Compare And Contrast Krakauer Vs Epstein

Argumentative Essay Some people believe they are able to naturally live their own lives while others believe they need to prepare for it. The authors, Jon Krakauer and David Epstein provide two contrasting examples about the topic. The author of Into The Wild, Jon Krakauer, talks about a student that makes his own choices to live on his own. The author of The Sports Gene, David Epstein, argues that innate talent has given an advantage on athletic practice. Krakauer answers the prompt “How much of what happens in our lives do we actually control?” more convincingly than Epstein because of stronger evidence, rhetoric, and logical reasoning. Jon Krakauer explains the role of fate in life better than Epstein with stronger evidence. Chris McCandless comes to a moment in his life when he decided to make his own decisions, “I think I’m going to disappear for a while” (Krakauer 16). He no longer listens to the authorities and wants to experience a new life. Krakauer includes this information

A smart person majoring in history and anthropology, he declines an offer from a school, “He was offered membership in Phi Beta Kappa but declined, insisting that titles and honors are irrelevant” (Krakauer 16). McCandless decides that the services of school and society have no impact on his fate in life. Krakauer includes this important information because it is strange for a smart person to make a claim like this. Epstein uses facts and research in his excerpt to find what got Thomas all the way to be a champion, “. . . [A] longer Achilles tendon allows an athlete to get more power from what’s caked the “stretch shortening cycle,” basically compression” (Epstein 7). The decisions Thomas made were all accomplished because of his Achilles tendon which basically led him to first place in the championship. Epstein doesn’t give enough detail because not much of the information answers the