Name: ______Period: ______Date: ______

Into the Wild: Chapter 16-18

Word / Meaning / Concept Dictionary
Rubicon / A limit that when passed or exceeded permits of no return and typically results in irrevocable commitment / character description
perambulation
to assert so adamantly his autonomy
claustrophobic
lacerations
malevolent
Denali massif
coppice
repertoire
moral absolutism
feral scrawn of gristle and bone
precipitous decline
insidiously

1.  List the various miscalculations and mistakes McCandless made. ______
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2.  Toward the end of Chapter 16, Krakauer tells us that McCandless read Walden. How does Thoreau talk about food and survival? ______
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3.  What do you think Chris found most interesting in Thoreau’s discussion of food? ______
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4.  Have you ever fasted? ______Do you know anyone who has? ______
What effects can the lack of food have on a human? ______
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Extra Credit opportunities: do some research on fasting and report to the class what you find or write a short report (15 points). Read and write chapter summaries (and an analysis of how the book relates to Into the Wild) on Thoreau’s Walden – or Life in the Woods (80 points).

Stylistic Choices

Tone- Read aloud the last paragraph in Chapter 18.

5.  How does Krakauer know that McCandless “was at peace, serene as a monk gone to God”? Explain. ______
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6.  Does Krakauer have the right to infer from the photograph that McCandless had the serenity of a monk?______
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7.  What is an alternative interpretation of the photograph? ______
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Structure of the Text

In Chapter 16, Krakauer gives a summary of the last few months of McCandless’s life.

8.  Do you think Krakauer admires McCandless? Cite your evidence. ______
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9.  In Chapter 17, Krakauer does not arrive at the bus until after about four pages. In those first pages, he gives us the details of the equipment he carries, the river flow, and the others with him. Is this necessary? What does it add? What does it detract? ______
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10.  Krakauer says that McCandless had a kind of “idiosyncratic logic.” Explain what Krakauer meant and the extent to which you agree or disagree with him. ______
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