Yahiya's English Blog

 The film version of Into the Wild Change or deepened my understanding of Christopher McCandless compared to reading the book by showing visuals.  Christopher McCandless is presented by visual effects and seeing something visually changed my perspective by seeing details of what the situation looked like and how things played out visually. It also helped me understand how intense the situation was.

 I felt truly understood when my parents asked me why I was stressed and I told them because a failed a quiz. They told me it is ok that  I failed and that they understand that I tried my best. They told me I will do better next time. They also were not angry. 

 When I experience strong emotions I talk to my family about my emotions and I take a deep breath. My family influences that approach by helping me calm down and telling me to do coping skills.

 The visual version make Christopher McCandless seem more reckless because he still went into Alaska unprepared. The visual version shows this as it shows Christopher McCandless with little equipment. He still is very reckless in the film due to that. The film versus the writing shapes my perspective on Christopher McCandless as a reckless person as both book and film show Christopher McCandless being unprepared while coming to the Alaskan wilderness. This is why I think Christopher McCandless is reckless in the book and the film.

 My understanding of my family grew as a got older. I found my family as more understanding and more generous. That shift impacted my perspective of my family by viewing me them as nice and kind, while Christopher McCandless realization was different and he thought his parents were controlling so he resented his parents. My view is different I view my family as kind, generous, and nice.

 Chapter 9 stood out to me the most. This is because of Everett Ruess. t Everett Ruess was an explorer like Christopher McCandless and the interesting thing was the Everett Ruess disappeared. His fate remains a mystery. I think his fate is worth researching. This is why I think Chapter 9 stood out to me the most.

 Christopher McCandless rejects a traditional path of success  and instead defines success on his own terms. Success means being free and happy in my own personal experience. Success is currently defined by grades, college acceptance, and happiness, and those ideas come from that these things are beneficial. That definition is mostly shaped by society because expectations from society expect that grades and college acceptance, while happiness aligns with personal values.

 I decided to rely on myself instead of relying on others when I was stressed out because I did not want to let anyone know I was stressed out. Next time I would let someone know and I would not choose to be on my own again. 

 Largesse is a word that resonates with me because I am very generous. I remember in my childhood when I donated money to charity. Largesse reminds me of donating money to charity.

 I found it difficult to adjust to a new schedule as it made it difficult to wake up. This is because I lost an hour of sleep. For productivity I was tired. For mood, I was cranky and grumpy. It was hard to do my daily habits and daily routine. Overall it was hard to adjust to the new time.

 A specific book that shaped my way of thinking is the Diary of the Wimpy Kid first book. It taught me about life in school  It focused on themes of friendship. This inspired me to try to make new friends. It also talked about going through school and doing tests. This influenced me to study hard and work hard in school.

 If I had to keep only a few possessions I would like to keep money, food, water, and my cellphone. The possessions that would be hardest to leave behind would be pictures of my family. It would also be hard to leave behind my family itself. This would be a hard decision. If I had to make this decision it would be hard but I would definitely have to bring money, food, and water with me to survive.

 I had to distance myself from an environment where I was getting bullied and people were fighting. I felt good that I can disengage from the situation and It made me feel better that I was not hearing hurtful comments after disengaging. I learned that disengaging when a situation is stressful helps regulate my emotions.  In short, disengaging is helpful.

 In class today we learned about dangers while thru-hiking such as bears, spiders, rattlesnakes and more. We also learned 10 essential things you will need to embark on a thru hike is clothes, medicine, food, phone, water, footwear, backpack, tent, lighter, hygiene supplies, sleeping bag, first aid kit, flashlight, lighter. I also learned about Christopher McCandless who donated 24,000 dollars of savings to charity and went to Alaska and cut of all family contact, he was found dead in Alaska after trying to live alone in the wilderness.

 The word most easiest to understand was benign as it means beneficial and favorable which was pretty straightforward. The word hardest to understand was pervasive as the vocabulary meaning was present throughout which was confusing for me and how to make a picture of that was confusing. Create my own sentence and picture helped strengthen my understanding of vocabulary by showing me how the meaning is visualized and how to use it in a sentence makes me understand what the context of the meaning is  shows the true meaning of the word. For example, I used the sentence I told my teacher I was stuck in traffic to corroborate my excuse for being late to school. My picture was a person talking to a judge. This shows the meanings of the vocabulary by using an image and a sentence to deepen the understanding and to go in depth of the meaning of the word.