Into The Wild

Throughout the book, McCandless often experiences kindness from strangers through the gifting or sharing of food. What is the overall significance of food in Into the Wild? Consider these points as you reflect on text to answer the question.

• Who gives Chris food and why do they give it to him? 
• When does Chris seem to have plenty of food? When is food scarce?
• What message does Krakauer make about food and its relationship to human connection?

Teaching Suggestion: It might be helpful to pre-mark passages throughout the text that include food. One possibility is to give one passage to each group of students to reread and answer the questions based on that passage. Afterward, they can discuss in a whole group setting.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students with attentional and executive function differences, it might also be helpful to provide a graphic organizer to help them organize their answers to these questions. For example, consider having students organize their responses in a 3-column chart with “Plenty of Food,” “Little Food,” and “Connection to Relationships” as the headers.