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Gary Paulsen's "Northwind" teachers' review
Posted:
March 08, 2024
Brief description and distinctive features
“I tell stories…I love to write…especially about the wilderness.”
Gary Paulsen wrote about 200 books and sold about 35 million copies. He wrote for the most part for children and young adults. His main theme has been described as humanity’s collision with nature, often in situations in which a character, most often a teenage boy, had to learn to fend for himself in the wild.
Paulsen died in 2021 at the age of 82 and Northwind was his last book. in his Author’s Note he wrote “I've been working on this story for a long time. All my life really." p233
Paulsen won three Newberry Honour Book awards and his best-known novel, Hatchet, can be found in many bookrooms. It was about a 12-year-old boy surviving in the Canadian woodlands after a plane crashes. That novel is realistic and, in equal parts, terrifying and inspiring. I will never forget the ferocity of the mosquitoes in that book. Northwind is a fitting last book for Paulsen in which he returned to what he loved best - wilderness and our part in it. Paulsen has a wonderful ability to write about the harsh realities of life with honesty and clarity and his books have great appeal for adolescents.
Brief Description of Northwind
Leif is a 12-year-old Viking, when Russian sailors bring cholera to a Viking fish camp. The Russians leave but the disease stays, and Old Carl tells Leif to paddle north with Little Carl as all the others are dying. Leif sets off and Little Carl succumbs to the disease, but Leif survives it. Alone now, he paddles north in his canoe across wild fjords and dangerous waters in what appears to be what we now know as North-western Canada. He sees no other people. He observes the water and the wind and the inhabitants of the ocean as he searches for food. He makes a vow to Odin:
“I will join with and of this place. I will see. And learn. And know this place and all places that will come to me.”
The reader experiences Leif’s encounters with whirlpools, icebergs and wild animals. We share his terrifying and entrancing vision of orcas feeding on his solitary journey. Leif does become part of all he travels through.
Distinctive features of Northwind
- The novel opens with “The Saga of Sea Child”, an explanation, (in upper case and runic style font), of the origins and early life of a young Viking orphan
- A remarkable imaginative re-creation of a possible late 10th century Viking voyage and camp in North America, also inspired by Paulsen’s own sailing up the west coast of North America and into the open north Pacific, where he encountered whales and icebergs
- An account of a solo journey into the unknown by a 12-year-old orphan with bears, eagles orcas, ravens and salmon becoming part of the voyage
- A “singular and universal” voyage of courage and endurance as young Leif struggles to find food and survive
- A lyrical and compelling account of our need to be part of our environment
- Inspired in part by Nordic mythology and Paulsen’s grandmother’s tales of Old Norway
- Vivid descriptions of wilderness and solitude and the connections between them.
- The Author’s Note is a compelling read as a summary of Paulsen’s own real-life adventures and the power of storytelling
Ways to use Northwind in the classroom
Use the Book Trailer before you start the novel.
The trailer has no voiceover, only soft music and some printed words and images.
It can be found using the QR code or here at YouTube.
Task: In groups, after watching the trailer, discuss what you think will happen in this novel and suggest possibilities. Write the predictions on a sheet of paper and put in an envelope to be opened and discussed when the class has read the book. At that time also revisit and review the trailer and consider what worked well about it and ways you could improve it.
Conscience corridor task for Leif in Northwind
Conscience corridor can be used for exploring any kind of dilemma faced by a character. It provides an opportunity to analyse in greater detail a decisive moment for a character in a novel. The class forms two lines facing each other. One person is given a clear decision to consider. For example, Leif is on his own and faces huge decisions and dilemmas as he flees northward
- Leif should leave his dying companions / Leif should try to save them
- Leif should go south / Leif should go north
- Leif should cast the body of Little Carl into the sea / Leif should bury the body
- Leif should kill as many animals as he can to survive / Leif must show restraint
- Leif should treat the animals he encounters as enemies / Leif should treat the animals with respect
That person walks between the lines as each member of the group speaks their advice based on their knowledge of the text and the character. It can be organised so that those on one side give opposing advice to those on the other side. When the character reaches the end of the alley, s/he/they make their decision and explains why they decided that way.
For more details on a Conscience corridor go to this article on Drama & Theatre.
Writing responses
Read the following extract from the novel about an encounter with an orca and also read the Author’s Note (p240-242) where he describes his real life encounter
"There had been this ... this thing, this moment when the whale knew him and saw him and understood that Leif meant no harm and he, the boy, had seen that the whale meant him no harm as well and they were just there.
"The two of them. Right there alongside each other, knowing that about themselves, that they meant no harm to each other.
"It was a kind of talk. There was that. Some kind of talking.
"Not words, not songs, but an open knowing had passed between them, and Leif knew that he would never lose that, never forget the knowing, for the rest of his life and hoped it would be the same for the whale." p94
Task: Leif records his journey by carving “thought-pictures” on pieces of wood. In groups make a list of memorable moments from the novel, such as the orca encounter above or the moment when the eagles come to eat the fish heads left by the bears (p104) and choosing ONE moment, write a paragraph to describe it from your point of view. Share your paragraph with the rest of the group and the class.
Your response to the novel
“A voyage both singular and universal, marked by sharply felt risks and rewards and deep waters beneath.” Kirkus review
What did you think about Northwind? Do you agree with the Kirkus review or have a different view? Find evidence in the novel to support your response and write about 300 words.
Relevant details in relation to the new English 7-10 syllabus
Text requirements: Northwind is a novel (extended prose) from around the world by an American writer.
Concepts could include Narrative • Style • Theme
Relevant NSW English 7-10 Syllabus content
Reading, viewing and listening to texts | EN4-RVL-01
Reading, viewing and listening for meaning
- Explore the main ideas and thematic concerns posed by a text for meaning
- Engage with the ways texts contain layers of meaning, or multiple meanings
- Identify and understand that relevant prior knowledge and personal experience enables and enhances understanding when reading, viewing or listening to texts
Reflecting
- Reflect on how reading promotes a broad and balanced understanding of the world and enables students to explore universal issues
- Reflect on own experiences of reading by sharing what was enjoyed, discussing challenges to strengthen an understanding of the value of reading
Understanding and responding to texts B | EN4-URB-01
Theme
- Understand how repetition, patterning and language features used within a text communicate ideas about social, personal, ethical and philosophical issues and experiences, and demonstrate this understanding through written, spoken, visual and multimodal responses
Style
- Describe the distinctive rhetorical and aesthetic qualities of a text that contribute to its textual style, and reflect on these qualities in own texts
- Examine how different styles can be recognised by distinctive features of language and form in a range of texts
- Describe and reflect on how particular arrangements of language features in texts can be found appealing according to personal preferences
- Identify elements of an author’s work that represent their distinct style
- Understand how the style of a text can be the product of a particular time period, culture or genre
(English K-10 Syllabus 2022 © NSW Education Standards Authority for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2023)
Connecting texts for an author study
Jane Sherlock and Deb McPherson are experienced and passionate English teachers. They have also been involved in the education sector as authors and presenters at teaching conferences.
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