A Story of Suspense and Action!!!

• Background– Author:

– Publication

– Focus

• Richard Connell

• First published in 1924

• Connell's story raises questions about the nature of violence and cruelty and the ethics of hunting for sport.

• Overview– The Most Dangerous

Game

• Hunter Sanger Rainsford becomes stranded on an island

• He finds another hunter, named General Zaroff, living on the island in a dark, secluded mansion

• Zaroff is an excellent hunter as well, and is desperately looking for new challenges to test his hunting skills.

The Cape Buffalo is One of the World’s Most Dangerous Animals

• Literary Focus– Themes and Conflicts

• Violence and CrueltyViolence and Cruelty

• Ethics of HuntingEthics of Hunting

• The Weak versus the The Weak versus the StrongStrong

• Survival of the FittestSurvival of the Fittest

• The Hunter Becoming the The Hunter Becoming the HuntedHunted

• RevengeRevengeGaming Room. Gaming Room. Will Zaroff’s Will Zaroff’s Look the Same Look the Same Way?Way?

• Literary Focus– Setting:

– Point of View:

• Connell sets the "game'' Connell sets the "game'' in a dangerous in a dangerous wilderness of quicksand, wilderness of quicksand, wild seas, fallen trees, wild seas, fallen trees, mud and sand, and rocky mud and sand, and rocky cliffs.cliffs.

• Omniscient third-person Omniscient third-person narrator.narrator.

• Literary Focus– Suspense

– Foreshadowing

• The story’s fast-paced action, life or death plot, and jungle setting all contribute to a sense of anxiety about what will happen next in the short story

• There are numerous clues about the “new game” that Zaroff hunts, but perhaps no clue is stronger than his repeated claim that 1 animal can reason

• Characters– Rainsford

• Rainsford: world famous hunter who doesn’t believe animals have feelings and becomes stranded on Ship-Trap Island.

RainsfordRainsford

• Characters– General Zaroff

• General Zaroff: refined manners, clothing, tastes, and delicate speech contrast with his brutal passion for hunting.

General ZaroffGeneral Zaroff

Questions to Answer AboutCHARACTER

• Who is the main character?

• Who is/are the subordinate characters?

• How does the main character interact with the subordinate characters?

• How do the interactions between the characters affect the plot?

Questions to Answer about NARRATION AND DIALOGUE

• What does Rainsford say about himself?

• What does Zaroff say about himself?

• What do you think about Rainsford?

• What do you think about Zaroff?

What does Rainsford say about Zaroff?

What does Zaroff say about Rainsford?

Internal Conflict

• INTERNAL CONFLICT • In literature and drama, a struggle which takes place in the protagonist's mind and through which the character reaches a new understanding or dynamic change

•What are the internal conflicts that the characters have?

External Conflict

• EXTERNAL CONFLICT • In literature, a struggle between the protagonist and another character against nature or some outside force

What are the external conflicts

that the characters have?

Literal Meaning

LITERAL MEANING • In accordance with, involving, or being the primary or strict meaning of the word or words; not figurative or metaphorical: the literal meaning of a word.

Example: The jungle was green and muggy.

Figurative Meaning

FIGURATIVE MEANING • Of the nature of or involving a figure of speech, esp. a metaphor; metaphorical; not literal: a figurative expression.

Example: His hands were as rough as sandpaper.