Into The WildBy Jon Krakauer

English Language Arts IIName:___________________________________________

INTO THE WILD READING SCHEDULE1

Date In Class HomeworkMarch 12th Introduction

Vocabulary Author’s note & Chapter 1

Read chapter 2 & 3 and complete LC role

March 13th Chapter 2 and 3 (with LC group)

Read chapter 4 and complete LC role

March 14th Chapter 4 (with LC group)Chapter 5 in class

Read chapter 6 and answer questions

March 17th Chapter 6 (review questions)Chapter 7 in class

Prepare for Socratic Seminar Ch.1-7

March 18th Socratic SeminarChapter 8 (in class)

Read chapter 9 &10 and complete Lit Circle

March 19th Chapter 9&10 (with LC Group)

Read chapter 11 and complete LC role

March 20th Chapter 11 (with LC group)

Read chapters 12-13 and answer questions

March 21th Chapter 12-13 (review questions)Chapter 14 (with class)

Read chapter 15 and complete LC Roles

March 24st Chapter 15 (with LC Group)

Prepare for Socratic Seminar

March 25th Socratic Seminar Chapters 8-15Chapter 16 (in-class)

Chapters 17-18 and complete Lit Circle Role

March 26th Chapters 17-18 (with LC Group)Epilogue (with class)Review for Test

Study for TEST

March 27th ITW TestVocabulary.com list mastery due

Prepare for in-class writing

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March 28th ITW in class writingMarch 31st ITW Movie

These dates are tentative and may change.

Pre-Reading Questions

1. Think about your experience hiking, backpacking, and/or existing in the wild/nature. What are the benefits of any one of these activities?

2. Think about some alternative plans you might have to beginning college immediately after high school. What might you do? Why would you do it, and for how long could you see yourself doing that activity?

3. Think about an experience you have had when you were alone and made some misjudgments that could have led to disaster but didn’t (it doesn’t have to be in the outdoors). What miscalculations did you make and how did you avert disaster?

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Key Terms/People

Romanticism-

A movement in art and literature in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in revolt against the Neoclassicism of the previous centuries. The German poet Friedrich Schlegel, who is given credit for first using the term romantic to describe literature, defined it as "literature depicting emotional matter in an imaginative form." This is as accurate a general definition as can be accomplished, although Victor Hugo's phrase "liberalism in literature" is also apt. Imagination, emotion, and freedom are certainly the focal points of romanticism. Any list of particular characteristics of the literature of romanticism includes subjectivity and an emphasis on individualism; spontaneity; freedom from rules; solitary life rather than life in society; the beliefs that imagination is superior to reason and devotion to beauty; love of and worship of nature; and fascination with the past, especially the myths and mysticism of the middle ages.

American poets: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allen Poe, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman

Transcendentalism-

The adherents to Transcendentalism believed that knowledge could be arrived at not just through the senses, but through intuition and contemplation of the internal spirit. As such, they professed skepticism of all established religions, believing that Divinity resided in the individual, and the mediation of a church was cumbersome to achieving enlightenment. Many distinctly Romantic tropes echo through the pages of transcendental literature. Obviously, the predilection to turn to the natural world for intimations of truth was a recurrent theme for the Romantics. In Transcendental philosophy, the grind of ordinary life and society are seen as barriers between the self and the spirit. Thus, Nature presents a way to free the mind of its typical distractions. The very word “transcend” connotes moving beyond some stultifying condition of mind or body. Another strongly Romantic concept that the Transcendentalists embraced was the renewed

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potency and potentiality of the individual. Specifically, the imagination was glorified as one of the defining, almost divine characteristics of consciousness. Through imagination, the human mind could extend itself in ways that had never been considered. Transcendentalists differed somewhat from the Romantics in that they ultimately wanted to effect change, both personally and globally. This newly enlightened, transcendent individual could go into the world and work to make it a better place.

Ralph Waldo Emerson-

If the Transcendental Movement had a founding father, then he was most certainly Ralph Waldo Emerson. However, he only reluctantly adopted the role of figurehead. He mostly preferred to remain behind the scenes, observing the action but not participating.

Henry David Thoreau-

Not content to simply muse and write about the new way of thinking, Thoreau sought to live the Transcendental life to its fullest potential. He spent two years living in a self-built cabin on Walden Pond on land that belonged to Emerson. His goal was to simplify his existence, get back in tune with the natural world, and have more freedom to write and meditate. Thoreau would later recount his experience in Walden, or Life in the Woods. While living on Walden Pond, Thoreau was arrested and spent a night in jail for tax evasion. He argued that his political beliefs forbade him from supporting the government through taxes. The experience of his arrest served as the inspiration for an essay which would later be known as Civil Disobedience. In the essay, Thoreau outlines the justification and even the responsibility of citizens to peacefully resist the government’s power whenever that power reached too far.

At Walden Pond, he lived almost entirely on what the land would provide for him. He communicated little with the outside world, despite the fact that he was only a few miles from civilization. It is a fair criticism that Thoreau’s expression of Transcendentalist philosophy was impractical. Not everyone can retreat into solitude for years at a time. Society would grind to a halt were the whole world to go on leave. However, the literary output that Walden Pond allowed for is a landmark in American philosophy.

Leo Tolstoy-

Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy also known as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Tolstoy was a master of realistic fiction and is widely considered one of the world's greatest novelists. He is best known for two long novels, War and Peace and Anna Karenina . Tolstoy is equally known for his complicated and paradoxical persona and for his extreme moralistic and ascetic views, which he adopted after a moral crisis and spiritual awakening in the 1870s, after which he also became noted as a moral thinker and social reformer. He was born into a wealthy family with a controlling father. He studied to become a lawyer, but left university life to become a farmer instead.

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Jack London-

Jack London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone. Some of his most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in the Klondike Gold Rush in Alaska.

Epigraph – a quote or reference at the start of a chapter of a book that is related to the contents of a chapter or refers to a theme in the chapter

Literature CircleWhat is a Literature Circle?

Literature Circles provides you with an opportunity to reflect upon what you have read, as well as to contribute to the overall meaning of the text. Furthermore, the literature circle encourages you to narrow your focus, as each group member is responsible for one specific role.

Literature Circles afford each group member the occasion to “try out a new role,” i.e. one session you might fulfill the role of summarizer, whereas at another session you would assume the title of motif hunter, etc. Groups will continue to cycle through the roles indicated below until each has moved full “circle.”

Your notes will be collected and graded. In every set of notes I expect:

Neatly written or typed notes that are organized. This means MLA heading, assigned role and chapter

Literature Circle Roles and Descriptions:

1. Discussion Director2. Figurative Language Finder3. Theme Detective4. Li. Movement Monitor5. Character Analyzer6. Connector/Commentator

Discussion Director

What do I do?

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1. Write at least 5 thought provoking questions for discussion. These should be questions which cannot be answered with “yes or no”. You are encouraged to write more questions if you like. Consider:

Character development Plot development Compare characters Make outside the text connections Ask for opinions/evaluations

2. Select one quote from the story, copy it, and cite the page number. Also, write a brief paragraph explaining why you chose the quote.

What do I do when my group meets?

Pose your questions, one at a time, to your group and try to get them to discuss the topic. Make sure:

Everyone has a chance to respond The same student does not respond each time Students SUPPORT THEIR ANSWERS with evidence from the text and explanation.

Ask them why? Take notes based on others’ roles

Figurative Language Finder

What do I do?

1. Take notes on the passages you select from the reading, which are examples of figurative language. Refer to our class handout about this if needed. Cite page numbers

Identify: What type of figurative language is being used? How does this help the reader understand or connect with the book?

2. Select one quote from the story, copy it, and cite the page number. Also, write a brief paragraph explaining why you chose it.

What do I do when I meet with my group?

Share the passages you identified and read these passages to the group, as they follow along in their books.

Discuss the following:

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1. What type of figurative language is this? 2. How does this help the reader understand or connect with the book?3. What is your opinion of this example?4. Compare this example to others you have discussed previously.

Take notes based on others’ roles

Theme/Motif Detective

What do I do?

1. Take notes on passages/events that represent any of our theme indicators. You should copy quotes and provide page numbers.

Theme Indicators: Truth, Fathers and sons (relationships), Risk, Simplicity, Adventure, Natural beauty, Independence

Motif Indicators: The pseudonym “Alexander Supertramp”, Physical pain or discomfort, Connections with strangers, Expressions of creativity

2. Select one quote from the story, copy it, and cite the page number. Also, write a brief paragraph explaining why you chose it.

What do I do when I meet in my group?

Share the passages you identified and read these passages to the group. As they follow along in their books.

Discuss the development of the themes/motifs thus far in the novel-how has it grown? Are you getting a clear picture of what the theme statement might be?

Take notes based on others’ roles

Lit. Movement Monitor

What do I do?

1. Take notes on passages/events that represent either Romanticism or Transcendentalism. You should copy quotes and provide page numbers.

2. Select one quote from the story, copy it, and cite the page number. Also, write a brief paragraph explaining why you chose it.

What do I do when I meet in my group?

Share the passages you identified and read these passages to the group. As they follow along in their books.

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Discuss the development of the mode thus far in the novel. Are you getting a clear picture of how these modes connect to the themes of the story?

Take notes based on others’ roles

Character Analyzer

What do I do?

1. Provide a description of any new character(s) introduced within the assigned chapter(s). You should quotes and include page number. Consider the following items when classifying each character:

physical description personality traits relation to other characters role within the story, noticeable change/evolution and any memorable event in which the character is involved. If no new character is introduced, focus on a character not previously highlighted.

Special attention should be paid to character development (change over time).

2. Select one quote from the story, copy it, and cite the page number. Also, write a brief paragraph explaining why you chose it.

What do I do when I meet in my group?

Share the passages you identified and read these passages to the group. As they follow along in their books.

Discuss the development of the characters thus far in the novel- Why are they important? What is their role within the story? How have they changed/developed?

Take notes based on others’ roles

Connector / Commentator

What do I do?

1. Take notes on passages/events that represent a comparison between what is happening in the book and something outside the text. You should copy quotes and provide page numbers.

This connection may be to a current or historical event, another story you have read, or movie/TV show you have seen. In addition, you might personally connect with a scene and/or character, in which case you can describe how you are like that specific character (i.e. endured a similar hardship, etc.).

2. Write a brief paragraph in which you make an evaluative comment on the plot, character(s), motif(s), or theme(s)

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What do I do when I meet in my group?

Share the passages you identified and read these passages to the group. As they follow along in their books.

Discuss the connections you made. Encourage each group member to share one connection too.

Share your evaluative comment on the plot. Allow each group member to share one evaluative comment too.

Take notes based on others’ roles

Please remember to choose a different role each time your group meets. Ideally, each person will have had at least one opportunity to try each “job” at least one time.

Study/Discussion QuestionsAnswer these questions on a separate sheet of paper

Chapter 1:1. According to Jim Gallien, what attracts some people from the lower forty-eight to Alaska? What do they find instead? 2. Clearly, “Alex” was Chris McCandless. Why might he have used a false name with Gallien? 3. Why did Alex strike Gallien as unprepared? 4. What picture of Alex does the reader get in Chapter One? What might have motivated his adventure? 

Chapter 2:1. Krakauer opens the chapter with an excerpt from Jack London’s White Fang. Describe the tone of the excerpt. How does it set the scene for Chapter Two? 2. How did Ken Thompson, Gordon Samel, and Ferdie Swanson reach the abandoned bus? What does their journey suggest about them? 3. How did the couple from Anchorage and the hunting trio determine what was inside the bus? What specific actions did Samel take? 4. What reason did Butch Killian give for not wanting to evacuate the man’s remains? 5. Based on the details about the recovery and evacuation of his remains, what can be inferred about Chris McCandless’s final days? 

Chapter 3:1. Describe Carthage. What about the town appealed to McCandless? 2. Characterize the relationship between Westerberg and McCandless. What admirable traits did Westerberg see in McCandless? 3. What trait did Westerberg think got McCandless into trouble? 4. Why was Westerberg imprisoned? 

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5. What can be inferred about McCandless through the gift he gave Westerberg (a copy of War and Peace)? 6. What can the reader infer about McCandless through the gift he gave his mother (candy, chocolates, and a card)? 7. Describe McCandless’s family and educational background. 8. What appeared to be a source of discord between McCandless and his parents? 9. How did McCandless prevent his parents from finding out he left Atlanta? 

Chapter 4:1. Describe the Lake Mead National Recreation Area where Chris camped. 2. Why might McCandless have decided against seeking help from the rangers when his car battery died? 3. What reaction did McCandless have to losing the use of his car? 4. What was the significance of McCandless’s burning his money? What role does money play in this chapter? 5. How did Walt and Billie learn their son was in California? 6. Why might McCandless have referred to himself in the third person in his journal entries? 7. As his adventure continued, McCandless became thinner, had run-ins with the law, and brushes with death. Despite all these, how did he feel about his journey, and why? 

Chapter 51. Describe Bullhead City. Why does Krakauer refer to it as an “oxymoronic” community? 2. Why was it unusual for McCandless to be attracted to Bullhead City? 3. What was McCandless’s life in Bullhead City like? Why did he ultimately leave? 4. McCandless and Jan Burres had a meaningful connection. Why? What did each see in the other? 5. Krakauer writes of McCandless’s obsession with Jack London’s writings that he seemed to forget they were works of fiction, constructions of the imagination that had more to do with London’s romantic sensibilities than with the actualities of life in the subarctic wilderness. McCandless conveniently overlooked the fact that London himself had spent just a single winter in the North. This passage marks one of the first times Krakauer inserts his judgments about McCandless. What does Krakauer’s opinion of McCandless seem to be? 6. Was McCandless introverted, social, or both? Explain. 7. McCandless rejected the gift of warm clothing from Burres. Why? 

Chapter 61. What misperception did Ronald Franz have about McCandless after their first meeting? How did McCandless clear up this misperception? 2. Describe Franz, and explain why he grew so attached to McCandless. 3. Why did McCandless resist attachment to people? Was he successful? 4. Why did Franz want to adopt McCandless, and what was the latter’s reaction? 

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5. Contrast Franz’s existence in Salton City with McCandless’s existence. 6. Franz took a light touch with McCandless, never pushing him too hard or making too many demands. Why? 7. Describe the errors McCandless saw in Franz’s way of life. What did McCandless offer as a route to happiness instead? 

Chapter 71. McCandless would neglect to clean rancid chicken grease from a microwave, yet according to Westerberg, he was neither lazy nor a “space cadet.” What accounted for McCandless’s lapses in judgment? 2. How were Chris and Walt McCandless alike, and how were they different? How did this set up a conflict between them? 3. Why might McCandless have remained celibate? 4. What was the nature of McCandless’s relationship with Gail Borah? 5. Describe two clues that McCandless had decided to shed attachments once he reached Alaska. 6. How do the letters McCandless sends at the end of Chapter Seven foreshadow what is to come? 

Chapter 81. Why were many of the Alaskans who wrote letters about McCandless so critical of him? Why were they critical of Krakauer? 2. Why might Alaskans in particular have felt critical of McCandless? 3. What question did Gene Rossellini hope to answer by adopting a primitive lifestyle, and what did he ultimately determine? 4. Who was John Waterman? What happened to him, and why? 5. Describe Carl McCunn. How did he perish, and why? 6. Contrast McCandless with Rosellini, Waterman, and McCunn. 7. What purpose might Krakauer have in recounting the stories of Rosellini, Waterman, and McCunn? 

Chapter 91. Describe three similarities between Everett Ruess and Chris McCandless. 2. Everett Ruess wrote to his friend: “But then I am always being overwhelmed. I require it to sustain life.” What did he mean? 3. Why did Everett Ruess likely adopt the name “Nemo”? 4. What might have compelled Ruess to write his name on landmarks he passed? 5. What did Ken Sleight believe happened to Ruess? 6. Why does Krakauer include the story of the papar? 

Chapter 101. Why did Jim Gallien think the hiker found dead might be Alex? 

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2. Why didn’t the Alaska State Troopers take Westerberg seriously when he first called? 3. Describe the difference between the tax forms McCandless filled out for Westerberg in 1990 and in 1992. What might account for the difference? 4. Who was the first person in McCandless’s family to learn of his death, and what about the information concerning the Alaskan hiker’s identity was ironic? 

Chapter 111. Krakauer writes of Walt McCandless, “Even from across the room it is apparent that some very high voltage is crackling through his wires.” What does he mean? 2. What did Chris do when he was two years old, and how does the incident reflect his personality? 3. What was Billie’s father like? How were these characteristics reflected in Chris? 4. Why was running the ideal sport for Chris? 5. Describe two contradictions in Chris’s personality. 6. Describe how Chris was different from his high school classmates. 7. Why was it particularly important to Billie and Walt that Chris go to college? 8. What argument did Billie present to Chris to compel him to attend college? 

Chapter 121. Why did Walt refrain from objecting to Chris’s travels? 2. Chris boasted to his father that his grades were good enough to earn him admission to Harvard Law School. Why might he have said this to Walt? 3. How did Chris’s relationship with his parents change in college? What accounted for the change, at least in part? 4. Describe Chris’s political beliefs and activities in college. 5. How did Chris’s family feel about his growing distance from them—and then his disappearance? 6. The chapter opens with a quote from Walden about a table “where were [sic] rich food and wine in abundance, an obsequious attendance, but sincerity and truth were not; and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board.” Chris highlighted these lines and wrote the word “Truth” at the top of the page. Why might he have done this? 

Chapter 131. Why did Carine wonder if things would have turned out differently if Chris had taken Buckley with him? 2. How were Carine and Chris similar? How were they different? 3. What is Krakauer’s tone as he describes Billie’s grief? 

Chapter 141. How does Krakauer segue from McCandless’s story to his own? What question does he purport to answer? 

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2. What similarity does Krakauer identify between his and McCandless’s relationships with figures of male authority? 3. What does Krakauer mean when he writes about picking at his “existential scabs”? 4. Describe the appeal the Alaskan mountain Devils Thumb—particularly its immense north wall— held for Krakauer. 5. What emotion did Kai—Krakauer’s host in Petersburg— evoke from him? 6. Describe Krakauer’s response after the pilot dropped his boxes and left. Why might he have responded this way? 

Chapter 151. What happened to Krakauer’s tent, and why did it upset him? 2. Describe Lewis Krakauer. 3. What resolution of his conflicts with his father did Krakauer achieve? 4. In what way was the Devils Thumb similar to medical school? 5. How did Krakauer end up summiting the Devils Thumb? 6. Krakauer wrote that he never had a doubt that climbing the Devils Thumb would change his life. Did it? Why or why not? 

Chapter 161. What did McCandless promise Stuckey he would do, and what wouldn’t he promise to do? 2. Krakauer suggested that McCandless might have been planning to resume a more normal life after his Alaska adventure concluded. Why might one draw this conclusion? 3. What upset McCandless about killing the moose, and why? 4. What indicated that McCandless had decided to leave the bush earlier than he had originally planned? 5. Why did McCandless resolve to return to the bus? 

Chapter 171. Why didn’t McCandless carry a map? 2. Describe the terrain after Krakauer and his companions crossed the river. What feelings did it evoke in Krakauer? 3. What did Krakauer find when he entered the bus, and how did it affect him? 4. How was McCandless’s arrogance different from Sir John Franklin’s? 5. What general point does Krakauer make about youth and risk? 6. Why did Roman think McCandless’s critics might feel the way they do? 

Chapter 181. To what did Krakauer initially attribute McCandless’s death? 2. Ultimately, what did Krakauer determine poisoned McCandless? Why does the new information matter to McCandless’s story? 3. Why did the cabin owners suspect McCandless was the person who vandalized them? 

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4. What are some likely reasons for McCandless’s failure to set a forest fire to mark his presence? 5. Describe two indications that McCandless might have been peaceful at the end of his life. 

Epilouge1. Compare Billie’s feelings of anticipation about the trip to the bus with Walt’s. 2. What was Walt and Billie’s reaction to seeing the bus’s setting? 3. Explain how seeing the site of their son’s death gave Walt and Billie solace. 

Into the Wild Vocabulary Please master the following list of vocabulary on Vocabulary.com. You will get credit for your mastery of the list.

List Mastery is due:______________________________________

This will count as a vocabulary test gradeChapter 1• unsullied• sonorous• meandered

Chapter 2• trough• amalgam• permafrost• derelict• oxidized• anomaly• opaque • amphibious• environs• enigmatic

Chapter 3• hyperkinetic• itinerant• estranged• nomadic• unencumbered• emancipated

Chapters 4–7• intermittent• emasculated• indolently• espoused• desiccated• endemic • unalloyed• surfeit

Chapters 8–10• hubris• requisite • contrived • theatrics• equanimity• sinewy• enigmatic• compulsive• copious• circuitous• labyrinth• flamboyant

• ephemeral• overwrought• callow romantic• esthete• atavistic • incendiary • brush name• penchant

Chapters 11–13• taciturn•mercurial• entrepreneurial • nuance• inequities• incorrigible • monomania• clemency• lenity• choler •indignation• sanctimonious•hypocrite

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• obliquely• anomalous • idiosyncratic • extemporaneous• insurrectionists• abbreviated trip• recalcitrant squint• delineating• keening• balks• fatuous

Chapters 14 and 15• melodramatic • zeal• exfoliated

• demarcates• gauzy reverie• desideratum• penitent• inebriated• phantasmagoria• madrigal• extricated• recumbent• chutzpah• epiphany• volition• malevolent

Chapters 16–18• Rubicon

• perambulation• autonomy• claustrophobic• lacerations• malevolent• coppice• repertoire• resilience• moral absolutism• feral • precipitous • insidiously

Epilogue• epilogue• anomalous

Journal Prompts:

Journal #1We know from Jim Gallien that Chris McCandless, or “Alex,” was, by Alaskan standards, somewhat unprepared for his journey into the wilderness. Gallien said that McCandless’ pack looked far too small for such an adventure, and that his boots were junk. However, he seemed intent upon getting away, going so far as to tell Gallien that he no longer needed his watch because he didn’t even want to know what day it was. With all this in mind, do you think that he was completely crazy, or just an unprepared idealist? Why?

Journal #2Krakauer writes that McCandless saw the flash flood that “ruined” his car as an opportunity to “shed unnecessary baggage.” He burned his money and buried his belongings, then set off on foot. Do a mental inventory of your life; what items do you have that you know you could get rid of? What do you think you absolutely couldn’t live without?

Journal #3At this point in the text, what are your impressions of Chris/Alex? Support your claim with at least two pieces of evidence from the text. In your paragraph include the following:

#1 Topic Sentence - should cover everything that will be discussed in that paragraph.#2 Examples/Details - use specific times in the story when the character trait is shown

Three categories of details:WORDS - what the character says, or what is said about the characterTHOUGHTS - what the character thinksACTIONS - what the character actually does

#3 Quote examples of the words, thoughts or actions in the paragraphs you write as proof of the trait.

Two categories of quotes:

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DIRECT QUOTE - copy word for word what is in the book• put what you copy in quotes ( "xxxx" )• put the page number you copied the quote from"Julie forgot the combination after Christmas break" (43).INDIRECT QUOTE• use your words to describe a specific event• use page numbers even though it is not word for wordAfter Christmas break, Julie couldn't remember her locker combo (43).

#4 Explanations - be sure to explain what the quote/detail demonstrates or shows.Make the point you want to make. Lead the reader to the conclusion you want him/her to reach: don't expect your reader to “just get it”

Journal #4According to Walt McCandless, Chris caused him a tremendous amount ofpain, despite having “so much compassion.” In your opinion, is causing parents pain part of theprocess of growing up, or is it avoidable?

Journal #5John Krakauer writes that both he and McCandless were challenged by the ideals that their fathers had for them. Consider your own life for a moment; are there expectations that have beenfoisted upon you that you have no interest in fulfilling? What are they? Or, conversely, do you find that you like some of the expectations that have been put upon you? Why?

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Socratic Seminar Chapters 1-7

Summarizing and Responding

1. Summarizing is a very important skill used to extract the main ideas from a text and explain what the author says about them. Try to write a one-sentence summary of Chapters 1-7. If a friend who hadn’t read it asked you what it is about, what would you say?

2. Ron Franz taught McCandless how to do leatherworking. Krakauer writes,

For his first project McCandless produced a tooled leather belt, on which he created an artful pictorial record of his wanderings. ALEX is inscribed at the belt’s left end; then the initials C.J.M (for Christopher Johnson McCandless) frame skull and crossbones. Across the strip of cowhide one sees a rendering of a two-lane blacktop, a NO U-TURN sign, a thunderstorm producing a flash flood that engulfs a car, a hitchhiker’s thumb, and eagle, the Sierra Nevada, salmon cavorting in the Pacific Ocean, the Pacific Coast Highway from Oregon to Washington, the Rocky Mountains, Montana wheat fields, a South Dakota rattlesnake, Westerberg’s house in Carthage, the Colorado River, a gale in the Gulf of California, a canoe beached beside a tent, Las Vegas, the initials T.C.D., Morro Bay, Astoria, and at the buckle end, finally, the letter N (presumably representing north). Executed with remarkable skill and creativity, this belt is as astonishing as any artifact Chris McCandless left behind. (52)

Near the end of Chapter 7, Westerberg says of the belt,

Alex used to sit at the bar in the Cabaret and read that belt for hours on end… like he was translating hieroglyphics for us. Each picture he’d carved into the leather had a long story behind it. (68)

Considering what you know of McCandless so far, why did he make the belt? What does it represent to him? Why did he feel a need to explain it to others? What stories does it tell?

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3. If you were going to make a belt that told the story of your own life, what would you put on it?

Questions about Logic (Logos)

1. At the end of Chapter 2, Krakauer says of McCandless,

Driving west out of Atlanta, he intended to invent an utterly new life for himself, one in which he would be free to wallow in unfiltered experience. To symbolize the complete severance from his previous life, he even adopted a new name. No longer would he answer to Chris McCandless; he was now Alexander Supertramp, master of his own destiny. (23)

These are some pretty strong assertions about what McCandless was trying to do. Do you believe them at this point? Has Krakauer supported these conclusions about McCandless? What is some of the evidence he presents?

2. In Chapter 6, Krakauer writes,

On March 14, Franz left McCandless on the shoulder of Interstate 70 outside Grand Junction and returned to southern California. McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved was well—relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it. He had fled the claustrophobic confines of his family. He’d successfully kept Jan Burres and Wayne Westerberg at arm’s length, flitting out of their lives before anything was expected of him. And now he’d slipped painlessly out of Ron Franz’s life as well. (55)

Does Krakauer actually know what McCandless was feeling at that point? How can he tell? What evidence does he have? Do you think he is right?

3. In Chapter 6, McCandless writes to Ron Franz, telling him,

You are wrong if you think Joy emanates only or principally from human relationships. God has placed it all around us. It is in everything and anything we might experience. We just have to have the courage to turn against our habitual lifestyle and engage in unconventional living.

My point is that you do not need me or anyone else around to bring this new kind of light in your life. It is simply waiting out there for you to grasp it, and all you have to do is reach for it. The only person you are fighting is yourself and your stubbornness to engage in new circumstances. (57-58)

Does McCandless offer any evidence for these assertions about life? Are his life and his journey an argument for or against this position? Is Ron Franz convinced? Are you?

Questions about the Writer (Ethos)

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1. Does Krakauer have an acceptable background to speak with authority on this subject? Why or why not?

2. Is this author knowledgeable? Smart? Successful? 3. What does the author’s style and language tell you about him? 4. Do you trust this author? Why or why not?

Questions about Emotions (Pathos)

1. Does this section of the book affect you emotionally? Which parts? 2. Do you think the author is trying to manipulate your emotions? If so, how? 3. Do your emotions conflict with your logical interpretation of the arguments?

Socratic Seminar Chapters 8-15

Summarizing and Responding

Chapters 1-7 describe McCandless’s journey and death. Chapters 8-15 try to put McCandless’s life in a larger context by comparing him to other people: other wanderers, his family, and the author of the book.

1. How does McCandless compare with the other wanderers Krakauer describes? In what ways is McCandless similar? In what ways is he different? Do we understand McCandless better after making these comparisons?

2. Krakauer and others have speculated that McCandless was estranged from his family because of his relationship with his father. What was his family life like? Does it explain his later behavior?

3. Krakauer clearly feels a strong connection to McCandless. Do you think they were very similar? Why or why not? In what ways is this book as much about Krakauer as it is about McCandless?

4. Taking your notes and your answers to the above questions into account, write a short paragraph answering the following question: Who was Chris McCandless?

Questions about Logic (Logos)

1. Krakauer summarizes the response to his article by saying, “The prevailing Alaska wisdom held that McCandless was simply one more dreamy half-cocked greenhorn who went into the country expecting to find answers to all his problems and instead found only mosquitos and a lonely death” (72). Has Krakauer made the case that the prevailing Alaska wisdom is wrong? Why or why not?

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2. Krakauer argues in Chapter 14 that McCandless’s death was unplanned and was a terrible accident (134). Does the book so far support that position? Do you agree with Krakauer? Why or why not?

Questions about the Writer (Ethos)

1. Chapters 14 and 15 describe Krakauer’s successful attempt when he was 23 years old to climb the “Devil’s Thumb,” a mountain in Alaska. He also describes what he thinks are parallels between McCandless and himself. Do these chapters increase his credibility for writing this book, or do they undermine his credibility by making it seem like he has his own agenda and is not objective?

Questions about Emotions (Pathos)

1. Chapters 11-13 are about McCandless’s relationships with his family. Do any of these descriptions cause an emotional reaction in the reader? If so, what is it about the descriptions that causes this connection? Is it the words? Is it that we identify with the family situations? Do these effects make the book more powerful? Explain your answer.

2. Chapters 14-15 describe the author’s actions and his emotional and psychological state as he climbs the mountain. For example, when he accidentally burns a big hole in his tent, which actually belongs to his father, he is more worried about his father’s reaction than the cold. What are some other details that have an emotional impact on the readers? How do these affect you as the reader?

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Timed Writing Assignment (Option A)

What kind of person was Chris McCandless and what was he trying to do?

You will have 45 minutes to plan and write an essay on the topic assigned below. Before you begin writing, read the passage carefully and plan what you will say. Your essay should be as well organized and carefully written as you can make it.

Jon Krakauer writes,

McCandless didn’t conform particularly well to the bush-casualty stereotype. Although he was rash, untutored in the ways of the backcountry, and incautious to the point of foolhardiness, he wasn’t incompetent—he wouldn’t have lasted 113 days if he were. And he wasn’t a nutcase, he wasn’t a sociopath, he wasn’t an outcast. McCandless was something else—although precisely what is hard to say. A pilgrim, perhaps. (85)

What was Chris McCandless seeking in the wilderness? Do you think he found it before he died? Considering these questions and Krakauer’s statement, write an essay in which you define who Chris McCandless was and explain what he was trying to do. Support your conclusions with evidence from your notes and your reading of the text.

Timed Writing Assignment (Option B)

You will have 45 minutes to plan and write an essay on the topic assigned below. Before you begin writing, read the passage carefully and plan what you will say. Your essay should be as well organized and carefully written as you can make it.

According to Shaun Callarman, “Chris McCandless was bright and ignorant at the same time. He had no common sense, and he had no business going into Alaska with his Romantic silliness. He made a lot of mistakes based on arrogance. I don’t admire him at all for his courage nor his noble ideas. Really, I think he was just plain crazy.”

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Explain Callarman’s argument and discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with his analysis. Support your position, providing reasons and examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Timed Writing Assignment (Option C)

You will have 45 minutes to plan and write an essay on the topic assigned below. Before you begin writing, read the passage carefully and plan what you will say. Your essay should be as well organized and carefully written as you can make it.

Is life on the road suited for everyone?

A question implicit in this book is whether something is fundamentally wrong with human society, which McCandless says poisons him, or if there is simply a type of individual who desires the friendship of other humans but can’t abide in society. Krakauer quotes Ken Sleight talking about Everett Ruess, another wanderer like McCandless who disappeared in the wilderness. Sleight says that Ruess was a loner who liked people too much to live in secret all his life. He says,

A lot of us are like that—I’m like that, Ed Abbey was like that, and it sounds like this McCandless kid was like that: We like companionship, see, but we can’t stand to be around people for very long. So we go get ourselves lost, come back for a while, then get the hell out again. (96)

McCandless gives advice consistent with that view to Ron Franz, an 81-year-old man. He writes in a letter, Don’t settle down and sit in one place. Move around, be nomadic, make each day a new horizon. You are still going to live a long time, Ron, and it would be a shame if you did not take the opportunity to revolutionize your life and move into an entirely new realm of experience. (57)

Ron Franz actually follows the advice and moves out of his home. Is this good advice for everyone, or only for a certain kind of person? What does McCandless experience on the road that justifies the risks and discomforts of this kind of life? Considering the quotations and questions above, write an essay in which you discuss the advantages and disadvantages of life on the road. Who should follow this path? Support your views with examples from the text and your own experience.

Strategies for Writing to Time Writing Assignments

1. Read and then reread the prompt. Underline the important verbs that tell you what action to perform. For example, the verbs “define,” “explain,” and “support” are in the above prompt.

2. Identify and explain the argument in the passage.

3. Quickly jot down some ideas that come to mind. Do you agree or disagree with the author’s basic position?

4. Figure out the topics and topic sentences of your body paragraphs, and put them in a brief scratch outline.

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5. Don’t worry about a smooth introduction if nothing comes to mind; begin with your point, your thesis.

6. What is the evidence that you will use to prove your position? Jot down in list form the evidence that comes to mind. Fit these ideas into your paragraph outline under your topic sentences. Having this brief outline will remind you of what you want to say, but it won’t mean that you can’t change your mind.

7. Brainstorm your thoughts in response to the topic. Use your vocabulary log, your annotations, and your notes about the book to provide more ideas and examples from the text and ways to speak about them to help you move as smoothly as possible from reading to writing.

8. Consider what most people know and think about the topic of their papers. To change the opinions of the audience, you will need to think about persuasive techniques, both logical and emotional.

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