Into the Wild - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Into the Wild

VocabularySlide2

Directions —

As you read the quote from

Into the Wild and the additional sentence (if provided)

,

write down what you believe is the correct definition. Use context clues, the terms and definitions that you’ve received (

do not use the handout

), and the image to help you determine the meaning. Slide3

contumacious

:

rebellious; stubbornly or willfully disobedient to authority

“The prospect of fording this latte-colored torrent discourages most people from traveling any farther. Thompson,

Samel

, and Swanson, however, are

contumacious Alaskans with a special fondess for driving where motor vehicles aren’t designed to be driven” (11)Slide4

incongruously

:

lacking in harmony, compatibility or appropriateness; unsuitably

“A vintage International Harvester from the 1940’s, the derelict vehicle is located twenty-five miles west of Healy as the raven flies, rusting

incongruously

in the fireweed beside the Stampede, just beyond the boundary of Denali National Park” (10),

Barbara told stories incongruously to different friends who consequently found out and would never

trust her again.Slide5

unsullied:

unblemished; faultless

"Alaska has long been a magnet for dreamers and misfits, people who think the

unsullied

enormity of the Last Frontier will patch all of the holes in their

lives" (4).On our vacation, we went to an isolated island that was unsullied by tourist attractions.Slide6

convivial

:

hospitable, welcoming, and enjoyable

“The living arrangements were loose and convivial. The four or five inhabitants took turns cooking for one another, went drinking together, and chased woman together, without success” (18).Slide7

itinerant

:

traveling from place to place; a person who travels from place to place

“The Slabs functions as the seasonal capital of a teeming itinerant

society—a tolerant, rubber-tired culture comprising the retired, the exiled, the destitute, the perpetually unemployed” (43).

Because the traveling salesman hated his

itinerant lifestyle, he was happy to be nearing his age of retirement.Slide8

egress

: means to go

out of or leave a place

“…water came rushing down from the high country, he had just enough time to gather his tent and belongings and save them from being swept away. There was nowhere to move the car, however, as the only route of egress was now a foaming, full-blown river” (28). Slide9

congenial

:

pleasant because of a personality, qualities, or interests that are similar to one's own; amiable

“The more they talked, the less Alex struck Gallien

as a nutcase. He was

congenial

and seemed well educated. While Hank’s team acts congenial after a win, they secretly wish that they could rub it in the other team’s face. Slide10

indolently

:

showing a disposition to avoid exertion; slothfully; lazily

“Emasculated by dams and diversion canals, the lower Colorado burbles

indolently

from reservoir to reservoir through some of the hottest, starkest country on the continent” (32).Slide11

desiccated

:

dried; lacking moisture; dehydrated

“Away from the lakeshore the land rises gently and then abruptly to form the desiccated

, phantasmal badlands of Anza-Borrego” (49).

It

is possible to desiccate fruit for storage by leaving it on trays out in the sun.Slide12

onerous

:

involving an amount of effort and difficulty that is oppressively burdensome

“He had spent the previous four years, as he saw it, preparing to fulfill an absurd and

onerous

duty: to graduate college” (22).

When Joe agreed to help his father cut the grass, he did not realize the chore would be so onerous.Slide13

taciturn: reserved or uncommunicative in speech; saying little

"Samuel Walter McCandless, Jr., fifty-six years old, is a bearded

taciturn

man..." (103).

By nature, Sheila is a

taciturn woman who keeps her thoughts to herself.Slide14

fulminate: to issue a heated verbal attack

"...McCandless's face would darken with anger and he'd

fulminate

about his parents or politicians or the endemic idiocy of mainstream American life" (52).Slide15

gregarious: fond of company; sociable; outgoing

“He was intensely private but could be convivial and

gregarious

in extreme” (115). Slide16

opprobrium

: harsh criticism; the public disgrace arising from someone's shameful conduct.

“The article about McCandless in

Outside generated a large volume of mail, and not a few letters of the letters heaped opprobrium on McCandless—and on me, as well, the author of the story, for glorifying what some thought was a foolish, pointless death” (70-71)Slide17

phantasmal: ghostly; unreal; illusory

“Away from the lakeshore the land rises gently and then abruptly to form the desiccated,

phantasmal

badlands of Anza-Borrego” (49).The phantasmal

aura occasionally

lures unwary travelers to their doom. Slide18

Moldering: slowly decaying or disintegrating; rotting

“Immediately inside the door is the torn mattress, stained and

moldering

, on which McCandless expired” (178). Slide19

Sanctimonious

:

making a show of being morally superior to other people; self-righteous

“…Chris would fixate on his father’s own less than sterling behavior many years earlier and silently denounce him as a

sanctimonious

hypocrite” (122).Slide20

Idyll- an extremely happy, peaceful, or picturesque experience or scene

“…the contentment that began in mid-May resumed and seemed to continue through early July. Then, in the midst of this

idyll

, came the first of two pivotal setbacks” (168).Slide21

Incorrigible- uncontrollable; incapable of being reformed.

“…he was no tight-lipped, perpetually grim do-gooder who frowned on fun. To the contrary, he enjoyed tipping a glass now and then and was an

incorrigible

ham” (115).Slide22

Extemporaneous-

spoken or done without preparation; impromptu

“Chris took his Datsun on another prolonged,

extemporaneous road trip” (124).