“To Build a Fire”

Jack London

Author Information

• Born John Griffith London in 1876.• Suspicious of who his real father was and

this showed up in many of his short stories• Supported himself from age 13 on • Worked in a cannery, was a coal shoveler,

and was a hobo for part of his early years• Jack London in the Klondike • Photo 2

Jack London continued

• Entered and left University of California Berkley due to money

• Observed Marx and Darwin, who also had an influence on naturalism.

• Looked for gold in the Klondike from 1897-1898• Claimed to dislike his job and said he wrote only

for money. • Died in 1916 and was the best-selling American

author at the time.

Terms to Know

• Scientific Determinism: the philosophical doctrine that every act or decision is the inevitable consequence of antecedents (things that came before), such as psychological or environmental conditions that are independent of human will.

• Things are already set in motion

Darwinism

• A theory that explains the origin and perpetuation of new species, both animal and plant. It says that offspring vary and naturally favor the survival of some over others. Because of this, a large variety of animals and plants have emerged from original species.

Social Darwinism

• ***Central to our short story• A theory that inherent dynamic forces allow

only the fittest persons or organizations to prosper in a competitive environment or situation.

Yukon Trail

• Also called the Klondike Trail • People, mainly immigrants, following the

Klondike river to Dawson, Yukon (westernmost part of Canada) in order to search for gold.

• 1897

A quick look at lit. movements:

• Romantic Era: (1780’s-1840’s) • Writing revolved around nature and the artistic

beauty of life.• Stories have an easily identifiable protagonist &

antagonist. • The setting is usually exotic and the time and

place are often vague.• Authors were very symbolic and imagination

praised over reason. • Example: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Continued

• Realism Era: (1840’s-1890)• An age of realism and truth in literature.• Also called the Victorian age because Queen

Victoria reigned at the time.• An age of newspaper, magazine, and modern

novels.• Some authors wrote of war and nationally loyalty,

while others wrote of love.• Example: Alfred Lord Tennyson

Continued

• Naturalism: (1865-1914)• -Literary device using scientific determinism.• -Emphasis on the biological and has a theme of

survival. • -Draws from Darwin and Marx, Freud and

Newton. • Authors tend to be pessimistic and objective about

presenting information.• -Example: see related authors

Vocabulary

• Monotonously: done in a boring, tedious, or repetitive way.

• Speculatively: examining something theoretically or hypothetically

• Recoiled: to pull back or jump back

Related Stories & Authors

• London’s other work:• The Call of the Wild (1904) • The SeaWolf (1904)• White Fang (1906)

• Other Naturalists• Stephen Crane-The Open Boat• Theodore Dreiser-Old Rogaum and His

Theresa

Reading the story

• See packet questions

Quick Review

• What is the difference between Social Determinism and Social Darwinism?

• Quick Quiz

Works Cited

• "Darwinism." Merriam-Webster. 12 Mar. 2008 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Darwinism>.

• The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 6th ed. Vol. C. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2003. 971-986.

• Reading Literature. Evanston: McDougal, Littel & Company, 1986. 333-347.