Grayson’s American lit

  Based on the first 40 minutes of the film and Chapters 1–11 of the book, does the visual version of Chris’s journey make his choices seem more justified or more reckless than the text does? Explain how the medium (film vs writing) shapes your perspective. Prompt Response:  I think the film does an awesome job of justifying why Chris chose to do what he did. It touches really well on the way he grew up and the escape he needed. The film Vs the writing gives a better feeling of suspense and puts everything into a visual and makes it easier to relate and reason with his choices. Summary: I think the film changed my perception and made me understand and reason with his choices. Reflection:  I think the importance of the film is for the viewer to feel Chris's emotions more clearly.

  Think about a moment when your understanding of your family changed as you got older. How did that shift impact your perspective, and how does that connect to Chris’s realization about his parents in Chapter 11? Prompt Response:  A moment when I began to view or see my family differently was as I got older began to notice more flaws, values, and what my parents cared most about. It began when i noticed my dads only 2 focuses where really work and politics, while my mom is more of a social person. I noticed that my mom is more materialistic and likes to spend, while my dad is heavy on saving and spending very little money. He shows signs of being scared to spend, meanwhile my mom strives to travel and eat out at nice places. I think I've learned that these things have created a large wedge in between them causing them to drift apart. Summary: My parents have more differences and disagreements then I ever noticed. Reflection:  Part of growing up is seeing the truth and an...

   Reflect on your reading of  Into the Wild  chapters 1–10. Which chapter stood out to you the most, and why? In your response, explain what specifically made this chapter meaningful, interesting, or impactful. You may consider elements such as McCandless’s actions, a key event, a theme, or Krakauer’s storytelling.   Prompt Response:  Honestly the first chapter stood out the most for me. The story was by far the most interesting thing I have read in awhile and it sounded absurd. This book has been extremely meaningful to the values of personal freedom and really makes you think about why we never search for more independence or distance from society. Summary: The book and story telling has been extremely interesting and making me think a lot.  

  Chris McCandless rejects a traditional path of success and instead defines success on his own terms through freedom, experience, and personal meaning. Reflect on what success means to you at your current stage in life. In the response, explain how success is currently defined (grades, college acceptance, achievements, happiness, etc.) and where those ideas come from. Then, consider whether that definition truly reflects personal values or if it is shaped by expectations from family, school, or society.  Prompt Response:  For me, I think a lot of us are stuck into societal norms in what we choose to do. However, things like college often are a better path to success. So in my daily life I focus on making money and getting toward college. I do this so that I can reward myself with a successful future. Summary: I think my goals do conform with society, but are also kind of needed for success. Reflection:  I think conforming with society is important but also finding y...

  Chris chooses independence over relationships. When have you chosen to be on your own instead of relying on others? What happened, and would you make the same choice again? Prompt Response:  I chose to be on my own by working instead of taking money from my parents. I do this because it allows me to have more money, freedom, and self sufficiency. It is teaching me how to invest and save, and also gives me a greater appreciation for little things because I work for them and they are not given to me. Summary: Working for my money rather then getting money from my parents is how I choose independence. Reflection:  I think finding independence can help many peoples self worth and dependency.

  Choose a vocabulary word from Lesson 10 that resonates with you personally. Write a blog post explaining why this word is significant to you, including any personal memories or experiences that link you to the word. Prompt Response:  I think the word "luminous" is probably the word I resonate most with from this lesson because finding light or joy in things is very important to me. I think living day to day can become boring or depressing if you don't take the time to appreciate or find light in smaller things. Especially right now for me, when im working 25 hours a week and going to school the days can feel long. I try to find light in people and learning to make the days happier. Summary: I chose the word luminous because I think finding light in the little things is very important. Reflection:  I think I need to continue focusing on finding light and little things through my daily life.

  Prompt Response:  I took the SAT once and received a 1020 which I was not very proud of. Going forward I am studying and trying to get up to a 1250. My top 3 colleges are Georgia southern, Alabama, and transferring into UGA. These schools appeal to me because I would like to stay in the south. I also most likely want to stay in State to save money and avoid student loan debt. Summary: I want to better on the SAT to create new opportunity. Reflection:  I want to focus more on studying for the SAT in the future.

  Prompt Response:  I think day light savings impacts me pretty heavily depending on what I have to do during the change, especially when jumping forward. This year the time jumping forward fell on a day that I had work, pretty much resulting in one less hour of sleep. However, I think the sun staying up longer in the evening is very nice. Summary: Day light savings can be confusing and difficult for my brain especially when I have stuff to do. Reflection:  I think as a society we should think more about why we still have and use daylight savings.

  Prompt Response:  Music plays a big part in many peoples lives just like me. I listen to all different types of music, However I wouldn't say any music inspires me or guides me. But, I would say that music often fits into different moods and negative or positive it can cheer you up or help you through a rough time. Summary: Music has always been a way for me to fit it ointo a mood and cheer me up or make me happier. Reflection:  I think I need to take more time to listen to the lyrics of songs and analyze their deeper meaning.

  Prompt Response:  I think for me no words where necessarily difficult, however I found the word Bumpkin interesting and it was well explained to me mainly through images. my sentence was, "The city kids thought we sounded like a bumpkin." I think images and this sentence visualize and explain the true meaning of this word pretty well. Summary: Bumpkin was the most interesting word to me. Reflection:  Writing out vocab and linking it to an image is a great way to form understanding of a word.

  Prompt Response:  If I where to give up almost every thing like McCandless there are a few things id keep.  I would definitley keep my fishing gear because it is one of my favorite things to do. I would keep my Id and money so I can be identified and buy things if needed. The hardest thing to leave behind would be my family and bed if I had to leave. Summary: I think I would keep my fishing gear and money if I had to give up most of my possessions. Reflection:  I would definitley be really stuck on what to bring if I had to actually leave most behind.

  Prompt Response:  For me, I have many instances of breaking my routine to spend time with myself to understand myself. I do this by going fishing at a new place somewhere I find just looking for bodies of water on google maps and driving to them. Occasionally I will even go hike by myself somewhere to just clear my thoughts. Summary: I use fishing and hiking to clear my head. Reflection:  I think spending time outside is the best for self understanding because it simplifies everything.

  Prompt Response:  I think McCandless made impulsive decisions with a lack of planning. However, I think he knew what he was puting himself into to an extent but was more focused on whatever it took to be free. I think he had set his mind on freedom or death and that is what he chose to set out and do. Summary: McCandless set out in my opinion to seek freedom no matter life or death. Reflection:  I think it was impulsive to do what he did, but I also think he knew what he was in for to an extent.

 Prompt response: After viewing my classmates posters, I noticed many different ways of creativity throughout the layouts and people’s figurative language. The feedback I was given encouraged me and made me think about how I can do even better next time.  Summary: I think that this project helped with my creativity through figurative language and designing the poster. Reflection: Next time, I want to spend more time on the project.

  Prompt Response:I had a lot of ease writing similes, however writing metaphors about myself was more difficult because I had to directly compare it to something using like or as. Writing about being judged was easy but I had some trouble comparing things to contrast success. Next time I think I need to focus on looking at examples to help me create better similes and metaphors. Summary: similes and metaphors are great ways to put in perspective achievements and goals in a way that readers can understand. Reflection:  In the future I need to spend more time looking at examples and talking to classmates for inspiration.

 Prompt response- while writing figurative language I learned a good bit about myself. For example, I saw the way that I compare myself to others. I also realized how I felt about individual success. Summary- writing figure of language taught me many things about myself and how I feel about others. Reflection- I think writing with figurative language and trying to come up with things about me using it allowed me to learn and realize more about myself.