- Using your proposal as your starting point, your essay as your end, how did your idea about your subject change from beginning to end? What changed it? Why did it change? Detail your progression through the development of your idea.
2. In your research, you were required to check five sources for information. Describe the process of your search, including the type of evidence you found within each place and its value. If certain places resulted in no useful evidence, why do you think so? If certain places provided a lot, why do you think so?
During my research, I found that a lot of the sources that I found would have a lot of loose or dead ends, understandably so however, because so little people knew and understood Chris, aside from his sister, whom he was closest to. I found that the book, Into the Wild, itself was the most helpful because Jon Krakauer took the time to go out and interview and build relationships with the people that McCandless came into contact with, so it’s almost as if Krakauer became able to tell the story from Chris’s point of view. I also found Carine’s book to be very helpful as well because I believe that she knew and understood her brother the best, and she also experienced everything that he experienced at home.
3. What surprised you in your research? Did you find a lot of information about a certain area of your study that you didn’t expect? Did you find too little? Did your findings encourage you to narrow your search or broaden your search or change the initial direction entirely?
I was actually quite surprised to find that Jack London did not influence Chris to go on his trip as much as I thought he did. That’s not to say that London did not influence Chris because he most definitely did! Chris’s trip that he took was quite similar to a trip that Jack London took to Alaska, which is illustrated in his writing of the book, Call of the Wild. However, as much as Krakauer harped on Chris’s infatuation with London, I would have thought he would have had a bigger part in Chris’s trip to Alaska.
4. Did talking headers help? Did that old senior project help? Did you write informally (I, we) or more formally? Why’d you choose the style you chose?
I actually didn’t have a lot of trouble writing this essay. I really enjoy writing essays, especially if the topic is interesting. I decided to write more formally because the essay is rather objective and fact based. I did insert some of my own beliefs, but the essay is mainly about Chris.
5. How did your small critique group help or hinder your whole process, from the first day when you brought images to class to your final presentation? Do you have specific questions for them?
My critique group helped me a lot! They gave me a lot of ideas as to what they thought would make my project stronger and more valid. One of my group members suggested to me that making a timeline of times in Chris’s life would be really relevant to my project, as long as those times were relevant to my research. I decided to use the timeline as my multimodal project and I did the time of Chris and Carine’s birth, because Walt was in his previous marriage at the time; the time in which Chris found out that he and Carine were born out wedlock and how that made him feel; Chris going to college, which was the point at which he really lost connection with his family, except for Carinel; Chris leaving on his trip; and the time that Chris met the elderly man, Ron Franz. I believe Chris really had a connection with Ron, as a matter of fact, Ron wanted to adopt Chris. I believe that this was a very important time in Chris’s life because I think this was the first time he view someone as a respected parental figure in some way. Finally, I did the time of Chris McCandless’s death.
6. How has this inquiry project been different from /similar to other research projects you have undertaken? What have you done for the first time?
This project was very similar to a project that I did this time last year in my Freshman Composition class at UNC-Greensboro. We had to pick a topic that really interested us, and then thoroughly research it, and write a ten page paper on that topic. I chose to research further on Transgender rights, and the actual idea of what being transgender is really like. It really taught me a lot, including how important effective research is. However, this project is the first time I had to include a multi-modal project to compliment my research. I liked it, though because I think that if you can physically see something other than words on a paper, it can help you understand things a whole lot more.
7. What did you learn—about anything—that you didn’t already know?
I learned that I’m really interested in family relationships. When I really realized that Chris was so estranged from his parents, it made me realize that his family is not the only family that has gone through something like this. Millions of families have strange and difficult situations. It made me realize that the family relationship is something that I want to really study; I am a Social Work major, and the family relationship is something that is very important, however not studied as much in the field of Social Work.