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Into the Wild is about a young man's, Christopher Johnson McCandless, decomposed body being found in a bus in Alaska.  McCandless set out on an excursion of Alaska and survived for about 112 days in the wilderness, struggling to find food to live off of.  His activities included shooting game, such as moose, and keeping a journal.  McCandless' goal was to hike to the coast, but the weather did not support his goal; therefore, he camped out in a bus.  He tried to leave Alaska, the way out was blocked by a melted river.  McCandless' kept a journal of his events which said he was eating roots of a plant that had poisonous seeds.  Krakauer believes that McCandless died from neurological problems due to eating the poisonous seeds.  This theory was tested and happened to be untrue.  Krakauer later reformed his beliefs in saying that McCandless died from Rhizoctonia Ieguminicola, known to cause digestion problems in livestock.  McCandless' body weighed only 67 pounds when he was found.

Image from: http://thecia.com.au/reviews/i/images/into-the-wild-4.jpg

Who is John Krakauer?

John Krakauer was born in 1954 in Oregon.  His father interested him in mountain climbing at a very young age. After John graduated from Hampshire College in 1976, he spent most of his time in mountainous parts of the United States working as a carpenter and a fishermen.  John climbed to the top of numerous mountains, including Mt. Everest in 1996.  Mountain climbing is a risky business, and on his excursion to reach the top of Mt. Everest, a storm killed four of his five teammates.  John wrote about this tragedy in Outside Magazine and won a National Magazine Award.  He eventually wrote a book called Into Thin Air about Everest, and it became a #1 New York Times bestseller, honored "Book of the Year" by TIME Magazine, one of the "Best Books of the Year" by the New York Times Book Review, a finalist for a 1997 National Book Critics Circle Award, and one of three finalists for the 1998 Pulitzer Prize in General Non-Fiction.  John Krakauer's articles and writings have been published in Outside, GEO, Architectural Digest, Rolling Stone, TIME, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and National Geographic. An article he wrote for Smithsonian about vulcanology received the 1997 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism from the American Geophysical Union.  John Krakauer's prestigious novel, Into the Wild, spent more than two weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.  Preceding Into the Wild, Krakauer published Eiger Dreams and Iceland: Land of the Sagas.  In 1998, Krakauer created the Everest '96 Memorial Fund at the Boulder Community Foundation, to tribute his lost friends on Everest.   Krakauer also serves on the boards of the American Himalayan Foundation and the Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation.  In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.  Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith is John Krakauer's latest book published in 2003.  In this book, Krakauer explains his childhood being surrounded by Mormons and tries to figure out the Mormon lifestyle and passion.
Info from: http://www.randomhouse.com/features/krakauer/author.html
Image from: http://blog.oregonlive.com/books/2008/06/medium_krakauer.jpg

Bro, Surf's Up.

When I went to Oregon to play soccer, I met a team called the SoCal Blues from Southern California.  The girls on the team were so down-to-earth and laid-back, it made me want to sojourn to see the conditions that they live in.  Also, my favorite celebrities, the Kardashians, live in Calabasas, a city in Southern California.  In order to get to California, I would take an airplane, first class.  Southern California is known as the residence for most celebrities and for its college, USC.  My friend, Paige, just returned from taking a trip to Southern California; she said the weather was sunny, but the last two days it rained.  The weather in Southern California is definitely a lot warmer then the weather on the west coast.  Every state is going to have the occasional rainfall, but overall, California has sunny, beach weather.  The downfall of California is the risk of earthquakes, like the Great San Francisco Earthquake in 1906.  I am willing to take the risk of experiencing an earthquake if I get to explore California.  I would need to go shopping before the trip, just so I could purchase the latest trends and look somewhat decent in California!  If I ever get to take a trip to Southern California, I expect it to be warm and sunny the whole time I'm there.  I expect to see tons of celebrities, and visit my friends from SoCal!  I would really love to go to the Kardashians' stores, Dash and Smooch!  Also, I would visit as many beaches as I can and learn how to surf.  Southern California is a place that I have always wanted to go to; hopefully, one day I will be able to sojourn there.
The photo above is a photo of my friend, Brett, from California surfing.

Chris McCandless' Direct and Indirect Characterization

1. According to Teachingcomics.org, direct characterization tells the audience what the personality of the character is by directly stating words describing a character.  Indirect characterization shows things that reveal the personality of a character.  The reader has to draw inferences based on how the character speaks, thinks, acts, and looks

2. Direct

-Hitchhiker

-5'7 or '8

-Wiry build

-24 years old

-From South Dakota

-Congenial

-Well-educated

-Curious

-Afraid of water
-Dark and emotive eyes
-Smallish with the hard, stringy physique of an itinerant laborer
-Didn't like wearing socks
-Dirty
-Dependable
-Temperamental
-Socialized with people
-Helpful
-Friendly
-Flirtatious 
-Loved animals
-Musical
-In-shape
-Liked the Washington Redskins

Indirect

-Misjudging- Jim Gallien realized in the car ride that Chris was only carrying a 10-pound bag of rice for the harsh conditions.  Chris also had cheap hiking boots that were not insulated nor water-proof and only a .22 caliber rifle which wouldn’t kill big game.  He had no ax, no bug dope, no snowshoes, and no compass.  Chris misjudged the journey, thinking it would be easy, but he does not have the necessities to survive in the wilderness. (p.5)

-Arrogant- Gallien tried to dissuade Chris or "Alex" to go to the Stampede trail by telling him that a .22 rifle wouldn’t kill a huge grizzly bear that could attack him.  Chris simply replied by saying, "I'll climb a tree," as if he wasn’t too worried about it.  When Gallien tried to convince him not to go to the Stampede trail, Chris had a rebuttal or answer to every situation that Gallien threw at him. (p.6)

-Foolish- McCandless left his perfect life, education, money, parents, and housing to go trek through the wilderness of Alaska.

-Independent- McCandless went alone on this excursion through the wild, and stayed alone for 16 weeks until death.

-Rude- When Gallien asked if McCandless has his hunting license, he replied, "Hell no, how I feed myself is none of the government's business.  F*** their stupid rules."  It is very rude to curse like that to a stranger that you just met. (p.6)

-Mysterious- Why would McCandless leave his life behind to live in the wilderness? Nobody, including Gallien, knows anything about this hitchhiker.

-Risk-taking- McCandless does not know how his decision to live in the wild will end up, but he took the risk and only brought a few scarce items to live in a freezing climate.

-Vulnerable- Chris McCandless' vulnerability was the reason that Wayne Westerberg wanted to take him under his wing. (p.16)

-Careless- We know McCandless didn’t care about anything because he burned his money, sold his cars, and left home to go into the wild.

-Lonely- Chris never let his parents know that he was leaving home and going into the wild.  When he arrived in Alaska, he hiked across mountains by himself.

3. I am getting the impression that Chris McCandless has ulterior motives that he doesn't want anyone to know about.  If he didn't, why would he tell Gallien that his name was Alex when it's really Chris?  I think the way that McCandless acts is very strange and sketchy.  Chris McCandless, I think, has hidden talents that he just gave up on for some reason.  Chris, I think, has his own beliefs and doesn't care what anyone else has to say.  I think he will do what he wants, when he wants, and he won't let anyone stop him.

Image from: http://intelligenttravel.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/10/22/into_the_wild.jpg

Memories

If I were to design my own leather belt and another creative object, I would create a wooden box to keep pictures and memories in.  The leather belt would be the item that I would put all my family related symbols on, and the box would be the keeper of all the memories with my friends.  The first symbol I would carve into my belt would be the initials J.K.T. Jr.  These initials are symbolic to me because those are the initials of my cousin, Joseph Kevin Taylor Jr. who passed away in a car accident in 2004.  I always want to remember him and the memories that we shared during his short-lived life.  Another symbol that I would put on my belt is an Italian flag.  This flag symbolizes my small, Italian family.  Every time we have a family gathering, I always find myself laughing hysterically with them!  The next symbol I would carve onto my belt would be a soccer ball.  Soccer is very important to my immediate family because both my sister and I play, so it brings us together.  We are always going out of state for tournaments, so soccer is a great leeway for exploring the country.  The final symbol that I would carve on my belt would be a dog.  My dog, Onyx, died in 2006; her death brought my family closer together.  She will always be remembered and loved by my family.

Inside the wooden box, I would store pictures of my friends and me to remember the good times we have shared.  On the box, I would carve a doorbell symbolizing my three best friends, Jordan, Morgan, and Sydney.  We have an inside joke with doorbells that I always want to remember; I couldn’t live without those three girls.  Another symbol would be an elephant symbolizing a gift that I received from my boyfriend.  He always makes me smile and I want to remember all the times we have shared together.  Next, I would carve the number 5 on the box.  The number five symbolizes the "Fab 5," my four close friends from soccer and me.  Our coach calls us the Fab 5 because we are inseparable; every time we're together we have the best time.  The final symbol I would carve onto my box would be the state of Oregon.  Last year, my soccer team took a trip to Oregon and it was honestly the best place I have ever gone.  The weather, the people, and the scenery were so perfect.  I met many girls and guys from the West Coast when I was there.  I always want to remember that trip.

Images from: http://www.thelocal.se/blogs/eatingout/files/2009/04/italian-flag.gif

http://www.cksinfo.com/clipart/sports/soccer/soccer-ball-1.png

http://www.watsonswildlife.com/killen_images/Thats_My_Dog_Black_Lab_JK.jpg

http://www.cdkenterprises.com/animals/images/sr-45604.gif

Google Earth Trip

From the Google earth trip, I learned the actual geographic locations that Chris had to travel through.  It astounds me that Chris traveled alone with limited supplies across the United States.  I didn’t realize the amount of ground that Chris actually traveled by foot until I looked on the map.  The amount of hitchhiking that Chris was forced to do on this excursion was tremendous, and along the way he met a few people who would become very important to him.  As much as it seems that Chris didn’t care about his belongings and family, it had to hurt him, in the slightest manor, to give it all away and go out on his own.  

Image from: http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/06/db/2d/alaska.jpg

Into the Wild Final Slideshow