Rough Road Ahead By Joe Kurmaskie Summary

Life on the road is an idealistic way to escape from societal problems. There is no denying that it grants individuals satisfaction by allowing them to fulfill their goals, as well as providing immense freedom and control over one’s life; however, it is a fundamentally illogical path to take due to nature’s malevolence. In Into The Wild, Krakauer writes a biography about a young man named Chris McCandless, in which he illustrates the similarities between himself and McCandless’s overly ambitious journey to accomplish feats in the wilderness. Coinciding with their similarities, they also faced an oppressive father figure at home, which lead the both of them to believe that their journey will provide them an answer to their problems at home. McCandless planned to survive in Alaska by living off the land while Krakauer wanted to be the first one to climb the Devil’s Thumb. What happened instead was that McCandless died at an early age, whilst Krakauer barely made it to tell the tale; proving nothing of value came from their journeys. While life on the road can offer solace to individuals who have struggled in their lives, it is unfathomable to think that the wilderness will offer them any embrace to their ambitions; therefore it should not be pursued as it leads to family issues and ignorant behavior.

Rough waters is a book written by S.L. Rottman. Rough Waters is a “Heart-Wrenching (from back cover and my opinion)” adventure story. Rough Waters was published in 1997 and takes place in Buena Vista, CO (AP). Rough waters is a book for adolescents ( from back cover). Rough Waters is not a bestseller and S.L. Rottman is the author of Hero. S.L. Rottman got her idea for Rough waters from her rafting experience but, she wondered what it should be like if somebody didn’t have a choice if they wanted to raft or not. S.L. Rottman is a coach, a mom, and a teacher. S.L Rottman was born in georgia but, she moved to colorado when she was young. S.L. Rottman had a happy life as a child even though Rough Waters is a sad book. I

In the chapter “Geography Matters”, Thomas C. Foster explains the effect of geography on a story. Geography contributes greatly to themes, symbols, and plot, and most authors prefer to use setting as a general area with a detailed landscape rather than a specific city or landmark. In Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, he does not reveal the actual region of America that the man and boy are traveling in, but describes the mountains and eventual beaches of their path. McCarthy might not have revealed their location because it might ruin the reader’s interpretation of the setting. For example, the pair come across a generic “gap” between mountains and this is a turning point because it confirms the man’s planned path to the south. In addition, going south symbolizes hope, a new beginning,

Resulting in deaths of black people of all ages. The stereotypes that portray black people as dangerous and savage has persisted decades after its creation and now more than ever even though its results aren’t the same and slavery has been abolished black people continue to suffer the consequences in various forms. From being afraid of black people because they seem suspicious, to believing that the victim of this whole situation are the dangerous ones when in reality they were part of such vile and very well planned atrocity to cover the real criminals of taking over the world. I am of course not saying that white people are all criminals and do not intend to say that whites are the ones that should be suffering all the misfortunes that black

Some would say “Life on the road is suited for everyone”, others such as for myself, would disagree. Life on the road is not suited for everyone, because not everyone can throw away their normal life and go on the road or the wilderness and survive like Chris McCandless. Some would think, Chris McCandless, was on a suicide mission but he was only following his dreams and he actually did, unlike many people. Chris McCandless inspired so many people to move out, leave their old lives, and have a fresh start at their life. Chris McCandless was a independent person and he was trying to get away from civilization because he felt like he never fit into it.

In his essay, "Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power To Alter Public Space" Brent Staples demonstrates the negative views and stereotypes of black men. He narrates a personal story about the path he takes to understand the effects of his appearance and how it also affects his environment around him.

In the 2013 online article, “The Chris McCandless Obsession Problem”, author Diana Saverin describes the Alaskan wilderness travel phenomenon along with attempting to uncover the ‘McCandless Pilgrims’ “root of motivation. Sparked by the release of both Jon Krakauer’s and Sean Penn’s “Into the Wild”, numerous individuals pack their backpacks and eagerly step into their (sometimes newly-bought) hiking shoes and tramp into the Alaskan Wild to pay homage to their hero Chris McCandless. Filled with personal anecdotes and interviews, Severin’s Outside article takes a new approach Into the Wild commentary by directing attention to the lives McCandless’s story affected indirectly rather than critiquing on McCandless himself. In response to what appears to be a huge amount of troubled McCandless-inspired tramping stories, Saverin provides an unbiased rationale as a attempt to explain why so many are “willing to risk injury, and even death, to..visit the last home of Alaska’s most famous adventure casualty”.

McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print. The Road is set in a grim atmosphere. It is after apocalypse world where all signs of life are extinct. People and animals are starving, and predatory groups of savages wander around with pieces of human bodies stuck in their teeth. It is both oppressive and disheartening. McCarthy sets an atmosphere like one mediately after the world wars. It is not far-fetched to imagine the possibility of such a sad environment today. The novel tells a story of an unnamed man and his son in who struggle to survive in this horrific environment. I feel that the language in the novel is verbose. McCarthy is blunt in his descriptions. He uses repeated struggles and similar scenes forcing the reader to share the tough experience of the characters. I agree with the author that The Road is the picture of a post-apocalyptic world. I also agree with the opinion that suffering might never end, like the novel indicates through imagery at the very end. The author manages to combine happy moments with sad ones even though the sad ones takes the larger share. In addition, he accomplished his aim of having an audience that is glued to the book all along sine it is both engaging and informative. The author has a perception that the world is composed of more bad things than the good ones. This novel will be important to me as I explore the themes of post-apocalyptic fears and human struggles. However, I do feel that he leans too heavily on sadness

A lot of people take big chances in their life would you? In the book “Into The Wild”, Jon Krakauer, Christopher McCandless thought that life on the road was a good idea. Not everyone is mentally tough to endure what the world has to offer. There are a lot of pros and cons about life on the road. Can a random person go out on their own, leave everyone and everything behind and survive on the road? Life on the road is not suitable for the regular Joe on the street.

In the 2006 novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy, a man and his son struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. Told through a lens of constant hardship, the book follows their arduous journey towards a coast in order to survive the winter. Throughout the novel, McCarthy shows that having hope enables people to persevere in dire circumstances because it counteracts the possibility of negative outcomes.

The narrator in Matthew Zapruder’s “Schwinn,” has a very bleak and empty perspective of his childhood, along with how it shapes him into the person he is today. At the very beginning of the poem, an inner struggle presents itself. To put differently, the narrator is undoubtedly unhappy with his life and identity: “I hate the phrase ‘inner life’ My attic hurts, / and I’d like to quit the committee / for naming tornadoes” (1-3). The symbolism in this section is essential for the understanding of the poem. Terms the narrator uses have a purpose, such as “attic” and “committee for naming tornadoes”. These words assist in the interpretation of his mental battle with who he is versus who he wants to be. The “attic” represents the clash of his thoughts inside his head, due to him wanting to experience life to the fullest.

The thrilling novel “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy is a story about a post apocalyptic world following the lives of a man and a boy as they head south to escape the cold winter that is headed their way. Along with the cold of winter approaching they also have to deal with the new dangers of the land while traveling such as cannibals, robbers, and many more dangers. This is a tale of a unnamed man and a boy who must not only learn how to survive but find a inner “fire”, establish a code of ethic, and continue in finding reasons to live in this “new world”. With McCarthy’s unique approach to the characters of the book having no names or the cause of destruction of the world unknown it helps the reader feel the confusion and whats really important

In the novel Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer he tells a story about a young mans life on the road. During Chris McCandless’s trip he comes across some difficulties that make his journey tough. Although some people may think life on the road is easier and a better thing to do it’s not always for everyone. Living life on the road is a big change and a different environment that you have to adapt to, however Chris McCandless was able to adapt to this lifestyle with the help of his journal and knowledge.

Art Spiegelman wrote a graphic novel called Maus 1, which is basically about his dad's life during the holocaust. He uses a literary technique called a frame story to show how the story was told to him from his dad. Sometimes when Vladek (Arts father) shares his story he rides on a stationary bike. The first time readers are aware of this is on page 12, Vladek tells Art that it's good for his heart to pedal. On the whole page Vladek on the bike becomes the reader's focal point. Also the last frame on the page can be interpreted as several things but it looks like it is the wheel to his bike. A reason for this could be that Spiegelman was introducing the shift in stories so using a circle frame and having it look like the wheel shows that transition. Throughout the story the stationary bike is seen over and over again and by using such elements as penciling techniques, frame and page analysis, and the effects of color and realism allows the reader to get a better understanding of Spiegelman's reasoning behind it all.

The analogy of life, along with the obstacles that one must overcome in order to advance and to succeed is portrayed through the narrator’s experience with a dead deer in “Traveling through the Dark” by William Stafford. An interpretation of the title “Traveling through the Dark” is one’s outlook of life. Ultimately, humans are incapable of being all-knowing; living day by day without the ability to predict tomorrow. The dead deer on the edge of the road symbolizes unexpectancies in life, the speaker 's ability to make a critical decision when no one is watching allows the speaker to progress in the journey of life.