Reaction paper to Into the Wild. 5-7 pages,

The paper is worth 100 points. Hand in a hard copy & print on both sides of the page.

For this paper reflect on why "the wild" appeals to us. Despite all the comforts of modern life, many people are drawn to the experience the wild for transcendent experience or for the thrill of high-risk activities. Compare Chris McCandless to others (e.g., Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Everett Ruess or Jon Krakauer himself) in describing their experience of the wild. In our textbook, Cox & Pezzullo claim that nature or the wild is a "symbolic construction." Explain. What about the literary influences on Chris; how do these influence Chris' (or our own) conception of the wild? What do you make of different people's assessment or evaluation of Chris & his trip, e.g., Sherry Simpson "I Want to Ride on the Bus Chris Died In"?