Into the Wild
Chapters 3-4
Free Write
Read the following quote then explain what
Thoreau is talking about. Do you agree or
disagree with this idea? Why? Does McCandless
agree or disagree with this idea? Why? How do
you know (provide evidence from text).
It is preoccupation with possessions, more than
anything else, that prevents us from living
freely and nobly. – Henry David Thoreau
Rhetorical Analysis
Read “The Box Man,” by Barbara Lazear Ascher and create a
table with three columns (Strategy - Notes - Evidence) in
which you discuss each of the following strategies:
• Meaning – What is the main idea?
• Audience – Who is the intended audience? What
assumptions does the author make about them?
• Purpose – Why did the author write the essay? What did
s/he hope readers would gain from it?
• Method/Structure – What methods does the author use
to develop the main idea, and how do these methods
serve the author’s subject and purpose?
• Language – How are the author’s main idea and purpose
revealed at the level of sentences and words?
Tone
Create a compare-contrast map: for Chris’ letter
to his sister vs. his letter to his parents and
answer the following frame of reference
questions:
• How is the language and tone used toward
his sister different from the language and
tone used toward his parents?
• What might account for this difference?
• Why is this information important to
readers?
3. Present map to class.
Alexander Supertramp
Read the last paragraph in Ch. 3:
Driving west out of Atlanta… he was now
Alexander Supertramp, master of his own destiny.
Answer in 1 to 3 sentences each:
• How important is a name to your identity?
Does it matter what people call you? Why?
• Why would Chris change his name?
• What theme in the book does this passage
relate to? How so?
Language
Read the end of Ch. 4:
It is the experience, the memories, the great
triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent in
which real meaning is found.
Answer in one short paragraph (4-6 sentences):
Considering the various experiences Alex had in
Chapters 3 & 4, what “meaning” do you think
Alex has found? Use textual evidence to
support your assertions.
Quick Response
Many have labeled Chapter 4 as evidence of
McCandless’ foolishness. Do you agree or
disagree with this idea? Why or why not?
How does the following quote apply to the
question: What does it mean to be a rebel?
I wanted movement and not a calm course of
existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the
chance to sacrifice myself for my love. I felt myself
in a superabundance of energy which found no
outlet in our quiet life. – Tolstoy
Extended Analysis
Create a table like the one you made for “The Box Man,” and
discuss each of the strategies for Into the Wild Chapters 3-4:
• Meaning – What is the main idea?
• Audience – Who is the intended audience? What
assumptions does the author make about them?
• Purpose – Why did the author write the essay? What did
s/he hope readers would gain from it?
• Method/Structure – What methods does the author use
to develop the main idea, and how do these methods
serve the author’s subject and purpose?
• Language – How are the author’s main idea and purpose
revealed at the level of sentences and words?