Throughout the year of writing in this class I do believe my skills have improved from where they were at the beginning of the year. I like how as we learned new writing techniques it would be a requirement in the next writing project. This helped me practes the technique by using it in my writing. The difficulty of the writing this semester was at a good place I was challenged but it wasn’t so hard I was hopeless. As a writer I have enjoyed this class and pieces we have written in it. One of the reasons why is the Into the Wild essay. With this essay I was pulled in. I pushed myself to do better than any of my other writing this year, and with the new skills from next semester I hope I can do the same.
One of the skills I have gained
In 1990 at the age of 22, Chris McCandless started his journey to travel the country and live off the land alone. He survived well until he hitchhiked to Alaska in 1992. Chris thought that if he could make it there, he could make it anywhere. Four months after going off the grid in the Alaskan wilderness, his decomposed body was discovered by a party of hunters. The nonfiction novel, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, is his story. It has many important themes that define the life of Chris McCandless. A couple themes, for example, are having the feeling of ultimate freedom and seeking happiness through a personal challenge.
Throughout life, many people take big chances and do things that are a little out of their comfort zone. But would you, or anyone else in the world, ever truly throw away your life and do something that no other person would truly do? Would you leave everything in your life behind, and start a new life that you don't know what the outcome will be? Not everyone is meant to take risks and chances. With this world, no one ever truly knows what will happen. Some people don't always have the right capabilities that are needed to fulfill a full life in the wild.
Into the Wild is a book about a young man named Chris McCandless and his decision to go off and live in the wild. He decided to walk deep into the Alaskan wilderness and abandon all of his possessions and family. This book is the authors, Jon Krakauer, version of Chris McCandless’ story put together through interviewing and speaking with people who knew Chris as well as by using letters Chris wrote to his loved ones.
Although precisely on target in his assessment of Chris McCandless being "in touch with the bare-bones essence of nature", Gordon Young's preceding description of Chris should be rephrased: A profoundly Un-American figure, uncompromising in his approach and thoroughly optimistic about the future. For Chris McCandless did not set out to show or prove his American character. Neither does he approve or want to exemplify a true modern American character, because true American character does not seek solitude, preferring "the saddle to the streetcar", or "the star-sprinkled sky to a roof", or, especially, "the obscure and difficult trail, leading into the unknown, to any paved highway and the deep place of
This year I have learned a lot from College Writing, this class has taught me a lot about my own writing and what makes a good essay. I have learned a lot about myself as a writer and as a person throughout the course. In this reflection of the past semester I will be going through my past papers and talk about what I liked and how I could’ve made them better. I will also be going through the activities that have shaped my writing the most. Hopefully, I will be representing how I have grown as a writer throughout the year because of this class. Before taking this class I was already relatively confident in my writing abilities and was excited to take the class. Now that the course is completed I am even more confident in my writing because of all the new techniques and helpful tips I learned.
An outstanding young man, helped the poor, in high school participated in cross-country, intelligent. He was healthy, he sang and performed instruments. Moreover, all that was mentioned, for Christopher, wasn’t enough. He had still a need; a necessity that required discovering in a way outside the commonplace, the wonders, mysteries and obstacles that nature has with it. Thus one day, Christopher McCandless, a newly graduated college student without preambles got rid of his belongings and money in bank accounts. Without giving even a note of warning to his parents and friends, he simply disappeared from society and no one knew what happened to him. It took a lot of courage, to be willing to leave
Imagine spending thirty days alone in a tent or a cabin in the wilderness with no technology, electricity, running water, and any form of communication. Every day you wake up to the sight of the beautiful, tall trees and the various wildlife living in the area. Most of the time, you can hear the many sounds of nature: the majestic songs of birds, the whistling in the wind, and trees rustling. But sometimes all you can hear is nothing but silence. Most of us would not be able to do this and we would most likely want to be anywhere but here. Not many people will experience living in the wilderness, but for those who have will have memories to treasure forever. Among those people who would choose this
Throughout this semester we have had to write many types of essays. Although this is a college English class there is still room for improvement. I made much improvement during the semester of the class. I was able to identify my weaknesses. I learned how to make improvements to the areas I was having problems in. Although each essay we did was different I was able to begin with one essay and throughout the semester turn it into two other essays. I was able to change my style of writing to fit the type of audience I was working with. I will continue to work on my writing and keep improving it.
This course offers numerous opportunities to improve our writing. In this class, I not only enhanced the skills I already had, but also learned new writing concepts. Before I took this class, I knew that my writing is poor, and I have always wanted to improve it; however, I did not know how and what aspects of writing to improve. So, I came into this class with the ambition to improve my writing, and I have accomplished my goal although there is still room for improvement. At this point of this course, I have learned the elements that successful writing is composed of, and I am now able to categorize the various techniques that can work together to define strong
Once an individual dies, his true intentions and feelings can never be known. People can speculate all they want, but unless they have had similar experiences as the individual, they must refrain all judgments. In the nonfiction work Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, many readers have harshly judged the main character, Chris McCandless, as stupid and thoughtless for his dangerous and ultimately fatal adventure in the raw wilderness of Alaska; many have even said he had been suicidal. The author attempts to display Chris as a human being with meaningful intentions and emotional yearning rather than just a stereotypical, reckless vagabond by using his own story as a similar experience to Chris’, so readers can begin to understand Chris from a
Throughout the course of freshmen year I have developed different skills and opinions on writing. I feel I have created a more mature style of writing and a better understanding of literature. I have changed my view of writing over this semester and acquired a strong liking for it. The importance of writing has become more visible throughout the past few months. Writing is crucial in many aspects of a person’s life. I have grown to be a more powerful and well built writer throughout this course.
story of this man made me realize that there is much more to life than the standard nineto-
We are all searching for our great adventure, or experience in life. An experience that brings meaning to our life, and makes us feel alive. Two young men, Pete Fromm, the author and the narrator of Indian Creek Chronicles, and Chris McCandless played by Emile Hirsch as the main protagonist of the movie Into The Wild, directed by Sean Penn, that was developed from the article, “Death of an Innocent: How Christopher McCandless Lost His Way in the Wild” written by Jon Krakuer. Both go through life changing experiences, as they venture into the wilderness. Utilizing all three sources as support, it is possible to compare, and contrast their reasons for going into the wilderness, preparation before venturing into the wilderness, and the development of each character throughout their journey.
Over the course of this past semester, my ability to write has improved tremendously. Prior to undertaking this course, my expertise in writing was not as fine-tuned as it should have been. I had never previously been enrolled in a class specifically tailored to writing-- which was quite clear. Upon reading my past works, it becomes apparent that my writing style consisted of fluff, small words, and inconsistently structured sentences. These problems have, for the most part, been remedied with the coursework I have tackled in College Writing. Rather than long, drawn out papers that take an eternity to reach the primary point, my recent work is much nicer in terms of composition and grammar. I credit these improvements to the three primary
Throughout our lives, we experience different situations,some that can be positive or negative, but consequently help build who we are. Sometimes it's harder for others to find themselves, which leads them to go out of their comfort zone and discover new things that will truly make them happy,this is reflected on the life of Christopher McCandless in the film Into the Wild, directed by Sean Penn and the book written by Jon Krakauer. As Chris McCandless way of finding himself, he embarked on a journey into the Alaskan wilderness. Jon Krakauer refers to Chris McCandless as being some sort of pilgrim and I agree with his statement because Chris was rebellious, ambitious and an intelligent person.