My Leather Belt

If I were to make a leather belt with eight symbols that represented me, I would choose things that helped explain every aspect of my life. The first symbol I would add would be a sailboat because I love to sail and have been racing sailboats since I was eight. The next one would also be connected with sports I play. I would show two crossed lacrosse sticks because lacrosse is one of my favorite ports and I have played since I was seven. I would also add the letters CG, for coast guard, because I have wanted to e in the coast guard ever since I was little. The fourth thing that I would add would be a picture of a soldier, because I love the military and I love to learn about the history of our military. I would also add a picture of mountains because I love to hike, backpack, and camp and I have gone to amazing places to do those things. An A+ would also be on my belt, because grades are important to me, and have been ever since I started school. The next symbol I would add to me leather belt would be water, because I love to swim and be on the water. The eighth and final symbol I would add would be a pile of books, because I love to read and have always loved to read.

Into The Wild

Welcome to my blog about the novel Into the Wild. This blog follows me as I read the novel and as I work on an english project about it.

Into the Wild is the story of Christopher McCandless who hitchhiked from the east coast to Alaska to live in the wilderness. The book is about his adventures as he traveled and survived in the wild and about the author searching for the truth about who McCandless was.

It is thought that McCandless died from starvation or from being poisened by a wild plant. This after he survived for 112 days with nothing more than a bag of rice and a rifle. McCandless had not talked to any family or friends since the beginning of his journey and no one knew who he was or why he was there.

The only insight to what happened to him was his entry and the memories of the people who knew him.

Jon Krakauer: A Breif Biography

Jon Krakauer, the author of Into The Wild was born in 1954 and had been hiking and mountaineering since he was eight. He has climbed dozens of the highest and toughest mountains in the world. He was one of two survivors that reached the top of Mt. Everest, and has been to the top of the most challenging mountains from Alaska to South America to Europe and Asia. Krakauer would write about his own experiences for a magazine and wrote many books like Into Thin Air about his climb on everest. Krakauer has won many awards and the majority of his books have been bestsellers. Into the Wild was possibly one of his most famous books and was a bestseller for two years.

Dream Trip to the North Cascades National Park

The North Cascades National Park is located in the Cascades Mountains in Washington State, near the Canadian border. It is mostly made up of mountains, glaciers and valleys and is mostly visited by hikers and backpackers. I love to backpack and I think that it would be a really cool experience to backpack in these mountains. The mountains are some of the tallest outside of Alaska and resemble the Alaska Range.

The park is known for its mountains, glaciers, and valleys. Cascade Pass is the parks most popular tourist spot but most of the park is only visited by backpackers and hikers. The Northern Cascades National Park is relatively easy to travel to. There are a few cities and towns around the park. A major highway leads near the park but a regular road actually leads into the park, which has a visitor center and a few lodges.

The weather changes a lot throughout the different seasons, but usually stays cool. During the winter almost the entire park is covered in snow and during the summer the temperature is cool because of the high altitude. If I was to go backpacking in these mountains I would need to prepare for the cool temperatures and year round snow on the mountains.

Backpacking in this park would be a great adventure to go on. I think the only thing that could match the experience would be backpacking in the Alaska Range. The park is filled with trails and amazing mountains. I also think that backpacking would be the best way to see the park. When you backpack you really become a part of the mountains and the park. You’re not just looking at a mountain from a distance and thinking how nice it looks. You’re traveling to the peaks and climbing over them. Seeing the remote mountains, glaciers, rivers, and valleys in the park would be a great experience.

Chris McCandless Character Traits

Direct Characterization is the author's use of words to explain what a character is like physically, usually based on what they look like.
Indirect Characterization is the explaination of how the character acts and what their personality is.

Direct Characterization

Fairly short about 5’7” or 5’8”
Skinny or “wiry” p4
Strong like a he did physical labor p. 16
Stubborn and confident – “He wouldn’t give an inch. He had an answer for everything” p. 6

Indirect Characterization

Very smart or well educated – “he read a lot and used a lot of big words” Wayne Westerberg p. 18
A hard worker – “He was the hardest worker I’ve ever seen. Whatever it was he’d do it…” Wayne Westerberg p.18
Liked to talk – “He used to sit right there and tell us amazing stories about his travels. He could talk for hours” as Wayne Westerberg recalled p.16.
Friendly and well liked – “he found a surrogate family in Westerberg and his employees” p. 18
Thrifty – “Chris lived off campus in a room with nothing more than a mattress on the floor, a table and milk crates” p. 22
Thoughtful – As Wayne Westerberg said “Sometimes he tried too hard to understand the world, to figure out why people were so mean to each other” p. 18

I think that from the characterization in the book so far that Chris McCandless has good intentions but isn't well prepared. He went into the wild wanting to get away from the stress and pressure of civilization, but as Jon Krakauer said "a few mistakes were what formed his end".