1a. Who do the emigrants see at Fort Laramie? What does this person tell them?
2a. What happens after the Donner Party leaves Fort Bridger? What notes do they get from Hastings?
3a. Why does George Donner delay the party at the lake in the Sierra Nevadas instead of pushing on through the pass?
4a. How do people react when the relief team arrives at their camp?
1b. Why do you think James Reed ignores the advice of his friend?
2b. Why is the only possibility to push on through the desert?
3b. How might things have gone differently if they had left?
4b. Why do they react this way?
5a. List all the choices and events that lead up to the failure of the Donner Party to get across the pass. Then rank these items from most important to least important.
5b. Looking at the disaster that the Donner Party lived, determine how much of it was due to human error and how much of it was due to nature.
6a. How do you think Patty Reed felt when the family left on their journey? What might she have been thinking about during the months she waited to be rescued?
6b. In Springfield, Illinois, Patty Reed lived a pretty sheltered and pampered life. If you were Patty Reed, how would you feel different after your journey to California? How would the journey have affected your views of the world? How would it have changed your personality, if at all?
Historical Fiction. What elements of "The Cutoff: The Story of the Donner Party" reveal that it is historical fiction?
Dialogue. How would this story be different if it didn't contain dialogue?
1. Pretend you are a member of the Keseberg family. Write a journal entry about how you feel being banished from the train.
2. Imagine you are Clyman, James Reed's old friend. Write a letter to James, telling him why he should go the longer way and not the way Hastings tells him to go in the book. Try to convince him not to listen to Hastings.
3. Imagine you are a person who followed Hastings' way and found that he was a fraud. Write an editorial to the newspaper about his book and how it is misleading.
Writing Definitions. Write your own definitions for each of the following words, found in the story, "The Cutoff: The Story of the Donner Party." Then write a sentence using the word.
1. gaunt
2. bicker
3. anxious
4. arrogance
5. relinquish
6. emigrant
7. perpetual
8. fiery
9. provision
10. remnant
Direct Objects. A sentence must have a subject and a verb, but sometimes a sentence has other parts—such as direct objects—that complete the meaning. Identify the verb and the direct object for each of the sentences below. For more information, see the Language Arts Survey 3.20, "Completers for Action Verbs: Direct and Indirect Objects."
1. He enjoys fast horses.
2. James rides a gray mare.
3. He kicks the robe across the ground.
4. Tamsen watches the wagons.
5. The Donner party follows the tracks of Hastings's wagon.
6. The party desperately needed water.
7. The Sierra Nevadas presented a new challenge.
8. Hastings left a note.
9. James Reed stabbed John Snyder.
10. The animals needed rest.
Further Study: Research at the library to find articles or information about Lansford W. Hastings' book, The Emigrants' Guide to Oregon and California. See if you can find commentaries or critiques that were written about the book. Present their finding to the rest of the class. Research Log. Use this log to keep track of the sources you use, the information you find, and your reactions to what you learn.
Internet sources:
Books and other print sources:
Notes:
