Woodsong Setting & Symbolism

Woodsong Objects/Places

The Woods

This is Paulsen's generic term for the wilderness, not merely in Alaska.

Alaska

This is the state where Paulsen spends most of the book.

Anchorage

This is the Alaskan city where the Iditarod begins.

Nome

This is the Alaskan city, one thousand miles from Anchorage, where the Iditarod ends.

Paulsen's Trapline

This is the line, first twenty then sixty miles, where Paulsen used his earliest dogs sledding teams to trap beaver.

Dogs Sleds

Paulsen uses dog sleds throughout the book for various reasons from trapping beaver to running the Iditarod.

Fire

The controlled use of fire is what separates man from animals, in Paulsen's view. A few stories illustrate this point.

The Iditarod

This is the annual dog sledding competition in which Paulsen participated in 1983.

The Burn

This is a seventy-mile stretch of the Iditarod where a forest fire cleared the land. It is a particularly dangerous area.

The Yukon River

This is the river along which a long stretch of the Iditarod runs.