Context and author... 2 Structural elements... 4 Textual elements... 8 Ideas, issues and themes Learning activities... 13

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1 CONTENTS How to use.... iv Knowing: Tracks Context and author Structural elements... 4 Textual elements... 8 Ideas, issues and themes Learning activities Knowing: Into the Wild Context and director Structural elements... 7 Textual elements Ideas, issues and themes Learning activities Comparing: Tracks and Into the Wild Types of questions The comparison Practice topics: Theme Practice topics: Cultural context Practice topics: Genre Learning activities Writing the essay Shaping information and planning Essay structures The simple essay The alternating essay One text at a time The comparing texts side-by-side essay The essay iii

2 Annandale, Virginia 2. Atlanta, Georgia May Lake Mead National Recreational Area (July 90) 4. Orick Beach/Cut Bank Montana (Aug. 90) 5. Morelos Dam (Dec. 90) 6. El Golfo de Santa Clara (Jan, 9) 7. Houston, Texas (Feb. 9) 8. Las Vegas, Nevada (Feb. May 9) 9. Bullhead City, Arizona (Oct. 9) 0. Niland, California (Dec. 9). San Diego, California (Jan./Feb. 92) 2. Carthage, South Dakota (Apr. 92) 3. Fairbanks, Alaska (Apr. 92) 4. Stampede Trail, Alaska (May 92) How to use The Pearson English VCE Comparing Guides have been written to the new Victorian Certificate of Education English and English as an Additional Language Study Design for and cover Units 2 4 Area of Study Reading and comparing texts. The Comparing guides are divided into four sections: : Knowing: Tracks 2: Knowing: Into the Wild 3: Comparing: Tracks and Into the Wild 4: Writing the essay. Knowing the texts These sections provide a deep insight into the texts, covering context and author, structural elements, textual elements and ideas, issues and themes. At the end of each section is a set of learning activities. Comparing texts This section outlines how to compare and contrast the two texts. The two texts are compared and contrasted in regards to: themes, cultural context and genre. This section also provides practical tips and ideas on how to compare texts as well as practice topics. AUTHOR: JOHN KRAKAUER Into the Wild is based on a non-fiction book by the journalist Jon Krakauer, which was published in 996. Krakauer is particularly interested in how Chris McCandless died, and has published five different theories. Krakaeur s interest in McCandless s death stems from his desire to prove that McCandless wasn t just a naive runaway. He reveres him as an adventurous young man, who acted upon a youthful rite-of-passage. Map of Chris McCandless s journey Writer s toolbox A rite-of-passage refers to a significant event in a person s life, where they transition from one stage of life, into another. STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS Genre The genre of the film is biographical drama. Into the Wild begins with Chris McCandless leaving Annandale, Virginia. As he takes on the frontier in Alaska, the film takes on the style of an adventure story. Because it follows Chris s life story, it is biographical. However, it is told through Sean Penn s lens, which is based on Jon Krakaeur s interpretation of Chris McCandless s writings, and interviews with those who knew him. Although the audience of Into the Wild knows Chris dies, the drama is heightened as we see his deterioration and anticipate his death. Chronology The film does not follow a conventional chronology. It flashes forward to Alaska, to Chris s death, before taking us back, to show the journey leading up to that moment. The narrative flashes back even further to grainy images of Chris s early years. By doing this, Penn explores Chris s psychological rationale for leaving as he did. The sequencing affords greater suspense and drama, because the film takes a long time to reach what Into the Wild (2007) we know will happen. 6 PEARSON english VCE Comparing Guide Knowing: Into the Wild 7 Comparing: Tracks and Into the Wild There are different kinds of comparative questions and different ways to approach them. This section will help you develop an understanding of how to use a range of strategies when planning your essays about Tracks and Into the Wild. These strategies, or graphic organisers, such as Venn diagrams, scales and data charts are especially useful tools in assisting you to explore the similarities and differences between the texts. TYPES OF QUESTIONS There are three types of questions: the themes, issues and ideas the social, historical and cultural context the genre and style. Common words used in essay questions include the following. Discuss: Debate the arguments for and against the topic backing up these ideas with selected evidence from the text. Provide a conclusion. To what extent: Assess the evidence in your text that would support an argument. Also look at alternative explanations. Do you agree?: An opinion is being sought as to the extent to which the statement or quote is accurate. Evidence will be provided to support or contend the point of view. Quotations: Essay questions that use quotations are a way to delve into the issues embedded in a text. You should make reference to the quote and the ideas that it raises. Theme questions Themes are prominent, recurring ideas that pervade a literary work. Both Tracks and Into the Wild explore themes related to: the journey of self-discovery landscape unreliability of representation stereotypes of women and men in nature. You can also explore concepts within themes, as shown in the following table. Theme Concepts within themes The journey of selfdiscovery and social values, transformational experiences, motivators, conviction adulthood, coming of age, morality of the individual, integrity, individual and individual power, individual need and collective will, autonomous action, guilt, forgiveness, personal responsibility, selfishness Landscape wilderness, frontierism, exposure, fear, resilience, transcendence, freedom, letting go and resistance, exclusion and inclusion, uniqueness Unreliability of whose story is being told?, authenticity, reality, creative licence, representation interpretation, memory, limitation, the power of distance (temporal, geographical, spiritual, emotional), the importance of text, storytelling Stereotypes of women being seen as the other, survival, enrichment, defying the odds, and men in nature alienation, social non-conformity, expectations of gender, power of gender Concepts within themes Cultural context questions Cultural context questions ask you to consider the cultural background in which the text is set, the events in history that shape the text, and the social worlds that both texts reflect. You might be asked to explore the aspects of society the authors, or characters see as important (views) and their judgements on those views (values). Robyn Davidson is a woman in the 970s trekking across the Australian desert, and Chris McCandless is a man in the 990s in the Alaskan wilderness, however, there are commonalities between the worlds they leave and the worlds they enter. Genre questions Genre questions could ask you to think about the conventions of the genre and consider how and why the authors conveyed their ideas in certain ways. Despite the different genres of these texts, we need to consider the features they share, and differences in their representations of setting, narrative perspective and other textual elements. THE COMPARISON How to compare The following section shows you a number of ways to compare the two texts. A variety of methods have been used, such as tables that allow you to chart and track data and graphic organisers that let you see quickly the links and variations. In a comparison essay, you must critically analyse any two texts pointing out their similarities and/or differences. It could also be called a compare and contrast essay. Your task could be comparative only (looking only at similarities), contrasting only (pointing out the differences) or both comparative and contrasting. 30 PEARSON english VCE Comparing Guide Comparing: Tracks and Into the Wild 3 iv PEARSON english VCE Comparing Guide

3 Writing the essay This section provides a step-by-step guide on how students can plan and write a comparing essay. Four different essay styles have been included as well as an essay sample with annotations. Before you start BRAINSTORMING THE TOPIC Begin by brainstorming the topic. Consider any subquestions that are raised by the topic, and think about what evidence you have from each text to support these ideas. The following diagram shows how to ask questions about the topic: Both texts explore the concept of the transformational solo journey. Discuss. Tracks Both texts explore the solo experience. Robyn s solo experiences include: going from Alice Springs to Utopia from Areyonga to four days out of Docker after Mr Eddie leaves her. Writer s toolbox When you brainstorm you should ask questions about the topic. A good way to do this is to make sure you answer or include the Who? What? Where? Why? When? Which? and How? of the topic. Into the Wild Chris s solo experiences include: spending time on the road (hitchhiking/ trains/walking) spending time alone Alaska. Is the transformation physical, mental or spiritual? Robyn: Chris: develops her metaphor of the net to was looking for someone else to tell him describe how she is connected, and how to find happiness describes her self as limitless and had to open his own heart, not his mind, expanding to find the answer was initially just travelling through the experiences his transformation as he dies, desert, but by the end she feels connected because it is only then that he can share to it. his happiness. What methods do the texts use to help the audience share the experience of the transformation? Robyn s solo experience causes the The openness to change creates Chris s transformation, not just being alone. transformation, not just being alone. Brainstorming the topic CREATING THE ESSAY PLAN After you have brainstormed the topic and created a list of useful quotations as evidence, you should begin planning your essay. Your essay plan can be developed using a simple table tool, which is a valuable way to consider the most important points that will make up your body paragraphs. A detailed analysis of an essay question should include at least three main arguments or body paragraphs. 40 PEARSON english VCE Comparing Guide Writing the essay 4 ebook and online resources Online resources support the comparing of texts and include: essay templates graphic organiser templates worksheets. Introduction Body paragraph : looks at the first text Body paragraph 2: looks at the second text and makes comparisons with the first DEVELOPING A CONTENTION The contention is the overarching Writer s toolbox statement that answers the topic. It Make sure you are developing an argument is the central argument that runs the and not falling into the habit of storytelling. whole way through the essay. A good If you find yourself writing about what way to develop the contention is to work happens for the majority of your paragraph, out what your supporting arguments then you are probably storytelling. Try arguing a case by asking Why? and will be. From there, you can conclude How? in each paragraph. what your overall belief about the question is. That is your contention. Paragraph/ Paragraph/ Paragraph/ Argument + Argument 2 + Argument 3 = Contention Formulating a contention ESSAY STRUCTURES The simple essay In the simple essay structure, each paragraph focuses on one of the texts and then in the final body paragraph the texts are drawn together and compared. When using this structure, ensure that the second body paragraph focuses on the second text, but also compares it to the first. This will demonstrate to the reader that you are aware that the task is about comparative writing. THE TOPIC Robyn Davidson s Tracks and Sean Penn s Into the Wild explore how being alone can be a transformative experience. Discuss. This paragraph identifies and names the two texts and authors. Introduction It establishes your contention in the piece. This paragraph looks at Tracks. For example, it: identifies Robyn s three solo experiences and the differences between them Body paragraph : looks at Tracks identifies how Robyn transforms demonstrates that the transformation occurs in the third solo experience and explains why explores what the focus is, the language used, and the tone of the section to indicate how we understand her attitude. This paragraph looks at Into the Wild and makes comparisons with Tracks. For example, it: identifies how the two texts are similar (both contain multiple solo experiences, both identify a significant transformation, both identify Body paragraph 2: the need to open your heart to experience change) looks at Into the Wild and compares it to Tracks explores the focus of the film: Chris s emotional state (we see him doing rather than feeling, telling others how they should live, rather than listening or being open to change), the textual details of his searching (Penn shows him focused on an external meaning), and the eventful experience of Chris s awakening. Body paragraph 3: contrasts the points discussed in paragraphs and 2 Conclusion How to use

4 Knowing: Tracks ROBYN DAVIDSON Tracks is Robyn Davidson s 980 memoir about her solo trek across Australia. The perilous journey took place in 977. Davidson offers readers the context for her text in the postscript, written thirty years after the events that are described. She claims that to understand her text is to understand its context in Australia in the 970s. CONTEXT AND AUTHOR Society and politics Australia in the 970s was in a dynamic era of growth and political awareness. It was the period in which feminism made tangible progress when the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission ruled that a woman doing the same job as a man should be paid the same wage. Women also won the right to paid maternity leave. It was a period of emerging social sensitivity. In 970, Neville Bonner was the first Indigenous Australian elected to the Australian Parliament. In 972, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy was erected on the grounds of what is now known as Old Parliament House, and the White Australia policy, adopted in 90, was formally retracted. The Whitlam Government introduced the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 976 into Parliament, under which traditional affiliation and traditional landowners were given land rights. Author: Robyn Davidson Robyn Davidson was born in Western Queensland Robyn Davidson wrote Tracks and lived at Stanley Park, an isolated cattle while living in London. Davidson was living with Doris Lessing, station, with her parents and sister. Her father a winner of Nobel Prize in travelled through Africa and told her stories of his Literature. Doris Lessing can be adventures. Davidson s mother committed suicide regarded as a feminist and postmodern writer. at 46. After this, Davidson was sent to live with her aunt, and was then sent to boarding school. Davidson believes she had a difficult childhood, and felt she didn t have an identity for a great part of her early life. In an interview for ABC Radio, on the Talking Heads program, Davidson said: During all that time since I d left school, I d virtually not seen my dad. I wrote to him and I said, I need you to come and get me. And he did [ ] we decided to go out bush, looking for opals. It was just the most wonderful time with him. In 73, I decided that I wanted to go to the Australian desert. So I thought I d go to Alice Springs and I ll find myself some feral camels and I ll use them to go through the desert. She did this, and that is where Tracks begins. 2 PEARSON english VCE Comparing Guide Writer s toolbox The White Australia policy refers to a collection of government policies which only permitted immigrants to come to Australia from the United Kingdom, Ireland and a small number of European countries. It was dismantled between Did you know?

5 STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS Genre This is a memoir and a travel narrative. Robyn Davidson narrates her 2700km journey from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean on the west coast of Australia. It was written two years after she completed the journey. She is in a flat in London when she writes Tracks, so there is geographic space and considerable time between her setting forth in the Northern Territory of Australia, and writing the text. The book follows a direct, first person, past-tense linear narrative that focuses on the trip itself. It is not a text that ranges much beyond the experience itself, except in a few places, for example, when Robyn talks of her family s past and how that lends particular significance to her travels. INDIAN OCEAN PERTH Fremantle WESTERN AUSTRALIA Kalgoorlie Canning Stock Route Mount Olga Nullarbor Plain NORTHERN TERRITORY Aboriginal Reserve START Lake Lake Utopia Disappointment Mackay Glen Helen Gibson Redbank Tourist Camp Desert Gorge Gunbarrel Alice Springs Lake Areyonga Highway Well no. 6 Well no. 9 Docker River McLeod Glenyale Tempe Downs Wingelinna Carnarvon Uluru Dalgety Downs Carnegie Cunyu Woodleigh Warburton Pipalyatjara Hamelin Pool Wiluna Meekatharra Aboriginal Reserve SOUTH FINISH AUSTRALIA Geraldton W N S E Great Sandy Desert kilometers 0 Great Victoria Desert 300 miles ADELAIDE Map of Robyn Davidson s journey Plot PART Robyn arrives in Alice Springs in 975. She works at the Polsel place, training camels. Later she goes to work with Sallay Mahomet. She goes to Brisbane and on her return to Alice Springs, chooses two camels Zeleika and Kate, and moves to Basso s farm to train them in March, 976. Eighteen months later, the camel Kate becomes sick and Robyn shoots her while Zeleika is pregnant. She continues to use the facilities at Basso s farm. Two years later, in midsummer 977, Robyn s dog, Blue, dies from strychnine poisoning. 4 PEARSON english VCE Comparing Guide

6 Robyn meets Rick Smolan who convinces her to contact National Geographic to sponsor her trek. The camel Zeleika s baby, Goliath, is born. Robyn sets off for the eight-day trial run to Utopia. She meets with National Geographic and is offered $4000 in sponsorship. Robyn returns to Alice Springs for preparations and, in March 977, begins her journey. PART 2: SHEDDING BURDENS Robyn is on her own until she hears the click of Rick s camera. After taking some shots, he leaves, arranging to meet her at Ayers Rock. Day 3 crisis the map is inaccurate. Robyn arrives at Areyonga Aboriginal community. She beats the camel Bub for panicking the other camels. Robyn is in Tempe, where she makes calls on the two-way radio but gets no reply. On the trip to Ayers Rock she stops at Wallera Ranch but leaves because they were typical ockers. She enters wild bull country and at Angas Downs station, the Liddles stuck me in the shower [and] fed me up. She arrives at Ayers Rock. Rick arrives and brings Jen, who is injured, which leads to tension. Jen leaves. At the Olgas, Rick and Robyn fight, and eventually resolve their issues about his presence and photographs. She comes to the realisation that she has to take full responsibility for his being there. Dookie the camel cuts his foot two days out of Docker. Robyn spends six weeks in Docker waiting to see if Dookie is going to recover. Rick stays for two days and tension is high. Rick films a secret women s ceremony and in doing so, distances Robyn from the Aboriginal community. She cannot find a guide to take her across the desert to Pipalyatjara. Out of Docker, Robyn is attacked by bulls and kills three of them. Four days out of Docker, she has an emotional breakdown and then moves into a euphoric mania. In this state she meets a group of Aboriginal men, including Mr Eddie, who offers to go with her across country. Did you know? Uluru was previously known as Ayers Rock. It was named by William Gosse in 873 after Sir Henry Ayers (82 897), an early legislator and businessman. Uluru is the Aboriginal and official name. PART 3: LITTLE BIT, LONG WAY Robyn travels with Mr Eddie to Pipalyatjara where she talks with Glendle. She feels herself knitting together again, putting things into perspective, clearing my confusion. She leaves for Warburton with Mr Eddie, crossing the desert. Five months from Alice, they arrive in Warburton, Rick arrives and Eddie leaves with Glendle. Robyn leaves Warburton in July, travelling along the Gunbarrel Highway alone. She develops the metaphor of the net to explain the connectedness of everything, including herself. She determines that the self is a reaction between mind and stimulus. Knowing: Tracks 5

7 Knowing: Into the Wild SEAN PENN Into the Wild is a 2007 film. It is based on a non-fiction book of the same name, about the death of Christopher McCandless. At 22, after graduating from university, McCandless abandons his family, and his wealthy upbringing to travel north into the Alaskan wilderness. He carries very little: only 5 kg of rice, a.22 calibre rifle, and a backpack of his favourite books. When he finds a deserted school bus, it becomes his home for 3 days. He suffers from starvation and eventually dies, and his body is found nineteen days later. CONTEXT AND DIRECTOR The United States in the 980s to early 990s Into the Wild opens in 992, when Chris McCandless arrives in the Alaskan wilderness. The film moves between 992 and 990, when Chris began his journey. Although the film s timeline is the early 990s, Chris McCandless s formative years were the 980s. This was a decade characterised by consumerism and extravagance. Under President Ronald Regan, the United States economy was revamped and consumerism and materialism increased. The term shop till you drop became popular, and this attitude of spending was popularised in programs such as Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Globally, the 980s was also the time of the Ethiopian famine, the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown and the rise of AIDS. In 990, when McCandless began his journey, the United States President was George HW Bush, who had been Regan s Vice President. The excesses and impacts of the 980s were still ever present. Director: Sean Penn Sean Penn is an American actor, director and has also been described as a political activist. Penn has received numerous acting and directing honours during his career, including two Academy Awards for best actor. Born in Los Angeles, California in 960, he began his acting career as a child on the series Little House on the Prairie in an episode directed by his father, also an actor and director. Penn has specialised in playing dramatic roles in films with a social message such as Dead Man Walking and Milk. Penn began his directing career in 99, with the film The Indian Runner. Into the Wild is Penn s fourth feature film. Penn is also well known for his political and social causes. He wrote an open letter in the Washington Post critical of then-president George Bush s war on terror, and after Hurricane Katrina, he travelled to New Orleans to assist with the rescue effort. Sean Penn directed and wrote the script for Into the Wild in 996, after reading Jon Krakauer s book of the same name and acquiring film rights. In the documentary, The Making of Into the Wild, Penn claims that he wrote the film adaptation without re reading Krakaeur s text. He says that the images were leaping out from the pages and speaks of a close connection between Krakaeur s version of Chris McCandless journey, and his own version. Knowing: Into the Wild 5

8 Into the Wild (2007) 6 PEARSON english VCE Comparing Guide

9 AUTHOR: JOHN KRAKAUER Into the Wild is based on a non-fiction book by the journalist Jon Krakauer, which was published in 996. Krakauer is particularly interested in how Chris McCandless died, and has published five different theories. Krakaeur s interest in McCandless s death stems from his desire to prove that McCandless wasn t just a naive runaway. He reveres him as an adventurous young man, who acted upon a youthful rite-of-passage. Writer s toolbox A rite-of-passage refers to a significant event in a person s life, where they transition from one stage of life, into another. 4 3 Map of Chris McCandless s journey STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS Genre Annandale, Virginia 2. Atlanta, Georgia May Lake Mead National Recreational Area (July 90) 4. Orick Beach/Cut Bank Montana (Aug. 90) 5. Morelos Dam (Dec. 90) 6. El Golfo de Santa Clara (Jan, 9) 7. Houston, Texas (Feb. 9) 8. Las Vegas, Nevada (Feb. May 9) 9. Bullhead City, Arizona (Oct. 9) 0. Niland, California (Dec. 9). San Diego, California (Jan./Feb. 92) 2. Carthage, South Dakota (Apr. 92) 3. Fairbanks, Alaska (Apr. 92) 4. Stampede Trail, Alaska (May 92) The genre of the film is biographical drama. Into the Wild begins with Chris McCandless leaving Annandale, Virginia. As he takes on the frontier in Alaska, the film takes on the style of an adventure story. Because it follows Chris s life story, it is biographical. However, it is told through Sean Penn s lens, which is based on Jon Krakaeur s interpretation of Chris McCandless s writings, and interviews with those who knew him. Although the audience of Into the Wild knows Chris dies, the drama is heightened as we see his deterioration and anticipate his death. Chronology The film does not follow a conventional chronology. It flashes forward to Alaska, to Chris s death, before taking us back, to show the journey leading up to that moment. The narrative flashes back even further to grainy images of Chris s early years. By doing this, Penn explores Chris s psychological rationale for leaving as he did. The sequencing affords greater suspense and drama, because the film takes a long time to reach what we know will happen. Knowing: Into the Wild 7

10 Comparing: Tracks and Into the Wild There are different kinds of comparative questions and different ways to approach them. This section will help you develop an understanding of how to use a range of strategies when planning your essays about Tracks and Into the Wild. These strategies, or graphic organisers, such as Venn diagrams, scales and data charts are especially useful tools in assisting you to explore the similarities and differences between the texts. TYPES OF QUESTIONS There are three types of questions: the themes, issues and ideas the social, historical and cultural context the genre and style. Common words used in essay questions include the following. Discuss: Debate the arguments for and against the topic backing up these ideas with selected evidence from the text. Provide a conclusion. To what extent: Assess the evidence in your text that would support an argument. Also look at alternative explanations. Do you agree?: An opinion is being sought as to the extent to which the statement or quote is accurate. Evidence will be provided to support or contend the point of view. Quotations: Essay questions that use quotations are a way to delve into the issues embedded in a text. You should make reference to the quote and the ideas that it raises. Theme questions Themes are prominent, recurring ideas that pervade a literary work. Both Tracks and Into the Wild explore themes related to: the journey of self-discovery landscape unreliability of representation stereotypes of women and men in nature. 30 PEARSON english VCE Comparing Guide

11 You can also explore concepts within themes, as shown in the following table. Theme The journey of selfdiscovery Landscape Unreliability of representation Concepts within themes adulthood, coming of age, morality of the individual, integrity, individual and social values, transformational experiences, motivators, conviction and individual power, individual need and collective will, autonomous action, guilt, forgiveness, personal responsibility, selfishness wilderness, frontierism, exposure, fear, resilience, transcendence, freedom, letting go and resistance, exclusion and inclusion, uniqueness whose story is being told?, authenticity, reality, creative licence, interpretation, memory, limitation, the power of distance (temporal, geographical, spiritual, emotional), the importance of text, storytelling Stereotypes of women and men in nature Concepts within themes being seen as the other, survival, enrichment, defying the odds, alienation, social non-conformity, expectations of gender, power of gender Cultural context questions Cultural context questions ask you to consider the cultural background in which the text is set, the events in history that shape the text, and the social worlds that both texts reflect. You might be asked to explore the aspects of society the authors, or characters see as important (views) and their judgements on those views (values). Robyn Davidson is a woman in the 970s trekking across the Australian desert, and Chris McCandless is a man in the 990s in the Alaskan wilderness, however, there are commonalities between the worlds they leave and the worlds they enter. Genre questions Genre questions could ask you to think about the conventions of the genre and consider how and why the authors conveyed their ideas in certain ways. Despite the different genres of these texts, we need to consider the features they share, and differences in their representations of setting, narrative perspective and other textual elements. THE COMPARISON How to compare The following section shows you a number of ways to compare the two texts. A variety of methods have been used, such as tables that allow you to chart and track data and graphic organisers that let you see quickly the links and variations. In a comparison essay, you must critically analyse any two texts pointing out their similarities and/or differences. It could also be called a compare and contrast essay. Your task could be comparative only (looking only at similarities), contrasting only (pointing out the differences) or both comparative and contrasting. Comparing: Tracks and Into the Wild 3

12 Theme THE JOURNEY OF SELF-DISCOVERY At the core of both of these texts is a protagonist on a journey. Over the course of the texts, each protagonist develops a new understanding of themselves and their place in the world. Both protagonists are young, and reject the concept of adhering to a predetermined notion of who they should be and how they should behave. Starting points Both texts identify that the journey of self-discovery is a conscious process. Each journey has a distinct starting point, spurred by a discontentment. Robyn embarks on her trip because she is not content with the expectations society has on women. She rebels against the concept that women should find security and contentment in the usual institutions of marriage and motherhood common in this time period. Chris sees his father as an example of what he is expected to become. This sets off his desire to leave it all for the great wilderness of Alaska. Preparing for the journey Both Davidson and Penn focus on the preparations the protagonists make before setting out on the actual journey. Robyn spends two years in Alice Springs trying to learn the skills she needs for her journey. In doing so, she learns about herself and her world, which informs the eventual journey itself. Chris spends two years travelling around the United States, in preparation for his final journey. In doing so he learns about himself and his capabilities, this informs the eventual journey itself. Going solo Both protagonists believe that the true journey of self-discovery cannot be done in the company of others, and that true transformation begins when we are alone. Robyn spends some of her time with others as she moves across the desert, but it is only when she sets out alone that the true connection with the landscape occurs. The net appears, and she loses herself into it. From the moment Gallien drops Chris off at the beginning of the Stampede Trail, Chris s transformation begins in the quiet of the Alaskan wilderness. Comparing texts on the theme of the journey of self-discovery LANDSCAPE Although the landscape is vastly different in each text, the impact of the journey on the protagonists is immense. Both Robyn and Chris, despite their fears seek freedom, and ultimately learn about the importance of landscape. 32 PEARSON english VCE Comparing Guide