Brendan Evitts -- "Wild: Passage Analysis"

I think you are definitely on the right track in your analysis of the 
assigned passage.  But there are some nuances that I think you have not
appreciated all that well.  For example, in your conclusion, you say "In the passage 
on [page] 189, she presents her struggles, but she knows that the trail will 
let her get away from these problems."  She mentions one aspect of her struggles,
for sure, namely those memories of confessing her infidelities to Paul.  But
the real point of this passage, I think, is that this is probably the point where
she realizes the trail has allowed her to start to get away from those problems.  In
other words, her recovery is not entirely in the future any more.  The process of
healing and getting past the mistakes in her former life has really started already.
And that's why the "in getting myself here, I’d done right" is such an important
statement and probably the real key to understanding the passage.  

Also, on page 3 you say "Cheryl became ‘lost’ when her mother died, and, while 
she deviated off the path with her experimentations and mistakes, her 
end goal of completing the Pacific Crest Trail always loomed as the end goal."
First the two "end goals" in the same sentence is not good.  But more importantly,
that is really not correct because she certainly did not have the PCT hike as a
goal any time up to the impulsive decision to do it.  You seem to be
saying that this was her fate from the start.  But I really doubt she
would agree with that, and as readers of a story like this, I think it's a 
real mistake for us to think the end is somehow foreordained or predestined.  
It was a decision out of left field to make the hike, a sort of "flier" of 
a decision that turned out to be the right thing to do. But there was no 
way she could know that until she got to the point she's describing on page 189.  

In your discussion of the passages from pages 31, 79 and 111, on the third page, 
I don't see that you connect those earlier passages with the assigned passage from 
page 189 as effectively as you might.  And I'm not so sure about the way you frame everything
as "struggling for comfort."   What she says about her new way of interacting with men 
on page 111 is a different aspect of her journey, for sure.  But note that in the 
assigned passage she is actually alone.  I think you could argue, for instance, that
learning to be more self-sufficient, and to be more comfortable being alone, is another
related aspect of her journey.  But then you would need to explain how she she is finding 
comfort in new things, in different ways.  The problem with that is the "enjoying nature" 
angle that you propose is actually not prominent at all in what Cheryl Strayed says.  
(She seems to be focused on herself much more than on the landscape, which is probably 
only fair given where she is in her life!) So I don't think that the idea that she's 
"finding comfort in experiencing nature" really holds up to close scrutiny.  To me, it feels
more as though she is just experiencing something different by being alone and away
from civilization most of the time.  Note that there are very few actual descriptions 
of nature in this book, at least that I can see.  So your discussion feels underdeveloped.

A few minor writing slips:  On page 2 -- "under go" should be one word.
On page 3 -- in "using stereotypical feministic ideals in search of comfort"
"feministic ideals" seem like the wrong words.  I think you meant something
like "feminine behavior."  Finally, there's a stray footnote "(1) quote from Pope Francis 
in Time Magazine" at the bottom of your final page.  Was this something you deleted?
Or is it maybe left over from another paper?

   Content/Evidence -- B

   Structure/Mechanics -- B+