What was Chris McCandless seeking in the wilderness? Do you think he found it before he died?

Directions

Jon Krakauer writes:

“McCandless didn’t conform particularly well to the bush-casualty stereotype. Although he was rash, untutored in the ways of the backcountry, and incautious to the point of foolhardiness, he wasn’t incompetent—he wouldn’t have lasted 113 days if he were. And he wasn’t a nutcase, he wasn’t a sociopath, he wasn’t an outcast. McCandless was something else—although precisely what is hard to say. A pilgrim, perhaps” (85).

For this Mastery Assignment, write a minimum two-page essay addressing the questions:

What was Chris McCandless seeking in the wilderness?

Do you think he found it before he died?

Considering these questions and Krakauer’s statement, write an essay in which you define who Chris McCandless was and explain what he was trying to do.

Support your conclusions with at least three pieces of direct evidence from the text. You must use MLA formatting guidelines. Essays submitted with immediate and obvious errors in MLA format will not be graded.

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