Fussa 1

Devin Fussa
Mr. King
English 2
3/1/15
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer- This novel, based on true events, documents the travels
of a young man named Chris McCandless. After college, he decided to explore the wilderness of
Alaska and find himself. He survived for over one hundred days but was eventually found
dead, having died of starvation.

S- My chosen section of Fosters How to Read Literature Like a Professor focuses on the use
of season in writing. It discusses how season could be a representation of a character or settings
mood or description. I believe one book that relates to Fosters work is Into the Wild by Jon
Krakauer. It featured many references to the seasons; especially winter. According to Foster,
winter often represents a time of death. In Into the Wild, the main character dies at the end of
the August. In Fairbanks Alaska, where the novel took place, the season of winter is present
almost all year long. Throughout most of Chris adventure, he was living in a barren, frozen
wasteland.

P- In my specific chapter, Foster mentioned how certain seasons represent different story or
character themes. In one section, Foster heavily describes the impact of winter in literature. Of
one poem, he said, rivers are frozen, snow falls, the mercury settles on the bottom of
thermometers and wont budge- everything unpleasant winter has to offer, Auden {uses} for his

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Devin Fussa
Mr. King
English 2
3/1/15
poem (pg. 187 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor). This poem dealt with the death of
a man named W.B. Yeats. In most cases, winter represents something unpleasant: often death or
old age. In the story Into the Wild, the main character decides to live in the wild and discover
himself. After a long time and many hardships, he dies. One line quotes, Froze to death up on
the Tundra (pg. 60 of Into the Wild). True to the patterns of season in literature, Chris died in
the beginning of the Alaskan winter.

E- While this book was based on a true story, the constant allusions to winter further develop the
readers knowledge of the situation. Knowing the how winter can represent death in literature, the
novel almost foreshadows Chris death by often using words such as tundra, frozen, and cold.
Another way Fosters teachings connected to my chosen story was through how Chris decided to
leave for the wilderness and discover himself in the spring time. According to Foster, spring
can be used to represent the, beginning of renewed life (pg. 191 of How to Read Literature
Like a Professor). The story is almost ironic; Chris tried to adventure in the spring (a time of new
beginnings) because he thought the summer (a time of life) would be easy to survive. The cold of
winter (a time of death) came far faster than he could have expected and led to his demise.
Between Chris dying in the cold and attempting to soul search in the spring, the story is filled
with allusions to season.

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Devin Fussa
Mr. King
English 2
3/1/15
S- Into the Wild is a tragic but well written story. It also contains many references to season,
which help develop the plot and give the novel further meaning. As I stated earlier, it was based
on a true story, but the author went out of his way to include words descriptive to winter and the
seasons. By using seasonal elements in his literary work, Krakauer was able to better connect
the reader to the story.