Sarai’s English Log

 One relationship in my life where I feel truly understood is my relationship with my aunt I used to live with in Florida. She basically raised me for most of my life, and I feel like we have very similar views on life and she's never judged me for anything I've done or told her about. I feel like my relationship to her is similar to Carine's with Christopher because, as she gets up in age I worry more about how she could possibly die sometime soon, considering shes in her mid 70's. She's basically a mother to me, and it makes me sad to think that she won't be around for all of my adulthood. Today in class we read chapter 13 of Into the Wild and answered questions. Doing this helped me learn more about how Chris's actions impacted his family, and made me feely very sympathetic towards them.

When you experience strong emotions, how do you usually handle them? What influences that approach? When I experience strong emotions, I tend to either just ignore them in the moment for a while until it eventually just comes out, or it all just comes out in the moment. I usually just end up trying to distract myself by listening to music, watching a show, or reading a book. I tend to just distract myself or ignore my emotions because it's really hard for me to convey how I feel in a good way, especially when it's to a person very close to me such as my family, as I feel like they might judge me or hold what I say against me later. Today in class we read chapter 12 of Into the Wild and as a group answered connection and comprehension questions about it. This helped us not only better understand what was happening at this point in the book, but also see our and our peers personal opinions and connections with the story, which helps us feel more invested in what is happening.

 Based on the first 40 minutes of the film and Chapters 1–11 of Into the Wild, the visual version makes Chris’s choices feel a little more justified than the text does. In the film, you actually see the landscapes, the freedom, and the emotions on Chris’s face, which makes his journey seem inspiring and meaningful. It’s easier to understand why he wants to escape and start over. The book, on the other hand, includes more background details and commentary that highlight the risks he’s taking and how unprepared he is, making his decisions seem more reckless. Because film focuses on visuals and emotion, it can romanticize his journey, while writing gives more context and analysis, which leads to a more critical perspective of his choices. Today in class we watched the first 40 minutes of the Into the Wild movie and made connections and comparisons between the book and the movie.  Doing this helped me see Christopher's story from a different point of view, and in a different light...

As I got older, I started realizing my parents aren’t perfect, and that they have their own struggles and past experiences that affect how they act. That shift made me see them less as “always right” and more as real people, which was both eye opening and a little frustrating, but it also helped me understand them better. This connects to Chris’s realization because when he learns the truth about his dad, it completely changes how he sees his parents. Instead of understanding them, though, Chris feels betrayed, and that pushes him to distance himself, while most people just grow into a more balanced perspective. Today in class we picked key details from the story and explained what it revealed about Christopher's family, upbringing, or personality. Doing this allowed me to better understand Chris's actions and personality, as we get to dig deeper into his past and what made him who he was.

 The chapter so far that has stood out to me the most was Chapter 8. It was impactful to me because, we got to learn more about people similar to McCandless, and it makes him seem like less of an outlier, and also helps us align things in their past that caused their behavior and led to their eventual end. It also made me wonder what gives these people such a strong call to nature, as I have never been much of an outdoors person, and while I can understand why people may be drawn to nature, I personally couldn't grasp it to the extent of people like McCandless and Ruess.  In class we took a test on Chapters 1-10 of Into the Wild.  Doing this has allowed me to get a grasp on all the information we've learned so far while reading this book, and make sure I understand the core concepts and themes.

 At my current stage in life, success is mostly defined by my grades, or scores on tests such as the SAT. This mostly comes from my family, as they all have very high expectations of me and want me to do well, especially my mom, as though she did well in school like I did when she was younger, she never went to college, and it kind of went downhill from there. It does somewhat reflect my values, but to an extent. I feel like to my family and others, all that matters in my life is my grades and college, and while I do acknowledge that and view those things as important, I feel like it completely ignores everything else about me, like what I want, like, and what my dreams are. While I do want to go to college, I hope to go into medicine in the future, I also love to dance, and read, and crochet, and one of my biggest dreams is to travel when I'm older, and my family doesn't know this, but I want to go to college in a different country if I can. In class we did worksheets on conne...

 One time that I have chosen to be on my own instead of with others is when my friends invited me to a Halloween party, but I decided to stay home instead. I would likely make the same choice again, because when I was home, I was able to just do what I want and be by myself, which I appretciated because I am more of an introvert, and social interaction over a long period of time tends to be very draining to be. I also still got to talk to my friends, because when they were at the party they called me and I got to hear about what they were doing.  In class we created critical thinking questions about Chapter 8 of Into the Wild. Doing this has allowed me to think deeper about the people mentioned in this Chapter, and what the reasoning behind their actions were. It gave me insight into their backgrounds and what their thought process was. 

 In Into the Wild, Christopher McCandless gives up almost everything, which makes me think about what I would truly need if I had to simplify my life. I would probably keep a few meaningful and practical things, like my phone to stay connected with people I care about, and maybe a few personal items that remind me of important memories. These things would help me stay grounded and reflect on my experiences, even if everything else was gone. The hardest thing to leave behind would be the comfort of my everyday life, especially being around friends and family, because those relationships are a big part of who I am. While getting rid of possessions might seem freeing, this idea shows me that the most important things in life aren’t really objects, but the connections and experiences that shape us. Today in class we read Chapter 4 and answered questions about certain quotes from it. Doing this not only allowed me to dig deeper into the text, but also connect what I was reading to my ow...

 One time I needed distance was when I felt overwhelmed by school and all my extracurricular activities and I decided to take a step back by spending more time alone and limiting distractions like social media. At first, it felt strange not being as involved, but it gave me space to actually think about what was stressing me out and what I really needed to focus on. During that time, I realized that I tend to take on too much at once and don’t always give myself time to do it all. Having that distance helped me clear my mind, organize my priorities, and come back feeling more in control. It taught me that stepping away isn’t a bad thing. Instead, it can be really important for understanding yourself and making better decisions. Today we read chapters 2 and 3 and took different quotes from each chapter to categorize into themes, along with an explanation for each. Doing this helped me to better understand some of the important recurring concepts in the book, and also made me dig dee...

 After reading Chapter 1 of Into the Wild, my first impression of Christopher McCandless is that he is determined and confident, but also somewhat unprepared for the reality of what he’s doing. Based on the details in this opening chapter, it doesn’t seem like he fully understood the risks of entering the Alaskan wilderness. For example, he arrives with limited supplies, refuses help from others, and seems unusually optimistic about surviving alone in such a harsh environment. His attitude suggests that he believed his independence and determination would be enough to get through any challenges he faced. However, the wilderness in Alaska is extremely dangerous, and his lack of proper planning shows that he may have underestimated how serious those risks really were.  Today in class we started reading Into the Wild and discussed it with each other. Doing this, especially with the discussion, helped me see how truly unprepared Christopher was, and the first Chapter help set up w...

While creating my Vocabulary Digital Cards in Adobe Express, I found that the word provocative was the easiest for me to understand because it clearly describes something that causes a reaction or strong emotion. On the other hand, the word soporific was the most challenging because it was less familiar, and I had to really think about how it relates to something that makes you sleepy. Writing my own sentence helped me better understand each word because it forced me to use the word in context instead of just memorizing the definition. Choosing an image also made a difference. For example, I picked a calm, sleepy scene for soporific, which helped me connect the meaning visually. Overall, creating the cards made the vocabulary more meaningful and easier to remember because I actively worked with each word in multiple ways. Today in class we made digital Vocabulary Cards on adobe express. Doing this helped me gain a deeper understanding of each word and actually utilize them in a sentenc...

One word from Vocabulary Lesson 10 that resonates with me personally is tremulous. This word is significant to me because when I was younger, I definitely would have considered myself to be a tremulous person. I used to be so scared of talking to people that I don't know that I would almost have panic attacks having to go into the store myself, and whenever I changed schools, I would only ever talk to people if they talked to me first. In class we did Vocabulary Lesson 8. Doin this has taught me more synonyms for words that I use commonly, which will help improve my writing because I won't always have to repeat the same words all the time.