Style

Contrast and compare the writing style of the book you are now reading with Dharma Bums, Into the Wild, and The Last American Man. How is the writing style similar or different? What techniques does the author use to focus on the character(s)? Do you find the writing style compelling? Talk a bit about style...how the author does what the author does.

Zen Lunatics

Describe one scene or passage that struck you or stayed with you from the second half of Dharma Bums (anything after page 120). Explain your choice.

the profile goes on...

Submit either a second anecdote on your subject or the introductory paragraphs of your paper.

Your Anecdote

Dharma Bums

After Eustace Conway finishes speaking to a group of spellbound schoolchildren for several hours, Elizabeth Gilbert asks him why he thinks that the teens were so hypnotized by his presentation and personality. "Because," Eustace replies, "they recognized right away that I was a real person. And they've probably never met one before."

In Dharma Bums, Kerouac writes that "the little Saint Teresa bum was the first genuine Dharma Bum" he'd ever met.

Who is the most authentic, or most real, person you have met in your life? Why do you consider this person authentic or real? Explore what it means to be (or not to be) authentic. Try to think outside Brooks for this one...

Your Choice

What will it be? An investigative paper or a primitive skill? Explain your proposal in this entry. Provide as much detail as possible. Elaborate on your choice. Why? Out of ease or out of curiosity? Evaluate your decision, reflect, pontificate, meditate on why you do what you do.

You as Radical

We have now seen Timothy Treadwell, Chris McCandless and Eustace Conway in action, three men whose search for purpose, meaning and truth led them to radical departures from traditional society. What would be your version of a radical departure from your current life? What act or series of actions would make you feel the most free, independent, meaningful, and valued? How would you distance yourself from that which you feel oppresses you? What does oppress you? Would you live with the grizzlies, dramatically simplify your life, teach the young? Talk a bit about yourself as a potential radical.