Monday, 1/5/04 -- Eighth Grade
Copy homework into assignment book.
Warm Up. Copy 1-5 into notebook.
  1. The Klondike region is a part of ____________.
  2. rice : paddy :: grapes : _______
  3. forestry : trees :: _________ : crops
  4. 1929 : Great Depression :: 1861 : __________
  5. menu : restaurant :: __________  : library
  6. Name a book or a story by Jack London.
  7. What famous scientist is responsible for the phrase "survival of the fittest"?
Pretest #12. (1-25)
Jack London (1876-1916)

"I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark burn out in a brilliant blaze
Than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor,
Every atom of me in magnificent glow,
Than a sleepy permanent planet.
The proper function of man is to live,
Not to exist."

(To stifle is to hold back or snuff out.)

  1. What exactly does Jack London mean by the last two lines?
  2. Do you agree? Why/not? If you can, give an example from your life that shows it.
  3. There is a clue above that shows that Jack London probably lived this philosophy. What is it?