Terms
Transcendent
Surpassing the ordinary; exceptional.
Ex: “And then he invented a new life for himself, taking up residence at the ragged margin of our society, wandering across North America in search of raw, transcendent experience.”
Idealism
The practice of forming or pursuing ideals, especially unrealistically.
Ex: “He was an extremely intense young man and possessed a streak of stubborn idealism…”
Surpassing the ordinary; exceptional.
Ex: “And then he invented a new life for himself, taking up residence at the ragged margin of our society, wandering across North America in search of raw, transcendent experience.”
Transcendent
Match or surpass; imitate
Ex: “In college McCandless began emulating Tolstoy’s asceticism and moral rigor to a degree that first astonished, and then alarmed, those who were close to him.”
Emulate
Enigma
Mysterious; puzzling; difficult to understand
Ex: “I do so in the hope that my experiences will throw some oblique light on the enigma of Chris McCandless.”
Peregrinations
Long or wandering journeys from place to place
Ex: “Unwilling to let McCandless go, I spent more than a year retracing the convoluted path that led to his death in the Alaska taiga, chasing down details of his peregrinations with an interest that bordered on obsession” (3)
Severe self-discipline and avoidance of all forms of indulgence.
Ex: “In college McCandless began emulating Tolstoy’s asceticism and moral rigor to a degree that first astonished, and then alarmed, those who were close to him.”
Asceticism
Mysterious; puzzling; difficult to understand
Ex: “I do so in the hope that my experiences will throw some oblique light on the enigma of Chris McCandless.”
Enigma
Oblique
Slanted or indirect
Ex: “He chose instead to make a secret of his dark knowledge and express his rage obliquely, in silence and sullen withdrawal”(85)
Tolstoyan
A follower of Tolstoy, who advocates and practices manual labor, simplicity of living, non-resistance, etc., holds that possession of wealth and ownership of property are sinful, and rejects all religious teachings not coming directly from Christ.
Ex: “ When the boy headed off into the Alaskan bush, he entertained no illusions that he was trekking into a land of milk and honey; peril, adversity, and Tolstoyan renunciation were precisely what he was seeking.”
Tending to be different or develop in different directions.
Ex: “This correspondence, as one might expect, reflected sharply divergent points of view…”
Divergent
Slanted or indirect
Ex: “He chose instead to make a secret of his dark knowledge and express his rage obliquely, in silence and sullen withdrawal”(85)
Oblique
Fulminate
To strongly criticize or protest something
Ex: “Not infrequently during their visits, Franz recalls, McCandless’s face would darken with anger and he’d fulminate about his parents or politicians or the endemic idiocy of mainstream American life” (37)
Divergent
Tending to be different or develop in different directions.
Ex: “This correspondence, as one might expect, reflected sharply divergent points of view…”
The practice of forming or pursuing ideals, especially unrealistically.
Ex: “He was an extremely intense young man and possessed a streak of stubborn idealism…”
Idealism
To strongly criticize or protest something
Ex: “Not infrequently during their visits, Franz recalls, McCandless’s face would darken with anger and he’d fulminate about his parents or politicians or the endemic idiocy of mainstream American life” (37)
Fulminate
Emulate
Match or surpass; imitate
Ex: “In college McCandless began emulating Tolstoy’s asceticism and moral rigor to a degree that first astonished, and then alarmed, those who were close to him.”
Asceticism
Severe self-discipline and avoidance of all forms of indulgence.
Ex: “In college McCandless began emulating Tolstoy’s asceticism and moral rigor to a degree that first astonished, and then alarmed, those who were close to him.”
A follower of Tolstoy, who advocates and practices manual labor, simplicity of living, non-resistance, etc., holds that possession of wealth and ownership of property are sinful, and rejects all religious teachings not coming directly from Christ.
Ex: “ When the boy headed off into the Alaskan bush, he entertained no illusions that he was trekking into a land of milk and honey; peril, adversity, and Tolstoyan renunciation were precisely what he was seeking.”
Tolstoyan
Long or wandering journeys from place to place
Ex: “Unwilling to let McCandless go, I spent more than a year retracing the convoluted path that led to his death in the Alaska taiga, chasing down details of his peregrinations with an interest that bordered on obsession” (3)
Peregrinations