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Rhetorical Analysis Of Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer

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Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild investigates the life and adventures of Chris McCandless. The author provides information about Chris’ life to illuminate his journey. Krakauer also uses rhetorical appeals to defend Chris’ rationale for his journey. Through Krakauer’s use of pathos, ethos, and logos, he persuades the audience that Chris is not foolish; however, Krakauer’s intimacy with Chris and his adventures inhibits his objectivity. To establish his credibility, Krakauer demonstrates extensive research of Chris’ life and correlates his life with Chris’; as a result, he discloses his deep connection with Chris. For example, Krakauer constructs a body of evidence to support his argument; however, Krakauer asserts that he is an “impartial biographer” …show more content…

For example, Krakauer employs Ron Franz’s account of Chris and mentions how Franz “regards the world through wary blue eyes” because of Chris’ death (59). Franz’s account evokes emotion to demonstrate the indelible impression Chris has on those he meets. Krakauer loads his story with emotion to allow the readers to sympathize with Chris’ plight; thus, Krakauer’s emotions influence his writing which prevents his ability to remain objective. Moreover, the author recalls the “wrenching loneliness” of his own journey with the Devil’s Thumb in Alaska (151). Krakauer recounts the hardships of his journey to indicate Chris’ emotional state during his journey. Krakauer completes gaps in Chris’ story; but loses objectivity as he intertwines Chris’ experiences and emotions with his own. Though Krakauer’s details about Chris provide insight, his emotional involvement in Chris’ life becomes an …show more content…

For example, Krakauer includes letters that refer to Chris as an “idiot” and a “greenhorn”; yet, Krakauer negates all arguments against Chris and then refers to Chris’ critics as “angry letter writers” (176). To demonstrate that negative perceptions of Chris stem from false information, Krakauer proves that Chris correctly identifies the moose. Krakauer also recognizes counterarguments to Chris’ intelligence, but he negatively describes the people that present the counterarguments. In addition, after extensive experimentation and research, Krakauer concludes that the chemical L-canavanine in the seeds is responsible for Chris’ death (202). Krakauer determines that the seeds are toxic to prove that Chris is not reckless and incompetent. Krakauer also proves that the seeds are responsible for Chris’ death to persuade Chris’ critics to view him in a more sympathetic light. Through Krakauer’s in depth analysis and study of the seeds, he reveals his determination to exonerate Chris and, therefore, loses objectivity. Krakauer employs rhetorical appeals to express his argument and persuade the readers. Krakauer’s anecdotes evoke an emotional response from the reader, yet the readers see they dictate his personal view of Chris. Krakauer also infers from interviews, knowledge, and experience about Chris which creates his bias. Further, Krauker includes research that defends Chris’

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Here is a quote from the book in which Krakauer demonstrates his personal opinion of McCandless and uses his own personal past actions he made as a young man to help show the connection between his younger self and Chris and why he has these opinions about Chris. This quote shows that Krakauer believes based on his own experience that Chris did not want to die and was not on a suicide mission. Along with this opinion proven throughout the book through observations and personal experiences Krakauer continues to be a presence and incorporates other opinions and factual things to disprove the people who are against McCandless and prove what he thinks is right. He disproves the thought that Chris might have been on a suicide mission. He disproves

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Throughout chapters 8 and 9, the author showed his bias towards Chris McCandless, which is an act of defiance to his position as an objective journalist, when he attempted to alter the readers’ negative point of view towards Chris by the introduction of different people who had similar experiences and characteristics as him and then making comparison. After reading the previous chapters, the readers have already made their own judgement on Chris, which are probably mostly negative. To address this issue, Krakauer initiates chapter 8 by introducing negative comments and mails not only about Chris but also to him, the author. These will serve as an argument that he will later attempt to disprove while at the same time, still informing the readers about what makes Chris special and unique.

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Into The Wild is written in both the 1st person, when the author is giving his own opinion or giving credibility, and in the 3rd person, when the author or anyone being quoted is talking about Chris McCandless. The effect Krakauer achieves is the notion of how isolated individuals exist in a state of wilderness and establishing his credibility. Krakauer personally connects with McCandless and explores every aspect of his life to discover the real truth of his death, and is convinced he did not die from starvation. He becomes emotionally attached to Chris and even develops a strong relationship with his parents. As a result, this effect leads to his writing being slightly biased.

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Jon Krakauer has a high amount of respect for Christopher J. McCandless; not only because they have many similarities, but because McCandless searched deep for the meaning of life and did as he pleased. In the book, “Into The Wild,” Krakauer not only tells the story of McCandless, but also of his own life, and how he has been shaped into his own. Krakauer had a deep love for the wild, just as Chris did. Though, the two did not do the same things, they both pursued their passions which made it easier for Krakauer to relate to Chris. Once climbing a mountain, Krakauer had ran into trouble, just as Chris did on his journey.

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An example of Krakauer’s use of anecdotal evidence as a method of reporting on Chris’ trek is through his speculation in regards to Chris’ death. Backed by his personal understanding of hiking and Chris’ knowledge pool, “[Jon suspected] that McCandless’s death was unplanned” (Krakauer, 1997, p. 92), an assumption with

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As each chapter come’s there is an account from Chris’ diary to accompany it. Along with this is some type of quote/ inspirational passage which lets us in on what is to come in the chapter ahead. Krakauer is able to maintain this structure throughout the whole book and through this we are able to pick apart the journey of Chris McCandless to construct our own opinions about his mysterious persona. The structure Krakauer creates for us in Into the Wild is significant to our understanding of Chris and his journey as it sheds insight onto his life from many different

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Chris McCandless: A Reckless Idiot Chris McCandless was a reckless idiot and there is no denying that basic truth. Chris McCandless was a man born into a middle class family. Chris had parents that loved him, a roof over his head, and food to eat. Despite all those riches he had, he threw them away. Chris was a very selfish man.

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Into the Wild, is a non-fiction novel written by Jon Krauker, about the story of a young man, called Christian McCandless who after graduating university decides to leave his privileges aside and walk into the wildness. Without the support of his family, he travels to Alaska, living in complete isolation, and escaping a fake society. The author through the story proves that Christopher had a very complicated relationship with his family, leading to a loss of identity and eventually the journey with no turning back. In this essay the relationship between his family and Christopher will be discussed in order to comprehend the person he becomes after mistrust issues with them.

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Christopher McCandless, the protagonist of the novel and film Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, is not your average guy. Driven by his minimalist ideals and hate for society, he challenged the status quo and embarked on a journey that eventually lead to his unforeseen demise. A tragic hero, defined by esteemed writer, Arthur Miller, is a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on tragedy. Christopher McCandless fulfills the role of Miller’s tragic hero due to the fact that his tragic flaw of minimalism and aversion towards society had lead him to his death.

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Into the Wild Christopher Johnson McCandless, a young American man who graduated with honors, from Emory University, and dropped out of sight in the summer of 1990. He changed his name to Alexander Supertramp, gave his entire balance of a twenty-four-thousand-dollar savings account to charity, abandoned his car, burned all the cash he had in his wallet, and decided to go into the wild and a new life for himself. He visited many places and ended in Alaska. Some people may believe Chris McCandless went into the wild because he had a mental illness, but I believe the real reason he left was because of literary influences, family problems, and he just happened to be a very stubborn man. He was a unique man with a different plan.

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For example, Krakauer notes his bias on his “Author’s Note” by stating “My convictions...leave it to the reader to form his or her own opinion of Chris McCandless.” By leaving this message to the readers they will have their own objective on McCandless. Their thoughts on him will not be influenced on what is written in the book. Furthermore, knowing is on Krakauer’s perspective, the reader will be open-minded on McCandless. Krakauer based on his perspective on what he learns about Christopher McCandless furthered his motives to write this

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In conclusion, Krakauer proves Chris’ sanity by using rhetorical devices. Chris was not insane: he was an idealistic man who became a martyr for a different lifestyle, one of freedom and

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The purpose of Into The Wild’s three-part organization is to prove Krakauer’s argument that Christopher

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Krakauer 's Into The Wild presents significant impact on the character of Chris McCandless through the few female voices of the novel, their individual relationships with Chris, and how the relationships are viewed on both ends. Through Billie’s eyes,

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In Jamaica Kincaid’s essay “On Seeing England for the First Time”, she clearly voices her animosity towards the one place her whole life surrounded as a child in hopes of persuading her audience into understanding that there is a fine line between dreams and realities. As an adult, Kincaid finally is able to travel to England to witness firsthand what all the hype was about and why her childhood and education happened to be based around the fantasy customs of this country. Noticing that every detail of her life revolved around England, from the way she ate her food to the naming of her family members, Kincaid found her hatred growing more and more. Coming from a British colony, the obsession with England drove Kincaid crazy to the point that she finally traveled there one day. She says, “The space between the idea of something and its reality is always wide and deep and dark” (37).

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