TABLE OF CONTENTS. Theme!!! Author Biography Connector Investigator Plot Character Symbol

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1 Vincini, Zoe Wednesday, April 13, :18:57 PM PT 00:16:cb:d1:4c:1e

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Theme!!! Author Biography Connector Investigator Plot Character Symbol

3 THEME!!! Following your own path is the road to self discovery Certain moments can change you as a person forever Following your ideals gives you freedom of self choice Detaching yourself from material goods will only make you stronger with who you are as a person

4 Art Explanation Maddy This picture depicts two paths. The first path main path takes up the majority of the picture as it winds itself up to society. The majority of life s travelers take this path to join society. This is symbolized with the great number of people seen taking this road. Signs pointing up this road are meant to symbolize societies pull on people. Although the road to society takes up a great deal more space, there is another path. This is the path less traveled. This is the path away from society and into the unknown. At the head of this trail, there is a blocker. This is meant to symbolize the emotional and material block many people face when taking this path. It is meant to put people back on the main road. The small figure in this picture is boldly stepping over the divider and into the unknown, where few, but some, have gone before him. The difference in the number of people following this path as apposed to the main road is a significant one. Looking closer at the stick figures, you will see a difference in their general appearance depending weather they are on the main, or side road, the figures on the main road are all identical. They have little to no facial features and to defining elements. Now looking at the people traveling the road less traveled by, we see that they have faces and hair and other defining elements that the main steam lack. Basically, this is to symbolize their individuality and differentiate them from the pack. One last feature is the color contrast between the two areas on the picture. The area around society is monotonous and bland. Staying in shades of black, white and gray. Now switching sides, the area surrounding the beaten path, is much different looking. The sky is more colorful, the trail is green, there is even snow. Its beautiful, but it leads to the unknown.

5 Author Biography Mitchell There are those standout moments in your life, events that can change you as a person forever. It can be an event that lasts a few days or a moments that happens in a minute. Nonetheless, some moments can change you. In order to discover yourself, you must follow your own path, and when you follow your own path you will run into self-changing moments. Jon Krakauer was somebody that experienced one of these moments and it has changed who he is today. This adventure that he took may have been the main reason why Jon Krakauer decided to write the book Into the Wild. Jon Krakauer came from a wealthy family; a family that planed his life out for him. His dad had an Jon s life completely planned out, but Jon strayed from the plan early on. The college he ended up going to wasn t an Ivy League school, but a distant college. After four years of school Jon graduated and instead of going to a medical school, Jon became a carpenter. Jon created a passion while he was a carpenter. Jon had a passion for climbing. Krakauer owned a book in which there was black and white picture of a mountain known as Devil s Thumb. One day he decided to abruptly quit his job and travel to Alaska, the state in which Devil s Thumb is located. Once Jon arrived at Petersburg, he made plans to have food airdropped to the summit. His first attempt at the climb ended in failure because of a patch of loose ice. The weather was bad for three days, but when it cleared up, the airdrop was delivered. Jon climbed to the summit where his base camp was and slept there. The next day he continued his climb and made it to the top of Devil s Thumb. He wrote about it being barely wide enough for him to stand on, so soon after he achieved his goal, Jon went back home. This expedition lasted for about 20 days and it was one of Jon s most rewarding and challenging experiences. Jon Krakauer became a writer for Outside magazine and went on to write a few other popular books. His first book was Into the Wild, a book that stayed on New York bestseller list for two years. Afterwards, Jon wrote Into Thin Air, which was about a Mt. Everest climb he attempted. This book was extremely popular and received many awards. His later books included Under the Banner of Heaven and Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman. The climbing expeditions that Krakauer took affected his life monumentally. From very early in his life Jon has always chosen his own path, which is what got him to where he is now. Although his dad may not have approved, Jon went on his dangerous journey to the top of Devil s Thumb. During that adventure John discovered himself and realized that climbing is what he loved to do, but sharing it with others is even better. After Jon realized his passion, his life was changed forever. He went on numerous climbing trips and wrote two best-selling books due to his journey. His near death experience on Devil s Thumb is probably one of the reasons Jon researched so extensively about Chris McCandless. If Jon decided to follow his father s path, he probably would have become a doctor. Due to certain events and him following his own path, Jon had become a very successful writer. The life of Jon Krakauer has been an eventful and successful one. Since Jon followed his own path and experienced life changing events, he has written three best-selling books. If you follow your own path, you may experience an event that will change your life for the better.

6 Connector Investigator Reiley Mountaineering, otherwise known as mountain climbing, can be categorized as a sport, a hobby, or even a profession. Mountaineering started as the attempt to climb mountains to a height that had yet to be reached. But since most mountains have been climbed now days, mountaineering is now split into three different categories. Depending on the route or style of mountaineering you plan on doing, the categories span from rock-craft, to snow-craft to skiing. Although mountaineering consists of three different aspects, they all have a common rule of which you must be both physically and athletically capable. They all also require you to have good knowledge of mountain safety. Whether you are climbing on rock, glaciers, or straight up ice, mountaineering is still one of the most dangerous and challenging activities a human being can perform. If you plan on attempting the act of mountaineering, you better be prepared to face both physical and mental challenges. Pulling your full body weight up the face of a steep mountain during a blizzard while continuously dodging falling rocks and ice is just one possible scenario you might face while mountaineering. Also, unless you have the ability to claw your fingers into rock or solid ice, you will most likely be putting the trust of your life into axes, which are used during the climbing process. You pierce the axes into the substance of which you are climbing, and pull yourself up from there. You then pull the axe out and place it above you head, again pulling yourself up. This task alone takes tremendous muscle and strength so you better be prepared when considering mountaineering. When you somehow reach the top of the mountain you may wonder, now what? Well once you arrive to your final destination, you will most likely need to rest. After hours upon hours of thrusting your physique up that impossibly high mountain, it is just common sense to take a break. Being prepared for camping comes in handy here. Since the tops of mountains are cold, it is strongly suggested that you have good equipment for shelter and warmth. This will include, a sleeping bag, a tent, and a waterproof tarp. Keep in mind that this is the bare minimum recommended equipment for just the top. But before you pitch your tent, you should know that at the top of that mountain you just accomplished climbing, there will be an extreme change in altitude. There are so many symptoms of altitude sickness but the best treatment is lower elevation. Most mountaineer-ers go by the motto, climb high, sleep low. This means once you have reached your destination, it is better for you to actually go back down a couple hundred feet before you rest. After reading about this menacing and demanding activity, you might wonder why people even attempt doing it. The simple answer that I have come up with is that they were called to. Like Christopher McCandless, some people need this kind of danger in their lives. In the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, we read about Chris s dangerous adventures and crazy ideas. And we all kept wondering why? Why would somebody just leave their family to go off to Alaska all by themselves. Why on earth would you cut off contact from society to be with nature when there are people here who love you? I have come to the conclusion that it is because in order to discover yourself, you must follow your own path. The only way Chris was ever going to be happy was if he followed what he wanted in life, not what society wanted, what he wanted. Chris grew up with a family who loved him. He got good grades and was good at sports, not to mention that making money came easy for him. But early on in the story, we learn that none of that ever meant anything to Chris. Chris was a boy of ideals. He had a unique way of viewing the world and would do anything to live in that vision. In our discussions we went back and forth between whether Chris was selfish for leaving, or if it was just what he needed to do. I agree with the second statement. Chris knew what he wanted, and he knew how to get it. If cutting off all contact was what it took, so be it. Chris followed his own path. It was a path that not many agreed with and it was a path that took his life in the end. But he had accomplished exactly what he had set out to do in the first place. Upon a savage and wild journey, Christopher McCandless discovered himself.

7 Plot Zoë In the book, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer describes life of Chris McCandless through the eyes of someone who looks further within. He not only researched Chris's life story, but also investigated it and lived it through him. Chris was an intelligent man, who was in his early twenties, living a life he called his own. He was never a momma's boy or daddy's little helper. No, Chris was the type of guy who had his own opinions on life and own direction on where he was going to go. Awhile after he got out of college, Chris departed himself from his family and society. He took on the wild in a way people thought of as crazy or foolish. He was going on an Odyssey of his own, looking for an answer only he would find in the end. He lost touch from his family for about 2 years, burned up all his money in his wallet and donated the rest to charity, packed up what he thought was enough, and hit the road. When reading this book and judging it with my own views, I never thought Chris had planned his journey that entirely well. He seemed unprepared, confused, and stupid. But also at times he was courageous, intelligent, and an overall good guy. But the fact that whatever Chris was looking for killed him in the end, almost affects the whole outlook on why he even went. Chris went through dangerous situations, and risked his life several of times throughout his big adventure. But the fact his life ended by a human error really defeats the whole purpose of doing it all; or so you would think. Chris died because of some moldy seeds he had eaten. The seeds became moldy due to their package that wasn't sealed up tight enough, which caused him a severe starvation illness. Chris left a secretive note behind a ripped out page out of a book, saying he was happy with how his life ended, and that he had no regrets. Most would think he died unhappy, alone, and full of dissatisfaction. But Chris lived the way he planned on living, and he found what he was looking for; he found himself. I think he showed the theme of the book: In order to discover yourself, you must follow your own path. And that's exactly what Chris did during his journey. He felt as if going to Alaska and doing his own thing without society would help him find himself, find who the inner Chris really was. I think he could have made it all the way if he had thought of what he was doing better. Whether it was extra clothes, to more food. Or maybe if he never burned all his money! Because I didn t understand why he threw all his money away when he just came back to civilization and got a job to make money for extra supplies anyways. Some of his thinking habits during all of this didn t quite add up and kind of came back around to mess things up for him. When finding himself by going out to discover, he also found other people and other memories he wouldn t have wanted to miss. He wouldn t have wanted to miss out on all of the wild and exciting times he went through to get to where he left. Whether he died or not, he still confessed his achievements in himself for getting as far as he was. He accomplished his dream, and no one can take that away from him.

8 Character Connor The main character of this book was Chris McCandless. Chris was a very idealistic person. He was also stubborn, which means that when he got an idea he stuck with it and would do whatever he could to achieve that goal or idea. He disliked society but wasn t anti-social. He liked people and had friends but didn t like the idea of society and being a part of it. He had a close relationship with his sister and loved her very much. His sister was basically his best friend and he did a lot of things with her. The relationship between him and his parents was very tense and quite horrible really. The book reveals little about the relationship between him and his mom, but reveals a lot between him and his dad. Chris respected his father, but didn t show much love or affection of him. When Chris was in college he found out about how his dad cheated on his mom when they were young. This basically scarred Chris and caused him to have a grudge on his dad. Things were already tense before this because his parents tried to control him and make him do what they wanted. Other then Chris there were no main characters because people would fade out of the story. Some people came back but that didn t happen very often. The theme of the book is that in order to discover yourself, you must fallow your own path. Chris shows this theme to a great extent. Chris showed that he didn t like society and wanted to do things his own way. He despised his parents for trying to get him to fallow the path they wanted. They made Chris feel like he wasn t doing what he wanted. Chris took a journey and basically ran away. The fact that towards the end of the journey his viewpoints changed, it shows that he discovered himself from the journey and discovered what he really wanted in life. He decided that he wanted to rejoin society, but never really got the chance because he died. Other characters help show that Chris found himself towards the end of the journey. His reactions with other characters showed that he didn t want close relationships with people and that he wanted to do his own things. The way he reacted when people wanted to help him or give him things was normally bad. He showed that he didn t want help and wanted to do things his own way. The note Chris left shows that even over his entire life, he regrets nothing.

9 Symbol Esteban Into the wild is a story a man s journey of self-discovery and freedom. His ever-persistent expedition into the unknown and dangerous. His own personal Odyssey, which in the end caused his death. His story was amazing not only because of the many miles he traveled and people he inspired, but also for what this trip symbolized for him and the reader. His freedom from an all too conformist society that tried to bind him by morals that were not his. This journey was a symbol for freedom and more importantly, self-discovery. There are two specific examples of this. One is the trip itself. The other is his goal, which was the rugged yet beautiful land of Alaska. Each of these symbols are something we all want, but usually do not receive. Alex, even though it cost him his life, achieved these goals. His first goal was freedom. He needed freedom from his family, his friends, and just from overall society. That was the root of the reason why he left with nothing but his valued possessions and the clothes on his back. He unshackled his chains. Each mile symbolized his escape. The farther down he went on the map, the closer he was to his salvation. He followed his goal with an admirable determination and steel will. That doesn t mean there weren t obstacles. He had no money. He had to do side jobs every now and again to make sure he didn t starve, basically succumbing to the one thing he was trying to escape. His dependency on society. Their were not only physical obstacles but physiological too. Alex met many people on his adventure and made many friends, but in the end had to abandon them all for Alaska. Getting too close to people was something he tried to with avoid and with success too. There may have been a few exceptions, but those were rare occasions. The reoccurring pattern with Alex is that the farther he runs from society, the more immersed into it he becomes. That s the reason why he was trying to escape to Alaska. To be free from all of that. Alaska was Alex s final goal. Alaska not only meant a chance to challenge his survival skills, but also to find himself. He found peace in the wild and a freedom we may never know as people who live and depend on a civilization. He not only survived in the wild, but basically thrived too. Alex broke all ties to people in the place where he most felt at home. But in the place he found his salvation, he also found his flaws. Alex realized that he needed human contact, that he needed the connection of another mind. The wild may of given him the reason to forgive those he felt wronged by. Alaska represents the realization of what was important to him and what he needed. We may never know what Alex would of done if he survived the Alaskan Odyssey, but we do know he didn t regret it. Alex s story is an inspiration to everybody who wants to follow their ideals and dreams. He proved that you don t have to be normal to have a happy and fulfilling life and that we all don t have to be dependent on our society. Alex Mccandless s journey, in my opinion, is the closest thing to a modern day Odyssey we have.