Into the Wild

Character Analysis Essay

In the Author’s Note to Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer writes,

Some readers [of the original magazine article Krakauer wrote about McCandless] admired the boy immensely for his courage and noble ideals; others fulminated that he was a reckless idiot, a wacko, a narcissist who perished out of arrogance and stupidity—and was undeserving of the considerable media attention he received.

Which side do you agree with? Is McCandless deserving of our respect, or is he just an arrogant fool who should be forgotten? Choose your position carefully and write a 2-3 page TYPED, double spaced, 12 point font essay backing up your claim, using evidence from the text.

Due: Monday, November 7th, 2011

Advanced Proficient Emerging

Structure & Organization
30- 27
·  Creative, detailed attention getter
·  Solid, specific thesis statement
·  Clear Plan of Development
·  All paragraphs have topic sentences and transitions
·  Conclusion restates thesis in different words
·  Conclusion restates Plan of Development in different words
·  Clincher creatively wraps things up and leaves reader thinking / Structure & Organization
26-21
·  Attention getter could be more creative or detailed
·  Thesis statement should be more specific
·  OK Plan of Development
·  Most paragraphs have topic sentences and transitions
·  Conclusion restates thesis in same words as intro
·  Conclusion restates Plan of Development in same words as intro
·  Clincher present but could be more creative / Structure & Organization
20- 0
·  No clear attention getter
No clear thesis statement
·  No Plan of Development
·  Most paragraphs lack topic sentences and transitions
·  Conclusion fails to restate thesis
·  Conclusion fails to restate Plan of Development
·  No clincher
Ideas & Development
50-45
·  Writer carefully and clearly argues a position about Chris McCandless
·  Writer gives several solid examples from the text that back up the position stated in the thesis.
·  Writer blends in three meaningful quotes from the text to support main ideas
·  Writer doesn’t just summarize the story: writer analyzes the significance of Chris McCandless’ actions, personality, and overall being / Ideas & Development
44- 35
·  Writer states a position, but could do so more clearly
·  Writer gives some solid examples from the text. Could elaborate to truly prove whether or not Chris deserves respect.
·  Writer uses three quotes to support main ideas, but quotes could have been blended in better or could be stronger/more meaningful
·  Writer summarizes story well, but could analyze the essence of Chris’ character more / Ideas & Development
34-0
·  Writer doesn’t really take a side, or does not articulate it clearly
·  Writer fails to clearly give examples from the text to prove whether or not Chris deserves respect. Reader is left with little understanding of his character.
·  Writer fails to use three quotes to support main ideas
·  Writer only summarizes events in the story and doesn’t analyze Chris’ character
Conventions
20- 18
·  No major grammar or spelling errors interfere with essay readability / Conventions
17- 14
·  Essay has 3 or more minor errors
·  Overall, errors don’t interfere with essay readability / Conventions
13- 0
·  Errors interfere with essay readability
·  Writer needs to proofread

Total: ______100 Points

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