John Michael Green's 'Looking For Alaska'

There are an infinite amount of unique responses to the question “What is the meaning of life?”. However, the majority of people will agree that the true meaning of life is to find happiness and what is really important to one’s self. In Jon Krakauer’s, Into The Wild, Chris McCandless conveys this idealism through his life’s journey as he bravely defies all limitations. Chris McCandless isolates himself from society in his Alaskan Odyssey as a way to defy accepted expectations and to begin discovering the meanings of life without any corrupted influences.

Florida has always been a beautiful state aligned with unique natural wonders which has made it a location of wonder within the U.S. Even with Florida’s majestic natural appeal the state in its territorial years struggled with its public image as Indian attacks were common place in the region along with yellow fever and environmental phenomena such as hurricanes. Following in the end of the Seminole and the Civil war Florida began to search for a new identity and sense of prosperity in the face of massive changes to its economy and societal structure. With the advent of new technologies, the borders of Florida for the first time were opened to larger encompassing audience of visitors from all over the country who came to marvel at the natural landscape and relax in the temperate weather. Gary Mormino author of “Land of Sunshine State of Dreams” described in his book the factors and obstacles which challenged and ultimately propelled Florida to experience monumental growth in the 20th century. From the rapid use of automobiles to the creation of the magic Kingdom Florida has numerous factors to acknowledge when recognizing its recent success in America. While Gary Mormino book makes no effort to shy away from the less favorable aspects Florida history including the financial struggles of the early nineties, his book is clearly portraying an optimistic tone which echoes the glories of Florida’s past and future.

Despite his inexperience at living off the land, Chris Mccandless managed to survive in the Alaskan wilderness for a time. His adventures across the United States contributed to honing his skills at surviving with inadequate supplies, little money, and few essential tools. Unfortunately This was not enough, and his inexperience on the finer points of outdoor living and general knowledge of particular subjects proved to create more challenges, and finally this inexperience killed him. Particularly, with his successful kill of a moose we see a perfect example of his ignorance, “Then on June 9, he bagged the biggest prize of all: “MOOSE!” (166.) His tendency to brashly tackle everything head on with will and determination ultimately led to his demise, “Overjoyed, the proud hunter took a photograph of himself kneeling over his trophy, rifle triumphantly overhead, his features distorted in a rictus of ecstasy and amazement.” (166.)

In April of 1992, a young man of the age of twenty-four, later determined to be Chris McCandless ' body, was discovered in an old Fairbanks bus in the Alaskan bush. Four years after his death, Jon Krakauer wrote a novel titled Into The Wild, the book traced McCandless 's journey around much of the United States, across the West side of Canada, and even down to the boarder of Mexico. Over the many years since his death, speculations have arisen about how death was brought upon him. Most believe starvation was the only reason, but with extensive research Jon Krakauer discovered another theory, that a substance in the seeds that Chris McCandless was ingesting was a contributing factor to his death. Even with this conclusion many around the world despise Chris for his being naive and unprepared when walking into the wild. While others believe he was brave for following his dreams and never letting anyone talk him out of his plans. Chris McCandless was an adventurer who was brave enough to never back down, but in the end his luck turned for the worst and was misfortunate enough to have ate the wrong type of food. McCandless was an inspiration and a lesson to people of all ages, that dreams aren 't meant to be taken lightly and even with possible risks they should be followed. Jon Krakauer 's book tells a marvelous story of a young man who left behind the outside world to do what he loved the most.

John Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California. John decided to be a writer at the very young age of fourteen. “John used to lock himself in his bedroom and to be alone and write stories and poem”(John Steinbeck Biography). John was the first in his family to have a striving desire to become a writer, his father did everything he could to keep food on the table and his mother was a former school teacher. To do this he worked several jobs at a time, he never got to enjoy what he does like Steinbeck went on to do. John went on to try to be a freelance writer, so he work as a construction worker and a newspaper reported in New York, New York. He wrote his first novel called The Cup of Gold while living in Lave, Tahoe working as a caretaker. John went on to marry Carol Henning. She was supportive by working several jobs to help him continue with his writing career.

From “The Other America,” in Major Problems by Michael Harrington is a document that tells of the poverty present in America that is often skillfully and unintentionally concealed and also speaks of Lyndon Johnson’s war on poverty and briefly of how poverty rose during the Reagan administration. After Johnson’s declaration of war on poverty, there was significant change regarding the climate of the social, economic, and political in the America of those times. And while Johnson’s countless social programs helped decrease poverty immensely, it also left a huge number drowning in it still. Later Reagan’s administration would cite George Gilder on the fact that welfare did not reduce poverty but increase it to explain why the levels of poverty rose during the first few months of Reagan’s administration. Democrats and liberals would argue against this and say that poverty

The United States was full of prosperity in the 1950s. The standard of living was higher that it had been in years, and many people were living in luxury. Although there were many who were enjoying the lives they lived, there were also many Americans who were trapped living well below the standard of living. Michael Harrington shed light on this situation when he published The Other America in 1962. In his expose’, Harrington exposed how 40 to 50 million American citizens were living in poverty, and that to most Americans these people were invisible. He expressed how the lifestyle of people living in poverty was so different from those who were not that it created a “culture” of poverty. Harrington believed

Gary Soto was born in Fresno, California in April of 1952. He is the son of Mexican-American working-class people and he also earned his MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in 1976 at The University of California. In the novel, Pacific Crossing, Soto writes about two teenage best friends who receive an invitation to Japan to participate in an exchange student program. The two friends, Lincoln Mendoza and Tony Contreras, are from California and they both live in the same neighborhood, called a barrio. Gary Soto also lived in a barrio when he was growing up in California. Tony and Lincoln are also Mexican-American, like Soto.

The world loves dreamers. Every, day people are inspired by other people who strive to achieve their dreams of grandeur. They pick their heroes: charismatic, daring, and habitually dead. The romantic ideals of these individuals present skewed views of reality and often lead to dire situations.

In the book Looking For Alaska by John Green, we learn about a quiet and very shy going to his graduation party with only two friends from high school. The young man's name is Miles halter and he is leaving for prep school at Culver Creek Preparatory School. This young man seems to have a personality that's very shy and antisocial. It even says in the book “Said cavalry consisted of exactly two people: Marie Lawson, a tiny blonde with rectangular glasses, and her chunky (to put it charitably) boyfriend, Will. (Green 1)” What this shows is that Miles doesn't like to do many extracurricular activities and is very shy in school. The point when he decides to not become shy and step out of his shell is when he decides to smoke a cigarette. In

Explore the fascinating world of imagination in the company of master illustrator and storyteller Maurice Sendak. In this animated version of Where the Wild Things Are, Sendak's striking illustrations spring to life as the wild boy Max magically metamorphoses into the King of the Wild Rumpus right before viewers' eyes. Carole King lends a folksy, sometimes jazzy sound to Nutshell Library stories "Pierre," "One Was Johnny," and "Chicken Soup with Rice" as viewers learn about the alphabet, counting, and months of the year. Finally, Mickey's nighttime discovery In the Night Kitchen culminates in an impressively rendered ride through space. Sendak's original artwork is faithfully preserved in this animated presentation and Peter Schickele's narration,

I made it. All these years of working and gaining experience of living as a leather tramp have paid off. I’ve made it to Alaska. I found a bus here about two miles into the main road and it's where I plan to reside for the remainder of my time here in the wild. My Alaskan Odyssey is in motion, all of the tramping around and hitchhiking has helped bring me here. I got a place to stay and with everyday hunting, it is easier to find food than the day before. My biggest score yet was a

Upon reading the title to the reading “Camping for Their Lives” by Scott Bransford, A lot of images come to mind as they do for many people. Whether it be family outings, military experience or just plain adventure. Scott Bransford takes a good long look at camping in a different way. The author’s topic is about tent cities and their homeless populations. He argues the struggles that they have with little or no help from the government and highlights a location in Central Valley California. The author structures the article well starting off with an example of a married couple that does not have enough money to sign a lease or take out a mortgage. He then goes into the day to day life and difficulties that are accustomed with living as a homeless person. He mentions statistics and the government’s temporary remedies to deal with the homeless population and the complications when imposing restrictions. The author goes into depth about the lack of jobs within the areas but does not go deep into the addictions, the crime networks that operate out of the areas nor the filth associated with enabling these tent cities to pop up.

I chose the novel “Looking for Alaska” by John Green, because I already read a reading sample in my English lessons in Germany from this book and I really liked the style of writing the author used. I also chose this novel, because many of my friends said it was a good book and worth reading, besides the fact, that the book is well-known for some of its quotes (“If people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane”) and the awards it won (Michael L. Printz Award). The author is also known for his book “The fault in our stars”, which is another one of his four books.

Looking for Alaska is a book about a boy named Miles that goes away to a private school called Culver Creek were he meets a group of friends that he starts to hang out with throughout the year. He becomes very good friends with everyone and they begin to let him in on their secret spot called "the smoking hole", where they all smoke their cigarettes without getting in trouble. Soon he starts to get a crush on a girl named Alaska, which seems to already have a boyfriend. As soon as Miles starts to fall in love with her a horrible thing happens. Alaska dies in a terrible car accident, which turns into a very mysterious and confusing death. When Miles and the other boys get the news, they start fighting to find out the truth on what really happened. After reading this novel, one is left with the question, "How will we ever get out of this labyrinth of suffering?"