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In My Side of the Mountain, how is Sam's first tent described?

Interesting question! In the book My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, Sam made a tent before eventually making his tree home.


When Sam arrived in the wilderness, he made a tent for his first night there. He made his first tent by leaning old limbs against a boulder that he found in the wilderness. Subsequently, he also covered the limbs with more limbs from a hemlock tree. Although this initial attempt possessed some inadequacies, he felt quite enthusiastic. As the text reveals:



“I leaned some dead limbs against the boulder and covered them with hemlock limbs. This made a kind of tent. I crawled in, lay down, and felt alone and secret and very excited.”



Although he made this tent, he was quite cold throughout the night. He was unable to make a fire, despite numerous attempts. Thus, he spent the entire night in his new tent while being “hungry, cold, and miserable.”


Therefore, Sam’s first tent was quite different than his eventual tree home. Although the tent offered some protection, it was inadequate (especially without a fire) to keep him warm. However, as the story progressed, Sam eventually learned how to make better shelters and how to start fires.

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