In Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, what do you think would have happened if Brian had found the survival pack much earlier? Would he be the same...

If Brian had found the survival pack earlier, he would not have been as dependent on the hatchet and he would have probably been less stressed in general. Brian is very focused on the survival pack. It motivates him throughout the time he is trapped alone in the wild.

“Treasure. Unbelievable riches. He could not believe the contents of the survival pack.” (Ch. 19)

Brian finds a sleeping bag, a gun, cookware, matches, soap, freeze-dried food, and even a hat in the survival pack. It also has a first-aid kit and fishing gear. Most important of all, he finds an emergency transmitter. Between that and the matches he is sure he will be found.

Brian learns to be self-sufficient and not to give up during his time in the woods. He struggles with depression and frustration at times, but he continues to be innovative and determined. He makes a spear and climbs into the plane to get the survival pack. Brian learns that he can accomplish anything he sets out to do.

Brian comes to understand and respect the land and animals much more. He pays attention to where the animals go so he knows where to find food. He has a healthy fear of the dangerous ones, and determines which ones he can eat. Through observation and trial and error, Brian become a real wilderness expert.

The incident with the bear and the berries is a good example of Brian’s overcoming his fear and coming to a better understanding of the ways of the wild. He realizes that where there is food he is attracted to, animals will be as well. However, he just has to be smart about interacting with them.

If the bear had wanted you, his brain said, he would have taken you. It is something to understand, he thought, not something to run away from. The bear was eating berries.

Not people. (Ch. 7)

If Brian had crashed in the winter, survival would have been much more difficult. For one thing, dying of exposure or hypothermia would have been more of a danger than mosquitoes. Brian was lucky that the weather mostly cooperated with him.

The secret Brian refers to is his mother’s affair. Brian knows about it, because he saw her kissing a man with blond hair. It is the reason his parents are divorcing. Brian is not sure how to tell his mother that he knows, so his goodbye is very awkward.

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...

nouns - what do you call the person who passes the trophies to the prize giver/presenter?

The person who gives out the trophies to the winners are called award presenters. So what do u call the person who passes the trophies to the presenter? Thanks!

Is 'efficate' a word in English?

I routinely hear the word "efficate" being used. For example, "The most powerful way to efficate a change in the system is to participate." I do not find entries for this word in common English dictionaries, but I do not have an unabridged dictionary. I have checked the OED (I'm not sure if it is considered unabridged), and it has no entry for "efficate". It does have an entry for "efficiate", which is used in the same way. Wordnik has an entry for "efficate" with over 1800 hits, thus providing some evidence for the frequency of use. I personally like the word and find the meaning very clear and obvious when others use it. If it's not currently an "officially documented" word, perhaps its continued use will result in it being better documented.

Notes

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