Rachel Patriarca

English 106

Emre Koyuncu

05/02/11

Portfolio Rationale Paper

For the English 106 Portfolio assignment, I revised the Here I am project and the

comparison paper.

To revise my Here I am project, I added a title page. On the first copy of the project, I

did not include a title page. Not having a title page took away from the overall effect of the

project. With out it, you readers couldn’t tell what my project was about. The project just

looked like it was there and it looked unprofessional. Now with the title page, readers can

actually tell what my project it about. It also makes it look professional. It looks more

organized and well put together.

To revise my comparison paper, I elaborated more on what I wrote. I took all of your

comments into consideration and changed them so that it was easier to understand. There

were parts where I drifted away from the topic so I had to fix them. There were also parts

where I put a quote in the end of a paragraph to help me summarize what I was saying, but I

didn’t elaborate on it afterwards. That made it seem like my point just stopped. It didn’t go

anywhere else. To fix that, I elaborated on it more. I explained more on what I was trying to

say so that readers could understand more about what I was saying. This way, readers did not

struggle on trying to understand my paper. When I write papers about movies, sometimes it is

hard for me to write about them because I leave details out. I already assume that people have

already watched the movie so I leave important details out trying not to be over explanatory.

With these revisions, I believe increased the overall effect of my projects. My projects

are more organized and are easy to understand.

Here I Am Having fun at Purdue

By: Rachel Patriarca

CONCERTS

Going to concerts is a great way to have fun at Purdue. Being on a college campus, you can find concerts anywhere. They can range from concerts at coffee shops to concerts in someone’s back yard. Usually at these types of concerts they have many artists performing so that there are varieties of music for everyone to like. At local concerts, you can meet new people and discover new music. In this particular concert, I had a lot of fun. I enjoyed the music, met the band as well as new people. This was a night that my friends and I are sure to remember. people. This was a night that my friends and I are sure to remember.

SLAYTOR HILL

If you’re looking for a nice and quiet place to have fun, you can always go to Slaytor Hill. No matter what time of year it is you can always have fun. In the Winter you can go sledding and among Purdue students, it’s a personal favorite. In the Fall, you can always warm up a cup of hot chocolate and a get out a blanket and go star gazing on Slaytor Hill. Personally, that’s something that my friends and I do quite often. It’s a great stress reliever.

GREY HOUSE

Grey House is a great place to relax and hang out when you don’t want to go out. Other than having great food and bever-ages, they have local artists come and play while you drinking your coffee. Other than going to Grey House for shows and hot chocolate, I go to Grey House to go and do homework when I want to get away from distractions at my dorm. Grey House is always a great place to go when you just want to have a relaxing fun time. fun time.

MOVIES

Watching movies in your dorm room is something that you can do basically anytime you want. If you want to have a lazy day, movies are a great way to do it. What makes it different from a movie theathre is that you can watch whatever movie you want. You can watch Disney movies, scary movies, funny movies or any one of your favorites. My friends and I always end a busy day with a late night movie. No matter what the stresses were, they all go away when we watch our favorite movies. It’s always nice to get comfy in your pajamas, pop some popcorn and relax.popcorn and relax.

KITCHENETTE

Baking is a fun way to feel more at home when you’re away at school. Even though people might think it’s hard because you need to buy ingredients it’s ok. If you live on campus, you can buy your ingredients from the Boiler Junction or the Tarkmart. The great thing about baking is that you can make all of your favorite reciepes that remind you of home. My friends and I love to bake. Everytime we get a chance, we always get together and bake.

WIIGAMES

Playing Wii games is a great way to have fun. Many people can play at one time so it’s something that can be done with a group of people. One game that is really fun is Michael Jackson the Ex-perience. Basically all you do is dance along with Michael Jack-son and sing to the songs that he sings. It’s really fun to watch people dance to this game becuase since Michael Jackson was a great dancer and could do moves that most people couldn’t, it’s funny to watch others try and attempt them. My friends and I have had many laughs and good times with this game.

PAINT POTTERY

Painting pottery is something that is always fun. You can just sit and paint something for yourself or for your family. While painting, you can listen to music and munch on some popcorn. My friends and I always have a blast there. Painting pottery allows you to be creative and allows you to do whatever you want. What I really like about pottery is that you can paint anything on what you’re painting and no matter what it is it will still look good.

One of the first things that most freshman do at Purdue is go on a fountain run. This usually happens during BGR week. During a fountain run, you run to and through all of the water fountains on campus. There is always cold water running through the fountain so it’s a great feeling. During the summer, going on a fountain run is a great way to cool yourself down. Considering that I live in a dorm that does not have air conditioning, I went on fountain runs quite often. Even in between classes, its nice to just sit outside by the fountain and get things done.

Patriarca 1

Rachel Patriarca

Emre Koyuncu

English 106

03/29/11

Life’s Lesson

Being humans, we all have a sense of adventure. Most of us wonder what it

would be like if we just dropped everything in our lives at one moment and just packed

up and left. It would make our lives less stressful, and we could live freely without any

worries or responsibilities. Wouldn’t it be great? People who have done that have

learned more about themselves and just about the world in general. One of my

classmates from high school is taking a year off and is traveling around Europe by

herself. Talking to her, she says that she has experienced life and knows more about

herself and as well as others. Not many people can say that they have just lived and

understood more about themselves and the meaning of life. In the movies “The Grizzly

Man” and “Into the Wild,” the main characters were properly portrayed as heroes who

weren’t afraid to leave the materialistic way of living without anyone influencing them.

Timothy Treadwell, the main character in “The Grizzly Man” lived his life around bears.

He loved them and would do anything to protect them. Chris McCandless the main

Patriarca 2

character of “Into the Wild,” lived by traveling from place to place without any money

and away from all of the materialistic ways of life. Both of these characters always stuck

to what they believed in and never let anyone change their minds about anything. No

matter what the outcome was, they lived the life they wanted. They were happy and their

life was filled with joy and meaning. They died feeling happy with the way that they

lived.

For 13 years Timothy Treadwell spent his summers living amongst the bears in

Katmai National Park, trying to protect them. His mission was to film the bears in their

natural habitat to show the world that they were misunderstood and that they were not as

harmful as people thought. One way he did this was by going to schools and teaching

children about bears and how they should handle them if they ever came in contact with

them. He lived his life around bears. He lived successfully around them trying to adapt

to them and to their lifestyle rather than having them adapt to him. He always stayed

with the bears and never left them. Park rangers wanted him out of the park and always

searched for him wanting to ask him to leave the park. He always tried to hide himself

and relocate himself inside of the woods so that he wouldn’t get caught. No matter what

others said he never wanted to leave. People even teased and taunted him for living in

the wild. People thought that it was crazy. No matter what others said, he never listened

Patriarca 3

to them. He always stuck to what he wanted to do and what made him happy. You

could just see how passionate he was about the bears and all of the animals that inhabited

the park. To him it was the happiest place on the earth. All of his friends were there in

the park. He believed that the animals were the only things that understood him as a

person. They didn’t judge him or do anything to make him loose his trust in them. He

thought of them as beautiful and wonderful creatures. On his last trip to the park he

bought his girlfriend. He wanted her to see what life was like with the bears at the place

where he found bliss.

Timothy Treadwell thought of this life style like his job. Throughout the movie,

he always said that it was his job to protect the bears. It was always something that he

said that he had to do. He never gave up on them and always did what was in the bear’s

best interest. He was intrigued by them and thought that they were the most interesting

things on the planet. Looking back, I believe that Timothy Treadwell was a lucky man.

He loved his job and his life everyday no matter how bad the weather was or how much

food he had. He was always happy no matter what the conditions were. Most people

try for a lifetime to try to get as happy as he was. Some people don’t even get close to

Patriarca 4

how happy he was. Just by being with the bears, he was happy. He had nothing else to

live for other than them.

Timothy Treadwell had something with the bears that was greater than love. He

had passion for the bears. By the end, people say that since he was out living with them

and studying them he wasn’t even human anymore. Some people already considered him

a bear. He knew how to read them. He understood their body language and never gave

up on them. One of His close friends Marnie Gaede says, “he wanted to become like a

bear…perhaps he wanted to mutate into a wild animal…connecting so deeply you’re no

longer human” (Brinks 14). By dying, he thought that he could become a bear. Once he

died, his soul would no longer be stuck in a human body. It would be able to go into a

bear and he would just live happy with them.

I believe at the end of Timothy Treadwell’s life, he felt happy with the way he

died. In his documentary he always told his friends “If I don’t come back, that’s the way

I want it” (Herzog). When he died I feel that he was at peace with himself. In the book

Death by Todd May, Todd May talks about how in Buddhism, when people die, they

reincarnate until they reach nirvana. How many times they reincarnate depends on how

much closer you were to reaching nirvana and by how good or bad you acted in your

previous life also known as karma. I believe that by the end of Timothy Treadwell’s life,

Patriarca 5

he reached nirvana. He was happy and content with the fact that he was dying. He

accepted the fact that he was dying. He wasn’t afraid. By not being afraid of death, that

is already a big goal. Death is something that we can’t escape and many people fail to

accept the fact that it is reality. “Death is the end of us and our experience” (May 22).

We can’t all live forever and one day we are going to have to die. That is a reality that

most people can’t face. People are scared of it and don’t want it to happen. Death is

something that we can’t survive. It stops everything that we have been and are working

for. Because of this thought most people try so hard to try and avoid it they don’t take

time stop and think about what actually is important in life. People are just so caught up

in the fact that life can end anytime and anywhere. People also get mad about small

things when if you look at the bigger picture, at the end it doesn’t even matter. Death is

unexpected and there is so way that we can escape it. It is just there and there isn’t

anything that we can do about it. Timothy Treadwell already accepted that fact and that

was already a big accomplishment.

Timothy Treadwell lived a great life and never took advantage of anything. He

looked at his life and thought that it was beautiful. His life was everything he wanted it

to be and nothing short of it. Similar to this, Chris McCandless from the movie Into the

Patriarca 6

Wild also lived a life of simplicity. He had parents who were wealthy and very

materialistic and he didn’t want to live that way. He saw that all his parents thought

about was money and how to get more of it. Even though he understood that they

wanted what was best for him and his sister, he thought that they were blinded by money.

It overpowered them. They didn’t see what was really important. They seemed so stuck

up and just wanting to make more money. Chris McCandless didn’t want to live a life

like his parents did. He wanted to live without the materialistic things. He wanted to

live free without the burden of having to deal with and having a lot of money. He saw

how money affected his parent’s relationship and saw how their obsession with money

affected his and his sister’s relationship with them as well. He didn’t want to be like

them. He wanted to ruin relationships and not have his life revolve about money.

Like Timothy Treadwell, Chris McCandless lived a very similar lifestyle. He

didn’t care about the materialistic things and wanted to live where he was happiest. He

left his whole life behind. He had plans to go to graduate school and he had the money to

pay for it. He had a bright future. Instead, he decided that he didn’t want that and left all

of it for a lifestyle of simplicity.

Patriarca 7

Chris McCandless could have anything he wanted. He was really smart, he could

go to any school that he wanted and he had a lot of money. His parents wanted him to

have anything he wanted. They wanted to get him a brand new car and even pay for

some of his schooling. His parents loved the finer things in life. They loved having the

expensive cars to show off and the picture perfect house. They also would care what

other thought of them. Chris McCandless thought otherwise of this way of thinking.

Instead of going to graduate school and getting a fancy brand new car, he decided to

leave the materialistic world and live in the wild. He donated all his money and left his

materialistic life. He didn’t like how his parents came out to be because he thought it just

ruined their life so he just packed up and left. He didn’t want anyone to find him. He

went under a different name so that people couldn’t find him. He tried so hard to make

his life better and to improve himself. On his way, he met many people. Not

intentionally doing this, he improved their lives as well as his. They admired the way

that he was living and thought that he lived because of if. He was really down to earth

and real. Every person that he met got attached to him and loved how he lived. Every

time he left, they would get sad because he changed their life in a great way, but happy

because they knew that he had to leave. On his way to Alaska he met an elderly man

Patriarca 8

who had lost his family and it was just him. Chris got to bond with him and want to see

how he lived without any family. By the end, the old man grew to love Chris and

wanted to adopt him as his grandson. Chris unfortunately left him without an answer and

never returned. Chris also met a couple who at the beginning had marital problems. By

the time Chris had to leave, he mended their relationship. He helped them see that there

is more to marriage and love then they thought. He made them better and happier.

Trying to make his own life better, he made others lives better as well.

Chris McCandless left for his sense of adventure. Unlike Timothy Treadwell, it

wasn’t his job to live in the wild. It was his lifestyle. He wanted to live a simple life and

live at every moment and live happy. He lived very unmaterialistic. He had close to

nothing and lived on the resources of the earth. At one point in the movie, he buried

most of the things that he had. He buried his ID, clothes and money that he had. He

didn’t want people to know that it was him if something ever happened to him. He didn’t

want to be found. He wanted to live happy by himself without anyone else trying to

influence him with money like his parents did. He wanted to live and learn off of people

and his adventures. I believed that he learned something from every person that he met

on his way to Alaska. Everyday he learned something about himself or about his journey

Patriarca 9

about life. From reading his journals, you can see that he matured throughout his

journey. He had a lot of time to think to himself about himself and take other people’s

life perspectives into thought. Throughout his journey, he heard so many different

stories. People have different lives and not everyone is as lucky as he was.

By the time Chris McCandless died, he accepted the fact that it was going to

happen. He wanted people to know that he was happy and that he wasn’t angry at the

world. The last spoken words in the movie “ He made it. He lived. He loved. He died

alive” (Penn 144) spoken by his sister really described him. I believe that this means that

he lived a wonderful life. He lived with no regrets and with nothing to ever hold him

back. He died a happy person that never took advantage of anything and lived his life to

its fullest. He died alive. Like in Buddhism, Chris McCandless went away from the

materialistic way of life. He didn’t need all of these “things” to survive. He was a

“light weight” and only carried what he really needed. A close friend of his, James

Gallien says, “He admitted that the only food in his pack was a ten-pound bag of rice. He

had no compass; the only navigational aid in his possession was a tattered road map he'd

scrounged at a gas station” (Krakauer). I do believe that he reached nirvana. He went

on his mission just wanting to go somewhere. He didn’t have a set place to go. He just

Patriarca 10

wanted to go anywhere. Any place life was going to take him he was going to go. He

had no set plan or course. He always did good things in his life and accomplished many

great things. A lot of the things he accomplished a lot of people can’t say they did. He

was suffering at the end. It was hard for him to stand up, climb a mountain and make

food for himself. “For Buddhists, life is suffering. Overcoming life is then the goal”

(May 17). Chris McCandless overcame life and he reached the ultimate goal. He left the

materialistic way of life and lived off of nature. He didn’t care about a lot of the things

that a normal person would. He never cared or worried about bills that he had to pay or

whether or not he needed to make money. He lived at his best with out having money.

Both Timothy Treadwell and Chris McCandless lived a great life. They never

took anything for granted and always wanted to be happy with life and not have any

regrets. They have had many life changing experiences that have changed their life

drastically. By reading and hearing about them they inspire and teach us. A lesson to be

learned is that by doing the things that we want to do in life will help us see what really is

important. They show me that I shouldn’t fret over the small stuff and just look at the

big picture. They have shown me to look at life and just live it to the fullest. Don’t take

anything for granted and just do what you are passionate about no matter what others say.

Patriarca 11

They are saying to me that I should just do what I want to do without others bringing me

down.

Patriarca 12

Works Cited

May, Todd. “Death” Tennessee: Acumen 2009. Print

Krakauer, Jon. “Death of Innocence” January 1993. Web.

“Into the Wild” Dir. Sean Penn. Per. Emilie Hirsch. Paramount Vantage, 2007.

“The Grizzly Man” Dir. Werner Herzog. Per. Timothy Treadwell. Lions Gate Films,

2005.

Brinks, Ellen. “Uncovering the Child in Timothy Treadwell’s Feral Tale” The Lion and

the Unicorn, Volume 32, Number 3, September 2008, pp. 304-323. Web.