The first Chapter tells the readers about Jim Gallien, a union electrician, and his encounter with a hitchhiker. The hitchhiker introduces himself as Alex from South Dakota, although his real name is Christopher Johnson McCandless, originally from Virginia. Chris tells Gallien that he “want[s] a ride as far as the edge of Denali National Park, where he intend[s] to walk deep into the bush and “live off the land for a few months”” (Krakauer 4). Gallien admits that he believed Chris would be another “of those crackpots from the lower forty-eight who come north to live out ill-considered Jack London fantasies” (Krakauer 4), but he soon realizes that Chris knew exactly what he was letting himself in for.
Throughout Chapters Eight and Nine, Krakauer describes and begins to develop the other infamous four explorers stories whom Chris McCandless's story is similar to theirs. Krakauer also notices the lack of sympathy that the Alaskans felt for McCandless when they knew about his death. Many of them felt that he was a foolish child, who arrogantly wondered alone in the wilderness with no shelter or food to keep him alive. Krakauer made his own beliefs clear, that McCandless shared some characteristics and behaviors with these four adventurers, the only one who is truly like him is Everett Ruess, the other three men were a little similar because Carl McCunn was more naive, John Waterman was actually mentally insane and Gene Rosellini was a good
At the beginning of the chapter, we learn that many people who read the January 1993 edition of Outside felt that McCandless was mentally disturbed. The story generated a large volume of mail on what many thought was the glorification of a foolish death. Most of the negativity came from Alaskan citizens. Everyone commented on how there was nothing positive about Chris or the journey that he was taking. Nick Jans, a schoolteacher, wrote the most critical note to Krakauer.
Zoe Engel 6-19-23 Mr. Selfridge Period: 2 Stepping Into the Wilderness The work of nonfiction Into The Wild, by Jon Krakauer, tells the true story of Chris McCandless, an adventurous young man, who leaves home to travel around the continent eventually setting foot into the Alaskan wilderness on a journey that becomes fatal. Highlighted throughout this work of nonfiction is the true story of McCandless’s life, along with bits of Krakauer’s personal life as it relates to McCandless’s. Each chapter begins with at least one epigraph that shares common themes with the following chapter. The focus in this paper will be on chapter 14, “The Stikine Ice Cap,” in which Krakauer shares his experience climbing the Devil’s Thumb in Alaska, and the second
the idea of equality was taken to the extreme. Satire is also used to exaggerate how awful equality is to persuade readers to believe that total equality will violate human rights. Kurt Vonnegut also uses symbols such as handicaps which make everyone equal and Harrison Bergeron to display the lack of freedom present in a world of total equality.
Author, Jon Krakauer’s nonfiction novel, Into the Wild, recounts the two years of Christopher McCandless journey across the United States after graduating from college. His odyssey began with McCandless leaving all emotional attachments and material items behind and ended with him being unable to find food and dying alone in the wilderness in 1992. In Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Krakauer follows a transcendental philosophy through the didactic tone and diction as is illustrated in the quotation, “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth” (Thoreau qtd. In Krakauer).
In the Novel Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer, the author of this Novel, tells the story of Chris McCandless an hitchhiker who was found death in a remote area in Alaska. The Novel details his experience throughout his journey and why he decided to go on his expedition. McCandless graduated from Emory University with honors. After his graduation, McCandless decided to donate his college savings and personal belongings to charity and embark on his expedition of self-discovering. McCandless friend Andy Horowitz, who both went to High school together and was on the same cross-country team states, “He was looking for more adventure and freedom than today’s society gives people.”
Component 1: Writing Analysis Growth Narrative Throughout the semester growth can be seen in my writing from the Into the Wild prep work that demonstrates my starting point to the final Into the Wild Essay that demonstrates my improvement. The prep work was one of the very first assignments of the year and I particularly struggled within the section “Reasoning” and more specifically, “building my language through cause and effect language.” After writing this assignment, I wanted to focus on building a more articulate analysis through my reasoning by using “if/then” statements. My first draft contained the statement, “Krakauer’s repetition of the word “relieved,” indicates how isolation was comforting to McCandless (55).
Most authors, when writing futuristic stories, tend to have technological advances like flying cars or robots to add that flare. However, in the story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut there is nothing of the sort. In the year 2081, the US government has tried to reach full equality by using handicaps on the gifted. The society’s rules leave more people with pain and anger rather than a sense of total equality with each other. Which leads some readers to wonder what a society where the ungifted were lifted up instead of the gifted put down would be like in comparison with Vonneguts.
“The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal”1 is a statement that in the mouth of the American writer should sound at least victorious. However, Kurt Vonnegut in the opening line of his dystopian short story Harrison Bergeron creates a highly ironical declaration, which he later ridicules by the following story. The author who gained his fame by writing the novel Slaughterhouse-Five, describes the world supposedly equal and free, but entirely bound by the laws that command the lives of people. That describes also fairly well the second short story 2 B R 0 2 B, which title refers to the famous phrase “to be or not to be”2 from William Shakespeare 's Hamlet, as mentioned in the text, “the trick telephone number that people who didn 't
I agree with the point he made in his essay and feel that life is too short to be scared to be happy and accomplish your goals. I was already a firm believer in life is to short to settle for less, however, after Reading and watching Steve Jobs 2005 commencement it made me really realize even more that in life you can not be afraid to take risk in life. In the beginning of the commencement Steve says “Remembering that i’ll be dead soon is the most important tool i’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life” Jobs,
Similar to Frederick Douglass, Nat Turner also understood his slave status through education. In the book “The Confessions of Nat Turner” by Thomas R. Gray, Nat Turner indicated “And my father and mother strengthened me in this my first impression, saying in my presence, I was intended for some great purpose, which they had always thought from certain marks on my head and breast.” When he was a child, he did not realize that the purpose of his life; also, he could not understand what his family member expected on him. However, when he was grew up and began learning to read and write, he knew that he has a responsibility to help himself, his family, and other fellow slaves to escape from slavery and gaining freedom. Moreover, similar to Frederick
In Thomas King 's autobiographical novel, The Truth About Stories takes a narrative approach in telling the story of the Native American, as well as Thomas King 's. The stories within the book root from the obstacles that the Thomas King had to face during his years in high school and his post-university life. These stories are told in a matter that uses rhetorical devices such as personal anecdotes & comparisons. "You 'll Never Believe What Happened" Is Always a Great Way to Start is about the importance, potential, and dangers of stories, specifically those of creation stories and how they can shape a culture, with the aim to share King 's urgency for social change with his readers King 's informal tone, lighthearted jokes, and effort to make his writing follow the style of native oral tradition as closely as possible, all help the reader understand the type of narrative he believes would be most beneficial for the foundation of a society. His unique style allows for the use of personal anecdotes and requires that he breaks the proverbial fourth wall to communicate with the reader directly, to create the conversational feel of the oral tradition.
Lamb to the Slaughter is an action packed short story about a wife who is let down by her husband and proceeds to kill him as an act of revenge. Obviously much more happens in this story consisting of humour, action, mystery and irony. Roald Dahl is a master of writing short stories in ways that attract readers, draw them into what is happening through using literary elements and universal themes to make the story relatable to the readers. In this story the main literary elements were foreshadowing, situation and dramatic irony, imagery and symbolism which really drew me in and kept me attached to the story. Literary elements are what make a story powerful and attracts readers to continue reading in the story and in this story they highlight the universal theme of Revenge and Betrayal.
Based on a real story, Into the Wild can make us think from different perspectives about what the main character Christopher McCandless did. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a dramatic but also remarkable story from a young, newly graduated, college student that escaped for a long wild journey but never came back. As time passes throughout the book, the reader may notice how the main character interacts with society and nature, finally McCandless dies in the wild but even though he was struggling for survival he died happy. Some people never get out of their comfort zone, others are tired of it and retire from their comfort zone to have different experiences in life, some are good enough or some are terrible.
