Vocab List 4: Into the Wild 1. Trough (n)- lowest point of something 2. Amalgam (n)- mixture; combination (of) 3. Anomaly (n)- abnormality; exception; peculiarity 4. Amphibious (adj)- able to conform and thrive in different environments; of a mixed nature 5. Itinerant (adj)- traveling from place to place; nomadic 6. Estranged (adj)- alienated; separated from others 7. Emancipated (adj)- freed from all restraints 8. Indolent (adj)- lazy; inactive 9. Espoused (v)- adopted; embraced 10. Unencumbered (adj)- unburdened; unrestrained 11. Endemic (adj)- native; belonging to a particular place 12. Phantasmal (adj)- pertaining to fantasies and illusions

Vocab Activity 4.1 Using all the words on List 4, write sentences that relate to literature from the past: 9th-10th grade, or The Catcher in the Rye. If you see the opportunity to use more than one word in a sentence or to switch the part of speech if you know how, go for it!

Vocab List 4 Parts of Speech Trough (n) Amalgam (n)  amalgamation (n) Anomaly (n)  anomalous (adj) Amphibious (adj)  amphibiously (adv); amphibian (n) Itinerant (adj)  itinerantly (adv); itinerance (n) Estranged (adj)  estrange (v); estrangement (n) Emancipated (adj)  emancipate (v); emancipation (n) Indolent (adj)  indolently (adv); indolence (n) Espoused (v) Unencumbered (adj)  encumber (v); encumbered (adj) Endemic (adj)  endemically (adv) Phantasmal (adj)  phantasmally (adv); phantasm (n)

Vocab Activity 4.2 Using all the words from List 4, complete one of the following creative options and make sure it relates to Into the Wild: -An article about what happened to Chris McCandless: either factual or opinion-based -A letter Chris might have written to his sister about his travels -A short story about a moment in the life of one of the adventurers from Ch. 8-9---perhaps the tale of Carl McCunn becoming stranded and killing himself? Gotta love that Carl. -Another creative option of your own that relates to the book

Vocab Activity 4.2: News article about Chris According to various sources, it has now been confirmed that the dead body of the itinerant traveler found in the abandoned bus on Alaska’s Stampede Trail is that of the 24-year old man named Chris McCandless. The amphibious McCandless, who was not endemic to Alaska, went on a two year journey prior to reaching Alaska in which he took on the alias Alexander Supertramp, but left intermittent tracks of his true identity, such as giving his social security number to a man he worked for in Carthage, South Dakota, Wayne Westerberg. Westerberg was recently arrested for selling black boxes. Few facts are known about McCandless at this point, but his journey seems to have resulted from an amalgam of factors – one, he seemed to be an anomaly in his materialistic family and as result estranged himself from them; two, he espoused transcendentalist beliefs and wanted to feel emancipated from and unencumbered by society; and three, he had phantasmal thoughts about the allure of the Alaskan wild, similar to Jack London. While some Alaskan natives believe McCandless to be an indolent fool due to his lack of preparedness, it appears that McCandless wanted to avoid having too many possessions on his journey. He thrived fairly well in the abandoned bus for a number of months, but appeared to hit his trough due to starvation, thus leading to his death.

Vocab Activity 4.3 Using all the words from List 4, write sentences that relate to Into the Wild or transcendentalism in general.

Vocab Review: For each question, write a sentence in response that uses the vocabulary word in the question. 1. What is one possible benefit of being amphibious? 2. What are some consequences of espousing unpopular ideas? 3. What might you do in a situation where two of your friends are estranged? 4. What is something phantasmal that some people believe in? 5. What is one thing you would do if you were preparing for an itinerant lifestyle? 6. What is something you would like to feel unencumbered about? 7. What could you do if you felt your indolence was becoming a problem? 8. What is one benefit of being endemic to Southern California? 9. What’s something that’s an anomaly for you? 10. How might an amalgam of peoples benefit a country? 11. Some humans experience a trough of energy in the mid-afternoon. What might be happening then? 12. How might you emancipate some puppies in a cardboard box?