Tolstoy, to name a few. Choose one or more of McCandless’s literary heroes, and analyze what he appreciated about their work as well as what he incorporated into his own philosophy of life. Activity 41: Taking a Stance Whether you are revising your timed writing, beginning your take- home essay, or working on one of the research topics, you need to define your own position in the context of what other people think. Focus on the core question of the topic you are working on: Timed writing: What kind of person was McCandless and what was he trying to do? Take-home essay: Is life on the road suited for everyone? Whatever the issue, you need to consider the opinions of the various people McCandless met on the road, the opinions of his family, Krakauer’s own views, and what Krakauer calls “the prevailing Alaska wisdom,” along with various statements by McCandless himself. What do you believe your readers will think about McCandless, his ideas and his quest? What do you think? How will you best present and support your views for your audience? One way to get some perspective is to imagine how other people would tell the story. How would the story have been different if McCandless’s mother had told it? His sister? Another journalist? Krakauer had outdoor experiences that he reflected on at in the book and appeared to identify with McCandless in many ways. What if he relied so much on his own experiences that he made incorrect assumptions about McCandless’s experiences? What if he had not been so sympathetic in his recounting of McCandless’s story? What if a totally objective journalist had told the story? What would be different about the writing? Consider this story told from a different perspective. Answer these questions with that person in mind: would say about this?” would tell “What “How this story?” What words would he or she use? Here are some possible perspectives: A totally objective news reporter McCandless’s father McCandless’s mother McCandless’s sister Carine Ron Franz Wayne Westerberg An Alaskan hunter An Athapaskan Indian
Tolstoy, to name a few. Choose one or more of McCandless’s literary heroes, and analyze what he appreciated about their work as well as what he incorporated into his own philosophy of life. Activity 41: Taking a Stance Whether you are revising your timed writing, beginning your take- home essay, or working on one of the research topics, you need to define your own position in the context of what other people think. Focus on the core question of the topic you are working on: Timed writing: What kind of person was McCandless and what was he trying to do? Take-home essay: Is life on the road suited for everyone? Whatever the issue, you need to consider the opinions of the various people McCandless met on the road, the opinions of his family, Krakauer’s own views, and what Krakauer calls “the prevailing Alaska wisdom,” along with various statements by McCandless himself. What do you believe your readers will think about McCandless, his ideas and his quest? What do you think? How will you best present and support your views for your audience? One way to get some perspective is to imagine how other people would tell the story. How would the story have been different if McCandless’s mother had told it? His sister? Another journalist? Krakauer had outdoor experiences that he reflected on at in the book and appeared to identify with McCandless in many ways. What if he relied so much on his own experiences that he made incorrect assumptions about McCandless’s experiences? What if he had not been so sympathetic in his recounting of McCandless’s story? What if a totally objective journalist had told the story? What would be different about the writing? Consider this story told from a different perspective. Answer these questions with that person in mind: “What would say about this?” “How would tell this story?” What words would he or she use? Here are some possible perspectives: A totally objective news reporter McCandless’s father McCandless’s mother McCandless’s sister Carine Ron Franz Wayne Westerberg An Alaskan hunter An Athapaskan Indian
mod6_into_the_wild_student_version.docx