Dogsong and The River
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Introduction
Throughout the course of the marking period, two books that I have read really stood out above all others. They are Dogsong and The River, both written by the same author, Gary Paulsen. This is the most obvious similarity between the two books but there are much more. They both have a teenage boy as their main character and are both about a boy embarking on an expedition. These are the general similarities, but there are also many differences between them. Now let’s go deep into each book and look at some of their unique aspects.
Dogsong - Gary Paulsen
This book has nearly double the number …show more content…
The oldest man tells Russel that back in the old days, a young man would go on a journey alone to the north. It used to be a tradition because these young men could learn a lot from the journey. Eskimos used to believe that every boy must make this journey to truly become a full grown man. This tradition no longer exists, but Russel wants to bring the old days back, so he decides to go on the journey to the far north. Russel overcomes fear and many challenges throughout the trip, and the book ends when Russel finally makes it to the end of his …show more content…
It also contains a lot of action. For instance, during Russel’s rafting experience, he accidentally gets thrown off the raft. This is shown when the author writes, “Whunk! Brian heard it hit, felt the impact… The stern kicked off the ledge, slapped him up and away, clear of the raft, completely in the air” (Paulsen 113). Similar action scenes like this one keep the reader engaged, and they allow people to really picture the scenes in their heads and get nervous along with Russel. Dogsong and The River both try to keep the reader’s attention but in slightly different