Spencer Crane

EIP Proposal UWRT 1102

Into the wild and Emotional Intelligence

Knowledge of my subject: Emotional Intelligence is the ability to reason with
emotions and use them to enhance thought. There are four branches that
collectively describe what emotional intelligence is. Those branches consist of the
ability to accurately perceive emotions, use those emotions to facilitate thinking,
understand emotional meanings, and manage said emotions.
Why I chose this subject: Simply because there is a lot of decision making in the
novel Into the Wild and I wish to analyze these decisions as well as other actions
and attempt to see the emotional process behind them. It interests me because I
want to see through the reasons why Chris left on his journey and how others felt
about this throughout the novel.
Questions:
What emotions was Chris using to decide to embark on this journey?
Did Chris value his own principles and emotional decisions over the people that
were affected by it?
What sensations and emotions did Chris feel after he had left that allowed him to
get through the tougher times of his journey?
Is the positive effect that Chris had with the people on his travels more than the
negative effect he had on his own family?
When did Chris fully decide to embark on this journey, was it a particular event
that made him decide to leave everything behind, or was it throughout the years of
reading Jack London and having a poor home life that led him to this?
Whose life was impacted the most on Chriss journey? Was it a positive or negative
impact?
Where would Chris have wound up if he had used other emotions to facilitate his
thinking?
If Chris would have known about how the journey was going to end, would he of
still left or would fear of death prevented him?

Spencer Crane
EIP Proposal UWRT 1102

If Chris would have survived Alaska then returned to life and found no change,
would he go on another adventure? If so, where?
Has the study of this topic allowed me to view my decisions differently?

Focus Questions:
What emotions was Chris using to decide to embark on this journey?
Did Chris value his own principles and emotional decisions over the people that
were affected by it?
Where will I find answers: Through rigorous study of the book as well as
materials on psychology and emotion found in the library or on studies found
online. It might be difficult to find information on Chriss life in particular because
I have limited resources to study.
How will I narrow my subject if I need to: By studying several emotions or
sensations in particular as opposed to the whole spectrum.
How will I broaden my subject if I need to: By studying the emotional
intelligence and how it affects humans as a whole as opposed to only Chris.