Introduction to Into the Wild

Into the Wild is a true story about a guy named Christopher McCandless who was missing for two years. Christopher was a graduate from Emory University in Atlanta in 1990. He then cut off with the communications with his family and gave a good amount of his money to organizations. He then left his car and burn what was left of his money. Christopher then had not many resources to live off of.  He changed his name from Christopher to Alexander, and he stayed up in South Dakota with a friend named Wayne Westerberg. He lived for about one hundred and twelve days while living off of edible things in the Alaskan Desert. He also kept a journal of his life. He planned to go to the coast but instead he found a deserted bus that he would camp in. He mostly ate off of an Hedysarum alpinum, which was commonly known as an "Eskimo plant". He then had to stop eating them because it was to tough to eat. He then later died from it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Wild

Jon Keakuer was born on April 12, 1954. He was the third out of five children. Jon was raised in Corvallis, Oregon and has been raised there since the age of two. He was introduced to mountaineering at age eight by his father, and this led him to his career. He graduated from college in 1977 and a year after, he stayed in the wilderness in  Alaska for three weeks. In this three week time period, he climbed the Devil's Thumb. Jon Keakuer wrote the book Into the Wild.

A Place in the United States that I Want to See and Experience

A place in the United States that I want to see and experience would be Alabama. I have never been to Alabama before but I have always wanted to go there since I was about seven or nine. I would get there by plane but it is possible to take a car or maybe even a train. Alabama is known as the "Heart of Dixie" and it is nicknamed the Yellowhammer state. Right now the weather in Montgomery is cold and cloudy. For this experience I would need food supply, money, and clothes. I expect to meet new people, try different kinds of foods, and explore the land.

Getting to Know Chris McCandless through Direct and Indirect Characterization

  Jenna Fiamingo, Lisa Placek, & Ally Kozel

1. Direct characterization is in literature and drama, the method of character development in which the author simply tells what the character is like.

Indirect characterization is when the writer shows the reader what the character does, says, thinks, and/or feels, and then lets the the reader draw his/her own conclusions about the character. The reader needs to see how others react toward the character.

Direct Characterization Definition Link

2.

3. So far I am getting an impression that Chris is brave for going out into the wild with no money. I do not think he is a crazy person because it took a lot of courage to do what he did. 

What Symbolic Designs Would be on Your Belt?

The eight items I would put on my belt are a soccer ball, trees, a carving of a family, a carving of friends, a cross, a heart, a hairbrush, and clothing. I would choose a soccer ball because soccer is my favorite sport and a big part of my life. I would choose the trees because I like to be outdoors. I would choose a carving of my family and a carving of my friends because both of these are a big part of my life and I do not know where I would be without them. I would choose a cross because I am a catholic and I attend catholic school. I would choose a heart for the love humans share with each other everyday. I would choose a hairbrush and clothing because I love my hair and I love the latest fashion.

Final Expression of Chris McCandless

I thought Chris McCandless was not crazy. What he did was brave and his made wise decisions along the way. I am an admirer of Chris, not a critic. What he did was amazing and actually hard to believe. Not many people would just pack up a few things, get rid of all their money, and live off the wild.

Wrapping up the Novel

Lisa Placek

English 9- Reds

26 March 2010

Chris McCandless: The hero that isolates himself for the wild….

By: Lisa Placek

Would you burn all your money, abandon your car, isolate yourself from your family, and become one with the wild? Chris McCandless did. Chris McCandless is a hero who was not trying to prove anything to anyone, he was not trying to make himself known, all he wanted to do was get away from human civilization and society to live and experience the wild. Some people think that this adventure was just a suicide mission, but his goal was to make it out alive. Chris McCandless accomplished many of his goals, but had an unfortunate mistake death that did not happen on purpose. Chris McCandless was not crazy, he was a hero who was trying to prove to no one except himself that he could make it out alive. 

The first reason I feel as if Chris is a hero rather than crazy is because he went out into the wild looking for freedom from the people and society. Jon Krakauer states that, “He invented a new life for himself, taking up residence at the ragged margin of our society, wondering across North America in search of raw, transcendent experience.” (1) Chris McCandless was simply a hero because he did risky things, but he took the chances. Chris McCandless is also a hero because he touched the people’s lives of whom he met.

The second reason I feel as if Chris was not just looking for a suicide mission is that he goal was not go into the wild to die and rot there, his goal was to experience nature and make it out alive. If Chris went out looking for a suicide mission, he would have not wrote an S.O.S note asking for help because he is weak, alone, and near death. The trip was a passion of his to see nature, not to look for a place to kill himself. Jan Burres say, “I thought Alex had lost his mind when he told us about his ‘great Alaskan odyssey,’ as he called it. But he was really excited about it. Couldn’t stop talking about the trip.”(45) He made friends along the way on his adventure. Each and every one of them grew a strong relationship with Chris. If Chris was just looking for a suicide mission, he would not have made connection with these people.

The third reason I feel as if Chris’ was smart in the decisions he made because he knew what he was getting himself into. Chris only brought a few items with him on the trip because he wanted to live strictly off nature. He told Jim Gallien, “I’m absolutely positive; I won’t run into anything I can’t deal with on my own.” (6) He did not want to take all these items with him into the wild because he rather lived off the land and try to provide for them.

Chris McCandless was a hero, not crazy. He was not going out on a suicide mission; he was looking for an adventure. Chris McCandless journey was to prove to himself that he could get out of nature. He did not care about society and human civilization; he just wanted to live off of the land. Would you have the guts to do what he did?