Into the wild reading schedule


Activity #4 Make the Connection: compare/contrast your parents to Chris’ parents



Download 186.53 Kb.
Page2/3
Date10.08.2017
Size186.53 Kb.
#30479
1   2   3

Activity #4

Make the Connection: compare/contrast your parents to Chris’ parents
Directions: Compare/contrast your relationship with your parents to that of Chris with his parents. Do so by completing the Venn diagram below. Have at least five statements in each circle. Be prepared to share your responses with your peers.

http://teacherweb.com/jp/yokosukamiddle/tehranie/pic-of-venn-diagam.gif

Activity #5: Characterization

Christopher McCandless Poster



  • Synopsis: Now that you have read several chapters in the book, you have caught a glimpse of the young man at the heart of the story. Although Krakauer is crafting a work of nonfiction, he employs many of the same devices used in writing fiction. For example, he allows the reader to get to know Chris in the same ways fiction authors use characterization (indirect characterization tells you about Chris’ character without directly telling you his traits).

  • You and your group will write about what you know about Chris McCandless so far.

  • The poster will include the following:

    • Chris’ appearance (visual)

    • At least two things people said about Chris

      • Include the page and page #

      • Include a brief, personal comment on each passage.

    • At least two things Chris said/his thoughts.

      • Include a brief, personal comment on each thing he said/thought.

    • At least two-three things that he hoped to do (actions/goals).

      • Include a brief, personal comment on each item.


Please assign people in your group to take on different tasks. Consider splitting up the tasks listed above.

Your poster much include color.

Be creative, perhaps adding pictures beyond the required picture of Chris, magazine cut-outs, etc.
Study/Discussion Questions

Answer 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? 

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 5

1. 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 6

1. 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? 

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 7

1. 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 8

1. 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 9

1. 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 10

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

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 11

1. 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 12

1. 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 13

1. 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 14

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

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 15

1. 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 16

1. 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 17

1. 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 18

1. 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? 

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. 
Epilogue

1. 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 grade


Chapter 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

• 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 #1

We 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 #2

Krakauer 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 #3

At 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 character

THOUGHTS - what the character thinks

ACTIONS - 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:



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 word

After 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 #4

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


Journal #5

John 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 been

foisted 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?

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?


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?



Download 186.53 Kb.

Share with your friends:
1   2   3




The database is protected by copyright ©ininet.org 2024
send message

    Main page