“The Most Dangerous Game”
Paragraphing Examples
Thesis:
“The Most Dangerous Game” portrays how civilized people will turn uncivilized if life
depends on it.
Topic Sentence:
People in the story start out civilized, then become savage, especially if life depends on it.
Text Evidence #1:
“Thank you, I’m a hunter, not a murderer.”
1A. Rainsford is civilized because he refused to kill another person.
1B. Even though Rainsford will kill animals, he still has a sense of humanity because he
does not want to take another man’s life.
Text Evidence #2:
“He had plunged along, spurred on by the sharp rowers of something very like panic.”
2A. Rainsford’s life is in danger and he is feeling the beginning of an animalistic terror.
2B. His concentration and reasoning is already being compromised by this terror as he runs
wildly through the woods.
Text Evidence #3:
“The general said, ‘Splendid! One of us is to furnish a repast for the hounds. The other will
sleep in this very excellent bed.”
3A. Rainsford’s civilization has been discarded because he now takes the option of taking
Zaroff’s life rather than a more peaceful option.
3B. This is the end of a transformation from a civilized man to a savage one caused by the
fear for his life.
Closing Sentence:
Rainsford proves that even the most civilized man can be turned savage in the fear of losing
his life.
