The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell

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The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell
Feature Menu
Introducing the Story Literary Focus
Foreshadowing Reading Skills Making Predictions
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The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell
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The Most Dangerous Game Introducing the Story
There is a passion for hunting something deeply
implanted in the human breast. Charles
Dickens (18121870)
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The Most Dangerous Game Introducing the Story
This adventure story is set on Ship-Trap Island,
a mysterious island inhabited by General Zaroff.
Zaroff is a cultured but sinister Russian who
hunts the most dangerous game in the world.
Russian takes refuge on a tropical island. Why is
General Zaroff so far from home?
Click here to find out.
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The Most Dangerous Game Literary Focus
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is the use of clues that hint at
later events in the story. Foreshadowing

• creates suspense

• makes you curious, even anxious, to know what
  happens nextit keeps you turning the pages

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The Most Dangerous Game Literary Focus
Foreshadowing

• Once youve finished reading, you can piece
  together the clues and enjoy the story all the
  more.

• In this suspenseful tale the ominous
  foreshadowing will hook you early on.

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The Most Dangerous Game Reading Skills Making
Predictions
When you read a suspense-filled story, you
make predictions about what is going to happen,
often without even realizing it.
A prediction is a type of inference or a guess
based on evidence. Predictions may be based on

• clues the writer plants

• your own experiences in life

• your understanding of how stories work

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The Most Dangerous Game Reading Skills Making
Predictions
The titles of stories and any
illustrations can also provide clues about the
story.

• What do you predict the title of this famous
  adventure story might mean?

• What do the illustrations hint at?

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The Most Dangerous Game Quickwrite
Make the Connection
Some of the most exciting narratives pit villain
against hero in a life-or-death struggle. The
tension in such stories often depends as much on
the character of the bad guy or gal as on that of
the hero. Write a few sentences describing a
villain from a novel, story, or movie. Why does
the character fascinate you?
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Vocabulary
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The Most Dangerous Game Vocabulary
Previewing the Vocabulary receding v. used as
adj. becoming more distant. disarming adj.
removing or lessening suspicions or
fears. prolonged v. used as adj.
extended. imprudent adj. unwise. surmounted v.
overcame. unruffled adj. calm not disturbed.
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The Most Dangerous Game Vocabulary
Previewing the Vocabulary invariably adv.
always without changing. diverting adj.
entertaining. impulse n. sudden desire to do
something. protruding v. used as adj. sticking
out
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The Most Dangerous Game Vocabulary
Vocabulary Activity Answer the following
questions with yes or no.

• Does a man with a receding hairline have much
  hair?
• Would a disarming leader be able to calm an angry
  crowd?
• Would you be displeased if a vacation was
  prolonged?
• Is it imprudent for bicyclists to wear helmets?
• Would you admire a person who surmounted a
  difficulty?

no
yes
no
no
yes
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Meet the Writer
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The Most Dangerous Game Meet the Writer
Richard Connell was born in 1893 in Duchess
County, New York. At the age of ten, he began his
writing career as a cub reporter for the
newspaper his father edited in Poughkeepsie, New
York. He went on to write hundreds of short
stories, as well as novels and screenplays.
More About the Writer
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