Into The Wild

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Many Alaskans feel that McCandless brought about his own death due to his ignorance.

• After reading Into the Wild, do you agree with them? (topic sentence)
• Identify at least two reasons you agree or disagree with these Alaskans and explain why you hold that opinion.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, summarize your position while acknowledging why others may feel differently than you do.

2. McCandless mentioned that he would have liked to write a book on his own travels.

• How might this story be different if McCandless had lived to tell his story in the first person? (topic sentence)
• Identify at least two ways in which the story could be different in McCandless were writing it from his perspective.
• In your concluding sentences, explain the significance of these differences.

3. It is suggested that McCandless was at least partially motivated to travel because of his complicated relationship with his father.

• What made Chris’s relationship with his father complicated? (topic sentence)
• Identify and explain at least two ways in which this complication (or these complications) led Chris to cut his father off.
• In your concluding sentences, reflect on the consequences of Chris’s unresolved complications with his father.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. In Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer weaves some of his own personal history into the retelling of Chris McCandless’s life. Why would Krakauer choose to insert his own experiences into the book? How do these inclusions enhance the story? How do they detract from it?  How does this strategy connect to one or more of the themes in this book? As you compose your essay, incorporate at least three quoted phrases from the text that strengthen your claims. Cite your quotations with page numbers.

2. Chris McCandless, the protagonist of Into the Wild, is regarded as a hero by some, selfish and arrogant by others, and simply young and naïve by others still. After having read Into the Wild, what is your opinion of Chris McCandless? Is he a hero? Or is he arrogant? Can he be both? Or something else entirely? In your response, explore at least two contradictory traits you find to be true of Chris McCandless. As you compose your essay, incorporate at least three quoted phrases from the text to strengthen your claims. Cite your quotations with page numbers.

3. In Into the Wild, author Jon Krakauer compares the protagonist, Chris McCandless, to many historical figures, such as John Muir, Everett Ruess, and Henry David Thoreau. In what ways is McCandless similar to such writers and outdoorsmen? In what ways is he different? Identify and explain at least two points of similarity and two points of difference between McCandless and at least one historical figure mentioned in the text. Then consider how McCandless and this historical figure embody one or more of the themes from the text. As you compose your essay, incorporate three quoted phrases from the speech that strengthen your claims. Cite your quotations with page numbers.