Portfolio

I think that out of all my essays the McCandless one needs the most work done. I think that needs the most work mainly because it was the first essay that we wrote and I have learned soo much aboout my writing over the semester. The main thing that I feel is wrong with it is that my secondary sources that discuss my topic are not very strong. i think that I really need to get better sources, and probably more credible, in order to make my point stronger. It was also pointed out to me that I used somewhat harsh language when i was trying to show McCandless being ignorant and unprepared. I think that it would be just as effective if i toned down my word choice a bit. On the other hand, I feel that right now my personal analysis essay is the best. I think that I followed the prompt fully and that this essay just came out strong. I did a good job of comparing myself to Michael Phelps in a couple different ways, and at the same time making my connection universal. That made it more applicable to anyone who might read my essay. One of the strongest points that I made was about me having a similar conversation with my mother that Phelps had with his mom. I felt that this drew a direct comparison and was descriptive enough to get the point across. I think that it still needs a lot of work done, though. One thing is that I need to make the part about my brother more clear and separate from the rest of my essay. I was trying to show how my brother was like Phelps' swim coach, but didn't make that clear enough.

I feel that McCandless would have changed a lot, had he made it out of Alaska alive. First off, I think that he would have made contact with some of the friends he made along his journey, especially the man he worked for in North Dakota. Through his journey it seemed like he became really close to them, and would feel inclined to go back and visit them. He might stay there and just work with that man for the rest of his life, or do other things. I feel that he would definately go back and visit his little sister. he had said that she was one of the only people that he could trust and that understood him. I think that it would have been important for him to at least let her know that he was fine. I don't think that he would have made amends with his parents, since I'm not sure that he has gotten over the lies from his father. He never seemed that worried about them during any of his long trip, so I don't think that he would have told them anything after he had gotten out, although they would have most likely heard something from his sister. Although he may have realized many things about society while he was in the wilderness, I feel that he would have not required the material goods in society. Therefore, he probably wouldn't get a real job, since he would not want to spend it on anything. He wouldn't go back to school, since he would feel that his life was complete.

Mapless McCandless

I feel that my general view of McCandless has not changed much, or at least recently. For awhile, I have thought that he knew what he was getting into, but wasn't fully prepared. But I don't think that it means he is irresponsible or anything like that. However, the not having a map thing made me wonder as to why he wouldn't bring something of that importance. I think it had a lot to do with him wanting to challenge himself as much as possible. maybe he knew that having a map would have made things too easy for him, which we all know is not what he was looking for. I'm fairly sure that this was not him being ignorant, because I have a feeling that he contemplated taking a map and didn't just forget to bring one. I do feel that Krakauer bringing up these "mistakes" is both helpful and important. This shows that he is acknowledging what people have to say about Chris, and that it doesn't change his views at all. This is Krakauer's way of recognizing the naysayers, and proving them wrong. One part that stuck out to me was when there was the big controversy of whether Chris shot a moose or a caribou. In the end it turned out that Chris knew exactly what he shot, and that the people assumed that he was stupid and didn't know what he was doing. it seems like the Alaskan people did everything they could to prove that Chris was ignorant. This also reinforces my views on Chris, and that he knew what he was getting himself into and wanted to challenge himself as much as possible.