The Best and Worst

Out of my papers, I think my personal analysis is my best. This paper involved talking about myself, which was easier than I thought. The words flowed for me and before I knew it I had 5 pages. With research papers or book analysis, it's hard to show your voice. With the personal analysis paper, the voice came naturally which really made the paper stand out from the rest. And I think because I enjoyed writing it more than the others, I spent more time on the analysis making it that much better. It's much easier analyzing what I thought at a certain time, than analyzing what I think somewhat thought at that point in time (if that made any sense.) I also felt there was less errors in the paper as a whole because I wasn't citing, or quoting as much. This luxury probably contributed to more focus on the analysis than worrying about those little things.

My weakest paper is definitely my research paper. I struggle between informing and arguing. As of now, my paper has no focus whatsoever or purpose for that matter. When using texts from several different authors, giving background information, citing, its difficult for me to really figure out my paper. If I were to turn it in right now, I'm pretty sure someone would stop reading after the first couple pages. What I need to with this paper in the next couple weeks is pin point a purpose and go with it.

Chris is alive!

Chris attempted to leave the Alaskan wild in early July of 1992. He realized in order to leave he had to cross the Teklanika river. Unfortunately, the water levels were still too high. At this point, Chris was very lean and not killing as much game as he needed. He was reading passages from Doctor Zhivago and soon writes in the book, "HAPPINESS ONLY REAL SHARED" (189). Chris' circumstances have changed. He is no longer in the wild by choice, but by force. Therefore, he begins to look at his lifestyle in a new perspective. Although he can experience so much beauty and untouched nature, he has no one to talk about it with or share it with. His loneliness becomes apparent to him.

Closer to his death he writes this message to any passer-bys in another book, it reads: S.O.S. I NEED YOUR HELP.... I AM OUT COLLECTING BERRIES CLOSE BY AND SHALL RETURN THIS EVENING. THANK YOU. And he signed the note, "CHRIS MCCANDLESS, AUGUST?" (198). By getting rid of his alias Alexander Supertramp is another clue he has realized the life he escaped from is the life he most desperately wanted back: human contact.

If Chris was able to get out of the wild, I believe he would have contacted his sister and arranged to see her. Eventually he would see his parents but only briefly. Even after his experience I don't think he would embrace his mother and father. Although he would have these realizations, he would continue to live a similar lifestyle but not as primitive. Maybe get a house in the wild of Montana, still traveling, and visiting civilizations every once in a while.

No Mapquest for Chris.

Throughout Chris McCandless' journey, he made it his goal to pursue all obstacles as primitively as possible. Anytime he was forced to hitchhike or earn some money, those kind of actions took him two steps back in his eyes. He mentions to Wayne in a letter, "I wish I hadn't met you though. Tramping is too easy with all this money. My days were more exciting when I was penniless and had to forage around for my next meal" (33).

Weeks after this letter was written, Chris continues his journey to the Mexican Gulf. He finds himself confused when the rivers go off in all different directions. He begins to get anxious and finally runs into some people that could help. They give him a map and his hopes are lifted. The map is supposed to lead him to the ocean, but he finds himself at a dead end in the middle of the desert. He is crushed (34).

Maybe it was this incident that Chris lost all faith in maps. That it was this kind of modernization that he despised. He could not trust society, government, and he could not trust the maps. He felt it was more efficient to rely on his own instincts, which he did from then on. Yes, it was unfortunate that Chris did not find the equipment that could have potentially saved his life. But bringing a topographic map would have destroyed the purpose of his whole journey. His purpose was to challenge himself and live without society's help. Using that map would have been a slap in the face to everything he believed in. So again, I don't think Chris was ignorant, simply reacting the best he could with the little tools he had.

I believe pointing out Chris' flaws are essential for Krakauer's arguments. He doesn't "sugarcoat" anything. He realizes Chris made some mistakes, just as Chris realized his mistakes throughout his journey. I believe his main purpose by pointing them out is to show he's aware that with a few more tools, Chris' journey could be a lot easier. But Chris also was aware of this, but he CHOSE not to use them. Krakauer wants to prove to these naysayers that the tools were irrelevant. Chris' journey is about the lifestyle he chose to tackle and to discover what he wanted out of it.

Don't matter if you're black or white...

My research topic tackles the beginning of acceptance to interracial relationships. I think interracial relationships have affected all countries at some point. I believe the start of these relationships contributed greatly to the overall acceptance of different races in general. Without these couples taking that first step, our gradual progression to racial equality would be at a standstill. I'm researching the 1967 film, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. This film was the very first to portray an interracial couple (the guy being black, the girl white) and address the issue of racial acceptance, and make it entertaining for that matter. Decade after decade more movies were created that show interracial relationships. But for that time, no other movie was like it. No other movie would dare portray an interracial couple, especially during the Civil Rights Movement. What was most unique about this film, is the writers purposely addressed the fact they were an interracial couple and addressed the issue most parents would have about that sort of thing during that point in history. Although this movie was the first step into accepting other races and interracial relationships, it is still more rare than not to see interracial couples on the movie screen. With my research paper, I want to address the progress this film made in starring an interracial couple, but also talk about the need for more diversity in motion picture to influence total racial acceptance.

The Dark Arts

Students aren't big fans of writing. There are a select view that have that special knack for it, while the majority are simply trying to finish their assignment. Throughout my life I've written countless essays and thought to myself, "There's only so much I can write about this." But this is exactly what the author is arguing. Hampl describes in The Dark Art of Description that writing in detailed description is as an opportunity to express something in the deepest way possible. That you can make something out of nothing once you really observe it. Referencing her student from a small town near Minniapolis enforces her point immensely. This student felt he had nothing to say about his boring, small town, but after extra consideration he was able to create an entire story. I think the author's main purpose is about both writing and life in general. She wants people to realize that we overlook things in our lives everyday. With some extra observation and thought we can see details we've never seen before. She believes that once you carry this over in your writing, your paper can excel to a greater level.

Another point she was trying to make is the impact description has on the reader. The more detail allows the reader to be right in the story, as if they were standing next to the main character. I think the author emphasizes this when she weaves in much description telling her own story.

My homies Walt and Krakauer.

For much of the beginning of the novel, Chris is a mystery. Although we know a lot of what he did, we don't know a lot about him as a person. Krakauer briefly mentions his views on the government and drops some letters that he wrote, but for me I needed something more to understand this guy. That's why I felt Krakauer's chapters about Walt and himself were crucial in understanding Chris better. The chapter about Walt especially, supported my ideas of why Chris would ever completely delete contact from his family. His relationship with his father definitely ignited some sort of rebellion for Chris, and his longing for independence increased. These are ideas I wouldn't have come across as easily without Walt's chapter.

As for Krakauer's chapter about himself surprised me. I had no idea he had been through those things. I figured he was a simple guy, who just happened to like Chris' story. With Krakauer's chapter I was able to get inside the mind of someone attacking challenges as dangerous as his. With Chris, we aren't able to get inside his mind as thoroughly. So this chapter definitely makes up for that, which I think Krakauer was trying to do, because there are so many similarities between the two, including their father-son relationships that weren't too picture perfect.

Although sometimes I feel this novel is kind of written like a giant article, it's chapters like these that really get me into the book.

Visual Media

I think the most effective type of media to portray rhetoric is any type of visual. There are several photographs people remember from decades ago because it ignited some emotion that had such a lasting effect. For example, September 11. Every newspaper across the country had a photo of the twin towers on the verge of its collapse. This became a breaking point in history and that visual image will be in the minds of Americans forever. But film has the same amount of effectiveness. With nearly all Americans owning a TV advertisers have a field day with creating shocking, sentimental, or funny messages to persuade the viewer in any way. To get any message across, in this decade, people (especially Americans) are most receptive to visual media.

For my project I used a video with a series of still frames. Yes, I don't have a camcorder here but I think the still frames added artistic flare and uniqueness. This allows the viewer to observe more and connect the dots themselves, so I'm pretty happy with my project and I don't think I'd redo it any differently.