CONTENTS

How to use ...... iv

Knowing: Tracks...... 2 Context and author...... 2 Structural elements ...... 4 Textual elements ...... 8 Ideas, issues and themes ...... 10 Learning activities ...... 13

Knowing: Into the Wild...... 15 Context and director...... 15 Structural elements ...... 17 Textual elements ...... 23 Ideas, issues and themes ...... 27 Learning activities ...... 29

Comparing: Tracks and Into the Wild ...... 30 Types of questions ...... 30 The comparison...... 31 Practice topics: Theme...... 34 Practice topics: Cultural context...... pages...... 36 Practice topics: Genre ...... 37 Learning activities ...... 38

Writing the essay...... 39 Shaping information and planning ...... 39 Essay structures...... 41 The simple essay ...... 41 The alternating essay...... 42 One text at a timeSample...... 43 The comparing texts side-by-side essay...... 44 The essay...... 46

iii How to use

The Pearson English VCE Comparing Guides have been written to the new Victorian Certificate of Education English and English as an Additional Language Study Design for 2016–2020 and cover Units 2–4 Area of Study 1 Reading and comparing texts. The Comparing guides are divided into four sections: 1: Knowing: Tracks 2: Knowing: Into the Wild 3: Comparing: Tracks and Into the Wild 4: Writing the essay.

■ AUTHOR: JOHN KRAKAUER Knowing the texts Into the Wild is based on a non-fiction book by the journalist Jon Krakauer, which was published in 1996. Writer’s toolbox Krakauer is particularly interested in how Chris A rite-of-passage refers to a McCandless died, and has published five different significant event in a person’s These sections provide a deep theories. Krakaeur’s interest in McCandless’s death life, where they transition stems from his desire to prove that McCandless from one stage of life, into wasn’t just a naive runaway. He reveres him as another. an adventurous13 young man, who acted upon a insight into the texts, covering 14 youthful rite-of-passage.

13 context and author, structural 14

12 1. Annandale, Virginia 4 8 2. Atlanta, Georgia – May 1990 elements, textual elements 3. Lake Mead National 1 Recreational Area (July 90) 10 3 9 12 4. Orick Beach/Cut Bank 11 5 2 1. Annandale, VirginiaMontana (Aug. 90) 4 8 2. Atlanta, Georgia – May 1990 6 3. Lake Mead5. NationalMorelos Dam (Dec. 90) 3 1 Recreational6. ElArea Golfo (July de90) Santa 10 7 and ideas, issues and themes. 9 4. Orick Beach/CutClara Bank (Jan, 91) 5 11 2 Montana (Aug.7. Houston, 90) Texas (Feb. 91) 6 5. Morelos Dam (Dec. 90) 6. El Golfo de8. SantaLas Vegas, Nevada 7 Clara (Jan, 91)(Feb.–May 91) 7. Houston, 9.TexasBullhead (Feb. 91) City, Arizona (Oct. 91) 8. Las Vegas,10. NevadaNiland, California (Dec. 91) (Feb.–May 91) At the end of each section is a 11. San Diego, California (Jan./Feb. 92) 9. Bullhead City, Arizona (Oct. 91) 10. Niland, California12. Carthage, (Dec. 91) South Dakota (Apr. 92) ■ Map of Chris 11. San Diego,13. CaliforniaFairbanks, (Jan./Feb. Alaska 92) (Apr. 92) McCandless’s journey 12. Carthage,14. SouthStampede Dakota (Apr. Trail, 92) Alaska (May 92) 13. Fairbanks, Alaska (Apr. 92) set of learning activities. 14. Stampede Trail, Alaska (May 92) STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS Genre The genre of the film is biographical drama.Into the Wild begins with Chris McCandless leaving Annandale, Virginia. As he takes on the frontier in Alaska, the film takes on the style of an adventure story. Because it follows Chris’s life story, it is biographical. However, it is told through Sean Penn’s lens, which is based on Jon Krakaeur’s interpretation of Chris McCandless’s writings, and interviews with those who knew him. Although the audience of Into the Wild knows Chris dies, the drama is heightened as we see his deterioration and anticipate his death. Chronology pagesThe film does not follow a conventional chronology. It flashes forward to Alaska, to Chris’s death, before taking us back, to show the journey leading up to that moment. The narrative flashes back even further to grainy images of Chris’s early years. By doing this, Penn explores Chris’s psychological rationale for leaving as he did. The sequencing affords greater suspense and drama, because the film takes a long time to reach what ■ Into the Wild (2007) we know will happen.

16 PEARSON english • VCE Comparing Guide Knowing: Into the Wild 17

Comparing texts You can also explore concepts within themes, as shown in the following table. Comparing: Tracks and Theme Concepts within themes Into the Wild The journey of self- adulthood, coming of age, morality of the individual, integrity, individual discovery and social values, transformational experiences, motivators, conviction This section outlines how to and individual power, individual need and collective will, autonomous There are different kinds of comparative questions and different ways to action, guilt, forgiveness, personal responsibility, selfishness approach them. This section will help you develop an understanding of Landscape wilderness, frontierism, exposure, fear, resilience, transcendence, compare and contrast the how to use a range of strategies when planning your essays about Tracks freedom, letting go and resistance, exclusion and inclusion, uniqueness and Into the Wild. These strategies, or graphic organisers, such as Venn Unreliability of whose story is being told?, authenticity, reality, creative licence, diagrams, scales and data charts are especially useful tools in assisting representation interpretation, memory, limitation, the power of distance (temporal, geographical, spiritual, emotional), the importance of text, storytelling you to explore the similarities and differences between the texts. two texts. The two texts are Stereotypes of women being seen as ‘the other’, survival, enrichment, defying the odds, and men in nature alienation, social non-conformity, expectations of gender, power of TYPES OF QUESTIONS gender SampleThere are three types of questions: ■ Concepts within themes compared and contrasted in • the themes, issues and ideas • the social, historical and cultural context Cultural context questions • the genre and style. Cultural context questions ask you to consider the cultural background in which the regards to: themes, cultural Common words used in essay questions include the following. text is set, the events in history that shape the text, and the social worlds that both texts reflect. • Discuss: Debate the arguments for and against the topic backing up these ideas with You might be asked to explore the aspects of society the authors, or characters see selected evidence from the text. Provide a conclusion. as important (views) and their judgements on those views (values). • To what extent: Assess the evidence in your text that would support an argument. Robyn Davidson is a woman in the 1970s trekking across the Australian desert, and context and genre. This section Also look at alternative explanations. Chris McCandless is a man in the 1990s in the Alaskan wilderness, however, there are • Do you agree?: An opinion is being sought as to the extent to which the statement or commonalities between the worlds they leave and the worlds they enter. quote is accurate. Evidence will be provided to support or contend the point of view. also provides practical tips and • Quotations: Essay questions that use quotations are a way to delve into the issues Genre questions embedded in a text. You should make reference to the quote and the ideas that Genre questions could ask you to think about the conventions of the genre and it raises. consider how and why the authors conveyed their ideas in certain ways. Despite the different genres of these texts, we need to consider the features they Theme questions ideas on how to compare texts share, and differences in their representations of setting, narrative perspective and Themes are prominent, recurring ideas that pervade a literary work. Both Tracks and other textual elements. Into the Wild explore themes related to: • the journey of self-discovery THE COMPARISON as well as practice topics. • landscape • unreliability of representation How to compare • stereotypes of women and men in nature. The following section shows you a number of ways to compare the two texts. A variety of methods have been used, such as tables that allow you to chart and track data and graphic organisers that let you see quickly the links and variations. In a comparison essay, you must critically analyse any two texts pointing out their similarities and/or differences. It could also be called a compare and contrast essay. Your task could be comparative only (looking only at similarities), contrasting only (pointing out the differences) or both comparative and contrasting.

30 PEARSON english • VCE Comparing Guide Comparing: Tracks and Into the Wild 31

iv PEARSON english • VCE Comparing Guide Before you start ■■ DEVELOPING A CONTENTION Writing the essay Writer’s toolbox The contention is the overarching Writer’s toolbox ■■ BRAINSTORMING THE TOPIC statement that answers the topic. It Begin by brainstorming the topic. Consider any sub- When you brainstorm you Make sure you are developing an argument should ask questions about is the central argument that runs the and not falling into the habit of storytelling. questions that are raised by the topic, and think the topic. A good way to whole way through the essay. A good If you find yourself writing about what about what evidence you have from each text to This section provides a do this is to make sure you way to develop the contention is to work happens for the majority of your paragraph, support these ideas. answer or include the Who? out what your supporting arguments then you are probably storytelling. The following diagram shows how to ask questions What? Where? Why? When? Try arguing a case by asking Why? and will be. From there, you can conclude about the topic: Both texts explore the concept of the Which? and How? of the topic. How? in each paragraph. what your overall belief about the step-by-step guide on how transformational solo journey. Discuss. question is. That is your contention.

Paragraph/ Paragraph/ Paragraph/ Tracks Into the Wild Contention Argument 1 +Argument 2 + Argument 3 = students can plan and write a Both texts explore the solo experience. ■■ Formulating a contention

Robyn’s solo experiences include: Chris’s solo experiences include: • going from to Utopia • spending time on the road (hitchhiking/ ESSAY STRUCTURES comparing essay. Four different • from Areyonga to four days out of Docker trains/walking) • after Mr Eddie leaves her. • spending time alone Alaska. The simple essay In the simple essay structure, each paragraph focuses on one of the texts and then in the final body paragraph the texts are drawn together and compared. When using this structure, ensure that the second body paragraph focuses on the second text, but also essay styles have been Is the transformation physical, mental or spiritual? compares it to the first. This will demonstrate to the reader that you are aware that the Robyn: Chris: task is about comparative writing. • develops her metaphor of the ‘net’ to • was looking for someone else to tell him ■■ THE TOPIC included as well as an essay describe how she is connected, and how to find happiness Robyn Davidson’s Tracks and Sean Penn’s Into the Wild explore how being alone can be a describes her ‘self’ as limitless and • had to open his own heart, not his mind, transformative experience. Discuss. expanding to find the answer • was initially just travelling through the • experiences his transformation as he dies, • This paragraph identifies and names the two texts and authors. desert, but by the end she feels connected because it is only then that he can ‘share’ Introduction sample with annotations. • It establishes your contention in the piece. to it. his happiness. This paragraph looks at Tracks. For example, it: What methods do the texts use to help the audience share the experience of the transformation? • identifies Robyn’s three solo experiences and the differences between them Body paragraph 1: Robyn’s solo experience causes the The openness to change creates Chris’s looks at Tracks • identifies how Robyn ‘transforms’ transformation, not just being alone. transformation, not just being alone. • demonstrates that the transformation occurs in the third solo experience and explains why ■■ Brainstorming the topic • explores what the focus is, the language used, and the tone of the section to indicate how we understand her attitude. ■■ CREATING THE ESSAY PLAN This paragraph looks at Into the Wild and makes comparisons with Tracks. After you have brainstormed the topic and created a list of useful quotations as For example, it: evidence, you should begin planning your essay. Your essay plan can be developed • identifies how the two texts are similar (both contain multiple solo using a simple table tool, which is a valuable way to consider the most important experiences, both identify a significant transformation, both identify Body paragraph 2: the need to open your heart to experience change) points that will make up your body paragraphs. A detailed analysis of an essay looks at Into the Wild and question should include at least three main arguments or body paragraphs. compares it to Tracks • explores the focus of the film: Chris’s emotional state (we see him ‘doing’ rather than ‘feeling’, telling others how they should live, rather than listening or being open to change), the textual details of his searching (Penn shows him focused on an external meaning), and the eventful experience of Chris’s awakening.

40 PEARSON english • VCE Comparing Guide Writing the essay 41 eBook and online resources Online resources support the comparing of texts and include: • essay templates • graphic organiser templates • worksheets. pages

Introduction

Body paragraph 1: looks at the first text

Body paragraph 2: looks at the second text and makes comparisons Sample with the first

Body paragraph 3: contrasts the points discussed in paragraphs 1 and 2

Conclusion

How to use 1 Knowing: Tracks ROBYN DAVIDSON

Tracks is Robyn Davidson’s 1980 memoir about her solo trek across Australia. The perilous journey took place in 1977. Davidson offers readers the context for her text in the postscript, written thirty years after the events that are described. She claims that to understand her text is to understand its context in Australia in the 1970s.

CONTEXT AND AUTHOR Writer’s toolbox Society and politics The ‘White Australia policy’ refers to a collection of government Australia in the 1970s was in a dynamic era of policies which only permitted growth and political awareness. It was the period immigrants to come to Australia in which feminism made tangible progress when from the United Kingdom, Ireland the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration and a small number of European Commission ruled that a woman doing the same countries. It was dismantled job as a man should be paid the same wage. between 1949–1973. Women also won the right to paid maternity leave. It was a period of emerging social sensitivity. In 1970, Neville Bonner was the first Indigenous Australian elected to the Australian Parliament.pages In 1972, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy was erected on the grounds of what is now known as Old Parliament House, and the ‘White Australia policy’, adopted in 1901, was formally retracted. The Whitlam Government introduced the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 into Parliament, under which traditional affiliation and traditional landowners were given land rights. Did you know? Author: Robyn Davidson Robyn Davidson was born in Western Queensland Robyn Davidson wrote Tracks and lived at Stanley Park,Sample an isolated cattle while living in London. Davidson station, with her parents and sister. Her father was living with , a winner of Nobel Prize in travelled through Africa and told her stories of his Literature. Doris Lessing can be adventures. Davidson’s mother committed suicide regarded as a feminist and post- at 46. After this, Davidson was sent to live with her modern writer. aunt, and was then sent to boarding school. Davidson believes she had a difficult childhood, and felt she didn’t have an identity for a great part of her early life. In an interview for ABC Radio, on the ‘Talking Heads’ program, Davidson said: ‘During all that time since I’d left school, I’d virtually not seen my dad. I wrote to him and I said, “I need you to come and get me.” And he did […] we decided to go out bush, looking for opals. It was just the most wonderful time with him. In ’73, I decided that I wanted to go to the Australian desert. So I thought I’d go to Alice Springs and I’ll find myself some feral camels and I’ll use them to go through the desert.’ She did this, and that is where Tracks begins.

2 PEARSON english • VCE Comparing Guide STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS Genre This is a memoir and a travel narrative. Robyn Davidson narrates her 2700km journey from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean on the west coast of Australia. It was written two years after she completed the journey. She is in a flat in London when she writes Tracks, so there is geographic space and considerable time between her setting forth in the Northern Territory of Australia, and writing the text. The book follows a direct, first person, past-tense linear narrative that focuses on the trip itself. It is not a text that ranges much beyond the experience itself, except in a few places, for example, when Robyn talks of her family’s past and how that lends particular significance to her travels.

Canning Stock Route NORTHERN TERRITORY

Great Sandy Desert Aboriginal Reserve START Lake Lake Utopia Disappointment Mackay Glen Helen Redbank Gibson Tourist Camp Desert Gorge Gunbarrel Alice Springs Lake Areyonga Highway Well no. 6 Well no. 9 Docker River McLeod Tempe Downs Glenyale Wingelinna Carnarvon Mount Olga Uluru Dalgety Downs Carnegie pages Cunyu Woodleigh Warburton Pipalyatjara Hamelin Pool Wiluna Desert toria Meekatharra Vic eat Aboriginal Reserve SOUTH Gr FINISH AUSTRALIA Geraldton

INDIAN OCEAN WESTERN N AUSTRALIA Nullarbor Plain Kalgoorlie

W E PERTH 0 500 kilometers Fremantle ADELAIDE S Sample0 300 miles

■ Map of Robyn Davidson’s journey Plot ■ ■PART 1 • Robyn arrives in Alice Springs in 1975. She works at the Polsel place, training camels. Later she goes to work with Sallay Mahomet. • She goes to and on her return to Alice Springs, chooses two camels – Zeleika and Kate, and moves to Basso’s farm to train them in March, 1976. • Eighteen months later, the camel Kate becomes sick and Robyn shoots her while Zeleika is pregnant. She continues to use the facilities at Basso’s farm. • Two years later, in midsummer 1977, Robyn’s dog, Blue, dies from strychnine poisoning.

4 PEARSON english • VCE Comparing Guide • Robyn meets Rick Smolan who convinces her to contact National Geographic to sponsor her trek. • The camel Zeleika’s baby, Goliath, is born. • Robyn sets off for the eight-day trial run to Utopia. • She meets with National Geographic and is offered $4000 in sponsorship. • Robyn returns to Alice Springs for preparations and, in March 1977, begins her journey. ■■ PART 2: SHEDDING BURDENS Did you know? • Robyn is on her own until she hears the ‘click’ of Rick’s camera. After taking some shots, he leaves, Uluru was previously known arranging to meet her at Ayers Rock. as Ayers Rock. It was named • Day 3 crisis – the map is inaccurate. by William Gosse in 1873 • Robyn arrives at Areyonga Aboriginal community. after Sir Henry Ayers (1821– 1897), an early legislator and • She beats the camel Bub for panicking the other businessman. Uluru is the camels. Aboriginal and official name. • Robyn is in Tempe, where she makes calls on the two-way radio but gets no reply. On the trip to Ayers Rock she stops at Wallera Ranch but leaves because they were ‘typical ockers’. She enters wild bull country and at Angas Downs station, the Liddles ‘stuck me in the shower [and] fed me up’. She arrives at Ayers Rock. • Rick arrives and brings Jen, who is injured, which leads to tension. Jen leaves. • At the Olgas, Rick and Robyn fight, and eventuallypages resolve their issues about his presence and photographs. She comes to the realisation that she has to ‘take full responsibility for his being there’. • Dookie the camel cuts his foot two days out of Docker. Robyn spends six weeks in Docker waiting to see if Dookie is going to recover. Rick stays for two days and tension is high. • Rick films a secret women’s ceremony and in doing so, distances Robyn from the Aboriginal community. She cannot find a guide to take her across the desert to Pipalyatjara. • Out of Docker, RobynSample is attacked by bulls and kills three of them. • Four days out of Docker, she has an emotional breakdown and then moves into a euphoric mania. In this state she meets a group of Aboriginal men, including Mr Eddie, who offers to go with her across country. ■■PART 3: LITTLE BIT, LONG WAY • Robyn travels with Mr Eddie to Pipalyatjara where she talks with Glendle. She feels herself ‘knitting together again, putting things into perspective, clearing my confusion’. • She leaves for Warburton with Mr Eddie, crossing the desert. Five months from Alice, they arrive in Warburton, Rick arrives and Eddie leaves with Glendle. • Robyn leaves Warburton in July, travelling along the Gunbarrel Highway alone. • She develops the metaphor of the ‘net’ to explain the connectedness of everything, including herself. She determines that the ‘self’ is a ‘reaction between mind and stimulus’. Knowing: Tracks 5 Knowing: Into the Wild SEAN PENN

Into the Wild is a 2007 film. It is based on a non-fiction book of the same name, about the death of Christopher McCandless. At 22, after graduating from university, McCandless abandons his family, and his wealthy upbringing to travel north into the Alaskan wilderness. He carries very little: only 5 kg of rice, a .22 calibre rifle, and a backpack of his favourite books. When he finds a deserted school bus, it becomes his home for 113 days. He suffers from starvation and eventually dies, and his body is found nineteen days later.

CONTEXT AND DIRECTOR The United States in the 1980s to early 1990s Into the Wild opens in 1992, when Chris McCandless arrives in the Alaskan wilderness. The film moves between 1992 and 1990, when Chris began his journey. Although the film’s timeline is the early 1990s, Chris McCandless’s formative years were the 1980s. This was a decade characterised by consumerism and extravagance. Under President Ronald Regan, the United States economy was revamped and consumerism and materialism increased. The term ‘shop till you drop’pages became popular, and this attitude of spending was popularised in programs such as Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Globally, the 1980s was also the time of the Ethiopian famine, the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown and the rise of AIDS. In 1990, when McCandless began his journey, the United States President was George HW Bush, who had been Regan’s Vice President. The excesses and impacts of the 1980s were still ever present. Director: Sean Penn Sean Penn is an American actor, director and has also been described as a political activist. Penn has receivedSample numerous acting and directing honours during his career, including two Academy Awards for best actor. Born in Los Angeles, California in 1960, he began his acting career as a child on the series Little House on the Prairie in an episode directed by his father, also an actor and director. Penn has specialised in playing dramatic roles in films with a social message such asDead Man Walking and Milk. Penn began his directing career in 1991, with the filmThe Indian Runner. Into the Wild is Penn’s fourth feature film. Penn is also well known for his political and social causes. He wrote an open letter in the Washington Post critical of then-President George Bush’s war on terror, and after Hurricane Katrina, he travelled to New Orleans to assist with the rescue effort. Sean Penn directed and wrote the script for Into the Wild in 1996, after reading Jon Krakauer’s book of the same name and acquiring film rights. In the documentary, The Making of Into the Wild, Penn claims that he wrote the film adaptation without re‑reading Krakaeur’s text. He says that the images were ‘leaping out from the pages’ and speaks of a close connection between Krakaeur’s version of Chris McCandless journey, and his own version. Knowing: Into the Wild 15 pages

Sample

■ Into the Wild (2007)

16 PEARSON english • VCE Comparing Guide ■ ■AUTHOR: JOHN KRAKAUER Into the Wild is based on a non-fiction book by the journalist Jon Krakauer, which was published in 1996. Writer’s toolbox Krakauer is particularly interested in how Chris A rite-of-passage refers to a McCandless died, and has published five different significant event in a person’s theories. Krakaeur’s interest in McCandless’s death life, where they transition stems from his desire to prove that McCandless from one stage of life, into wasn’t just a naive runaway. He reveres him as another. an adventurous13 young man, who acted upon a youthful14 rite-of-passage.

13 14

12 1. Annandale, Virginia 4 8 2. Atlanta, Georgia – May 1990 3. Lake Mead National 1 Recreational Area (July 90) 10 3 9 12 4. Orick Beach/Cut Bank 11 5 2 1. Annandale, VirginiaMontana (Aug. 90) 4 8 2. Atlanta, Georgia – May 1990 6 3. Lake Mead5. NationalMorelos Dam (Dec. 90) 3 1 Recreational6. ElArea Golfo (July de90) Santa 10 7 9 4. Orick Beach/CutClara Bank (Jan, 91) 5 11 2 Montana (Aug.7. Houston, 90) Texas (Feb. 91) 6 5. Morelos Dam (Dec. 90) 6. El Golfo de8. SantaLas Vegas, Nevada 7 Clara (Jan, 91)(Feb.–May 91) pages7. Houston, Texas (Feb. 91) 9. Bullhead City, Arizona (Oct. 91) 8. Las Vegas,10. NevadaNiland, California (Dec. 91) (Feb.–May 91) 9. Bullhead11. City,San Arizona Diego, (Oct. California 91) (Jan./Feb. 92) 10. Niland, California12. Carthage, (Dec. 91) South Dakota (Apr. 92) ■ Map of Chris 11. San Diego,13. CaliforniaFairbanks, (Jan./Feb. Alaska 92) (Apr. 92) McCandless’s journey 12. Carthage,14. SouthStampede Dakota (Apr. Trail, 92) Alaska (May 92) 13. Fairbanks, Alaska (Apr. 92) 14. Stampede Trail, Alaska (May 92) STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS Genre The genre of the film isSample biographical drama.Into the Wild begins with Chris McCandless leaving Annandale, Virginia. As he takes on the frontier in Alaska, the film takes on the style of an adventure story. Because it follows Chris’s life story, it is biographical. However, it is told through Sean Penn’s lens, which is based on Jon Krakaeur’s interpretation of Chris McCandless’s writings, and interviews with those who knew him. Although the audience of Into the Wild knows Chris dies, the drama is heightened as we see his deterioration and anticipate his death. Chronology The film does not follow a conventional chronology. It flashes forward to Alaska, to Chris’s death, before taking us back, to show the journey leading up to that moment. The narrative flashes back even further to grainy images of Chris’s early years. By doing this, Penn explores Chris’s psychological rationale for leaving as he did. The sequencing affords greater suspense and drama, because the film takes a long time to reach what we know will happen.

Knowing: Into the Wild 17 Comparing: Tracks and Into the Wild

There are different kinds of comparative questions and different ways to approach them. This section will help you develop an understanding of how to use a range of strategies when planning your essays about Tracks and Into the Wild. These strategies, or graphic organisers, such as Venn diagrams, scales and data charts are especially useful tools in assisting you to explore the similarities and differences between the texts.

TYPES OF QUESTIONS There are three types of questions: • the themes, issues and ideas • the social, historical and cultural context • the genre and style. Common words used in essay questions include the following. • Discuss: Debate the arguments for and against the topic backing up these ideas with selected evidence from the text. Provide a conclusion. • To what extent: Assess the evidence in your textpages that would support an argument. Also look at alternative explanations. • Do you agree?: An opinion is being sought as to the extent to which the statement or quote is accurate. Evidence will be provided to support or contend the point of view. • Quotations: Essay questions that use quotations are a way to delve into the issues embedded in a text. You should make reference to the quote and the ideas that it raises. Theme questionsSample Themes are prominent, recurring ideas that pervade a literary work. Both Tracks and Into the Wild explore themes related to: • the journey of self-discovery • landscape • unreliability of representation • stereotypes of women and men in nature.

30 PEARSON english • VCE Comparing Guide You can also explore concepts within themes, as shown in the following table.

Theme Concepts within themes

The journey of self- adulthood, coming of age, morality of the individual, integrity, individual discovery and social values, transformational experiences, motivators, conviction and individual power, individual need and collective will, autonomous action, guilt, forgiveness, personal responsibility, selfishness

Landscape wilderness, frontierism, exposure, fear, resilience, transcendence, freedom, letting go and resistance, exclusion and inclusion, uniqueness

Unreliability of whose story is being told?, authenticity, reality, creative licence, representation interpretation, memory, limitation, the power of distance (temporal, geographical, spiritual, emotional), the importance of text, storytelling

Stereotypes of women being seen as ‘the other’, survival, enrichment, defying the odds, and men in nature alienation, social non-conformity, expectations of gender, power of gender

■ Concepts within themes Cultural context questions Cultural context questions ask you to consider the cultural background in which the text is set, the events in history that shape the text, and the social worlds that both texts reflect. You might be asked to explore the aspects of society the authors, or characters see as important (views) and their judgements on thosepages views (values). Robyn Davidson is a woman in the 1970s trekking across the Australian desert, and Chris McCandless is a man in the 1990s in the Alaskan wilderness, however, there are commonalities between the worlds they leave and the worlds they enter. Genre questions Genre questions could ask you to think about the conventions of the genre and consider how and why the authors conveyed their ideas in certain ways. Despite the different genres of these texts, we need to consider the features they share, and differences inSample their representations of setting, narrative perspective and other textual elements.

THE COMPARISON How to compare The following section shows you a number of ways to compare the two texts. A variety of methods have been used, such as tables that allow you to chart and track data and graphic organisers that let you see quickly the links and variations. In a comparison essay, you must critically analyse any two texts pointing out their similarities and/or differences. It could also be called a compare and contrast essay. Your task could be comparative only (looking only at similarities), contrasting only (pointing out the differences) or both comparative and contrasting.

Comparing: Tracks and Into the Wild 31 Theme ■■THE JOURNEY OF SELF-DISCOVERY At the core of both of these texts is a protagonist on a journey. Over the course of the texts, each protagonist develops a new understanding of themselves and their place in the world. Both protagonists are young, and reject the concept of adhering to a predetermined notion of who they should be and how they should behave.

Starting points Both texts identify that the journey of self-discovery is a conscious process. Each journey has a distinct starting point, spurred by a discontentment.

Robyn embarks on her trip because she is not Chris sees his father as an example of what he is content with the expectations society has on expected to become . This sets off his desire to women . She rebels against the concept that leave it all for the great wilderness of Alaska . women should find security and contentment in the usual institutions of marriage and motherhood common in this time period .

Preparing for the journey Both Davidson and Penn focus on the preparations the protagonists make before setting out on the actual journey.

Robyn spends two years in Alice Springs trying to Chris spends two years travelling around the learn the skills she needs for her journey . In doing United States, in preparation for his final journey . so, she learns about herself and her world, which In doing so he learns about himself and his informs the eventual journey itself . capabilities, this informs the eventual journey itself . pages

Going solo Both protagonists believe that the true journey of self-discovery cannot be done in the company of others, and that true transformation begins when we are alone.

Robyn spends some of her time with others as From the moment Gallien drops Chris off at she moves across the desert, but it is only when the beginning of the Stampede Trail, Chris’s she sets out alone that the true connection with transformation begins in the quiet of the Alaskan the landscape occurs . The ‘net’ appears, and she wilderness . loses herself into it . Sample ■ Comparing texts on the theme of the journey of self-discovery

■ ■LANDSCAPE Although the landscape is vastly different in each text, the impact of the journey on the protagonists is immense. Both Robyn and Chris, despite their fears seek freedom, and ultimately learn about the importance of landscape.

32 PEARSON english • VCE Comparing Guide