A Piece of Steak Assignment 2

1. Why was Tom King unable to knock out Sandel when he had the chance?

2. According to Tom King, what would have helped him at the moment “when he had
Sandel swaying and tottering on the hair-line balance of defeat?”

3. Why do you think the story is entitled “A Piece of Steak,” rather than something like
“Tom King Loses a Fight”? What is so important about the steak to the meaning of the
story?

4. Neither To Build a Fire nor A Piece of Steak had happy endings. An important theme
in each is the strengths and weaknesses of age and youth. How is youth, in A Piece of
Steak, like the cold weather in To Build a Fire?

5. How is Tom King like the man in To Build a Fire?

6. How is Tom King unlike the man in To Build a Fire?

7. To whom else in To Build a Fire can Tom King be compared? Why?

8. Give a common theme that can be applied to both To Build a Fire and A Piece of Steak
9. How are the endings to the two stories similar (especially in regard to Stowsher Bill
and the old timer at Sulphur Creek)?

10. What type of emotion is Jack London trying to achieve in the reader by ending the
story the way he does?

11. Looking at your answer to #10, what do you think Jack London is hoping the reader
will do after reading a story about such a man as Tom King? In what ways is he hoping
that society will be improved?

12.Would the story have had more or less of an emotional impact if Tom King had won
the fight? Explain.

13. What two things would you advise Tom King to do about his situation.

14. List two things that Tom King would do differently in his past if he had had the
knowledge that he has now at the end of the story.

15. Name one lesson that you can apply to your own life from this story.