Senior Portfolio: Argumentative Final Draft

The title of the assignment is “Into the Wild: Argumentative Essay”. The assignment was
completed in the classroom as well as at home. The argumentative essay was completed on
December 10th, 2018. I was tasked with answering a prompt after reading the novel, Into the
Wild. The prompt was to be answered with a thesis and three main points to support it. The given
prompt was to write the argumentative essay answering the question, “Were Christopher
McCandless’s actions reckless and idiotic or courageous?”. Each student was to individually
create a thesis regarding whether McCandless was reckless and idiotic or courageous. In some
opinions it may have been seen that his own actions were both reckless, idiotic and courageous.
With the thesis, students were asked to provide support through three main key points. With
these three main points, there would need to be two types of evidence provided in order to give a
more convincing argument. For the argumentative essay, students were also asked to find a
counterclaim. In addition to this, a rebuttal is to be made to further support the main thesis. This
assignment is an argumentative piece because there is an evident claim as well as reasoning. The
assignment consists of a thesis, and with a thesis, there are three points of reasoning. In addition
to the thesis, there is a counterclaim. In the essay, my claim was that the protagonist of the novel
“Into the Wild” made reckless and idiotic actions. I supported this claim by using evidence from
the novel. In the text of the novel, Christopher McCandless abandoned the available resources he
had. Also, McCandless began his journey unprepared. Christopher McCandless also denied any
help from individuals that offered and cared about the young individual. The counterclaim to the
thesis was that Christopher McCandless’s actions were more courageous rather than reckless.
This can be supported by the statements made by individuals that heard of his story. The rebuttal
I gave was that despite McCandless’s “courageous” choices, the choices he made lead to his own
eventual death. Despite the different opinions and outlooks of McCandless and his actions, his
actions were more reckless and idiotic. This argumentative piece consists of evidence
surrounding one claim that can be supported.
I was an effective communicator and a critical thinker in completing this assignment. In
completion of this assignment, I was an effective communicator by creating a clear thesis. In
addition to the thesis, I gave three main points of reasoning that support the overall thesis and the
main idea. With the three main points and thesis, I was able to make a clear argument that the
reader would be able to comprehend. As a critical thinker, I found sufficient and relevant
evidence to support my claim. In addition to this, I analyzed the evidence and the relevance it has
towards the main idea. After analyzing the evidence, I then would connect the evidence to the
point of reasoning to further support my thesis.
This assignment helped me work on the SLOs through the practice of analysis and
connecting evidence to the thesis. As an effective communicator, I was able to show the reader
how Christopher McCandless’s actions were reckless through the use of evidence as well as
analysis. I worked on the assignment as a critical thinker when I connected the evidence to the
main point of reasoning. I know that I still need to improve and practice further as a critical
thinker. I feel that I still need to further practice analysis. These skills can be used in the future
through presentations as well as interviews in the work environment. When it comes to stating a
thesis as well as making a supported argument, being an effective communicator allows the
reader or audience to comprehend and understand the assessment. Finally, being a critical thinker
also allows me to further improve on an assignment or task.