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Into Thin Air. By Jon Krakauer. Risk Takers. What do you think is the most dangerous sport: White-water rafting Skydiving Something else??? On a piece of paper, choose a sport that is extremely risky and list the dangers involved. Write at least THREE (3) ways the sport is dangerous.
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Into Thin Air By Jon Krakauer
Risk Takers • What do you think is the most dangerous sport: • White-water rafting • Skydiving • Something else??? • On a piece of paper, choose a sport that is extremely risky and list the dangers involved. • Write at least THREE (3) ways the sport is dangerous. • As we read “Into Thin Air,” compare those risks with the risks involved in climbing Mount Everest.
Gasping for Breath • With an altitude of 29,028 feet, Mount Everest is the highest peak on earth. • Mountain climbers call the region above 26,000 feet the Death Zone because the air is too thin for humans. • At that altitude, brain cells die, the blood grows thick, the heart speeds up, and the brain can swell – leading to death.
Gasping for Breath • In spite of these risks, reaching the top of Everest has become a status symbol. • By the 1990s, even people with little experience and poor physical conditioning were climbing Everest.
Jon Krakauer • Jon Krakauer was one of those climbers. • A journalist, he was hired by Outside magazine to write about the trend of unskilled climbers buying their way onto Everest. • The story opens up with Krakauer on top of the mountain and the hardest part still to come. • He had been warned that “any idiot can get up this hill. The trick is to get back down alive.”
Words to Know Vocabulary
Cognizant • Aware.
Compulsively • To do something because of an irresistible impulse.
Critical • Determining an outcome; crucial; very important.
Escalate • To increase in intensity.
Hindsight • A full knowledge of events after they have occurred.
Initiative • The will or power to start something.
Meander • To follow a winding path.
Obscuring • Hiding from view.
Obstinacy • Stubbornness
Supplemental • Extra; additional.
Word Choice Into Thin Air
Word Choice • Writers use language to express their thoughts and feelings. To do this well, they must choose exactly the right words. • In one passage, Jon Krakauer describes a delay that occurred as he was climbing down Everest with a low oxygen supply: • “I encountered a clot of climbers chuffing up the single strand of rope.” • The word clot can also mean a lump that stops blood flow. By choosing this word, Krakauer shows that there’s a major obstacle in the way of him getting down, and that he is feeling that he is in danger.
Determining a Writer’s Motive Into Thin Air
A Writer’s Motives Many different motives, or reasons, make people want to write. Possible motives for writers of eyewitness accounts include: • To record the facts for history • To analyze mistakes in order to prevent future problems • To explain their own behavior • To explain the behavior of others
A Writer’s Motives • When choosing which events and people to include in their accounts, writers must pick what ideas will best serve the purpose of the story. For example, Krakauer writes about a blinded climber’s response when he offers help: • “’Thanks anyway,’ Beck said. ‘I think I’ll just wait for Mike. He’s got a rope.’” • Krakauer includes that part to explain why he left Beck alone on the mountain – which was something that left Beck’s life in danger.
