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Jon Krakauer into the wild rhetorical devices
Jon Krakauer into the wild rhetorical devices
How does jon krakauer use rhetorical strategies
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Chapter 1 (Language/ Techniques used to create tone)
In the first chapter of Into the Wild, Krakauer is able to establish the tone by using certain words and techniques to further punctuate it. By the way he writes, it is clear that the tone is objective. He shows this by not inputting any of his own opinion or beliefs in the first chapter. Instead, he just went with the facts. In addition, his word choices show that the tone can also be classified as serious. “He persuaded the young hitchhiker to take the food as well” (7). Instead of “persuaded”, he could have simply used the word “offered” but he wanted to get it across clearly that Gallien really wanted him to accept the food and other equipment because he knew with the stuff Alex had that he would not make it out in the wilderness. This shows the seriousness of the situation. With careful word choices and techniques, Krakauer was able to set up the tone of the first chapter.
Chapter 3 (Logic/support of Krakauer’s viewpoint/perspective)
In chapter three of Into the Wild, Krakauer made a fascinating point about McCandless that he himself supports. “If McCandless felt estranged from his parents and siblings, he found a surrogate family in Westerberg and his employee” (18). The information Krakauer presents is true because McCandless seemed to be fond of Westerberg and the people in Carthage. As a parting gift for when McCandless first left, he gave Westerberg his “treasured 1942 edition of Tolstoy’s War and Peace” (19). Also, McCandless often wrote to Westerberg but never wrote to his family, his sister being the only exception. It was also said in one of his letters to Westerberg that he was a “great man” (69) while in another letter to his sister, he talks about his parents angrily, stating, “I’m going to divorce them as my parents once and for all” (64). From all the evidence provided, it is clear that Westerberg and the people in Carthage were more of a family to McCandless than his real family was.
Chapter 10 (Predict events or changes in relationship)
In the end of chapter ten, Krakauer explains how Sam McCandless is given the misfortune of telling his father and Billie that Chris is dead, but does not further explain their reactions to the news, giving an opportunity to infer their reactions. The first reaction Chris’s parents must have felt was shock and disbelief.
...en writing a book based on ethos, logos and pathos, it is very challenging for an author to stay completely objective. In Krakauer’s case, his bias comes out strongly in certain chapters, sometimes detracting from his argument. Some faults exist in his credibility and logic, but his use of emotional appeal makes up for what those areas lack. Krakauer does an excellent job developing the character of Chris McCandless. The author brings him back to life with his descriptions and is able to make him tangible to the reader. The discussion over what McCandless's thoughts were when he went on his fatal trek will continue as long as his memory lasts. Ultimately, the readers of Into the Wild are left to form their opinion of McCandless, with Krakauer nudging them along the way.
McCandless was different to other people, Westerburg saw this, explaining how McCandless ”tried too hard to make sense of the world. To figure out why people were bad to each other so often”(18). When McCandless originally left, he had felt betrayed by his parents and in college he slowly started pushing his friends away. He was disgusted by all the lies and began to shut down and came the plan to leave in his Datsun. Anybody else in his place would have decided to take charge and take a decisive turn turn in their life, hoping it would be for the better. Many don 't realize that although the beginning he was escaping, he later preferred living in nature and didn 't want to stop. He said it himself in a letter “ The freedom and simple beauty of it is just too good to pass up”(33). Also, in McCandless story you’re able to see the evolution of McCandless mentality. At first, he is alone trying to cope with the setbacks he encounters, in which he almost dies from. Then, needing to recharge, he makes friends like Franz and the Westerburg that allow him to see the positives of having someone there for you. However, he still was not convinced that human relationships were necessary, he keeps a safe distance sending them postcards when he can. It is not until at Alaska that McCandless discovers what happiness consists of, he writes in bold letters, “Happiness only
He left and “walked into the wild”, as he said, to escape his problems (Krakauer, 69). He never confronted his dad about his feelings. Carine McCandless talks about this personality trait in Chris saying, “Chris was the sort of person who brooded on things. If something bothered him; he wouldn’t come right out and say it” (Krakauer, 122). He changed his name, He wasn’t trying to take pride in his “adventure”. It was an extra and unnecessary precaution to ensure that his problems would not affect his escape. Chris McCandless changed his name and then continued his life ignoring all of the problems he had ever
Krakauer explains this by showing us his final postcard (133-134). He says “When the adventure did indeed prove fatal, this melodramatic declaration fueled considerable speculation that the boy had been bent on suicide from the beginning, that when he walked into the bush, he had no intention of ever walking out again...My suspicion that McCandless’s death was unplanned…” (Krakauer 134). Krakauer tells us a bit later in the book, “Satisfied, apparently, with what he had learned during his two months of solitary life in the wild, McCandless decided to return to civilization...maybe he was prepared to forgive their imperfections...McCandless seemed ready, perhaps, to go home..There is no question however, that he intended to walk out of the bush” (169-169). Most people, unknowing of that post card would claim he is suicidal, but Chris, in his own words said that if it should prove fatal, the way he writes this isn’t how someone would be writing a goodbye note, this is someone who intends to come back out and see all of their friends that they’ve made during their journey. Chris even managed to begin the journey home, only to be set back by nature itself which tells us that he wanted to leave the wilderness and return to some semblance of civilization whether it be back in Carthage, or back home with his
Throughout Into the Wild, Krakauer portrays Christopher McCandless as an infallibly eager young man hoping to distance himself from the society he so obviously loathes, to "live off the land," entirely independent of a world which has "conditioned [itself] to a life of security." Chris, contrarily to this depiction, is disparagingly viewed by some as a "reckless idiot" who lacked the sense he needed to survive in the Alaskan wilderness. This derogatory assessment of Chris's mindset is representative of the society he hopes to escape and contains all the ignorance that causes him to feel this way. Nevertheless, he is misjudged by these critics, allowing Krakauer to hold the more accurate interpretation of Chris's character, his goals, and his accomplishments.
In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote about Christopher McCandless, a nature lover in search for independence, in a mysterious and hopeful experience. Even though Krakauer tells us McCandless was going to die from the beginning, he still gave him a chance for survival. As a reader I wanted McCandless to survive. In Into the Wild, Krakauer gave McCandless a unique perspective. He was a smart and unique person that wanted to be completely free from society. Krakauer included comments from people that said McCandless was crazy, and his death was his own mistake. However, Krakauer is able to make him seem like a brave person. The connections between other hikers and himself helped in the explanation of McCandless’s rational actions. Krakauer is able to make McCandless look like a normal person, but unique from this generation. In order for Krakauer to make Christopher McCandless not look like a crazy person, but a special person, I will analyze the persuading style that Krakauer used in Into the Wild that made us believe McCandless was a regular young adult.
The author skillfully uses literary techniques to convey his purpose of giving life to a man on an extraordinary path that led to his eventual demise and truthfully telling the somber story of Christopher McCandless. Krakauer enhances the story by using irony to establish Chris’s unique personality. The author also uses Characterization the give details about Chris’s lifestyle and his choices that affect his journey. Another literary element Krakauer uses is theme. The many themes in the story attract a diverse audience. Krakauer’s telling is world famous for being the truest, and most heart-felt account of Christopher McCandless’s life. The use of literary techniques including irony, characterization and theme help convey the authors purpose and enhance Into The Wild.
Through his use of special organization, factual accounts and complex syntax, he is able to display McCandless as a person who was living the life that he wanted to live. He was kind and respectful to the people he met along the way, even helping them through their own hardships at times. This is the type person that Krakauer wanted to paint a picture of. He wanted to make sure that people did not see McCandless as the “nut” who did himself in. To make sure that the McCandless family could be proud of their son for being brave and doing what many would be too scared to attempt even if they wanted to. By writing this novel with the impressive rhetoric that he did, Krakauer was able to defend the actions of the late Chris McCandless and paint him as the bright young man that he
In 1990, when he was 22 years old, Christopher McCandless ventured out into the Alaska wilderness in search for true happiness, and 2 years later he suffered a tragic death. An aspiring writer, Jon Krakauer, found McCandless’ story fascinating and chose to dedicate 3 years of his life to write a novel about him. The book entitled “Into the Wild” tells the tale of Christopher McCandless, an ill prepared transcendentalist longing for philosophical enrichment, who naïvely, failed to consider the dangers of isolating himself from human society for such a long period of time. Though Christopher McCandless made a courageous attempt to separate himself from society, in order to achieve self-fulfillment, the stubborn nature of this reckless greenhorn led him to his unfortunate demise.
Chris McCandless is regarded as being something as a spiritual figure almost as a cult hero, some call him a disillusioned fool, some call him a great adventurer, and the debate still continues. As Matthew Power calls in his article, an article where he tells the story of McCandless,“The debate falls into two camps: Krakauer's visionary seeker, the tragic hero who dared to live the unmediated life he had dreamed of and died trying; or, as many Alaskans see it, the unprepared fool, a greenhorn who had fundamentally misjudged the wilderness he'd wanted so desperately to commune with.” Like so many stories covering Christopher McCandless’ death, both ends of the argument are discussed in an unfavored manner in the hopes to help develop an opinion on the McCandless story. This open ended question can only be answered open-endedly based on what the readers base for themselves as covered stories intend. Like Power has done, ...
“Into The Wild” by John Krakauer is a non-fiction biographical novel which is based on the life of a young man, Christopher McCandless. Many readers view Christopher’s journey as an escape from his family and his old life. The setting of a book often has a significant impact on the story itself. The various settings in the book contribute to the main characters’ actions and to the theme as a whole. This can be proven by examining the impact the setting has on the theme of young manhood, the theme of survival and the theme of independent happiness.
Krakauer, Jon. The. The “Into the Wild”. New York: Anchor Books, 1996. Print.
Krakauer states, “McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well-relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it” (55). This had also occurred a few months prior in Niland Slabs, where he met Burres and Tracy. He had made friends there, and Tracy had developed feelings for him, but he rebuffed any of her advancements; he didn’t want to get involved with others, not after having left home for his journey. To him, having had friends and family that he left behind, he loved people, but he didn’t want to be close to them in any way other than purely being around them. Growing up with a difficult family relationship, such as McCandles’s, which caused him to push people away; it’s easy to relate to him in that aspect.
Margaret Mead is one of the most influential anthropologists to modern society due to her anthropological research and her outspoken demeanor on any topic. Mead’s research was groundbreaking in an era where places like Samoa were still seen as the paradise away from the civilized world. Her efforts to transform the unknown societies of the Samoans into visual imagery for the Western world were successful and resulted in the book, Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilization, originally published in 1928. This book made the exotic and misunderstood cultures of the Samoans tangible for the general population. Mead’s special effort to debunk the myth of unavoidable childish adolescence was paramount in her work in Samoa, specifically adolescent females. Margaret Mead established in her work, Coming of Age in Samoa, that adolescence does not need to be the unwieldy and uncomfortable period in life that Western culture portrayed as “stormily” (Mead 5).
Krakauer said “McCandless change his name, gave the entire balance of a 24 thousand-dollar saving account to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his pocket” (Author’s note). Family is an important factor in everyone’s life; apparently that was not enough for Christopher McCandless. I have been fortunate to live with my family my whole life.