As with I, John Baptist De La Salle, it is up to you to find your own meanings in reading the text. The only way for a story to become relevant, after all, is for you to fully invest yourself into it as if you were an archeologist trying to uncover some long buried secret about existence.
Anyhow, you create the questions and so you answer ONE of the following in a WELL-DEVELOPED paragraph (or two or three) that quote(s) from the text for support (for formatting guidelines see earlier posts where I explain it.)
Your questions should focus on discovering and explaining the literary techniques we discussed in class earlier this week as they are revealed in one of the chapters between four and nine.
This blog response is Due Wednesday, April 8, 2009 by class-time on blog (or typed, hard copy if you cannot log-in).
Please follow proper heading format:
Your Name
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
Rel 011.05
April 8, 2009
The questions:
- Why is it ironic that Franz actually steps out into the wild? How is it ironic that when Franz decides to live like Alex, a flashflood wipes out his campsite? How is the flashflood a symbol for/representing Alex?
- In chapter eight, we are told that Jon Waterman climbed Mt. McKinley at the age of 16. What does climbing the mountain symbolize? In what way are he and McCandless alike?
- What kind of statement is McCandless making by not wearing socks as told to us in chapter five?
- How does the epigraph of chapter four relate to McCandless' journey as revealed in chapter four? What are some other literary devices used in this epigraph and how do they relate to what is told to us in chapter four about McCandless?
- When McCandless finally gets to the ocean, what is ironic about his situation as recorded in chapter four?
- How does the image of McCandless' drained car help show McCandless what his journey is really about? What does the car symbolize?
- What can be inferred about McCandless' personality based upon the personal possessions found in his car in chapter four?
- In chapter four, we are told that McCandless sends a card to Wayne just before his journey into the Alaskan wilderness. What does this gesture suggest about McCandless' character?
- When he sets out on a hike on Lake Mead, what was the conflict with which McCandless had to deal as Krakauer explains it in chapter four?
- In chapter five, we are told that McCandless spent July and August (circa 1991) on the Oregon Caost and that the "fog and rain was often intolerable" (Krakauer 39). What can this symbolize or suggest about his journey?
- What is foreshadowed by the abandonment of McCandless' car (see chapter four)?
- What could McCandless' burying of his possessions symbolize or suggest after he abandons his car (see chapter four)?
- Why do you think Christopher McCandless such an astounding effect on the people he meets and connects with?
- How does Krakauer use the bear-paw poppy to symbolize McCandless (see chapter four)?
11 comments:
Chad Goldman
Bro. Rob Peach
Rel.011.06
April 6, 2009
How does the image of McCandless' drained car help show McCandless what his journey is really about? What does the car symbolize?
The image of McCandless' drained Dotson showed he did not show any feeling when loosing it and he thought of it as a new beginning. He looked at it as a way to continue his journey in a more spiritual way. The car stands modern life and he is ready then to leave it behind him. The Dotson also stands for not just modern life but the life he once lived and contents of the car stand for the moments of his old life he once knew.
Matt Bradley
Bro. Rob Peach
Rel.011.05
April 6, 2009
How does Krakauer use the Bear-Paw Poppy to symbolize McCandless?
The first paragraph in Ch. 4 spends time talking about the Bear-Paw Poppy. It states,
" The bear-paw poppy, a wildflower found in the isolated corner of the Mojave Desert and nowhere else in the world. In late spring it breifly produces a delicate golden bloom, but for most of the year the plant huddles unadorned and unnoticed on the parched earth"(25)
This statement clearly defines McCandless. When it speaks of a wildflower, it symbolizes how people see McCandless and his lifestyle as crazy, and when it mentions it is found nowhere else in the world, that is the impression McCandless leaves on the people he encounters on his journey. They see him as an unforgettable inspiration that they had never seen. The delicate golden bloom it refers to symbolizes Alex's morals and qualities. He has one golden opinion on something and sticks to it. And lastly when it talks about it being unadorned and unnoticed, that is how McCandless leaves, unnoticed and almost wanting that golden bloom to return.
Tom Foley
Bro Peach
Religion 011.05
April 6, 2009
In chapter eight, we are told that Jon Waterman climbed Mt. McKinley at the age of 16. What does climbing the mountain symbolize? In what way are he and McCandless alike?
Jon Waterman was moved by McCandless and his doings. When he was 16 he climbed Mt. KcKinley. This is a symbol of getting through something in life. He wanted to go somewhere to find himself.
Jon Waterman is alot like McCandless because of what they were about. Jon grew up in the suburbs of washington around where McCandless grew up in the same area and that inspired Waterman. They both overcame something in their lives to get where they wanted to be. They also both died in the wildernes
Mitchell House
Bro. Rob Peach
Rel 011.05
April 7, 2009
How does the image of McCandless' drained car help show what his journey is really about? What does the car symbolize?
In Chapter 4, McCandless sets out on his long journey in his Datsun. However, while camping by Lake Mead, his car is ruined by a flash flood and his battery is drained. However, instead of being upset, Chris is excited. Krakauer writes, "Instead of being distraught over this turn of events, moreover, McCandless was exhilarated. He saw the flash flood as an oppurtunity to shed unnescessary baggage"(29). The second part of this quote tells us what showed Chris what his journey was truly about. He realized that to live the way that he intended, he must give up everything, including his car.
From these examples, we see what the car symbolized. The shedding of McCandless' car marked the true beginning of his journey. He had finally sepearated himself from true material possessions and had totally become Alex Supertramp.
Brett Cerussi
Brother Robert Peach
Rel.011.06
April 6, 2009
In chapter eight, we are told that Jon Waterman climbed Mt. McKinley at the age of 16. What does climbing the mountain symbolize? In what way are he and McCandless alike?
I think it symbolizes a great achievement in ones life. He and McCandless both want to achieve something that is bigger than they are. I think they do something like climbing a mountain to help there confidence in that they know they can achieve what ever they put there mind to.
Patrick Vento
Bro. Rob Peach
Rel.011.06
April 6, 2009
In chapter five, we are told that McCandless spent July and August (circa 1991) on the Oregon Caost and that the "fog and rain was often intolerable" (Krakauer 39). What can this symbolize or suggest about his journey?
I think the fog can symbolize many things, but i think the most important would maybe be sort of a symbol of an unclear jounrey. We know that Chris goes into the wild to essinatly find something whether it be himself of something hes been looking for, like an answer or a clue to something better. It could also be a symbol of a struggle not a big one but throughout his journey he has struggles.
Robby Mazeski
Bro. Rob Peach
Rel.011.05
april 7 09
What could McCandless' burying of his possessions symbolize or suggest after he abandons his car (see chapter four)?
I think McCandelles burying his possesions and abbondining his car symbolizes a new begging were mcCandeles as it said inthe book to shed off some weight and start all over, but he also is abanding apart of himself with his car because he seemed to be attached to it. Chris burying his possesions for example the rifle. He thought he still might need them in the future and he might have come back to them if he had not died.
Dan Raimondi
Bro. Rob Peach
Rel.011.05
4/7/09
What can be inferred about McCandless' personality based upon the personal possessions found in his car in chapter four?
Although we are not given the reasoning through the text, the reader can infer through the Gianini guitar, fishing rod, and harmonica, that Christopher McCandless was a relaxed, sort of layed back, talented guy. We can assume that he used music as a window to expressing himself, and we can also assume from the fishing rod that he was patient and layed back enough that he could enjoy spending the time fishing. He also brought along a football, so he was also probably had a passion for sports and also used his time doing physical activities, and not just reading and music.
James Pozycki
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
Rel.011.05
April 8, 2009
How does the image of McCandless' drained car help show McCandless what his journey is really about? What does the car symbolize?
The image of McCandless' drained car shows that Chris' journey in the wild is about finding his inner strength and to find himself. When McCandless' camp site is destroyed, it represents a struggle and a set back but that is the same of when a car battery is drained. The car symbolizes a set back on a journey. This suites Chris well because on his journey in the wild, he has a lot of set backs; he recovers from most of them
Damion Jones-Moore
Bro. Rob Peach
Rel.011.05
April 8,2009
How does the image of McCandless' drained car help show McCandless what his journey is really about? What does the car symbolize?
it helps because it shows the journey of the new beginning the draining of the battery symbolizes his old life running out and he is out to find his inner self an d along the way he gets rid of the distractions to find himself. the car in a way symbolizes his life because in the wild he was going to live as long as he could until he drained out like the battery in his car.
Paul Costello
Bro Rob Peach
Rel 011.05
April 14, 2009
What can be inferred about McCandless' personality based upon the personal possessions found in his car in chapter four?
Jon Krakauer writes, "Walsh found a Gianini guitar, a sacepan containing $4.93 in loose change, a football, a garbage bag full of old clothes, a fishing rod and tackle, a new electric razor, a harmonmica, a set of jumper cables, twenty five puinds of rice, and in the glove compartment, the keys to the vehicle's ignition" (26). The objects found in his car suggest that McCandless either didn't have much money, or didn't care about money, or perhaps, both. You can also infer that McCandless was very easy-going.
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