1. Trough (n)- lowest point of something
2. Amalgam (n)- mixture; combination (of)
3. Anomaly (n)- abnormality; exception; peculiarity
4. Amphibious (adj)- having a mixed nature; the ability to conform and thrive in
different environments
5. Itinerant (adj)- traveling from place to place; nomadic
6. Estranged (adj)- alienated; separated from others
7. Emancipated (adj)- freed from all restraints
8. Intermittent (adj)- interrupted or sporadic pattern
9. Emasculated (adj)- lacking strength; feminine
10. Indolent (adj)- lazy; inactive
11. Espoused (v)- adopted; embraced
12. Unencumbered (adj)- unburdened; unrestrained
13. Endemic (adj)- native; belonging to a particular place
14. Surfeit (n)- excess; overindulgence; superfluity (of)
15. Phantasmal (adj)- pertaining to fantasies and illusions
Vocab Activity 7.1
• Using words 1-8 on List 7, write sentences that
relate to literature from 9th or 10th grade
English.
• Suggestions: Of Mice and Men, To Kill a
Mockingbird, Romeo & Juliet, Lord of the Flies,
Antigone, 12 Angry Men, short stories,
anything else you can think of.
• Or you can use The Crucible or Catcher!
Vocab Activity 7.1 1/2
• Using words 9-15 on List 7, write sentences
that relate to literature from 9th or 10th grade
English.
• Suggestions: Of Mice and Men, To Kill a
Mockingbird, Romeo & Juliet, Lord of the Flies,
Antigone, 12 Angry Men, short stories,
anything else you can think of.
• Or you can use The Crucible or Catcher!
Vocab Activity 7.2 (HW)
Using all the words from List 7, complete one of the following creative
options and make sure it relates to Into the Wild:
-An opinion article about what happened to Chris McCandless
-A letter from Chris to Ron Franz, Wayne Westerberg, or Jan Burres
-A song or a poem about Chris’s journey
-Another creative option of your own that relates to the book
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Trough (n)
Amalgam (n)  amalgamation (n)
Anomaly (n)  anomalous (adj)
Amphibious (adj)  amphibiously (adv); amphibian (n)
Itinerant (adj)  itinerantly (adv); itinerance (n)
Estranged (adj)  estrange (v); estrangement (n)
Emancipated (adj)  emancipate (v); emancipation (n)
Intermittent (adj)  intermittently (adv); intermittence (n)
Emasculated (adj)  emasculate (v); emasculation (n)
Indolent (adj)  indolently (adv); indolence (n)
Espoused (v)
Unencumbered (adj)  encumber (v); encumbered (adj)
Endemic (adj)  endemically (adv)
Surfeit (n)
Phantasmal (adj)  phantasmally (adv); phantasm (n)
According to various sources, it has now been confirmed that the dead body of the
itinerant traveler found in the abandoned bus on Alaska’s Stampede Trail is that of
the 24-year old man named Chris McCandless. The amphibious McCandless, who
was not endemic to Alaska, went on a two year journey prior to reaching Alaska in
which he took on the alias Alexander Supertramp, but left intermittent tracks of
his true identity, such as giving his social security number to a man he worked for in
Carthage, South Dakota, Wayne Westerberg. Westerberg was recently
emasculated through his arrest for selling black boxes. Little facts are known about
McCandless at this point, but his journey seems to have resulted from an amalgam
of factors – one, he seemed to be an anomaly in his materialistic family and as
result estranged himself from them; two, he espoused transcendentalist beliefs
and wanted to feel emancipated from and unencumbered by society; and three, he
had phantasmal thoughts about the allure of the Alaskan wild, similar to Jack
London. While some Alaskan natives believe McCandless to be an indolent fool due
to his lack of preparedness, it appears that McCandless wanted to avoid possessing
a surfeit of possessions on his journey. He thrived fairly well in the abandoned bus
for a number of months, but appeared to hit his trough due to starvation, thus
leading to his death.
Vocab Activity 7.3
• Using all the words from List 7, write
sentences that relate to Into the Wild or
transcendentalism in general.
Vocab Review: For each question, write a sentence in
response that uses the vocabulary word in the question.
1. What is one possible benefit of being amphibious?
2. What is something you would like to have a surfeit of?
3. What are some consequences of espousing unpopular ideas?
4. What might you do in a situation where two of your friends are estranged?
5. What is something phantasmal that some people believe in?
6. What is one thing you would do if you were preparing for an itinerant lifestyle?
7. What is something you would like to feel unencumbered about?
8. What could you do if you felt your indolence was becoming a problem?
9. What is one benefit of being endemic to Southern California?
10. What’s something that’s an anomaly for you?
11. What is something the happened in Catcher in the Rye that made Holden feel
emasculated?
12. How might an amalgam of peoples benefit a country?
13. What might be happening if the electricity supply was intermittent?
14. Some humans experience a trough of energy in the mid-afternoon. What might
be happening then?
15. How might you emancipate some puppies in a cardboard box?