Portfolio Time

Wow! We are almost done, but there is still so much left to do! The three papers I am submitting in my portfolio are my personal analysis, my close reading paper, and of course, my research paper. The paper I am happiest with right now is my research paper. I think that I really lucked out finding such a popular movie with such a clear topic to write about it with. The paper that still needs a lot of work is probably my personal analysis. I just re wrote it, and it is waaaaay better, but I am not at the 5 page minimum and am all out of things to say! My epigraph paper is also pretty rough, but with a little more editing, I think it will be ok. My research paper is strong because I found the balance between my primary source and my outside topic of stereotyping. I want to say thanks to all my group members for helping so much, Thanks guys!!!

Alternate Universe...

If the world were a perfect place, then Chris would never have died, and would have, instead, seen the error of his ways and rushed home to tell his parents how sorry he was for running away, but alas, the world is not a perfect place. I believe that if Chris had made it out of Alaska on his first try, the time he tried to cross the swollen river with no success, he would have changed, but not much. I think that he was ready to settle down, and maybe even call Carnie, but I don't think he ever forgave his parents for their lies. The text supports my first prediction. While reading Doctor Zhivago, Chris wrote along the margin, "HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED" (page 189). I think Chris had spent a long enough time away from people to realize how valuable those intense connections could be, and upon returning to the "real world" I think he would have gone back to work foe Wayne. He respected Wayne and would have been comfortable enough with him, it's like he said in a letter, "you had one of the highest characters of any man I'd met" (page 33). Then I think he would have started making other ties. I also think he would have gone back to visit Franz, and kept in close contact with him. And maybe one day he would have gotten married, and had kids, and his sister would have helped him out, and they would all live happily ever after. But, I think this is mostly just wishful thinking.

Dear Chris, I Still Love You!

While reading the book, I like Krakauer, noted when Chris made mistakes. However, I , like Krakauer, do not really consider them to be mistakes. Chris every move, although sometimes a little bizarre, was carefully calculated. When he came into town, he hid his possessions to prevent them from being stole, he did the necessary research (like buying the plant book), and he was aware of what he was getting himself into when he decided to go to Alaska. Chris was not stupid and arrogant, he simply wanted to jump into life, and get as far away from all the bad stuff as possible. He did not want a map because he wanted to fell like he was in the middle of no where. He did not want an axe, because he knew he could get by without it, and he mistook a caribou for a moose because he valued the lives of all creatures as equal. At the end of the book I loved Chris even more because I feel like there is a piece of him, and his wild spirit, in all of us! I am real sad he died :( Because I think when he tried to cross the river he was ready to settle down a little.

My Research Paper

I chose to write my paper on the 80's classic, The Breakfast Club. I choose this movie because a) I couldn't write about any of the movies I love from the 90's and, b) because of all the really horrendous movies released in the 80's, The Breakfast Club has managed to stay really relevant in our culture today. This is due to the simple fact that the movie looks at stereotypes. As much as people like to think that they are above labeling people by the way they look or act, it is something we all do. We crave order and organization in our lives, and stereotyping allows us to do that. I got the idea of making my paper focused on stereotyping from my sociology class; we spent a lot of time looking at how roles affect behavior and I thought it was a really interesting topic. If you think about the movie, specifically the scene where the jock is telling the other kids about how he beat up a nerd, it becomes obvious that even though he thought it was wrong he did it to fulfill his role as a dominant male. I'm also trying to plan it out so I can do a little research of my own and send out a survey to my old high school to see if stereotyping is as relevant today as it was in the 80's. Overall, I think there is a lot to be said about this issue.

So, What's My Score?

I chose to assess my personal analysis paper; the one in which we compared ourselves to celebrities. I actually had a really hard time writing this paper. It was way harder than I thought it would be to find a celebrity that I was similar too. I would score my rough draft as a low. The first reason is that I didn't really ever tell a specific story, which was kind of the whole point of the essay. I really need to be more specific in my next draft in order to raise my score. The other reason I would classify my paper as low is that it was really choppy. Because I had such a hard time coming up with ideas whenever I got one I would just write it down, making for a very disjointed paper. That part will be easy enough to fix in my next draft because I have already thought of some better ideas. Overall, I need to find a more specific story connecting my celebrity and I to fulfill the requirements of the assignment.

Chris and Jon

I feel that by using his own experiences, Krakauer made Chris's story more credible. It is one thing to say over and over that Chris was not crazy, but for Krakauer to say, "look, I did the same thing as him! Not because I was crazy, or had a death wish, but because I thought it would make me a better person, and give more meaning to my life." It was really powerful to see all the connections Jon had with Chris, and through those connections I feel like I understand why Chris did what he did. Obviously, no one will ever be able to ask him, but by understanding Jon's motives, I feel that he can provide an answer. Especially because their lives and personalities were so alike. Suddenly Chris's story seems more concrete... like Jon provided so solid possibilities, so the story meant more to me.

Parallels

I found Krakauer's comparison's very helpful. I thought it was the perfect balance of showing that Chris wasn't all the way crazy, but maybe a little out there. He used the example of Carl MmCunn to show what the real crazies were like, and make an obvious distinction between men like him, and men like like Chris. Then he backed up Chris's personality type with the story of another idealistic and troubled (troubled but not crazy) youth, Everett Ruess, who "sounds eerily like" McCandless in his letters.
By comparing and contrasting Chris with other young men, Krakauer gains massive amounts of credibility. It is one thing when an author goes on and on about a person and sheds whatever light they want on them, but when the author can back that up, show what the character is and is not, the argument is much more impressive and convincing. I also thought it was awesome that Krakauer told us his own story so now we know more about where he is coming from. Props to Krakauer.