Final Exam Assignment--read below carefully! Due Thursday, Dec.12th

Freshman Composition I: “Travel and Culture

Final Exam Assignment (Short Paper #3): Where Are You From?

In Haile’s essay, “We Go It Alone,” she’s confronted by another hiker who tells her, very matter-of-factly, that “blacks don’t hike.” In other words, when he looks at her he knows where she’s from and who she is—not who she says she is. Often in society, the reality of who we are clashes with how we’re perceived by society, and sometimes, we play along so as not to make waves. Yet our true self can’t be packaged into a stereotype or emblazoned on a t-shirt. To know us, you have to travel in our footsteps, inhabit our thoughts, and forget everything you think you know about where we’re from-from.

So for your final short paper (your final exam), I want you to write about the person who are that no one can see. If someone met you for the first time, what would they never see or guess about you? Why doesn’t this show? Do you try to hide it? Or is it just impossible to show in any visible way? This could be an identity, a hobby, a dream, an aspiration, a career choice, a hobby, or even a person you no longer are (for example, people would never guess I used to have very long hair). Write about why this hidden self is (or was) important to you, and why you think it’s not written on your skin or visible on your clothing. Can people truly understand you without knowing about this? Do you ever try to tell them—or do you fear it will just be lost in translation?

REQUIREMENTS

·        As long as you want it to be, but be descriptive: make connections

·        Don’t make it sound like an assignment; don’t start “my response to this assignment is…” Tell a story, write an essay.

·        You don’t have to quote from the essay or Wild, but you certainly can if you feel it will help your conversation

·        Due Thursday, December 12^th by 5pm

For Thursday: Haile, "We Go It Alone" (BATW, pp.134-142)

Photo from Outside Magazine Online 

REMEMBER: Conversation Paper #2 is due by 5pm on Tuesday: no class! 

NOTE: This is our LAST reading for Comp 1! We have a little more work (not much), but hang in there--it's almost over. 

Here are some things to consider for the essay; we'll have a quiz over it on Thursday.

* Why does race change the experience of the "wild"? How might Strayed's experience been different if she was also of another ethnicity?

* The author says that "you don't talk politics on the trail" (137), but why does she find it impossible not to? Why can some people not avoid talking about politics when talking about the great outdoors?

* Haile says that "perspective is everything," and also notes, "the ease with which a person becomes a "them" in the woods" (138). How can perspective change even quicker outdoors?

* What does she mean by "every day I eat the mountains, and the mountains, they eat me" (139)? Does she have a similar transformative experience as Strayed?

* Why does she say that for people of color, "the wilderness is everywhere they look" (140)? 

* Finally, who does the "wilderness" belong to? A  people ? A nation? A belief system? Can anyone own the mountains and the forests? 

For Tuesday: Strayed, Wild, Part Five (Chs. 15, 16 & 17)

Feel free to finish the book for Tuesday, but I'll only ask you to read the next three chapters for Tuesday's quiz and discussion. We'll technically finish the book for Thursday--see the revised schedule two posts down in case you haven't noticed it. Also, don't forget the Conversation Paper #2 assignment, which I assigned last Tuesday (it's one post down).

Some ideas to consider...

* Do you think her experiences in Ashland represent a "relapse" in her journey of self-discovery? Consider she asks herself, "I was different. Wasn't I?"

* Why is she so anxious to hook up with a guy that she takes pains to show us isn't very articulate or interesting beyond his looks? For someone so introspective, isn't this an odd choice? Or is that the point?

* Why does she feel she is "betraying" the PCT by being so far away from it?

* She says in Chapter 15 that she wants to forgive herself even though she doesn't necessarily regret what she's done: "if I could go back in time I wouldn't do anything differently than I had done" (258). Can you ask for forgiveness without regretting or repenting your previous misdeeds? Why might she think so?

*Why does she make a list of all her mother's mistakes in Chapter 16? What kind of mistakes are they? Does she seem sympathetic about them--or judgmental?

* Why does she literally eat her mother in Chapter 16? Do you think this is a moment of acceptance or rejection? Or confusion?

* She doesn't know what to expect at Crater Lake, though her guidebook tells her to expect something awe-inspiring. Does she find it? What happens to her there?

* She says earlier that the trail gives you thinks when you're not expecting them--"trail magic." What kind of trail magic does she experience in these chapters? 

Conversation Paper #2--the Last One!

Conversation Paper #2: The Call of the Wild

“It had only to do with how it felt to be in the wild. With what it was like to walk for miles for no reason other than to witness the accumulation of trees and meadows, mountains and deserts, streams and rocks, rivers and grasses, sunrises and sunsets. The experience was powerful and fundamental” (Strayed 207).

INTRO: Both Wild and the film Into the Wild are about twenty-somethings feeling lost in adulthood. Even though both are college-educated and have plenty of opportunity in the ‘real world,’ each one rejects it in favor of an experience in the “wild.” Interestingly, each one also rejects family, money, and advice taking only what they can carry on their backs, as well as books (they’re both big readers). So the question is, why did they feel the Wild could solve the problems that community and society couldn’t? And is this a universal problem with people their (and your) age?

PROMPT: For your Second Conversation Paper, I want you to answer the question, “what is society not providing to young adults—why are they seeking fulfillment ‘out there’ rather than ‘in here’? Why are so many people deciding to reject college and careers and traditional roles in search of something more “real” and “meaningful”? In other words, what are we doing wrong as a society? How are we leaving young adults out in the cold and not answering the most vital questions they have as human beings? How do you feel about this: do you feel the same way? Or do you think they’re both missing the bigger picture? Do you feel tempted to heed the call of the wild, too?

REQUIREMENTS:

• Use Wild and the film Into the Wild to respond to: show that your conversation comes from both works and quote from Strayed especially to explain where she—and many people your age—are coming from in their journey.
• Find AT LEAST TWO outside sources that also talk about some aspect of this conversation: they could be interviews with Strayed, articles about McCandless, articles about people on the PCT, or about college/job prospects, etc. Anything that you feel helps you discuss this and gives you new perspectives.
• NAYSAYER: Someone who disagrees with you or shows you another way of considering the subject. If you agree with Strayed/McCandless, who doesn’t? If you think they’re nuts, who doesn’t? Remember, you can even use Strayed to act as a Naysayer (she often does).
• No set page limit: it’s up to you to think how long this needs to be, and what you need to say.
• Due Tuesday, November 19^th by 5pm [no class that day]

Revised Course Schedule for last Four Weeks!

T 5       Strayed, Wild, Part Four

R 7       Writing Workshop #6

T 12     Strayed, Wild, Part Five, Chapters 15-17

R 14     Strayed, Wild, Part Five, Chapters 18-19

T 19     Conversation Paper #2 due by 5pm [no class]

R 21     Haile, "We Go It Alone" (from Best American Travel Writing 2018)

T 26     Writing Workshop #6

R 28     Thanksgiving Break

DECEMBER

T 3       Dead Week--no class!

R 5       Dead Week--no class! 

Final Exam (Short Paper #3) due TBA

For Tuesday: Strayed, Wild (Part Four)

Be sure to read Part Four, Chapters 11-14 for Tuesday's class. We only have one more part, and 5 more chapters! Catch up if you're behind, since the book will be important for your Conversation Paper #2 (which I'll assign on Tuesday). 

Here are some questions to consider about Chapters 11-14:

* Why is the final chapter called "Wild," which is also (coincidentally?) the name of the book? Hmm...

* What does she mean by the phrase/metaphor, "Grief doesn't have a face" (212)?

* Why does she return to the opening pages of the book in Chapter 13? OR, perhaps a better question is, why does she start the book with events in Chapter 13, and not return to tell this story for 13 chapters? 

* What does she mean by the phrase, "The universe, I'd learned, was never, ever kidding" (209).

* What is the significance of the title of Chapter 13, "The Accumulation of Trees"?

* How does she grow on the trail in general? After six weeks of traveling, what does she now see, feel, or experience differently?

* Why does she object so strongly when the interviewer for Hobo Times refers to her as a "hobo" in Chapter 11? Is he right to persist in calling her one?