GROUP ONE: CHAPTERS 16-END

12/20/2010

1.         Krakauer observes that it is not “unusual for a young man to be drawn to a pursuit considered reckless by his elders.” Identify two details from this chapter where McCandless exemplifies this observation. Explain whether or not McCandless would agree with Krakauer. Finally compare McCandless’ view with that of one of the following men mentioned in this chapter: Andy Horowitz, Gordon Samel, Roman Dial, Sir John Franklin.

2.         Do you believe McCandless is to blame for his own death? Explain your answer using two specific details from the chapter. Use quotations to support your response.

FINAL QUESTION: CONSIDER WITH THOUGHT AND PROVE YOUR ARGUMENT WITH EVIDENCE FROM THE TEXT. THIS WILL BE LONGER THAN A SHORT ANSWER QUESTION!!!!

Do you feel, as one letter writer did, that there is “nothing positive at all about Chris McCandless’ lifestyle or wilderness doctrine …surviving a near death experience does not make you a better human it makes you lucky” (116); or do you see something admirable or noble in his struggles and adventures? Was he justified in the pain he brought to family and friends in choosing his own solitary course in life?

21 Comments

ryan smith

5/27/2011 02:49:42 am

question 1;
McCandleless exemplifies Krakauers observation mostly when he eneters the Alaskan territory. The territory is very dangerous and and he was too ignorant to pay attention to the dangers. His first mistake was going into the territory alone, but one of his biggest mistakes was entering with very little food. Chris' experince was very similar to Franklin's experience because neither of them had the knowledge needed to be able to survive in the territory. They both were very ignorant and didnt notice the dangers of the territory. All of these mistakes have been the major cause of Chrises death. This is a life lesson to everyone reading this novel. Chris felt the need to do this journey in order to, in a way, find out who he was and what he was made of. Krakauer was very cautious, wanting to know the dangers of the wild and area. Chris, on the other hand, was reckless and willing to live on the edge to find out what he was made of. That is why i believe Chris would have disagreed with Krakauer' opinions and beliefs.

ryan smith

5/27/2011 02:56:16 am

question 2;
I believe thAT Chris wasnt the cause of his death, it was his desire to chase a dream. Chris was very adventurous and reckless; he still continued "into the wild" not knowing what it had in store for him. People may have different opinions about Chris from here on out, but Chrises is the only one that matter. He has prooved to many that he has the guts to follow his dreams and challenge himslef in the hardest possible way. I believe Chris would have rathered stay alive than to die so he could follow with this adventure further and challeneg himself more and moree. Chris was a strong and determined younge man, but maybe his ignorance and determination of challeneging himself got the better of him.

ryan smith

5/27/2011 03:12:08 am

question 3;

I believe there were some positives and negatives to McCandless's journey. He was a very strong younge man and was able to find out what he was truly made of. He challenege himself to the fullest in order to show everyone what he could do. In his preparation for hiss trip, he didnt pack enough food and didnt pay attetention to the warnigns of the wilderness. Chris paassed away due to the harsh weather and Environment. He froze to death inside of the bus he was staying. some may say that he was lucky through all of this advenbture that he survived but i beleiev it was skill and desire. chris was very determined to find out what he was made of and he wanted to do just that. he eneterd the environment very lightly packed and ready to hit the ground running. i admire chris because he did something that many people wouldnt dare to do; live out in the wilderness with frreezing weather. he was offered many supplies by different ppeople to help him along the way but he refused. you have to have balls to be able to do this AND TO DIE FOR WHAT YOU DESIRE IS A GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT. CHRIS WAS A VERY COURAGEOUS YOUNG MAN AND HES GOT MY SUPPORT THROUGH HIS DESIRES AND I APPLAUD HIM FOR WHAT HES DONE. i believe his pain was justified in his eyes and alot of others because he followed his dreams and poeple admire that sort of behavior. i beleive his family may have thought it was a dumb idea to die at first, but then they realized he did what he wanted andh he was happy with what he wqas doing. he died happy and will forever live the rest of his life in a great place.

cara saxton

5/27/2011 03:17:55 am

Question 1

I believe that it isn't unusual for an older person to think the decisions that a younger child may make is reckless. because we are young and dont always know what is best for us.

Question 2

i believe that no one is to blame its his own fault that he is dead. But he said in the beginning of the book that he wasn't sure if he wasn't coming back from the wild.Chris was starving so he decieded to eat this plant that he thought was okay but it was a poisionous plant that made him slowly die.

Question 3

i disagree with what one of the writters said because it was not there life it was chris's. i believe they should mind there own buisness.

emily clark

5/29/2011 11:36:41 am

Question 1

I believe that Chris does exemplify Krakauer's observation in many ways. Going into the Alaskan terran alone is one way. Another way is going in there with very little experience with the survival skills needed in this situation. Chris seems ignorant because he goes into the wild with little food and knowledge of where he was going, much like Franklin seemed. however, Chris would not agree with this observaton. Chris wasnt trying to be reckless he was trying to find out what he was made of. He wanted to prove to the world that he could do it.

emily clark

5/29/2011 11:44:23 am

Question 2

I dont believe that Chris was to blame for his own death. He was willing to go out and chase his dream which I believe is abmirable. Chris was also reading and studying about Alaska's wildlfe and plants so he would know what he could eat. McCandless did't go into the wild unprepared he planned to survive and was dong well until an accident occured. So i do not believe that he was responsible for his death.

emily clark

5/29/2011 11:55:54 am

question 3

I believe that Chris' adventure was a possitve one. He had the guts to go out and live his dream. Not many other people can say that they've done that. I applaud him for his bravery and dedication. He had plenty of oppurtunities to turn back or take an easier route but he refused which i believe is admirable. The only reason he was able to survive as long as he did in the wild was because of his skill, determination, and knowlege. Chris was determined to prove the world wrong, which he would have if not for a freak accident. I believe that his death was justified, because even though he lost his life he lost it doing what he enjoyed. His family should be proud because his dedication inspires others to chase their dream.

ryan smith

5/29/2011 02:08:05 pm

reply to cara; question 1

I agreee, tennagers today are given different stereotypes everyday based on what someone hears or thinks; especially older people. we are just enjoying the younge life we have to the fullest.

ryan smith

5/29/2011 02:12:28 pm

reply to emily; question 2

i agree with emily that chris wasnt to blame for his own death, he followed his dreams. that is very admirable and i believe others would feel the same towards anyone

ryan smith

5/29/2011 02:15:20 pm

reply to emily; question 3

I agrreee that chris had the opprotunity to turn bakc and take the easy way out, but he was strong ans was able to fight through the pain and challenges that the wilderness held upon him

abbey byrd

5/30/2011 02:16:06 am

Dear Mrs carter,
i really need to know my grade in this class! i would email you but i dont know how.
Thanks

emily clark

5/30/2011 02:17:40 am

reply to ryan: 1

I agree that Chris does eximplify the observation. However i do not think that Chris was ignorant. He spent a lot of his time studying up on the area he was headed to. It is true that he took a limited supply of food but i don't believe that was out of ignorance.

emily clark

5/30/2011 02:20:17 am

Reply to ryan: 2

I agree that Chris was not the cause of his own death. He was a very intellegent young man who had the courage to chase after his dream. His untimely death was a direct result of a freak accident not Chris himself. Chris was very persistant and would not have given up without a fight.

emily clark

5/30/2011 02:23:49 am

reply to ryan: 3

I agree that Chris should be applauded for his bravery to chase after his desire. He died doing something meaningful. I believe the reason why some writers think his adventure was pointless is because they are too scared to go after their own dream. They don't want to admit that Chris is a person who was better off than others because he lived his dream while the others didn't.

Abbey Byrd

5/30/2011 02:54:01 am

Question 1:
In this chapter McCandless exemplifies this observation. He did this when he entered the Alaskan territory because he didn’t know how dangerous it was going to be and still keep on going. This was a mistake because he didn’t prepare anything or know how to survive. I think he should have researched different ways he could survive so he would have more knowledge to help him throughout his journey. But McCandless did things on his own and did them his way. He was very stubborn when he didn’t use different tools that he could have used to help him survive. It also said "Unlike McCandless, too, I am here with three companions:". This was saying that McCandless was wrong for traveling alone. I think he would have been better off with another companion. They always say “two brains are better than one”. Maybe some of the dangers he crossed wouldn’t have been a problem if he would have taken some precautions and had a companion with him. However, he was way too independent to do something like that. I do not think McCandless would agree with Krakauer because all though it caused him some problems and he faced some dangers, he wanted to go into the wild knowing nothing and living his life the way he wanted to. He felt like he needed no help from anyone else.

Question 2:
I do feel like McCandless is to blame for his own death because he went on this journey into the wild with little knowledge of the dangers he would be faced with. He didn’t want help from anyone else he just wanted to live on the edge. I think he was very ignorant by not wanting help from others. He didn’t prepare a good supply of food and had no knowledge of the territory. But Chris knew that this was a sacrifice he was making by going into the wild. However his lack of knowledge led him to his death and this could have been prevented.

Abbey Byrd

5/30/2011 03:02:39 am

Reply to Ryan Q1:
I agree, Chris does exemplify Krakauers observation mostly when he enters the Alaskan territory. That territory was dangerous and he was very ignorant and the dangers he faced could have been avoided with the proper precautions. But he wanted to live on the edge without help. He did have very little food supply and that was most defiantly a big mistake. This did cause his death. He did do this to find out who he was and what he was made of. Krakauer had more knowledge. But he would disagree with his opinion.

kimberly carpenter

5/30/2011 11:03:50 am

question one:
chris exemplifies this observation in many ways. As he explains "unlike Mccandless,however I have in my backpack a 1:63,360-scale.." He also went with "companions" -his friends Roman,Dan and also Andrew unlike Chris. Chris went completley alone. I believe Chris's idea of going into the wild was not well thought out at all. He did not have the proper use of resources that he could have. He didnt want to bring anything more than he wanted because he wanted to feel like he was completley on his own and away from any use of technology or civilization. I believe he should have used his head more because he was too independent to do things with other people rather than roughing it out alone. I believe he would not agree with Krakauer because he did things the way he wanted and did not care otherwise.

question two:
Yes, I believe he is to blame for his own death. He should have never went alone(pg.173). He did not use his head or his tools properly. He should have had months of planning the trip before he even went. He never told anyone where he was going to go and they couldnt have checked on him to see if he needed help.Also Mccandless friend said he was always wanting more adventure and freedom than he could get in todays society (pg.174). He wasnt really in tune with reality. He had a very big imagination, but it created issues for him that he couldnt overcome easily.

question three:
I feel like it was wrong for someone to say there was nothing positive about his experiece. He wanted to go out and have his freedom on his own without someone leading him the whole way. He died for what he loved. He loved being on his own and had a passion for independence. He wanted to live his life to the fullest and go into the wild and do as he pleased and he did just that. He found out who he was as a peron and recieved a new start in his life. He was very brave and followed his dreams. It clearly shows us how he wasnt afraid to do anything.

kimberly carpenter

5/30/2011 11:14:23 am

reply one:
reply to abbey q1:
I agree! he did feel like he didnt need assistance from anyone.He would have never went into the wild alone if it didnt like to be on his own.

reply two:
reply to: abbey q2:
I agree that he is to blame for his own death because he had so little knowledge ofwhat he was doing out there.

reply 3:
reply to Emily q3:
I agree. He did hae the guts togo out and livehis dream. He followed everything he wanted and thats all that mattered to him.

p.s. Mrs.Carter,
sorry, I would have replied to different people but not everyone has done their's yet.

2/26/2012 09:37:12 am

2/26/2012 09:37:48 am

you are all dumb

ryan smith

2/26/2012 09:38:23 am

i love kim

GROUP ONE: CHAPTERS 16-END

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