The Call of the Wild (1903)

If you love your dog, put yourself in his mind and dream his dreams for him

Jack London's classic story of one dog's journey from dependent to partner to leader... from California to the Wild frozen north... ( )

I remember The Call of the Wild being a perennial book report choice for many students when I was in school. I never selected it and for that I am glad. I don't think it would have held my interest in elementary school as it barely held my interest now. While reading the book, I saw the hard life of a dog through the dog's eyes. It was a decent enough story but I just can't grasp why it's a classic. There was a lot of dog on dog violence and some brutal animal abuse. All in all, it was kind of depressing. ( )

Great book! ( )

a. Summary: Buck the dog begins a very peaceful easy life in Santa Clara. He leaves his easy life and transitions to a life of a sled dog in a violent dramatic fashion. Working Alaska with a team of dogs Buck has many battles with other dogs and moves his way up to the lead dog. He changes owners again and almost dies from their unpreparedness. Buck is saved by a new master who shows him love he has not experienced before. This new master heads for a gold mine to the east. Once they arrive Buck begins a primordial transition on a grand scale.
b. Review: A great classic that I thoroughly enjoyed. This book was not part of my required reading for school and I regret that. A wonderful tale of courage, strength and the law of club and fang. Filled with great vocabulary words and told with passion the story of Buck is very memorable.
c. School Use: This could be used to introduce new vocabulary words. Good depiction of antagonist and protagonist in this book, there are many characters that could be the antagonists. An activity could have students focus on one of these antagonists and discuss their motives and how their interaction with Buck changed his character.