Last Friday, we read the short story "To Build a Fire," by Jack London. The story is about a man who is trekking across the Alaskan wilderness to a camp and dies because he cannot build a fire to keep himself warm. We focused on US expansion into Alaska as well as the theme of knowledge versus instinct in the short story. For example, the dog in the story demonstrates instinct by biting the ice from its toes though it does not know that the ice would hurt him later. The man shows knowledge through his observations about the freezing temperature and what it could do to his body. We then discussed whether knowledge or instinct is more important to survival. I believe knowledge is more important than instinct. A person needs knowledge of his or her own instincts and of the way his or her body will respond in different situations to know what is needed for survival. After reading this story, I understand why many Americans believed that Secretary of State Seward had invested in a wasteland.
Today, we worked on our Triton 16% Time Badges.
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