Treasure Island

N. C. Wyeth's cover of the 1911 edition of Treasure Island (Wikimedia)

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• The Story
• Questions
• Activities
• Answers

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The Pirates of the Caribbean series of films--and many, many other books, films, and TV shows besides--trace their origins to a common ancestor, the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel Treasure Island, with its captivating villain, a pirate named Long John Silver.

Stevenson (1850-1894) was born in Scotland but traveled the world before he died at the young age of 44. In his brief life he wrote over a dozen novels and many other works. Aside from Treasure Island, perhaps his most famous book is Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, about a man with two personalities: one good and one evil.

This is interesting, because in Long John Silver, we see a man who is both good and evil. This charming rascal is more than just a "bad guy"; Stevenson's skill as a writer makes it seem possible that this pirate leader might have a soft heart after all.

If you think pirates speak a certain way, or that they have parrots, or that they drink rum, or that they "walk the plank"--well, thank Robert Louis Stevenson!

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• Read more about Treasure Island at Wikipedia
• Read Treasure Island FREE online

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Before we begin, let's look at some vocabulary that is especially useful when we talk about pirates.

Practice 1: Match the term to its definition:

Term

Definition

Caribbean loot mates mutiny parrot pirate sea chest sea dog seafaring Spanish America

a person who travels in a ship and attacks other ships to steal things from them describes a person who travels on the ocean a bright, colorful bird with a strong beak; sometimes they can be taught to talk includes Mexico and South America and many of the islands in the Caribbean an old sailor money or goods gotten by stealing taking action against a ship's captain and leaders; considered very bad people who work on the same ship; friends a sea on the west side of the Atlantic Ocean, between North America and South America the place where sailor keeps his personal belongings

Answers are in the first comment below.

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[1] Young Jim Hawkins works at his mother's inn on the sea coast of England. One night an old "sea dog" named Billy Bones stays at the inn, and tells Jim to watch out for "a one-legged seafaring man." Some of Bones's former mates attack him and are run off, but Bones dies of a stroke. Jim's mother decides to take some of Bones's cash to pay for his room, and finds a mysterious packet that was in his sea chest.

[2] In the packet, they find a map of an island where the notorious pirate, Captain Flint, hid his treasure. They ask help from a local physician and a nobleman, Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney. The Squire pays for the expedition formed under a man named Captain Smollett to recover the loot. Jim will go along as cabin boy on the ship, the Hispanola.

[3] Unfortunately, many of the sailors the Squire recruited for the voyage are former "mates" of Captain Flint. One of these, a cook with a parrot on his shoulder and a crutch under his arm, is the pirate Long John Silver. As they sail toward the island, Jim overhears a plan to commit mutiny after the treasure is recovered, and reports it to Dr. Livesey.

Long John Silver (Gutenberg)

[4] On the island, Jim meets a pirate named Ben Gunn, who was on Flint's ship when the treasure was buried. Some years later he visited the island again, looking for the treasure, and his shipmates left him there alone.

[5] The pirates attack Smollett's men, who take refuge in an old stockade, but Jim reaches the ship and sets it adrift. With the help of a man on board, Israel Hands, Jim sails the ship to the other side of the island, but then Hands tries to kill Jim--but fails.

[6] Back ashore, Jim returns to the stockade, only to find that Silver and his men have captured it, and are inside; they now also have possession of the map.

[7] When Silver and his men follow the map to the place where the treasure had been buried--taking Jim with them--old Ben Gunn sings an old song that makes the pirates think the site is haunted. When the reach the spot, they discover a giant hole in the ground where the treasure had been! What they don't know is that Gunn had found it and removed it many years before, and hid it in a cave.

[8] After Silver is captured and his men run off, Gunn turns the treasure over to Smollett and his men, and they remove it to the ship and sail away, with Silver and his men in chains.

[9] But at their first stop, still in Spanish America, Silver escapes with some of the loot. The original party returns to England and divides up what they have recovered.

Jim inspects the loot (Gutenberg)

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What did you read? (comprehension questions)

Practice 2: Without looking back at the text, try to match the characters to their actions. Most characters will have two or even three actions.

Character

Actions

Jim Hawkins Jim's mother Billy Bones Captain Flint Dr. Livesey Squire Trelawney Captain Smollett Long John Silver Ben Gunn Israel Hands

hid treasure on an island serves as a cabin boy is the first to receive Jim's report of a planned mutiny commander of the Hispaniola helps Jim move the Hispaniola runs an inn on the coast of England moves the Hispaniola almost by himself escapes with some loot in Spanish America moves the treasure to a cave works at his mother's inn has a packet with a treasure map in his sea chest finances the expedition takes things from Billy Bones's sea chest lives on the island has a parrot on his shoulder tries to kill Jim used to be Long John Silver's "boss" tells Jim to watch out for "a one-legged seafaring man" sings a song to scare the pirates away from the treasure leads a mutiny is attacked by some of his former mates; escapes, but dies of a stroke

Answers are in the first comment below.

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Practice 3: Write numbers in the blanks to place the following events in order:

_____ The pirates attack Jim and his people on the island.

_____ Jim's mother gets Billy Bones's treasure map.

_____ Ben Gunn makes noises to scare the pirates; he had moved the treasure many years ago.

_____ Squire Trelawney finances an expedition to find the treasure.

_____ Silver and his men are captured and will be taken to England, but Silver escapes in Spanish America.

_____ The pirates have the map, and go after the treasure.

_____ Long John Silver and his men plan a mutiny.

_____ Israel Hands helps Jim set the Hispaniola adrift, then tries to kill him.

Answers are in the first comment below.

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Practice 4: Are the following statements (T)rue or (F)alse? Rewrite the false statements to make them true.

1. Billy Bones gives Jim the treasure map.
2. Dr. Livesey pays for the expedition to get the treasure.
3. Long John Silver is a cook as well as a pirate.
4. Ben Gunn was on Flint's ship when they buried the treasure.
5. Jim (with the help of one man) sets the Hispaniola adrift.
6. Ben Gunn tries to kill Jim.
7. Ben Gunn hid the treasure in a cave.
8. Long John Silver is tried in an English court for his crimes.

Answers are in the first comment below.

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Practice 5: Here are some useful everyday vocabulary words. Choose a word in the box to match the context of the sentence.

WORD BOX
adrift   ashore   buried   haunted   nobleman
notorious   overhears   physician   refuge   stroke

1. The old woman was unable to speak properly after she had a -----.
2. Some people think the old house is -----, but I don't believe in ghosts.
3. There are posters of many ----- criminals hanging in the post office.
4. It's best to see a ----- if you're too sick to go to work.
5. We took ----- in a hotel lobby until the heavy rainstorm passed.
6. Our kite floated away, set ----- when the string broke.
7. Shhh! If my mom ----- us planning to go to the movies, she'll make me take my little brother!
8. Our dog often digs up bones that he ----- in our back yard.
9. If you lived in the Middle Ages, it would be better to be a rich ----- than a poor peasant.
10. When the sailors came -----, their loved ones were waiting to greet them.

Answers are in the first comment below.

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Activity 1: Choose a moment in the story and write a letter from Jim to his mother at that point. Don't just tell what you did; talk about how it felt, the sights, sounds, and smells of the place where you are you as you write; and your hopes or fears for the future.

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Activity 2: Use the Clues to guess the name of Captain Flint's ship.

Possible answers are:

Dolphin   Manatee   Mermaid   Orca

Otter   Sea Lion   Walrus   Whale

Clues:

1. The first letter isn't M.
2. The last letter isn't E.
3. It does not have a P in it.
4. The first letter isn't O.
5. It's only one word.

Answers are in the first comment below.

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NOTE:

These games (The Word Ladder and The Maze)
are easier to play in the printable PDF!

Activity 3: Word Ladder: Fill in the clues to find the name of Long John Silver's parrot. (Hint: He named him after an old "friend"!)

Clues:

1. the Sea where most of the action takes place
2. Jim's last name
3. the name of the ship Jim sails on
4. the captain of the expedition
5. the country where Jim and his mother lived
6. the title of the man named Trelawney
7. Silver's first name
8. the last name of Silver's former captain
9. the first name of the man who died at Jim's mother's inn
10. the first name of the man who first helped, then tried to kill Jim
11. the last name of the man who moved the treasure
12. the title of the man named Livesey

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Activity 4: The Maze: Help Jim Hawkins find Captain Flint's treasure!

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• The first comment below contains the Answers to:
• Practices 1-5
• Activity 2, and
• Activity 3 (the Word Ladder)
• The answer to Activity 4 (the Maze) is in the printable game page.

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