I distributed an article from last week's New York Times discussing the death of a young man,a bicyclist, who attempted to ride alone from the Arctic to South America camping in the outdoors during the entire trip. As the reading for today addressed other young men(beside Chris McCandles) who have challenged themselves to confront the most dangerous aspects of survival ,the article was remarkably timely. After discussing how Chris' father's bigamous lifestyle stoked Chris ideological rejection of his parents, we analyzed the impact of gender roles in young men's decisions to risk their lives in extreme survival adventures. I noted how the author cites at least 4 examples of people who undertook similar challenges to Chris' and all were young men, as was the subject of the New York Times article. Matthew discussed the male gender role of toughness and individualism as exemplified by the persons discussed in the book. We examined why so few women seem to be involved in these undertakings. Last ,we reviewed Matthew's persuasive essay he completed last week. We focused on the need to clearly articulate a position in the opening paragraph, and I offered suggestions in this regard. HW-Rewrite essay due next Monday, read next chapter and New York Times article , write a paragraph comparing the subject of the article to Chris McCandles.