Ja'nylah's English Blog

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Showing posts from March, 2026

How does watching the film version of Into the Wild change or deepen your understanding of Chris McCandless compared to reading the book? In your response, explain one key difference in how his character or experiences are presented, and connect this to a time when seeing something visually changed your understanding of a situation.

Prompt Response: The film "Into the Wild" shows Chris's loneliness and emotions more clearly than the book. Seeing his struggles made me understand how isolated he really was, like how watching something instead of just hearing about it can change how real it feels. Summary: In call we watched 40 minutes of "Into the Wild" and compared it to the book. Reflection: I learned how to compare and contrast a book from a movie and point out the different moods and timelines of the story from a film and movie.

Chris and his sister Carine McCandless had a very close relationship, even when he struggled to connect with others. Write about a relationship in your life where you feel truly understood. Explain what makes that relationship strong and how it compares to the connection between Chris and Carine in Into the Wild.

Prompt Response: Absent Summary: Absent Reflection: Absent

How do you think others would describe your personality? In what ways might their perception differ from how you see yourself?

Prompt Response: Others would describe me as a quiet person who doesn't talk as much in class, just sits back and listens. Although I am a quiet kid who sits back in class, listens and does the assigned work, I have a very silly personality around people I am comfortable with and they always give back the same silly energy that I give and I am able to connect with them more than other people. Yes, I am very quiet in my classes, but that's what I was told by my parents, act accordingly in school and don't get into any trouble. Just listen, get the work done and move on. Summary: In class we read chapter 12 of "Into the Wild" and answered text analysis questions about the chapter and connected to how we can relate to it with our personal experiences. Reflection: I learned how to answer text analysis questions and connect to them with personal experiences.

March 24, 2026: Based on the first 40 minutes of the film and Chapters 1–11 of the book, does the visual version of Chris’s journey make his choices seem more justified or more reckless than the text does? Explain how the medium (film vs writing) shapes your perspective.

Prompt Response: Absent Summary: Absent Reflection: Absent

Think about a moment when your understanding of your family changed as you got older. How did that shift impact your perspective, and how does that connect to Chris’s realization about his parents in Chapter 11?

Prompt Response: As I've gotten older, I've started to see my parents as real people with their own struggles, not just authority figures. This made me more understanding. This connects to Into the Wild because Chris also begins to see his parents as flawed people, which changes his perspective on them. Summary: Today in class we read chapter 11 of "Into the Wild" and reflected on key details based on Chris McCandless's family, character analysis, the authors purpose, and a personal reflection. Reflection: I learned how to find key details and explain the meaning of them and why they are used in the story.

Reflect on your reading of Into the Wild chapters 1–10. Which chapter stood out to you the most, and why? In your response, explain what specifically made this chapter meaningful, interesting, or impactful. You may consider elements such as McCandless’s actions, a key event, a theme, or Krakauer’s storytelling.

Prompt Response: The chapter that stood out the most to me was chapter 8 because It talked about how other men like McCandless went to Alaska, were unprepared and died due to their lack of preparation. This chapter was interesting because it shows the reader how independence and lack of guidance can lead to very tragic situations and compares how the other reckless adventurers did not survive their trip in Alaska. Summary: In class we took our test on chapters 1-10 of "Into the Wild." Reflection: I learned how to test my knowledge on specific chapter of a book.

Chris McCandless rejects a traditional path of success and instead defines success on his own terms through freedom, experience, and personal meaning. Reflect on what success means to you at your current stage in life. In the response, explain how success is currently defined (grades, college acceptance, achievements, happiness, etc.) and where those ideas come from. Then, consider whether that definition truly reflects personal values or if it is shaped by expectations from family, school, or society.

Prompt Response: To me, success means that you've reached your goals in life and are enjoying the things you love to do in your future. This definition truly reflects personal values because if you know you've become successful, that means that you have reached your goals that you wanted to achieve, you are working at the job you want to work at and making the money you want to make. People who do not reach their personal goals tend to not have a good job, enjoy life, or not have enough money to take care of themselves. Summary: In class we answered our peers critical thinking questions, then read chapters 9-10 of "Into the Wild." Reflection: I learned how to create and answer critical thinking questions.

Choose a vocabulary word from Lesson 10 that resonates with you personally. Write a blog post explaining why this word is significant to you, including any personal memories or experiences that link you to the word.

Prompt Response: Absent Summary: Absent Reflection: Absent

For most of you, yesterday you took the SAT. If you did not, you will take it before you leave high school. What is your desired SAT score? Identify your top three colleges and explain why each school appeals to you.

Prompt Response: My desired SAT score is higher than a 1050. My current top 3 colleges that I would like to get into are Morehouse, Spelman, and Texas Southern University. These 3 colleges appealed to me because not only do they have my activities that I want to major in, but they're all HBCU'S and I always wanted to attend an HBCU because I feel like I will have a lot of connections there and enjoy college more around people I can relate to. Summary: Today in class we read chapter 7 of "Into the Wild" and asked 2 questions, made predictions, reaction, made key points and wrote down unfamiliar words and defined them. Reflection: I learned how to come up with creative questions that a book does not talk about.

Twice a year we adjust our clocks for daylight saving time, but the change can affect our sleep, energy, and daily routines. Now that we have sprung forward; reflect on how this time change impacts you personally. Do you find it easy or difficult to adjust your schedule? Explain how the time change affects your mood, productivity, or daily habits.

Prompt Response: Due to the time being pushed forward, I've had a hard time trying to adjust myself and my schedule. Lately I've been feeling really tired and low on energy, I also feel like I have to rush to get things done on time, like coming home from school and practice trying to get all my homework out of the way so I can have enough time to get ready for the next day. Summary: Today in class we wrote 3 facts, 2 interesting things, and 1 question about chapter 6 of "Into the Wild." Reflection: I learned how to identify important details and facts in a story.

In Chapter 5 of Into the Wild, McCandless is strongly influenced by writers like Jack London, whose stories shape the way he thinks about adventure and wilderness. Has a book, song, musician, or artist ever influenced the way you think about life, goals, or the world around you? Identify the specific book, song, musician, or artist and explain how their ideas or message affected your thinking.

Prompt Response: A musician that has influenced me about life is Mariah the Scientist. The reason she influenced me about life is because her songs are very relatable and talk about how being in a relationship can be tough and toxic based on who you're with. Her songs also communicate how sometimes you have to be independent and focus on yourself in order to get around and not worry about what your past significant other is doing nor how they are living their life. Summary: In class we read chapter 5 of "Into the Wild" and answered discussion questions about what we read. Reflection: I learned how to analyze a story and apply my knowledge to questions.

In Into the Wild, Christopher McCandless gives up many of his possessions in pursuit of freedom and meaningful experiences. If you had to simplify your life and keep only a few important possessions, what would you keep and why? What would be hardest to leave behind?

Prompt Response: If I had to simplify my life the things I would keep are my phone, a few meaningful photos, and my journal because I can stay connected with my phone, look back at some memories with my photos I've saved and express my thoughts and feelings in my journal. The hardest thing to leave behind would be personal items like family and friends because I've had a lot of good times with them. Summary: In class we read chapter 4 of "Into the Wild" and did a quote analysis. Reflection: I learned to read and analyze different quotes from a story.

People sometimes feel the need to step away from their normal routines or environments in order to better understand themselves. Describe a time when you needed distance from a situation, place, or group of people in order to think more clearly or gain perspective. What did that experience teach you about yourself?

Prompt Response: A time when I needed to distance myself from a group of people was when me and my friend group got into a disagreement and expressed how we felt about a situation we were talking about and some of the people did not understand where I was coming from, so I decided to distance myself from them the next day until I felt calm enough to talk about the situation with them again. During that day, my friends came up to me themselves and wanted to fix the situation and understand our different opinions about the topic of the situation. This experience taught me never keep anger inside me and to release it by distancing myself from people who make me like this and focus on myself and not others. Summary: Today in class we read chapters 2-3 of "Into the Wild" and worked on a theme analysis chart about the 2 chapters we read. Reflection: I learned how to find the theme of different pieces of evidence and explain how they are used in the evidence.

After reading Chapter 1 of Into the Wild, consider your first impression of Christopher McCandless. Based solely on the events and details presented in this opening chapter, do you believe McCandless truly understood the risks he was taking when he entered the Alaskan wilderness? Why or why not?

Prompt Response: Absent Summary: Absent Reflection: Absent

Today you worked on creating your Vocabulary Digital Cards in Adobe Express. In one well-developed paragraph, reflect on the assignment by explaining which vocabulary word was easiest for you to understand, which word was most challenging, and how creating your own sentence and selecting an image helped strengthen your understanding of the vocabulary. Use specific examples from your work.

Prompt Response: The vocabulary word that was the easiest for me to understand was goad because it has a very straight forward definition and easy to understand, while the more challenging word for me was benign because it was a word that I was able to understand, but finding a picture that comprehends the word was hard to find. creating my own sentences and finding images helped me understand the words because by using the synonyms, antonyms and definitions of the words, I was able to find pictures that would connect to the words and come up with sentences that would make sense if I would use the words in any projects of my own. Summary: In class we worked on our new vocabulary words from lesson 19. Reflection: I learned new vocabulary words from lesson 9: