Passage 2: The Round River Drive
by Douglas Malloch and James MacGillivray
Originally a tall tale passed down by the oral tradition of loggers, this poem is
the first known written story of Paul Bunyan. The poem begins by introducing
the reader to Bunyan and his team, then describes a strange incident.
’Twas ’64 or ’65
We drove1 the great Round River Drive;
’Twas ’65 or ’64—
Yes, it was durin’ of the war,
5 Or it was after or before.
Those were the days in Michigan,
The good old days, when any man
Could cut and skid2 and log and haul,
And there was pine enough for all. . . .
10 Paul Bunyan and his fightin’ crew,
In ’64 or ’5 or ’2,
They started out to find the pines
Without much thought of section lines.
So west by north they made their way
15 One hundred miles until one day
They found good timber, level land,
And roarin’ water close at hand. . . .
We put one hundred million feet
On skids that winter. Hard to beat,
20 You say it was? It was some crew.
We took it off one forty, too.
A hundred million feet we skid—
That forty was a pyramid;
It runs up skyward to a peak—
25 To see the top would take a week. . . .
At last, a hundred million in,
’Twas time for drivin’ to begin.
We broke our rollways in a rush
And started through the rain and slush
30 To drive the hundred million down
Until we reached some sawmill town.
We didn’t know the river’s name,
Nor where to someone’s mill it came,
But figured that, without a doubt,
35 To some good town ’twould fetch us out
If we observed the usual plan
And drove the way the current ran. . . .
Some two weeks more and then we passed
A camp that looked just like the last.
40 Two weeks again another, too,
That looked like our camp, come in view.
Then Bunyan called us all ashore
And held a council-like of war.
He said, with all this lumbering,
45 Our logs would never fetch a thing. . . .
And then we realized at last
That ev’ry camp that we had passed
Was ours. Yes, it was then we found
The river we was on was round.
50 And, though we’d driven many a mile,
We drove a circle all the while!
And that’s the truth, as I’m alive,
About the great Round River drive.
12. This question has two parts. First, answer Part A. Then, answer Part B.
Part A
Select two themes developed in Passage 2.
A Working hard can be unnecessary.
B Traveling to unfamiliar places is risky.
C Situations can be different than they seem.
D Leaders need help from their team members.
E Paying attention to surroundings is important.
Part B
Which detail from Passage 2 develops the themes in Part A?
A The loggers have to work in bad weather.
B The loggers enjoy their work near the river.
C The loggers expect their work to be the same as usual.
D The loggers are surprised by how much work they complete.
Part A: C and E
Part B: The detail that the loggers drove in a circle without realizing it develops the theme that situations can be different than they seem, while the emphasis on paying attention to surroundings (particularly the river) develops the theme that paying attention to surroundings is important.
Part B
Which detail from Passage 2 develops the themes in Part A?
A The loggers have to work in bad weather.
B The loggers enjoy their work near the river.
C The loggers expect their work to be the same as usual.
D The loggers are surprised by how much work they complete.
Part A: C and E
Part B: The detail that the loggers drove in a circle without realizing it develops the theme that situations can be different than they seem, while the emphasis on paying attention to surroundings (particularly the river) develops the theme that paying attention to surroundings is important.
Is part B: A,B,C, or D
Part B: D. The detail that the loggers are surprised by how much work they complete develops the theme that working hard can be unnecessary.
Read these lines from Passage 2.
And then we realized at last
That ev’ry camp that we had passed
Was ours. Yes, it was then we found
The river we was on was round.
What is the effect of the line break between lines 47 and 48?
A It creates annoyance toward the river.
B It highlights what the speaker learned.
C It emphasizes how the loggers solved their problem.
D It builds suspense for the explanation about the camp.
B. It highlights what the speaker learned.
. The Hero character archetype is a soldier, winner, or rescuer who rises to
a challenge.
Fill in the bubbles to show how Bunyan represents the Hero archetype in
each passage.
He explores unnamed
logging territory. Passage 1 (A) Passage 2 (B) Both (C)
He helps a logging team
work toward a goal. Passage 1 (A) Passage 2 (B) Both (C)
He is asked to solve a
difficult logging problem. Passage 1 (A) Passage 2 (B) Both (C)
He explores unnamed logging territory - Passage 1 (C) Passage 2 (A) Both (C)
He helps a logging team work toward a goal - Passage 1 (C) Passage 2 (B) Both (C)
He is asked to solve a difficult logging problem - Passage 1 (C) Passage 2 (B) Both (C)
The Hero character archetype is a soldier, winner, or rescuer who rises to
a challenge.
Fill in the bubbles to show how Bunyan represents the Hero archetype in
each passage.
He explores unnamed
logging territory. A. Passage 1 B. Passage 2 C. Both
He helps a logging team
work toward a goal. A. Passage 1 B. Passage 2 C. Both
He is asked to solve a
difficult logging problem. A. Passage 1 B. Passage 2 C. Both