I am teaching Into the Wild to my group of general sophomore students. I am finding, along with other teachers, that students cannot grasp the idea of romanticism and trascendentalism. They think it's stupid that some one like Chris would go into the wild and live like that. They said "he must be a pothead" and assume the only people who go out into the woods are stoners.
Needless to say, I think they live in a world so exposed to electronics and consumer driven goods that they can't think outside their own world to see the other side. Do you guys have any ideas on teaching these 14-15 yr olds to teach outside the box?
~Ed