INTO tHE WILD

Historical Context:The setting of the book is in the 1990s. At this time, the United States was experiencing an economic boom.
Literary Context: This book was published in 1996, during the post-modernism literary era. Elements of this era, including emphasis on the individual and forward thinking, are illustrated through Krakauer's writing. He focuses on going beyond the literal meaning of his words, demanding a deeper understand of the world around us, and our purpose in life.

Jon Krakauer

Jon Krakauer was born on April 12, 1954 in Brookline, Massachusetts. He grew up in Oregon with a doctor and a mountain climber as his parents, taking up mountain climbing himself by the age of eight. He attended Hampshire College and graduated moving on to become a carpenter and then a fisherman. He devoted much of his time to climbing as he lived in Alaska, and was credited for many great adventures, including a new trail up the Devil's Thumb, which he wrote about in his book, "Into Thin Air." He now works as a journalist and writer, published by many acclaimed newspapers, magazines, and book companies.

Untitled Slide

Into the Wild

Summary:
Chris McCandless came from a prosperous, well-educated family. He "brought home good grades" avoided getting in trouble, and "was a high-achiever," despite being an emotionally-troubled child (pg.144) His sister was his closest friend, and the relationship he had with his parents slowly deteriorated after he learned of dark family secretes. Throughout his years as a youth, he searched for purpose, and thus, exploring and hiking became an outlet for him. He finally set his heart on Alaska, and soon after his college graduation, he embarked on a journey that would kill him in a matter of months. Regardless of the high risks, his expedition held, "he was determined," nothing anyone said would deter him from his ultimate goal (pg.6).

Soapstone Analysis

• Audience: His audience would most likely be himself. After discovering that Krakauer shared many things with McCandless, and realizing that their stories are so very similar, Krakauer could have written this story for closure, and he wanted to share his similarities with those who cared.

Soapstone Analysis

• Speaker: Jon Krakauer who was an American Journalist who spent much of his younger years believing transcendental ideals and pioneering the wilderness, similar to that of McCandless.

Soapstone Analysis

• Tone: The overall tone of the book could be described as reflective and inquiring. With Krakauer presenting many unanswered events or questions throughout the book and sincerely adressing the life of McCandless, the tone was rather consistent and focused on the "Why?".

CHRIS MCCANDLESS: 1992

Connections
Connections
Napoleon Bonaparte,french military and political leader, stated “ Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or bad acts.All depends on the principles which direct them.”
This quote connects to one of the central qualities McCandless presented, which in turn led many to respect him, was his consistency to principles. He mentioned his parents being to materialistic, and stated that "he won’t be as greedy as he believes them to be". Instead, he lives by his anti-materialism completely, giving away all of his life savings to charity,and keeping a few things to attempt to survive off of in the wild

Adele song Hello,a song that has to do with love and heartbreak, connects to the book into the wild because the lyrics during the chorus are similar to the tone of the ending of the book. “Hello from the other side”, and “Hello from the outside” is actually very similar to Chris McCandless’s being wild and traversing into the wilderness, as he is no longer connected to others nor does he communicate with others. “I’m in California dreaming about who we used to be.” This lyric is also comparable to the story of McCandless. As stated a plenty in the book, McCandless is a dreamer and he wants to live his life for himself so that he can be happy.His journey and dreams help him shape his own life and happiness and he dreams about who he used to be and who he wants to become.

"there was just no talking the guy out of it..he was determined... He couldn't wait out there and get started.(pg 6)
This quote connects to Bethany Hamilton and her life story about getting attacked by a shark. She was very determined to surf back into the ocean and adjust to swimming and surfing with one arm just like McCandless was determined to go into the wild to survive on his own.

Syntactical Anaylsis

• purpose: declaritive
• Length: long
• order: natural
• structure: complex
• Special features:reminiscent tone,imagery
• Effect on Audience: leaves audience wondering if he is coming back alive or not. Lingering the audience so they can continue to read on.

Syntactical Analysis

"If this adventure proves fatal and you don't ever hear from me again i want you to know you're a great man" pg 133 -134

contributions:

• Maiya Allen:Kyra Jones:
• Kyra Jones:
• Preston Nimmo:

Abstract:
Jon Krakauer puts forth his best effort in writing Into the Wild