Learning Focus: I can read and comprehend grade-level texts [CCSS.ELA.11-12.RI/RL.10] Scrimmage
Directions: Be able to answer each question with the appropriate short response. You will be permitted to use your own study guides and notes on quizzes.
Chapter 16, The Alaska Interior p. 157-171
1. Where did Chris leave from on April 15, 1992 on his journey to Alaska?
2. How does Chris travel the 1,000 miles from Laird, Alaska, to Fairbanks?
3. What two requests does Stuckey make of Alex as they part company?

4. When he sets off on the Stampede Trail, what food and supplies did McCandless have with him?
5. How far does Chris travel on the Stampede Trail before he locates the abandoned bus?
6. Why does Chris write in his journal that he had found the Magic Bus? What surprising difficulties did he have during his first week – despite finding the bus?

7. When the snow melted, what did McCandless gather and eat?
8. Once McCandless could hunt well, what animals did he kill and eat?

9. Why does McCandless say that shooting the moose was one of the “greatest tragedies of my life”?

Chapter 17, The Stampede Trail p. 172-186
1. This chapter describes a visit by the author and others to the site where McCandless died. Krakauer states that he has something that enables him to cross the raging river that McCandless did not have. What is it?

2. A year after Chris's death, what does Krakauer observe on the banks of the Teklanika River where Chris had been unable to cross?

3. What sad discovery does Krakauer make just a quarter mile downstream on the river?

4. What did the bones outside the bus reveal?

5. What is significant about the cloth belt Krakauer finds in the bus?

6. How does Krakauer interpret the evidence he gathers about Chris?

7. How does Roman Dial who teaches at the University of Alaska interpret Chris's actions?

8. Two of the hunters who discovered McCandless’ body believed that the large animal he shot was not a moose. What did they think it was? What did it really turn out to be? What did that prove?


9. In an attempt to explain why McCandless did what he did, Krakauer compares him to Sir John Franklin, John Muir, and Henry David Thoreau. Ultimately, however, he states that McCandless is unlike these men and does not fit any stereotype. He attributes what happened to Chris to “the passion and longings of youth.” Do you agree? Why or why not?.


Chapter 18, The Stampede Trail p. 187-199
1. What evidence does Krakauer find that suggests Chris was ready to return to society?

2. What does Krakauer think actually killed Chris?

3. Why does Krakauer think Chris could not eliminate poison from his body?

4. What is significant about August 5th?

5. On August 12, Chris leaves the bus to forage for berries. What does the note he left on the door say?

6. Read the passages Chris highlighted from Dr. Zhivago on pp. 188-189. What conclusion does Krakauer believe Chris had ultimately come to? What was Chris preparing to do?

7. What is the tragic irony of Chris’ location (in the Magic Bus)? In other words, if he would have brought a topographical map with him, what would he have discovered?

8. What is so poignant about the final photograph Chris took of himself holding his good-bye note?






Epilogue p. 200-203
*REQUIRED*
Written Response - Identify 3 separate details from the Epilogue (p. 200-203) that you believe are particularly memorable or significant. Explain why each detail is important in your opinion.
Provide your opinion [CLAIM]. Explain and support [REASONING] your opinion with specific examples [EVIDENCE] from the novel.