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Donner Dinner Party
Use this as a guide as you read Nathan Hale’s Donner Dinner Party.
What are some aspirations of the people who wanted
to travel west?
Keep a list of trials and
tribulations throughout the story
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pg. 19
Would you be tempted to go on the shortcut route?
Why or why not?
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pg. 25
The pioneer book Reed refers to is written by a
lawyer. How valid would you feel a pioneer book was
if you found out it wasn’t written by an expert
explorer, or even another pioneer?
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pg. 25
Make a prediction on whether Reed will take Lt. Clyman’s advice. Explain your reasoning.
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pg. 31
It’s hinted that Jim Bridger and Louis Vasquez don’t give the letter from Hastings to the
Donner Party. Why wouldn’t they? What’s in it for them?
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pg. 65
They made it back to the main trail which should be an exciting moment. But it isn’t, why?
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pg. 70
Reed and Snyder have a huge argument with disastrous results. The Hangman and the officer
disagree about who is guilty. Which side do you agree with? Use evidence from the story to
support your opinion.
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pg. 87
The author, Nathan Hale, creates a visual of where all the different “parties” set up camp after
the big snow. What information is included and how does it help?
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Draw three conclusions based on the visuals on pg. 87.
There were many bad decisions made along the trip to California, but most people would say
that the first wrong turn was taking Hasting’s Cutoff and leaving the main road. How might
the outcome of the story been different if they hadn’t taken the shortcut?
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Turn to page 125. On it, there is a flow chart. Follow the chart to see whether not you would
have survived the Donner Party. (For the purposes of this “fun” chart, consider a family to be large if
there are more than 3 children.)
Share your results below:
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Name __________________________________
All Those People!
Use this table to keep track of the main characters and their attributes.
Name
Family/Party
Physical
Characteristics
Things They Said
or Did