert or at sea in which an object appears to be displaced from its true location
• sensuous- having to do with the senses as opposed to the intellect; luxurious
• tangible- able to be physically touched or perceived
• vitality- the state of being lively and energetic

Mood + Tone of the Story

Setting

• Jumps into the scene directly. Quickly catches readers up to speed.
• 1920’s – Language that the characters use. Machinery that is available.
• Yacht bound to Rio – Wealthy
• Ship Trap Island – Mood and Tone of the story
• Eerie, dark, daunting jungle. – Sanctuary and death trap

Theme

• Impact of War
• Zaroff’s war experience changed his mindset to value power over human lives. He thrives off of the thrill of killing a challenging prey.
• Rainsford develops an appreciation for human life.
• Reason vs. Instinct
• Blurs the lines of prey and predator.
• This challenges Rainsford because readers learn that he lives by the ideology that the world consists of only prey and predators.
• Whitney admits that he is afraid of the island based on the Captain’s description.
• Rainsford learns through the hunt that survival is triggered through fear and instinct.
• Man vs. Beast – Zaroff acts on instinct to kill and Rainsford acts on instinct to survive.

Characterization

• Rainsford
• Protagonist
• Selfish, adventurous, confident, skilled
• Readers are not given a physical description but are given characteristics and attributes indirectly.

• General Zaroff
• Antagonist
• Ambitious, care-free, stern, controlling, unstable.
• Readers are given s thorough physical description but an indirect description of his personality.

Indirect Characterization

Indirect characterization is introducing a character or elements of a character in an implicit way.

• Rainsford
• “Be realistic. The world is made up two classes--the hunters and the huntees. Luckily, you and I are hunters.”
• Ivan
• “as if the giant were a statue”
• “No sign that he understood Rainsford’s words.”

Direct Characterization

Direct characterization is the development of a character in an explicit way.

• Genera Zaroff
• “Bizarre quality about the general’s face. He was a tall man past middle age, for his hair was a vivid white; but his thick eyebrows and pointed military mustache were as black as the night from which Rainsford had come. His eyes, too, were black and very bright. He had high cheek bones, a sharp-cut nose, a spare, dark face”
• Whitney
• “you’re a big game hunter, not a philosopher”.

Read

We will now read "The Most Dangerous Game". As we read think about:

• What personal traits aid Rainsford’s survival?
• How does General Zaroff justify his sport?
• What does this tell you about his character?
• What geographic qualities make Ship-Trap Island an ideal location for General Zaroff?

Read

We will read the first half of "The Most Dangerous Game".