Just Mine Now

Now, I'd like to say a few words about the process used to create these blog entries.  No, I didn't just sit down at the computer, and start typing.  Just as with anything you write, planning is needed as well as close proofreading.   As I read, I made notes in the book (one perk for owning my own book), and I also kept a journal.  So, as I read and reread, I made notes about different points I wanted you to understand while you read the book.  Then I reread the notes I wrote in the journal as well as those I wrote in the text itself.  After completing that process, sometimes for several chapters at a time, I then signed into this blog, and  began transferring my thoughts to the entries.  I hope you noted that I documented the quotations I used.  After completing the writing portion, a sort of rough draft, I opened preview pages of what I had written.  I'd reread what I had written, stopping often to revise the wording and/or order...

If, perchance, you have viewed the film made of Into the Wild , what similarities/differences do you notice?  How would you rate the film?  Explain.

Most chapters throughout the text average around fifteen pages a piece, yet the Epilogue is only four pages.  Think about the following questions: Is it too short?   How does it fit Krakauer's purpose?  Were you satisfied with the way Into the Wild concluded?  Explain.  Then think about what Krakauer includes in this section. Reflect on your thoughts once you've finished reading.

Most of the second "Stampede Trail" chapter's focus analyzes what actually killed Christopher McCandless.  How did reading these different interpretations affect your opinion of the book and Christopher McCandless?  We know that Krakauer completed extensive research, trying to understand what the actual culprit was. Besides this focus, however, Krakauer also asserts that McCandless was ready to come home, emphasizing this fact because he has repeated this particular idea throughout the text, not just in chapter 18.  He even conjectures how things might have been different had McCandless had a topographical map, all those what ifs.  Consider this sentence: "McCandless's apparent salvation, in other words, seemed to be only a three-hour walk upriver" (196).  It's almost as if Krakauer is trying to change McCandless's final outcome. For another example, read the following paragraph, then think about how Krakauer came to his conclusions: "It is te...