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With an elegiac tone and chilling narration, Into Thin Air recounts the travails of the climbers who lost their lives in the May 1996 tragedy on Mount Everest. Initially hired to write a magazine article about the commercialization of Everest, Krakauer found that his experiences demanded a very different article, one that was later expanded into a book. He relates in detail the physical and mental toll Everest takes on every climber, making readers feel the rush of sub-zero winds and the terror of being stranded alone on the mountain.
Students examine the impact of nature on humanity, discuss perseverance and responsibility, analyze the addiction to risk that plagues so many in our society, explore how people respond to tragedy, and consider the role of fate in our lives. Materials emphasize character motivation, theme, and literary analysis; they also use cooperative learning strategies and address active reading strategies such as predicting, questioning, connecting, clarifying, and evaluating. Each lesson includes journal assignments that may be used to spur class discussions or as homework assignments to provide closure to a lesson.
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