Point of View

Gary Paulsen is a (primarily) 20th century writer whose primary topics concern life in the wilderness, both as he actually lived it and in fiction writing for young adults. Woodsong is non-fiction, written from Paulsen's point of view. Thus, it is first-personal, with all of the writing being done from Paulsen's perspective. The book is not merely about his activities but mostly about the complex emotional responses he has to his various experiences in the Alaskan wilderness. Much of his descriptions concern his emotional states. For instance, Paulsen often hallucinates in the book due to sleep deprivation or injury. The book primarily focuses on his complicated hallucinations and, in many cases, his later reflections on his mental state at the time. To be more specific, Paulsen will describe the interactions he has with hallucinated persons.

Another aspect of the point of view of Woodsong is Paulsen's...