Fall Semester Final Essay
During our Into the Wild Unit, we have identified Jon Krakauer’s argument about Chris and by reading supplementary
texts, we also explored our own opinion about the cause behind Chris’s death. For our final, we will formally articulate
our opinion through a synthesis essay.
Prompt: To what extent can we blame Chris McCandless’s death on his own hubris to conquer nature
or on the flaws of society?
Your essay must include:
 A thesis statement
 At least 3 body paragraphs (Note: An introduction and conclusion is NOT required)
 Claims, context, direct quote, and commentary for each body paragraph
 Direct quotes from Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
 Direct quotes from at least two (2) of the following supplementary texts:
o “To Build a Fire” by Jack London
o “Life without Principle” by Henry David Thoreau
o “Amundsen Schlepped Here” by Mark Jenkins
o
Optional: If you wish, you may include evidence from Jon Krakauer’s article “How Chris McCandless
Died.” You must still however, quote from Into the Wild and two of the supplementary texts.
Note about text citation:
Cite your quotes by including the author’s last name and page number in parentheses.
Example: (Thoreau 2)
Cite Krakauer’s article by referencing the title instead of Krakauer’s last name.
Example: (“How Chris McCandless Died” 3)
Scoring Guide:
Advanced (Demonstrates thorough and in-depth understanding of the texts and how they inform our understanding
of the cause of Chris’s death)
All proficient criteria plus the following:
 Includes a Level 3 thesis statement
 Organization of essay is appropriate to audience and argument
 Analysis thoroughly synthesizes multiple texts to answer the prompt
Proficient (No major errors or omissions. Demonstrates understanding of material explicitly covered in class)
 Follows established format for essay writing:
o A Level 2 thesis statement that fully answers the prompt
o Body paragraphs with claims, evidence, and commentary
 Evidence is relevant to the claims made in the body paragraph in which it appears
 Evidence is correctly cited and comes from multiple texts (as required by assignment)
 Commentary makes inferences about evidence and connects it to the claim
Basic (A few major errors or omissions. Demonstrates partial understanding of the material)
 Meets 2 of the “Proficient” criteria
Below Basic (Multiple major errors or omissions. Demonstrates limited understanding of the material)
 Meets fewer than 2 of the “Proficient” criteria