Author: rghannam

http://www.flickr.com/photos/broc7/129707824/     

Uploaded on April 16, 2006
by broc7  

“I stood on a stump.” Samel continues, “reached through a back window, and gave the bag a shake. There was definitely something in it, but whatever it was didn’t weigh much. It wasn’t until I walked around to the other side and saw a head sticking out that I knew for certain what it was.” Chris McCandless had been dead for two and a half weeks (Gordon Samel, Into the Wild, p. 13)  

Gordon Samel was among the three Alaskan men who discovered Chris McCandless’s decaying body in a bus near the Teklanika River. His body was found in a sleeping bad similar to the one in the picture above. This image of a man in a sleeping bag reminded me of Chris. His head is sticking out of the sleeping bag just like the description of Chris that Samel gives. Next to the man is a pair of boots and a cooler, indicating that he is sleeping outdoors somewhere. The fact that there is only one pair of boots and one sleeping bag in the picture, also implies that he is all alone, like Chris was. Another similarity that exists between the two men is that they both wore boots. Jim Gallien (one of the men who offered Chris a ride) lent Chris his rubber work boots to wear in the wilderness. Those same boots are found next to Chris’s dead body in the bus. This photo seems to match well with the caption.  

http://www.flickr.com/photos/loosetooth/130108554/  

Uploaded on April 17, 2006
by Loosetooth.com  

“One thing I do remember is that he had a thing about socks,” says the assistant manager, a fleshy, garrulous man named George Dreeszen. “He always wore shoes without socks-just plain couldn’t stand to wear socks” (Into the Wild, p. 40)  

George Dreeszen is referring to Chris McCandless in this quote. Chris used to work at McDonalds with him during his stay in Bullhead City, Arizona. The photo is ironic because George is describing Chris as a guy who hated wearing socks, and never wore them. This man, however, is clearly wearing socks. The photo contradicts the caption. The quote I chose for this photo is also somewhat taken out of context. If you continue reading on page 40 in the book, you will find that George goes on to say that although Chris hated wearing socks, he always wore them to work because that was company policy. By omitting part of George’s words, I have changed the meaning, and made an untrue statement. It is true that Chris hated wearing socks, however, he wore them when he needed to. My intentions in quoting out of context were to convey a message that was just the opposite of that depicted in the photo. Krakauer repeatedly quotes some of Chris’s favorite authors out of context throughout the story. He uses this technique to convey a certain message to the readers as well.  

http://www.flickr.com/photos/richardbangsadventures/113889020/in/photostream/  

Uploaded on March 17, 2006
by RichardBangsAdventures        

 

“The insubstantial frost feathers ensured that those last twenty feet remained hard, scary, onerous. But then suddenly there was no place higher to go. I felt my cracked lips stretch into a painful grin. I was on top of the Devils Thumb” (John Krakauer, pg. 153) 

 

In this passage Krakauer is telling the readers about his experience climbing the Devils Thumb, a mountain in Petersburg, Alaska. At this point in his narration of the story, he has finally reached the top of the mountain. This was a significant moment for him because of the struggles he endured to reach that point. Earlier in his narration he mentions having to climb up numerous glaciers with his climbing gear, some of which consisted of a heavy backpack, a rope, and a ice axe. I thought that this photo fit the image of Krakauer that the readers get from his narration. The man, like Krakauer, has a heavy backpack on his back, and is carrying climbing gear in his hands. He is also standing on the highest peak of a snow covered mountain. What we see in the picture is exactly what Krakauer describes.  

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rllayman/75920020/  

Uploaded on December 21, 2005
by rllayman  

“The engine is gone. Several windows are cracked or missing altogether, and broken whiskey bottles litter the floor. The green and white paint is badly oxidized. Weathered lettering indicates that the old machine was once part of the Fairbanks City Transit System: bus 142” (John Krakauer, pg. 10)  

In this passage Krakauer is describing the bus that Chris McCandless’s body was found in near the Teklanika River. This passage is taken from the beginning chapters of the book, where Krakauer first reveals how Chris’s body came to be discovered. The photo is ironic because it does not match the description that Krakauer gives us of the bus. This bus does not appear to be old, wrecked, and run down in the least bit. It is just the opposite. The bus is in great condition with tinted windows, a nice paint job, and possibly air conditioned inside. The shiny windows and rims make it look brand new. This bus is also a great deal larger than the one that Chris’s body was found in. This is not the image that came to mind when I first read the above description of the bus that Krakauer gives us. Matching this photo with the above caption really makes people realize how bad Chris’s living conditions were. It does so by showing the contrast between the two buses.  

 

I really liked 123rd Street by Willie Perdomo. To be honest, it was the only one of the assigned poems that I actually liked. I am not a big fan of poetry and I often have trouble interpreting poems. This poem, however, was different. It didn’t read like a poem, but rather someone trying to freestyle in a rap face-off on MTV or something. I liked how the poem had rhythm and rhyme. It made the lines flow smooth and sound like music as I was reading it out loud.
I also liked the poem because it painted a mental image of the speaker’s neighborhood for me. The speaker is a man who we know has financial problems. He lives in a lower class neighborhood full of children running about and playing with one another. Somewhere in the background the sound of church bells is also heard. I also understood that his neighborhood is not very safe from the lines mentioning bullets bouncing off stoop steps in the neighborhood and “drug posses” looking to start fights. As a poor man living in a poor neighborhood, he probably has to steal to make a living-“money that aint mine”(15). The speaker seems to be stuck in a hole. He wakes up to the same thing every day with no hopes of a better future. He is a poor man, living in a poor neighborhood, stealing to make a living. His life is routine for him, and he knows exactly what the next day will bring before it comes.         

   

I agree that The Story of an Hour was one of the more thought provoking stories I have read all semester. I think that it is an ironic story with a twisted ending that could be a more modern day reenactment of Romeo and Juliet, only Romeo lives. The characters switch roles at the end of the story. At the beginning of the story we discover that Mrs. Mallard’s husband has just died in a railroad accident and her sister Josephine, and Mr. Mallard’s friend Robert are there to comfort Mrs. Mallard. Josephine, as the story mentions, tells Mrs. Mallard the news of her husband’s death in a gentle manner, keeping in mind that Mrs. Mallard has a heart condition. Mrs. Mallard cries at first, but then goes off alone to mourn her husband’s death in the privacy of her bedroom. Once there she goes into a deep state of contemplation and reflection on her own life. It is at this point in the story where Mrs. Mallard comes to a realization that she is free at last, a free women, with “no one to live for.” (450) Chopin is trying to make a point here about woman’s role as “wife,” and how the husband in a sense has some possession over his wife. Now that Mr. Mallard is dead, his wife finally feels free from his possession. The ironic twist however comes when her husband walks in the door, bringing about her death, proving that even in his death he has control over her. I also noticed that while Mr. Mallard is thought to be dead his wife is referred to as Mrs. Mallard, but after his return she is referred to as his “wife” again. I thought this was significant.