Name: _______________________________________________________________Hour: _______________

“The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell (200 & 215-233)

This Study Guide is worth 25 points and Due on Quiz day Friday 11/22/19
LEARNING TARGET: Determine theme/central idea of text; Analyze how characters develop; Analyze author’s choices

Pre-reading: Literary Analysis (page 200) = 5 points

Conflict is ________________________________________________:
With _____________________, a character struggles against an outside force, such as another character, society
or nature.
With _____________________, a character grapples with his or her own opposing feelings, beliefs, needs, or
desires.

In narrative literature--works that tell stories--conflict and the search for a solution drive the plot. The solution
usually occurs near the end of a story, during the _____________________________________________.
In some stories, however the conflict is not truly resolved. Instead, the character has an _______________,
Or sudden flash or insight. The conflict remains, but the character’s feelings about it change.

Reading Skill:
__________________________ are logical assumptions based on details in a story.
To make inferences as you read, ____________ ______________________________.

Meet the Author (page 214) When did Richard Connell live? (____________ -_____________)
Write 3 fact about the author:
1. ______________________________2. _________________________________3. _____________________

Reading: Answer questions (215-233) = 15 points

1. What do you predict will happen in the story, 9. Which details lead you to infer that Ivan has
based on the name Ship-Trap Island? a military past?

2. Where are Rainsford and Whitney headed
and for what event?
3. According to Rainsford, do animals feel fear
of pain and death?
4. What “two classes” does Rainsford believe
make-up the world?
5. Conflict: How does Rainsford’s attitude about
hunting differ from Whitney’s?
6. How does Rainsford fall off the yacht?
10. Literature in Context: What traits does
Zaroff exhibit that might be due, in part, to
his having been a Cossack? (211).
11. Why does Zaroff recognize Sanger
Rainsford’s name?
12. How does Zaroff describe Ivan’s
“misfortunes”? (221)
13. What inference can be made about Zaroff’s
life that support why he was “made a hunter”?
(223).

7. Personification: What kind of “person” is this
sea? (219).
8. Infer: Why does Rainsford think the palatial
chateau (mansion) was a mirage?
14. How do details about Zaroff’s life support
your inference that he feels neither guilt nor
fear concerning hunting? Why has Zaroff
invented “the most dangerous game”?
15. Internal Conflict: What was the “tragic
moment” Zaroff refers to? (224).
 16. Why are “the weak of the world” put on
earth, as far as General Zaroff is concerned?
(225).
17. Making Inferences: How does Zaroff lure his
“visitors” to the island? (226).
18. Why is it ironic when Zaroff says, “I have
electricity? We try to be civilized here”
(226).
19. Conflict: Zaroff says that his captive do not
have to participate in the hunt. Is that true?
Why?
20. Infer: Why might Zaroff have used ferocious
dogs on his hunts?
21. Making Inferences: What kind of heads do
you think Zaroff wants to show Rainsford?
22. How can Rainsford get off the island? (229).
23. What can you infer happened to the “finest
hound” Lazarus? (229).
Post Reading: Fill in three traps and Plot Curve = 5 points
24. Epiphany: What does Rainsford now know
about how animals feel?
25. When Rainsford leaps into sea, what
inference do you think the author wants you
to make?
26. When Zaroff shrugs his shoulders and sips
his brandy, what can you infer?
27. What does: “One of us is to furnish a repast
for the hounds” mean? (235).
28. Who is the protagonist?
29. Summarize “The Most Dangerous Game” in
one sentence.
30. What factor contributes to Zaroff’s defeat?
31. Making Inferences: Why does Rainsford
succeeds?
32. Is the protagonist a changed person by the
end of the story?