Jon Krakauer, cont.

"Death of an Innocent: How Christopher McCandless Lost His Way in the Wilds"

Jon Krakauer

Vocabulary

From context clues in sentences nearby, determine meaning of the following words (page numbers in parentheses):

1.      Surfeit (2)

2.      Asceticism (2)

3.      Renunciation (2)

4.      Derelict (2)

5.      Decrepit (4)

6.      Malevolent (6)

7.      Havoc (6)

8.      Convergence (7)

9.      Vagrant (8)

10.  Gaunt (8)

11.  Demise (10)

12.  Paucity (10)

13.  Ambivalent (11)

14.  Recriminated (12)

15.  Paraphrase this sentence from the article: “Such bereavement, witnessed at close range, makes even the most eloquent apologia for high-risk activities ring fatuous and hollow” (9).

a.      Bereavement—a period of mourning after the loss of a loved one

b.      Apologia—a defense or justification of a belief

c.       Fatuous—foolish, especially in an unconscious manner

Timeline Scavenger Hunt

Create a timeline for the events in the article. Begin in June 1990 with Chris McCandless’ college graduation, end with Sept. 6, 1992. Include at least fifteen events between.

Put your timeline on poster paper, including the text of postcards, quotations from books or McCandless’ journal, names of people met, and illustrations of the various timeline events encountered along the way.

Following the scavenger hunt, read Krakauer's September 12, 2013 follow-up "How Chris McCandless Died" from the New Yorker.