Introduction

Hi other readers,
           In my english class we're going to be reading a novel called Into the Wild by Jon Krakuer. This novel is about a young man named Chris McCandlles that travels across the United States because he's tired of his life in society. After he dissapeared his body was found in an old bus in the Alaskan wilderness. This book looks interesting and I think you should read it too.

biography on Jon Krakauer

Jon was born in 1954 in Carvallis, Oregon. His father got him interested in mountain climbing at around age 8. After he graduated college in 1976 he worked as a carpenter and commercial salmon fisherman while he spent ,ost of his free time i nthe mountains. In 1977 he traveled to southeast alaska and created a new trail on a peak called devils thumb, he has also climbed Mt.Everest but on the descent a storm hit, killing 4 of the 5 team mates that were u there with him. He wrote a book about this tragedy that became a new york times best seller and has been translated into 24 languages. Jon Krakauer has written many books including one on vulcanology which received the 1997 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism

where I'd like to visit in the US

I would really like to go to Green Bay,Wisconsin one day. I have some family that lives up there and i would really like to visit them. I'm also a Packers fan and i'd like to see a game at Lumbardi Field. I'd probably have to take a plane or train since wisconsin is over 700 miles away. Wisconsin has cold, snowy winters and warm summers which would be fun because i like the snow but i also like being outside in the summer. During the winter the temperature can average from 0 to 15 below. The annual snowfall varies from 30 inches in the south the over 100 inches in the northen half. I wouldn'd mind the cold and the snow because i dont like the heat too much. The summers temperature can reach 90 degrees but during marked cool outbreaks in the summer freezing temperatures have been reported.

Into the wild Character Traits

DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION - the writer makes direct statements about a character's personality and tells what the character is like.

INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION - the writer reveals information about a character and his personality through the character's thoughts, words, and actions, along with how other characters respond to that character, including what they think and say about him.


Direct Quotes:
1. "five feet seven or eight with a wirey build" (4)
2. "he claimed to be 24 years old and said he was from South Dakota" (4)
3. "he was congenial and well educated" (5)
4. "(he) remarked that he was afraid of water" (6)
5. " McCandless was smallish with the hard stingy phsique of an itninerant laborer" (16)
6. "dark and emotive suggested a trace of exotic blood in his heritage" (16)
7. "he had the kind of sensative good looks that girls made a big fuss over" (16)
8. "his face had a strange elasticity: it would be slack and expressonliess one minute, only to twist suddenly into an oversized grin"
9. "he was near sighted and wore steel-rimmed glasses
10. "he was the hardest worker i've ever seen"
 
Indirect Quotes:
1. "he didnt appear to be very old"(3)
2. "he peppered Gallien with questions" (5)
3. "he was determined to go. A real gung ho." (6)
4. "the word that comes to mind is excited" (6)
5. Chris burned all his money and got rid of his stuff and that shows he's not materialistic at all
6.  he was determined because even after he lost his car he still kept walking
7. he was hard working, he would do all the dirty jobs that no one else would do on the grain elevator (18)
8. he had high moral standards, once he started a job he would never give up(18)
9. he was intelligent, he used big words and graduated from college with good grades
10. he was also a loner, he didnt walk around with anyone and he said that re-entering sociaty was tough
 
From what i've heard it sounds like Chris is a hardworking young man that refusees to stop what he started. He was very intelligent and sometimes thought into things too much, he thought about sociaty so much that he gave up on it and went to live alone. He also seemed tough because he would go days without eating much and he would still keep walking.
 
 

I beleive that Chris Mcandless made a mistake when he decided to go out into the Alaskan wilderness. He was not prepared for what he was getting himself into. He was a smart and brave kid but he was also selfish for leaving his family. He seemed like he took thing too seriously and thats why he ran away. HIs situation at home with his parents wasnt that bad and he over reacted. He was nice to the people he met on the road but I think they embelished him a little because he had died. I understand he was trying to figure himself out but he didnt have to cut all ties with his family. He didnt have to tell them where he was going, but he should've told them that he was leaving.