Text and Background Information
Portfolio Assignments and Related Readings
Text and Background Information
Into the Wild Study Guide – See Google Classroom for individual chapters
Into the Wild Vocabulary 1 Quizlet
Into the Wild Vocabulary 1 Sentence Completions Quizlet
Into the Wild Vocabulary 2 Quizlet
Into the Wild Vocabulary 2 Sentence Completion Quizlet
Into the Wild Vocabulary 2 exercise 2 Practice for the vocabulary quiz
American Consumerism Vocabulary
American Consumerism Vocabulary Quizlet
Portfolio Assignments and Related Readings
Into the Wild Top Ten Portfolio What’s on your bucket list?
Becoming Wild YouTube channel for Nikki van Schyndel who vlogs about her life living out in the Canadian wilderness.
Chris’s Purpose Memorial Foundation for Chris McCandless dedicated to preserving Chris’s memory through donations to charities
Pseudonym Portfolio Assignment Create your own pseudonym!
- Meaning of Names Looking for a meaningful name for your pseudonym? Check out this website for the symbolic meanings behind names.
- Personality Name Generator Helps you generate a name based on personality traits
- Celebrity Pseudonyms The stage names of famous celebrities
- Top Ten Celebrity Pseudonyms from TIME Magazine What aliases do celebrities use when they check into hotels to avoid notoriety
- Popular Baby Names Look up names by year and see how popular they were/are
- Last Name Meanings and Origins Pick a meaningful last name from this giant list
Iconoclasts: Sean Penn + Jon Krakauer Watch the film from class on iTunes
Into the Wild – Iconoclasts Quotes Assignment
Epigraph Portfolio Assignment Use the quote pages below to help you.
- Quotations – Bartleby.com
- The Quotations Page
- Brainyquote.com
- Quoteland.com– Quotations on every topic
- Quotegarden.com Browse quotes by topic, including graduation, life, yearbooks, and even “Off to college”
Into Wild McCandless Credo class assignment
- Excerpts from Thoreau’s Walden McCandless’s inspiration
Into the Wild – Your Credo portfolio assignment
Into the Wild Quiz 1-10 review sheet use to study for the quiz on chapters 1-10
Into the Wild Test Review study guide for the final test
Into the Wild Character Quizlet for final test
Literary Argument Response Paper Assignment
Into the Wild Response Paper Assignment
MLA internal citations How to cite quotes in your essay.
bibliography.com the easiest way to make your Works Cited correctly
Information on Chris McCandless – Articles for Argument Paper
Chris McCandless Information a website dedicated to preserving the memory of McCandless
Back to The Wild The photographs and writings of Christopher Johnson McCandless. This book is available in Ms. McMane’s classroom. The official website has since been removed.
The Cult of Chris McCandless, Men’s Journal A writer explores why so many revere McCandless as a hero
The Chris McCandless Obsession Problem Every year, scores of Into the Wild fans tackle a dangerous river crossing to visit the last home of Alaska’s most famous adventure casualty. Why are so many people willing to risk injury, and even death, to pay homage to a controversial ascetic who perished so young? A reporter looks at the pilgrimages made by people who admire McCandless.
Chasing Alexander Supertramp One writer in search of understanding why so many pilgrimage to the bus, does the trek herself; includes quotes from travelers who admire McCandless
“A Man Made Cold By the Universe” by Sherry Simpson This article was originally published as the citation below. A thoughtful look at both sides of the debate over whether McCandless should be admired.
Citation: Simpson, Sherry. “I Want To Ride In The Bus Chris Died In.” Anchorage Daily News. 11.6. 13 Feb. 2002.
Chris McCandless from a Park Ranger’s Perspective A park ranger discusses McCandless’s faults
Citation: Christian, Peter. “Chris McCandless from an Alaska Park Ranger’s Perspective.” (2006). Into the Wild: Text and Community, George Mason University. Web.
Into the Wild Inspires Adventurers, But at What Cost? ABC News article examining Chris McCandless’s story
Remove the McCandless Bus an editorial in the Anchorage newspaper advocating for the “magic bus” to be removed
Another ‘Into the Wild Pilgrimage’ Has Ended in Death a 24-year-old woman drowned while attempting to reach the abandoned bus made famous by Christopher McCandless
Why another death on trail to ‘Magic Bus’ from Into The Wild won’t stop adventurers It’s been almost 30 years since Christopher McCandless died hungry and alone in an abandoned bus in the Alaskan wilderness — and people are still following in his footsteps.
‘Into the Wild’ Bus, Seen as a Danger, Is Airlifted From the Alaskan Wild In June 2020, the “magic bus” was transported to a “secure site” after two hikers died and at least 15 have had to be rescued while trying to reach the bus in the remote Alaskan wilderness
The beatification of Chris McCandless: From thieving poacher into saint An Alaskan writer feels McCandless is falsely romanticized and that schools should not teach Krakauer’s book
Krakauer’s attempt to conform McCandless’ story into the ‘Hero’s Journey’ isn’t just asinine — it’s downright dangerous an Alaska writer claims McCandless was no hero
Into the Wild How Chris McCandless Died Jon Krakauer reveals information on how McCandless actually died. From The New Yorker. September 2013.
Should We Still Care About Chris McCandless? Jon Krakauer’s obsession with what killed the star of ‘Into the Wild’ has persisted… Whether it was ignorance or arrogance, do the details still make a difference? (Great quotes for those comparing Chris McCandless and Jon Krakauer)
What Really Drove Chris McCandless Into the Wild? His sister Carine’s memoir
“Your DNA Does Not Define You” TED Talk by Chris’s sister, Carine, about the real motivation behind Chris’s disappearance into the wild. Full text here.
Return to the Wild PBS documentary featuring Chris’s family that explores his story 20 years later. Includes information about the abusive household in which Chris grew up and interviews with the real people (Wayne Westerberg, Jan Burres) in the book.
Citation: “Return to the Wild.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, Nov. 2014, www.pbs.org/show/return-wild/.
Finding or Losing Faith After a Loss When Chris died, Ronald Franz left the church. Learn why this rejection of faith is not uncommon in those who have lost loved ones.
Citation: “Finding (or Losing) Faith After a Loss.” Https://Beyondthedash.com/, 30 Aug. 2018, beyondthedash.com/blog/grief/finding-or-losing-faith-after-a-loss/7238.
Resources for Into the Wild from George Mason University a page of articles and scholarly criticism of McCandless and Into the Wild; contains links to many different articles
Excerpt from Wild by Cheryl Strayed
The Call of the ‘Wild’ on the Pacific Coast Trail how the memoir Wild by Cheryl Strayed affected readers
Film Review of Into the Wild from The New York Times
“I want this movie to grip people in the heart” Eleven years after Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild caused a sensation, the family of Christopher McCandless, director Sean Penn, and his all-star cast and crew talk about their quest to bring the fatal journey of “Alexander Supertramp” to the big screen.
Roger Ebert’s Film Review of Into the Wild
Iconoclasts: Jon Krakauer and Sean Penn Preview the video here
Into the Wild – Iconoclasts 12R You may also use quotations from our viewing of the Sundance Channel episode of Iconoclasts on Sean Penn and Jon Krakauer. If you use these quotes, cite the source as follows:
“Sean Penn and Jon Krakauer.” Iconoclasts. Sundance. 25 Oct. 2007. Television.
Because there is no author to this series, you may use the internal citation as “Sean Penn” (an abbreviation of the title of the episode).
What is American Transcendentalism?
The Legacy of American Transcendentalism in Contemporary Literature: From Thoreau to Krakauer
Why Do We Need to Find Wilderness? A look at the benefits of wilderness and transcendentalist thinking.
Into the wild, indeed: We’re all off the map now A look at Into the Wild in the age of COVID-19 when risk is rampant. Originally published in the Arizona Daily Sun and Flagstaff Live.