Eloquentia Perfecta 2016

September 2016 Volume IV

Eloquentia Perfecta An Anthology of Work

by Students in Fair field Univer sity's Core Wr iting Progr am

Table of Contents Foreword

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Nar r atives: Liter acy & Lear ning

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Marked Man by John Imor, 6 The Wild World and the God I've Never Met by Alec Lur ie, 8 The Secret Libr ar y by Michael Lynder s, 12 The Chinese Kinder gar tener by Olivia Melendez, 14 The Danger s of One by Sydney Savoie, 18

Research & Ar gument

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It's Time to Rethink Amer ica's Gun Control Laws by Daniella Musacchio, 24 Ter minate the War of Liber al Ar ts vs. STEM by Elizabeth Nigro, 30 Proposal for a Passpor t to the Vir tual World by Timothy Salit, 36 What Are You Having? by Katie Thomson, 42

Liter ar y Analyses

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Expressing Loss Through Poetr y by Sabr ina Musto, 48 "The Jour ney," "Mor ning Poem," and Self Discover y by Mallor y Thor nton, 52 Exposed: The Tr ue Use of Secrecy in Maxine Hong Kingston's "No Name Woman" and Alison Bechdel's "Fun Home" by Heather Weber, 56

Profiles

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Life Outside the Limelight: A Profile of Diana Canova by John Laske, 62 The Skeleton Man of Car ver Hollow by Er in Nordgren, 66

Creative Inter vention

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Haiku for a Snowy Day, 70 Boy by Dimitr i Kousidis, 72 Gold by Antonio Myer s, 74

Wr iting Processes How Mass Migr ations Are Showing Us Our Future by Michael Roche, 78 Jour nal Entr ies by Lauren Vilchinsky, 84

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Foreword From the first edition published in 2013, Eloquentia Perfecta: An Anthology of Work

by Students in Fairfield University's Core Writing Program has been dedicated to highlighting student achievement in the aims of the program's EN11 and EN12 courses. This, the fourth edition, continues that tradition, offering a selection of exemplary writing by first year students embarking on their journey into collegiate writing.

Drawing from work by students writing in response to a diverse range of assignments in these courses, this year 's anthology includes essays in six categories: Narratives, Research and Argument, Literary Analyses, Profiles, Creative Interventions, and Writing Processes. The selections chosen by the editors make real Core Writing's dedication to the Jesuit tradition of eloquentia perfecta? the notion of active engagement with language in the service of public good and personal development. In making our selections, the editors focused on works that demonstrate achievement in the mechanical skill of writing while also illustrating the complex practice of inquiry, reflection, and critical thinking that are the foundation of a liberal arts education.

As always, we are proud to include in this anthology the winner of the Core Writing Program's 2016 Eloquentia Perfecta Award, "The Skeleton Man of Carver Hollow" by Erin Nordgren. This profile, which explores a life that might otherwise have remained invisible, embodies so many of the ideals of our program, particularly the notion of literacy as a potent form of consciousness.

We thank the fine student writers, their excellent teachers, the Core Writing Awards Committee, and all who have supported the creation of this anthology. A special "thank you" goes out to Shauna Mitchell, Graduate Assistant for the English Department and Core Writing, whose hard work and dedication made this anthology possible.

Sincerely, The Editors: Elizabeth Hilts, Brian Hoover, Laura Marie Marciano, Steven A. Otfinoski, and Kristin A. Rose

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Nar r atives:

Liter acy & Lear ning

Everyone loves a good story. As human beings, our brains are wired for them.

Narrative is an integral part of the fabric of our lives. We see narrative work its magic in a memorable anecdote, a persuasive television ad, a thought-provoking novel, and an inspiring political speech.

In EN11, literacy narratives take our students on a journey of self-discovery, finding a moment in time when language, reading and writing made a difference in their lives.

Olivia Melendez?s ?The Chinese Kindergartener,? another honorable mention in the 2016 Core Writing Awards, takes a common theme in literacy narratives ? the learning of a second language. We share in her struggle to learn Chinese while living with a host family in that country and also in her triumph as she finds a foothold to success but in a most unexpected way.

Personal narratives widen the range of subject matter to include any experience that has helped shape us as individuals. For Sydney Savoie it is the experience of growing up an only child, which she writes about with a keen satirical eye in ?The Dangers of One,? even giving the phenomenon a medical name, O.C.S. (Only Child Syndrome).

I?ve read many ?My Name? essays from students, but none as memorable or as funny as John Imor ?s reflection on his first name in ?Marked Man.? He manages to make his name intriguing in spite of, or perhaps because of, its very ordinariness.

Alec Lurie writes about his struggle with religious faith with frank honesty and eloquence in ?The Wild World and the God I've Never Met,? a 2016 Core Writing Award honorable mention. A self-proclaimed ?devout Agnostic,? he finds signs of a higher power in the world around him, including the sad beauty of a dead bird.

Michael Lynders discovers a love of reading in ?The Secret Library,? which he describes in such graphic detail that we can imagine ourselves in his attic hideaway, sharing in the great adventure he finds there.

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The rich range and variety of the five narratives included here is solid proof of why this genre brings out the best writing of many of our students.

-Prof. Steven A. Otfinoski

Narratives

Mar ked Man

by John Imor

Imagine a person named John, imagine his accomplishments, what he look like and how he is. Now everyone's perception will be a little different, but I?d like to believe that our variations aren't too different. Such a common name as John does create a basic perception of the name and who he is. I know I have a well known name, but that's okay, that?s it, that?s me, that?s my name: John.

I amuse myself over just imagining what a person John would look like. Just look at every example address or license you?ve ever seen; it's either Jane Doe or John Smith. John is one of the most popular names even. There is a version in almost every language from Italian: Giovanni, to German: Johann, to Spanish: Juan. It means "Grace of God" in Hebrew, and I'd like to consider myself that, graceful. My name is the same as my father ?s, as my grandfather ?s, and so on, but I am not the John IV; my middle name is my grandfather ?s and therefore I avoided that hideous numeral to be attached to my name. In part of family tradition or whatever, I am expected to name my first son John as well and have him take my father ?s middle name. That?s just one of the many expectations that John brings with its name.

For better and for worse John is also a part of history. From John the Baptist to St. John Paul to John Lennon to John Cena, my name thrives in history books. Historically, it's great to be named John; it associates you with popes, saints, presidents, and astronauts. If my name were Ivan or Vladimir, I would be forever attached to the terrible and the impaler of history. I wouldn?t change my name, no point. My name can be compared to a white canvas, while Esperanza from Sandra Cisneros?, "My Name", or Caoimhe from Caoimhe Stafford?s ?My Name? can be considered this vibrant, lucid, and colorful work of art. Everyone will remember Esperanza or Caoimhe. Unlike Cisneros who believes that when pronouncing her name it is as if it is, ?made out of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth,? John is quick, smooth, like silver according to Cisneros. John is like a bullet, one syllable short; I?ve seen people say it mid-sneeze. But John is also bland like paste, nothing significant, John F. Kennedy went by Jack, and there?s a very good reason behind why it?s called Johnny Rockets, and Jack Daniels, and why Chuck Berry is singing about Johnny not John B. Goode.

I don?t even go by John, but I have nothing against it. I go by my last name just for the sake of it. There were four Johns in my high school class, and way too many Johns at Fairfield. Two of them actually live on my floor, there are three on my team, but it's not like any of us go by John. I can?t make this up. As above, I wouldn?t want to change my name, but what if I were just forced into it, say a quota was reached on the amount of Johns on campus and now my name was something ridiculous, like Northwest. I would like it for maybe a day, no one will forget me, but that?s all they would remember about me.

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With a name like John, I am given the opportunity to make a name for myself. You can and will remember me more than just John, but a scholar, a leader, an opportunist. If life had a resume, I wouldn?t want my name on it, just my accomplishments and my failures, really. Isn't that what we are really judged on anyways? What we do with our lives regardless of our bland or convoluted or historical names? If 40 years from now Northwest became president and became the most reformed president ever, who am I to judge their name? It?s not like we really have much of a choice when it comes to our names; we are born and our parents decide what to name us. Normally it's after a grandparent like Me, Cisneros, and Stafford, but what if our names were just given to us based on a lottery? It would be revolutionary.

No one is going to remember a John unless something substantial is done by him, but I like it like that. Being John sets me up to achieve, to have high expectations from life and from myself. I consider myself lucky to be named John, to be associated with JFK and John Lennon and others. I look at myself as a marked man with the name John, but isn?t that good? With the name John, aren't I now a marked man for greatness? I?d like to think so.

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The Wild Wor ld and the God I've Never Met

by Alec Lurie

?So you?re an atheist??

For God?s sake, no! Maybe! I don?t know! Don?t ask me that!

But they always do. They always let loose the burning question. In truth, I am a devout Agnostic. I don?t know where I stand and I?m more than proud of it. Maybe I?ll have some mind-bending conversion experience from which I find myself feeling a touch Catholic. Or maybe I?ll find Jainism to be my true path. Or maybe I won?t. It?s all fine. I?m fine. But no one else believes me.

I think they have difficulty believing because they have difficulty understanding. My theology is a sickly shade of grey them, and they just don?t get it. I understand why they don?t get it. Being born into a religion, you accept it for fact; your parents know all. Therefore, when you?re older, and you come across people like me, you think, ?Really? Is it really that hard? How can you not know what God is, and what it all means??

It?s easy to not know what it all means when you?re born to parents who accept that they too, don?t know what it all means. I was raised as a devout Agnostic, as strange as that sounds.

In place of every answer to which a Christian, or Jew, or Muslim would say ?God,? we said ?I don?t know.?

It?s very humbling to know what you don?t know. It allows you a freedom which those who have an institutionalized faith, do not have. Every single day, I question myself and the world around me. And every single day I get new answers. Each day is a new light, a new dark, and a new baptism.

I try not to be too ascetic about the whole choosing (or not choosing) a religion. I have a scale. Zero means there is no God. Ten means there is a God. Each day is different for me: sometimes I feel a God in my life more than others. The scale truly doesn?t mean anything.

Sometimes you just like to know where you stand. Regardless of my number though, I never believe in nothing. I do think there is something mystical out there. The question is really what its nametag says. ?Nonbeliever,? is an oversimplified concept. Whether you have a religion or not, everyone believes in something. Even on the days which I don?t believe, I am never a nonbeliever.

My zero days too often involve family. Particularly my god-fearing, Jewish-to-the-core, relatives of my Dad?s side.

Phyllis. Phyllis is my pretentious aunt?s more pretentious mother. ?Frasier-like,? I think, is

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the correct word. If she was stuck up any further she?d be rubbing elbows with angels. Sitting on her high horse, the highest horse, in fact, the matriarch of our unfortunate tribe, gave her speech. The conversation detailed the state of Manhattan. Which, as the old always impart on the young, was better in ?the day.?

Okay. Whatever. I expect it. But, what left her mouth next was astonishing. ?I hate the beggars.?

There was no qualification of the statement, no apology, and no ?whoops! I meant to say ?I hate the, insert appropriate word here.?? It was disgusting. I love my family, most of whom are Jewish. I have never heard a more reprehensible thing come out of a family member ?s mouth, let alone a Jewish one.

As if the Jews hadn?t been marched to their deaths in droves, as if they hadn?t been beggars, as if they hadn?t been enslaved and ridiculed for thousands of years.

I walked away. This was nauseating. If this was being religious, then I was not. Whatever God Phyllis believes in, is no God of mine. In that moment, I saw the infinitely twisted nature of the devout?s interpretation of ultimate truth. I saw that no one could truly find the truth. I saw that everyone was wrong. No one had latched on to the truth. Billions of people, and not a one who knows the truth. There must not be a truth.

There must not be a God.

On this day, I was a solid ten.

There was a small thump at my living room window. A bug, maybe? No, that would be one big-ass bug. Hershey, my not-so chocolate brown dog, ventured into the backyard with me to investigate.

Nothing. Not a feather, not a chirp, not a bird, nor even a big-ass bug. ?Good,? I thought to myself. ?It probably flew off.?

I called Hershey?s name. No jingling of tags. I uttered the sacred word T-R-E-A-T. Nothing. Zero.

Frustrated, I walked back over to the window, where I last saw him. He stood there, still. At a second glance I saw the plume of yellow feather poking out from his jowls. ?HERSHEY!?

The tiny golden corpse tumbled from his shocked mouth. I snatched the bird from the ground and ushered my poor, confused dog inside. When I opened my clenched hand to peek at the bird- oh my God. Never had I held something in my hand, more beautiful. I felt like I was in the presence of a tiny fallen god. A shocking yellow punctuated with black and white stripes and markings.

Holding the Magnolia Warbler ?s petite, broken body was a tactile experience unmatched by any since. Even on my most zero days, I am never a nonbeliever. That warbler I held was not just flesh and bone and feather. Call it what you will. I tend to call it ?God.? Whether that is correct or not, I really don?t care. In my mind, that is what God is made of. The little, dead warbler was perfectly composed beauty.

And that, in my not-so valuable opinion, is what God truly is: beauty. I don?t think God is a religion.

Instead, it is part of everything beautiful, and sweet, and kind. And the beautiful, and sweet, and kind, are a part of everything: rocks, birds, people, night, day, plants, and everything else. But mostly, I

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perceive God through the spectacle of the natural world. There is something so perfectly untainted and sacred about ?the wild.? Dangerous? Yes. Savage? It can be. But mind-alteringly gorgeous? Hell yeah. And I?m not the only one to think so. Take the Greeks who believed in nymphs and natural spirits, or the Buddhists who consider all of creation as sacred, or even closer to home for many, Saint Francis of Assisi, who was known for his close relationship with animals.

So I?m not alone! God, whatever you might think it, is ever-present in the natural world. But I am not an ancient Greek? nor am I a Buddhist or Christian. I am myself. I?m happy to walk a new path each day. Some would say that I stand for nothing, and that as a result I can fall for anything. No. I have my foundation. And I daresay, it?s as firm and unmoving as the holiest of rollers. I don?t know. It feels good to say it. Like an ?amen? or an ?om? I should chant it, and yell it, and put it on pamphlets and go door-to-door. I probably won?t though. How could I try to convert people? How could I tell them that it?s good to know nothing? How could I tell them to be a? me? It isn?t a religion; that is sure. It?s a belief.

So don?t ask me that question. Actually, wait, no. Ask me that question. Maybe in answering it, I will find a path never realized to me.

Who knows? Not me.

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Narratives

The Secr et Libr ar y

by Michael Lynders

The attic ladder swings down, releasing a wave of dry, warm air. I climb up the stairs, each step knocking free a small cascade of dust. The metal quivers with each jolt from my boots. My eyes break the plane of the ceiling causing the pupils to rapidly expand, adjusting to the lack of light. Each hand grasps the wooden rails that frame the opening so that I can hoist my entire body up into the rafters. As the trapdoor swings closed beneath me on springs, I inhale a breath of thick hazy air, laden with pollen and airborne particles of decaying insulation. Head on a swivel, I begin the arduous process of climbing to the back of the room amid cardboard boxes, storage containers, and heavy duty trash bags tearing at the seams, spilling old baby clothes and photographs onto the foil lined insulative flooring.

I?ve always been a very creative person. As a kid I loved to draw. Pencil and paper felt very natural to me, like an extension of my body, as I drew comic-book heroes and dinosaurs under the light of my sixth-grade-era bedroom?s single lamp. Pictures and imagery have always come much easier to me than words. I went through phases of sculpting, painting, and sketching, but never did I keep a journal or a diary. Ask me where the grocery store is and I?d draw you a map. Ask how to fix your bike and I?d draw you a diagram. As a child, rarely did I choose poetic language when simple, to-the-point instructions would do. However, late at night, flashlight in hand, I would often allow a novel to draw me into a dream-like trance during which I could become lost in another world.

A gleam catches my eye. Illuminated by the orange sunset filtering through the slats in the ventilation duct, an old trunk peeks timidly from behind an air-conditioning unit. I test the soundness of the plywood panels beneath me with one foot like a swimmer testing the temperature of a pool. Careful to distribute my weight across the aging surface, I creep silently to the trunk. I manipulate the patinaed latches with sweaty fingers and raise up the lid, bracing it with the splintered leg of a rocking chair.

I think I got my love of reading from my father. My mom only reads home-improvement magazines and the circulars tucked into the Sunday paper, but my dad can be found every night reclining on the sofa with a mug of coffee in hand and a novel resting on his lap. He introduced me to adventure and science fiction. It seems everyday he had a different book that I should read. I often ran out of spaces on my summer-reading log for the local library in elementary school. I read whatever I could get my hands on. It didn?t matter if it was Home and Garden magazine or even the instructions on the back of a Kraft Macaroni and Cheese box.

Despite my struggle to form pleasant-sounding sentences of my own, I had no problem digesting those of well known authors. In fact, my reading ability skyrocketed so much so in the formative years at Mohegan Elementary School that I once was sent to the principal

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because my teacher didn?t believe that I could get a perfect score on our school's standard reading test without cheating. She should have known better however, because around that time I hardly went anywhere without my copy of Michael Crichton?s Jurassic Park, which, at nearly five hundred pages, was quite hefty for a sixth grader.

I sift through the pile with my hands like a pig rooting through the dirt, feeling for the cold, laminated surface of a book. The chest is populated not only by text but by a myriad of artifacts from my father ?s childhood. My fingers close around the neck of a brass saxophone, blackened with patina from years of neglect and humidity. I draw it from the mess and hold it to the light. While it may be a treasure, I have my sights set on something greater. A tattered copy of My Side of the Mountain rests in the void previously filled by the saxophone. Delicately peeling back the brittle first page, my nasal passages are assaulted by the smell of mold which has accumulated under the cover. I flip past the title page, past the familiar dedication page, and past chapter one, which I have memorized to the letter. I thumb my way through the crackling paper, stopping at my favorite passage. It begins: ?Fortunately, the sun has a wonderfully glorious habit of rising every morning?

-Jean Craighead George I take comfort in those words because, on my own side of the mountain, the day?s last light is dying away. My Boy Scout lantern enables me to barely make out the text on the page in front of me. Much like the book?s main character, Sam, I will spend a lot of time by myself in this secret spot, imagining myself surviving in the wilderness. I might even venture out into my back yard, clutching a ball of twine and my Boy Scout knife, to construct a tree shelter in which to read my book. However, I always return to the trunk that holds an endless collection of novels; a semi permanent resting place for the old Christmas presents, having already been read thoroughly by my father. Here I will return several times this summer to gently return one book in exchange for another. It is my secret library, containing selections both old and new.

Words fall silently from my mouth, audible only to me, as a new adventure begins.

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Narratives

The Chinese Kinder gar tener

by Olivia Melendez

Learning a second language can be one of the most rewarding, painful, thrilling, traumatic, beautiful, embarrassing human experiences. Like David Sedaris's experience in "Me Talk Pretty One Day", my journey of learning a foreign language in its native country was equal parts mortifying and eye-opening. If I were to put a single word to the experience, I don't think I could say the feeling is anything other than humbling.

At just fifteen years old, I had the opportunity to travel to China for fourteen days. Being a sophomore in high school, I had only been learning the language for a year and a half prior to my trip. It was the opportunity of a lifetime for me to develop my language skills in the country of its origin. The first week of the trip involved touring all over eastern China. This meant a new train, plane or bus to a new city and a new hotel every day, and this was all shared by about sixteen of my other classmates, our three teachers, and myself. Our days were filled with markets and malls and museums, and at the end of it all we returned to our hotel and laughed off our language blunders of the day together. The best parts of our first week were communicating with locals, and also being able to have your friend right behind you laughing at your inability to get across what you're saying. Not because you lack the vocabulary, but because the locals can't understand you past your American accent. During this week, I realized that when you're lost in a Chinese market, most of the vocabulary you learn in a textbook is of no use. In fact, during your average day, probably nothing from a textbook would be of use.

In the second week of the trip, my classmates and I were separated and sent to live with different host families in Shanghai. It was in this week I came to realize my diligent study of classroom objects, articles of clothing, fruits and vegetables would not aid me in asking my host mother to shut the windows at night because I hadn't packed for the freak midsummer cold front Shanghai was experiencing, and that after sleeping on the floor underneath open windows for a week I was one night away from hypothermia. It was also in this week that I let my hunger override my fear of the current avian influenza outbreak. I had no choice but to decide that eating chicken would probably be fine, as long as I was immediately following it with Tamiflu, seeing as chicken and egg dishes were all my host mother served.

The first night of my stay at my host family's house, my host sister, her mother and I were sitting at the table at the end of the day, doing homework and watching a documentary about horses. Trying to spark up a conversation, and my conversation I mean game of charades, my host mother gestured for me to give her my Chinese language textbook, and I proudly did so.

She leafed through the pages, stopped to look at some of the pictures, and let out a giggle every few flips of a page. Finally, she landed on the page that taught direction, the most

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complex grammar I had mastered to date. "Grandma is in the house." "I am in front of the house." "The cell phone is under the dog." This page really gave her a good laugh. In the first English words I had ever heard her speak, she said, "You're learning this? Here, we teach this in kindergarten."

Suddenly, my ability to tell you where my second-cousin-twice-removed was relative to the air conditioning felt like nothing. Before I had time to feel ashamed my host mother grabbed her daughter 's English textbook off the table, handed it to me and said, "Would this be kindergarten level in America, too?" Not wanting to say no, thus giving her the power to put me down, and not wanting to say yes, and thus make my host sister feel the way I did in that moment, I simply said "? ? ? ? (I don't know)." Truth be told, her grammatical skills were impeccable, but her vocabulary was at a basic level.

In Sedaris's piece, he tells the story of his own experience of learning a foreign language through unsolicited embarrassment. When expected to say what he loves and hates in French, Sedaris asks the question, "...How often is one asked and then publicly ridiculed for his answer?" (Sedaris 254). I asked this same question when put down for my own language ability, and it's a tough one to answer. In the moment, it seems defeating, especially when you are placed in a situation where "it's everybody into the language pool, sink or swim" (Sedaris 253). Yes, it's easy to retreat into not using the language at all in fear of further ridicule, especially when the feelings of "fear and discomfort crept beyond the borders of the classroom and accompanied me out onto the wide boulevards" (Sedaris 255). However, silence is the easy way out. You have to risk sounding like a kindergartener.

While Sedaris's fears followed him outside of the classroom, mine were contained to the home I would be living in for another week and the family I would be sharing a one-room apartment with. Sedaris's fear of using French went as far as ignoring the phone when it rang, and pretending to be deaf. My fear didn't go this far, however, like Sedaris I similarly was "convinced that everything I said was wrong" (Sedaris 255). When you're confident in your language ability, it can feel like the world is in your hands. You feel capable, independent, and free. But when your faith in this ability is shattered, the simple, everyday things you take for granted in your own language, like being able to ask where the nearest bathroom is, or how you get to the entrance of the temple to find your group because your cell phone doesn't work overseas and your passport is in someone else's backpack, become tasks that require thoughtfulness. The trust is broken between you and the language and you retreat into thinking not about how you can say what you want to say, but rather about how you can communicate this in any way other than speech.

Sedaris and I also had moments of clarity after avoiding our respective languages.

Sedaris's revelation came when his teacher compared the pain of teaching him to being worse than a caesarean section. It is the first moment where he grasped the meaning of an entire sentence. Not just the grammar. Not just key words. The statement was understood in its entirety.

My moment was when we were clearing off the table after dinner, and my host father was

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attempting, through various gestures and Google Translate entries, to tell me that tonight's chicken wings had been made with beer. As he walked into the kitchen snapping open another can, my host sister said to him, "I think you've had enough to drink," thinking that I wouldn't know what she was saying. But I sat on the couch with the biggest smile I'd had the whole trip.

I finally felt like I was really learning, not through a textbook, but through listening and immersion, and that was the best feeling. Although, like Sedaris, I couldn't coherently respond, or at least not without admitting to eavesdropping on what might have been a confrontation about my host father 's relationship with alcohol. After this, all I wanted to hear was more Chinese.

I can't speak for Sedaris, but I did not come home fluent, that is to say fluent in the traditional sense. However, I did return with something of more value. In the moment, being told that my Chinese would be compared to that of a kindergartener was not the most encouraging learning experience I had ever had, but it forced me to abandon relying on traditional methods of learning. Textbooks are not going to allow you to understand when you host father may have a drinking problem, or when your teacher insults you, but listening, gesturing, and eavesdropping will. When I had that moment of clarity, my world, like Sedaris's, opened up and I was no longer ashamed of being elementary, because I wasn't stopping there.

Works Cited Sedaris, David. "Me Talk Pretty One Day". The Writers Presence: A Pool of Readings. 8th edition.

Ed. DOnald McQuade and Robert Atwan. Boston, MA. Bedford/St. Martins. 2015. 252-256.

Print.

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The Danger s of One

by Sydney Savoie

There is a virus. A nasty, toxic virus that attacks the brain of young children. It can fester for years, sometimes decades or even lifetimes. This toxin can turn the most docile princess into a ferocious beast. Thankfully not contagious, this condition is passed down from parents onto their children. However this disease is only inherited by the eldest child and practically disappears after the birth of another sibling. The sad part of this condition is that most cases go untreated. People preferring to ignore it rather than providing adequate treatment. This infection goes by a name: O.C.S. Shorthand for one of the most deadly afflictions affecting children worldwide: Only Child Syndrome.

I write this now, dear reader, as a survivor. Growing up without siblings, I was exposed to the virus. Born in 1997, I was already drenched in the culture of the attention--craving generation Y. This coupled with my crippling case of O.C.S. created the perfect combination for a deadly storm. Thankfully, I was able to overcome my condition, becoming a healthy and proactive member of society. Others are capable of this radical cure. It?s quite simple really, provided that O.C.S. is treated in its beginning stages. Prevention early on is key to battling O.C.S. Along with a toddler ?s early vaccinations of Chicken Pox and Polio, another important preventative measure to take is the Day Care vaccine. This vaccine expose children at risk to O.C.S. with vital social skills such as: sharing, taking turns, and listening to the opinions of others. Without this vaccine, potential O.C.S. sufferers enter elementary school without ever even experiencing these concepts.

Unfortunately, my own parents feared this vaccine, thinking it would have negative side effects. Grandma?s house became my substitute for the day care vaccination. Had other cousins been involved during these crucial years, perhaps this replacement could have sufficed. However, it became another form of exposure to the toxin. Four years later I entered the Little Flock Pre--school unvaccinated. Here, I was finally exposed to the aforementioned vital social skills that I lacked. I remember other children wanting to share my toys, take turns with crayons, and even make important decisions. Oh the horror! One little girl (obviously not a carrier) had the audacity to tell me to;??Wait your turn!? Being unfamiliar with this kind of treatment, I displayed one of the most dangerous symptoms of O.C.S.: the Temper Tantrum.

A Temper Tantrum to an O.C.S. sufferer is to that of a seizure to an epileptic. The difference being many outside sources are trained in how to deal with an epileptic seizure. Very few adults have mastered the art of calming this raging storm that is the Temper Tantrum. Proper training for educators in this is severely lacking.

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After I was informed that in order to play with the Barbie doll of my choosing I would have to wait my turn, I remember feeling my little fists clench into tight balls of fury. Tears welled up in my eyes and began to stain my cheeks. A mighty roar began to form in my throat. It continued to build, the suspense bewildering the tiny tot before me. Like the crescendo of a great symphony, it exploded. Tiny fists and feet flailed wildly, as tears and screams rang throughout the classroom. The teacher, clearing assuming someone had been seriously injured, hurried over to see what the commotion was about. I remember the deep concern in my teacher ?s voice as she politely inquired, ?Sydney, what?s wrong?? All sympathy left her voice after my retort. ?Lauren said I had to wait to play with the Barbie!? I had reported this fact to the teacher as if I had been the victim of a great injustice. She began as most educators do when dealing with an episode. ?Well Sydney, it?s Lauren?s turn to play with the Barbie. Then when she?s done it will be your turn.? Her response is strong and rational. However a toddler suffering from an O.C.S. attack is the furthest possible thing from rational. ?But, I want it!? In my mind, this defense made all the sense in the world. Every time prior in my life I had received all of the toys that I so desired. And here was my teacher, informing me that for some reason that was beyond my comprehension this was not how things worked. ?You?re just going to have to wait.? The teacher replied. I could hear the impatience in her voice. This conversation did not quell the Temper Tantrum as more screams and kicks erupted from my former demon self. I remember the teacher ?s annoyed and distraught expression as she turned towards the patient toddler and said, ?Lauren, please let Sydney have the Barbie, you can play with something else.? Reluctantly, the polite child handed the teacher the doll who in turn handed it to me. Screams silenced and tears dried as I snatched the Barbie from the teacher ?s hand with an insincere ?Thank you? and resumed playing as if nothing had happened.

This memory did not leave me for many years to come. Despite my young age, I was not stupid. I easily could put two and two together and realize how easy it was to get what I wanted.

Over the next few years I had mastered the art of getting my way. I could gauge any situation and determine the amount of tears required in order to achieve my goal. I was like a master chess player, using my opponent's emotions in order to win. The prize? Anything I wanted. This is another note to add to the list of preventative measures of a potential O.C.D. sufferer; never let them win. Do not underestimate the sufferer due to their lack of years.

If an infected child wins a power struggle against you, they can now catalogue your weaknesses and use them for future reference. He or she will know all the right buttons to push, time and time again. One simple medication for a Temper Tantrum episode would be what is called a ?Time Out.? While the O.C.D. sufferer is testing you, remember that they are also impatient. Waiting them out is the best strategy. Letting them win in order to save you a headache today only hurts worse in the long run.

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Narratives

One of the many side effects of this condition does not hinder the infected, but rather the parents of the diseased child. They enter a state of denial whenever someone tries to confront them about their child?s condition. This symptom is a dangerous sign, as it shows that even the parents have gone blind to the obvious signals around them. Tantrums and Tears become commonplace, viewed as the norm. Others trying to communicate about the disease are seen as threats to the blinded parent. One parent usually experiences this more than the other.

Typically it?s the parent closest to the child (ie. Mothers and Sons/Fathers and Daughters).

Sometimes even after the infected child is cured, the parents remain permanently stuck in this phase. Sometime earlier this year, I asked my parents about how they dealt with me when I was a sufferer of O.C.S. My mother sighed and with a shrug she replied: ?It certainly wasn?t easy.? My father stared at her blankly, confused by her answer. ?You were never a Brat.? He snapped with confidence. ?Spoiled, maybe. But not Spoiled Rotten.?

To the outsider, Spoiled and Spoiled Rotten appear to be synonyms. In the real world they go hand in hand. My father still to this day views these words as if they coexisted in an ancient dichotomy. The Yin and Yang of Only Child Disease. Spoiled only meant receiving special treatment, while Soiled Rotten meant receiving special treatment and then transforming into a hideous monster over the tiniest of details. One could be spoiled without being rotten. If left untreated, O.C.D. can develop into a wide array of permanent disorders. The most common being, Diva Syndrome. This condition mostly develops in A--List celebrities, however it also can stem from Only Child Syndrome. These unfortunate children grow into horrid adults, still believing the universe revolves around them. At this point, it?s nearly impossible to cure.

Thankfully, my case of O.C.S. never progressed into Diva Syndrome. The help that finally arrived for my condition did not come from any adult or mentor, nor from anyone who was supposed to help. The aforementioned people actually tried to stop this crucial life-saving medication from ever reaching me. Yes, dear reader, this medication was called humility, and it was administered by my peers.

When we think of a child being outcast, segregated and alone, our immediate plan of attack is to try and help this unfortunate soul. This is precisely the treatment that is needed in order to cure O.C.S. Just as you would starve a cold, you must starve an O.C.S. sufferer of all love and attention. It was fifth grade, and I was ten years old when a new girl moved to school.

My best friend Carly became attached to her, and they immediately became close friends. I saw red whenever they hung out together. The possibility of sharing in friendships did not occur to me. I saw this new girl as a threat, and she had started a war. In my attempts to regain the friendship of Carly, I had lost it all together. ?I?m not talking to you ever again!? Her words still echo in my mind, and I can still see her walking off to the swing set with the new girl. Without me. How could this be happening?

She was MY friend! How could she do this to me? I plopped down on my bottom and began to cry. In the early days, this would bring up a huge response. Peers and teachers would come rushing to my aid, willing and able to help. Now everyone avoided me like the plague. As I sat there in the dirt, crying, I kept asking myself this question: ?Why didn?t anyone like me??

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Narratives

My parents consoled me for hours that night. Perhaps it was my unique way of leaving out certain details in my retellings, but never once did they inform me that this was all my fault.

They tried to build me up instead, telling me that it wasn?t fair that they didn?t let me swing with them. Tomorrow morning they would contact my teacher and see to it that I was no longer excluded. It was that night in my pink full--sized bed, surrounded by stuffed animals, dollhouses and everything a little girl could dream of, I realized I was not a princess by any stretch of the imagination. I was mean, rude, and bossy. It was the next day at school when I went up and said the five words an O.C.S. sufferer would never say in a million years. ?I?m sorry. I was wrong.? Carly and I are still very close friends to this day.

I am proud to say that I have been a survivor for eight years. Even though I am an only child, I am able to participate in everyday society. Of course, I still have some flare ups, my previous condition reminding myself of its former reign. When my friends talk over me, or things don?t go my way, I?ll sometimes catch my chest tightening and breath quickening.

Fortunately I now have the strength and willpower to stop the ridiculously over dramatic storm.

This toxic disease, Only Child Syndrome, has, ironically, not received the immediate attention that it needs. The sufferer literally cries out for the help of an adult, albeit not effectively. An Only Child is not doomed to brathood simply due to their lack of siblings, but rather they need an extra push in the right direction. As I write this now I am a fully functioning adult attending a jesuit university. Sometimes I cringe when I think back on how much of a brat I was in my early years. Other times, I think of all of the good I have received from being an only child. The two greatest cheerleaders on the planet, my mom and dad, are always there for me.

The three of us are the most comfortable amongst each other. Due to this, I was comfortable with adults at a young age. Despite the negative aspects of being an only child there is hope. These infected children just need the right treatment in order to thrive in society.

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Resear ch & Ar gument The aims of Core Writing include focusing on giving students opportunities to practice inquiry, reflection, critical thinking, and argumentation.

One of the ways this goal is achieved is through the research assignment. In fact, most professors teaching EN11 include a Research and/or Argument essay in their assignments each semester.

The criteria the editors applied making our selections for the Research and Argument section included: compelling subject matter, well-reasoned theses supported with evidence drawn from relevant and significant research, and an articulate and engaging writing style.

There was no shortage of high quality submissions in this category; in fact, our primary challenge was in narrowing the field. Ultimately, we chose four essays that embody the goals that we as professors set for our students.

"It's Time to Rethink America's Gun Control Laws" by Daniella Mussacchio explores a controversial issue with exceptional fairness, defining the term and the current state of gun control laws in the U.S. before exploring arguments made both in favor and in opposition to changing those laws. Mussacchio's handling of a hot-button issue is remarkably even-handed; she gives voice to proponents of both views while clearly expressing her own position on this issue.

Elizabeth Nigro's essay on the debate about

the value of a liberal arts education versus a STEM-focused course of study calls for us to "Terminate the War of Liberal Arts vs. STEM." In this essay, Nigro makes the connection between what is valued in academia and what is valued in the business world to develop what may seem a surprising conclusion. She does so with a blend of vivid, engaging prose and effective use of research.

"Proposal for a Passport to the Virtual World" makes an argument in favor of requiring specific standards to maintain and access social media accounts. In this essay, writer Timothy Salit moves "outside-the-box" by combining research drawn from such standard sources as academic journals and the like with a first-hand examination of how Fairfield University students take advantage of the anonymity of Yik Yak to express themselves in ways that range from benign charm to disturbing ideas about race.

In "What Are You Having?", a 2016 Core Writing Award honorable mention, Katie Thomson makes a compelling case for arming oneself with information in order to become a more conscious consumer of seafood. Thomson makes effective use of pathos to appeal to her readers' emotions, simultaneously wielding logic and evidence to create a persuasive argument.

Each of these essays is exemplary in ways that are as unique as the students who wrote them.

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-Prof. Elizabeth Hilts

Research & Argument

It's Time to Rethink Amer ica's Gun Contr ol Laws

by Daniella Musacchio

Mass shootings have unfortunately become very common in the United States and have led many citizens to question America?s current gun control laws. There is an average of 92 gun deaths each day in the United States (Kristoff). Whether or not there should be more gun control laws enacted in the United States is a widely debated topic among both politicians and concerned citizens. Those who argue against the enactment of gun control laws say that setting restrictions on gun ownership is a violation of the individual liberties granted to them as American citizens, and gun ownership is not related to the large amount of violent crime in the country. On the other hand, those in support of gun control laws believe that widespread gun ownership does increase acts of violence. The United States?current gun control laws are greatly flawed and must be fixed in order to decrease the amount of accidental gun deaths, lethal violence, and suicides in the nation.

Before discussing the different stances on gun control, one must understand what the term ?gun control? means. Gun control is a term used to describe any restriction on the selling, buying, possession, modification, or usage of firearms. Gun control debates today mainly focus on the requirement of background checks, the possession of guns in public, and the possession of assault rifles (PĂŠrez-Pena). Gun control laws are different in each country. Some countries, like the United Kingdom, have very strict restrictions on the possession of firearms.

Other countries, such as the United States, have relatively few limits on gun possession.

It is also important to understand what the current state of gun control is in the United States. Certain people are banned by law to possess firearms. These people include those who have a criminal background, illegal immigrants, drug addicts, those with a record of mental illness, those who have been dishonorably discharged from the military, and anyone who has a permanent restraining order against them. The law also requires that gun dealers conduct background checks on their customers before allowing them to purchase a gun from themselves (PĂŠrez-Pena).

This may sound like an effective system on the surface, however there are major flaws in it.

There are incomplete listings of criminal cases in the F.B.I. database. Also, many mentally ill people need to be ?adjudicated as a mental defective? by a court in order to be denied the ability to purchase a gun. Since most people who have a mental illness have not been declared mentally defective by a court or other form of authority, they are not denied the ability to purchase a gun.

This is why many mass shootings have occurred as a result of a mentally disturbed person being able to possess a gun legally. According to a study done by Quinnipiac University in September of 2015, Americans are evenly divided when presented with the question of

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whether or not they believe there should be more gun control laws in the country (PĂŠrez-Pena). However, an overwhelming majority, including gun owners themselves, supports the belief that there should be background checks and an effort to prevent mentally ill people from obtaining firearms (Kristoff).

Most gun control laws exist at the state-level, and so restrictions on firearms vary depending on the state. Although some states are stricter than the federal system and require background checks before private gun sales, most states do not even require a license or permit to possess a gun. One of the greatest problems with the current state of gun control is that many small-scale gun sellers, which includes most who do business at gun shows, do not have to give background checks before selling their guns. This means that a criminal, drug addict, or deeply disturbed person, among the others supposedly prohibited by law to buy guns, can easily possess firearms. Laws on the carrying of firearms in different settings also varies depending on state.

Most states allow any person who legally owns a gun to carry it in public with no license or permit, and access to a permit allowing one to carry a concealed gun is granted easily in most states as long as the gun is legally owned (PĂŠrez-Pena).

Some guns-rights activists believe that gun control laws that promote background checks are an invasion of privacy. Background checks require accessing information about the gun owner such as his or her criminal record, mental health history, and address. Background checks aren?t meant to invade someone?s privacy, but are meant to ensure that a weapon that is capable of doing significant harm to another is in safe hands. Some also argue that performing background checks is a waste of the government?s money. Taking extensive measures to prevent a potentially dangerous person from obtaining firearms is not a waste of money.

One example of a mass shooting that could have been prevented with stricter background checks is the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that occurred on December 14, 2012 in Newton, Connecticut. Twenty year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot his mother and then proceeded to massacre twenty young children and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary using high capacity magazines. As first responders arrived at the scene, he then committed suicide by shooting himself in the head (Eagan, Sarah Healy, et al). This event was incredibly disturbing because no one would expect to hear the news that their six-year old child got murdered while trying to get an education, especially in a country like America. Unfortunately, it was not the first time a terrifying event like this occurred in a setting that is supposed to be safe, such as a school or movie theater. Numerous mass shootings have occurred in the United States after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Although investigators could not find a precise answer to as to why Lanza committed the murders, but they did learn some things about him. Lanza had clear ?social-emotional? problems that had been increasingly getting worse since he was in middle school (Ellis). He also had a disturbing obsession with violence, destruction, and war. An extensive background and psychological test would have prevented Lanza from acquiring firearms. Also, the banning of high-capacity 30-round magazines would have prevented him from being able to shoot so many children

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Research & Argument

so easily. A detailed report released by Connecticut?s Office of the Child Advocate said, ?? the conclusion cannot be avoided that access to guns is relevant to an examination of ways to improve the public health. Access to assault weapons with high capacity magazines did play a major role in this and other mass shootings in recent history? (Egan et al). Connecticut has now passed a law that prohibits the purchase or sale of ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds. The Second Amendment reads, ?A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed?

(Bill of Rights). The Second Amendment is at the core of the arguments of those who are against setting restrictions on firearms. It is important to remember the 18th century context and language in which the Second Amendment was written.

The authors of the Second Amendment may not have intended for Americans to have the individual right to own guns like these gun rights activists believe. The authors of the Second Amendment could have intended for it to grant the collective right to possess firearms through a militia. Regardless of what the authors?intentions were for the Second Amendment, one must remember that any right granted to us as American citizens is not unlimited. The Second Amendment, like all the other amendments, has its limitations. In the District of Columbia et al. v. Heller (2008) United States Supreme Court majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote, ?? from Blackstone through the 19th-century cases, commentators and courts routinely explained that the right was not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose? nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms? (Kommers).

Just as a person?s freedom of speech is limited in that they cannot elicit a dangerous situation by wrongfully shouting ?fire!? in a movie theater, a person?s freedom to bear arms should be limited to prevent a dangerous situation, such as a mass shooting, from occurring.

The most common platitude that gun rights activists use is, ?guns don?t kill people, people kill people.? Another version of this saying is, ?one doesn?t blame a pencil for misspelling a word.? The problem with this saying is that a gun cannot be compared to a pencil. A gun?s sole purpose is to kill or at least harm a target. A pencil?s purpose is not to cause harm to anything.

This is why guns need restrictions set on them and pencils do not. A guns rights activist may also argue that a murderer will find a way to kill even if he or she doesn?t have access to a gun.

Although this may be true, compared to other weapons such as knives, guns do a significantly larger amount of damage in a relatively shorter period of time.

Guns rights advocates argue that widespread gun ownership is not correlated with homicide and suicide rates. Some believe that a greater presence of firearms, rather than a smaller presence of firearms, will combat violence. The 1989 International Crime Survey would say otherwise. This survey was performed in eleven European countries, Australia, Canada, and the United States. The results of the survey showed that there was a positive correlation between household gun ownership and the rates of homicides and suicides committed with a

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Research & Argument

gun (Killias). American nonviolent crime rates are close to other industrialized nations? nonviolent crime rates. However, when it comes to lethal violence, America?s rates are significantly higher than those of other Western nations (Zimring). Perhaps this is because gun ownership is more widespread in America than in these other Western nations.

Guns rights activists also argue that mass shootings would be prevented if everyone was armed because a civilian could take out a killer before he did a substantial amount of damage.

In response to the recent attacks on Paris, Donald Trump said, ?When you look at Paris- you know the toughest gun laws in the world, Paris - nobody had guns but the bad guys.? If they had guns it would have been a much, much different situation? (CNN). Trump was correct when he said that it would have been a much different situation, but not in the way he thinks.

The horrific events at Paris would have been exacerbated if everyone was carrying a gun. Even the most highly trained police personnel kill bystanders, and so the chance of a common citizen being able to take out a killer is highly unlikely. Imagine if every person at the Paris shooting took out a gun that they were carrying on them. Rather than helping the situation, it probably would have made the mass shooting even more deadly.

Many people are shocked to learn that more than sixty percent of all gun deaths are the result of suicide. Many guns rights activists believe that this is not related to household gun ownership, because they think that someone who really wanted to commit suicide and didn?t have access to a gun would do so by means other than a gun. In Nicholas Kristof ?s New York Times article, he explains how during the 1950?s, fifty percent of suicides in Great Britain were performed by people putting their heads in the oven until the coal gas suffocated them to death.

Britain responded to this by switching from coal gas to natural gas, which is a less lethal gas. As a result, suicide rates in Britain dropped; people did not seek alternative methods to kill themselves. ?The British didn?t ban ovens, but they made them safer. We need to do the same with guns? (Kristoff). This shows how lack of access to a gun, a quick and simple way to die, does in fact prevent a person from the act of committing suicide. Most gun control activists like Kristoff do not want guns to be entirely banned, but just want them to be safer and out of potentially dangerous hands. Making strides to make guns safer can help prevent both suicide and homicide.

One way that guns can be made safer is through the addition of safety features to guns.

Smart guns, created by Kai Kloepfer after the movie theater shooting in Aurora, have a fingerprint sensor that can only fire when it recognizes a particular fingerprint on the grip (Kristof). A passcode or fingerprint identification is required to get into our smartphones and laptops, so why is it not required on our guns? Smart guns can make America a safer place because it would prevent both criminals and children from firing off a gun that is not theirs.

More than 150,000 guns are stolen each year in the United States, and smart gun technology can prevent a criminal from being able to use a gun that he or she stole. Smart gun technology could also decrease the number of accidental gun deaths, which most often occurs when a child takes their parents?gun while being unsupervised. Unfortunately, the National Rifle Association is against smart guns because they fear that they will become mandatory.

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Research & Argument

Opponents of smart guns say that smart guns aren?t totally reliable because they need to be charged about once a year (Kristof). However, smart guns undoubtedly have the ability to save lives, and why not try to make guns as safe as possible?

It is time for America to change its state of gun control, which is currently weak and riddled with loopholes. Extra measures must be taken to prevent firearms from being in the hands of a criminal, mentally ill person, or child. It is possible to decrease the amount of mass shootings, homicides, suicides, and accidental shootings in the United States, and it begins with the enactment of stricter gun control laws. Guns do not need to be abolished; they just need to be made safer.

Works Cited Eagan, Sarah Healy, et al. Shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Hartford: Office of the Child Advocate, 2014. Print.

Ellis, Ralph. ?Newton Shooter ?s Father: He Would Have Killed Me ?in a Heartbeat?.? CNN. Cable News Network, 10 Mar. 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.

Killias, M. ?International Correlations between Gun Ownership and Rates of Homicide and Suicide.? CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal 148.10 (1993): 1721?1725. Print.

Kommers, David P., John E. Finn, and Gary J. Jacobsohn. American Constitutional Law: Essays, Cases and Comparative Notes. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2009. Print.

Kristof, Nicholas. ?A New Way to Tackle Gun Deaths.? The New York Times. The New York Times, 03 Oct. 2015. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

Kristof, Nicholas. "Smart Guns Save Lives. So Where Are They?" The New York Times. The New York Times, 17 Jan. 2015. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

PĂŠrez-Pena, Richard. ?Gun Control Explained.? The New York Times. The New York Times, 06 Oct. 2015. Web. 11 Nov. 2015. ?Trump: Paris Massacre Would Have Been 'Much Different' If People Had Guns?. CNN. CNN, 14 Nov. 2015. 15 Nov. 2015. Web. Zimring, Franklin E., and Gordon Hawkins. Crime is Not the Problem: Lethal Violence in America. New York: Oxford UP, 1997. Print.

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Research & Argument

Ter minate the War of Liber al Ar ts vs. STEM

by Elizabeth Nigro

Why would someone want to waste his/her time attending a liberal arts school? It doesn?t make sense as to why anyone would want to become a well rounded person, ready to flourish in the world upon graduation, with skills such as perception, understanding, critical thinking, and the willingness to succeed! Hopefully the sarcasm is vivid, because a liberal arts education is far more advantageous than a regular public education. Some may argue that because the world is becoming more dependent on the sciences and technology, a liberal arts education is unnecessary and a waste, and students should focus solely on STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math).

However, these days, it is true that the world is quite dependent on the science and technology, but a liberal arts education is most beneficial when applied and practiced alongside STEM. This is because the combination including liberal arts gives life-long skills crucial to success after graduation in STEM related jobs. Although majoring in STEM fields is becoming more of a necessity in the scientifically and technologically advancing world, a liberal arts education should not be pushed aside, but rather incorporated into STEM education because it creates well-rounded, innovative, leaders in both the work and community environments.

It is important to understand what a liberal arts education consists of and how it positively affects students both during college and after college. Harvard was the first liberal arts college founded in 1636. It was ?focused on the development of the ?whole person?? (Pascarella 3).

Several studies were carried out by Ernest Pascarella and his team regarding the short-term and long-term impacts of a liberal arts education on students. They found that there are a few main problems associated with the perception of a liberal arts education. The public doesn?t understand the benefits of the liberal arts, and STEM subjects are overshadowing the liberal arts in our current society. It is understandable that the public doesn?t understand the advantages because they may not be aware of the statistics and facts regarding this education, but there certainly are several benefits. STEM is in fact becoming more influential, but the liberal art subjects should not fade away. They should be used to reinforce and apply the knowledge gained from STEM courses (Pascarella).

Some voices believe that a liberal arts education is worthless. For example, in an interview in 2011 Governor Scott expressed his belief that liberal arts majors are essentially useless because there are no longer enough jobs for them. ?Is it a vital interest of the state to have more anthropologists? I don?t think so? (Harriman). Although it may be harder for some liberal arts major to get jobs in today?s scientifically and technologically driven world, if everyone went for solely STEM jobs, the competition for jobs would be just as bad. Liberal arts majors are necessary to balance out the STEM professions. If the funding for liberal arts programs

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Research & Argument

diminishes, we would no longer have teachers to provide education for today?s youth, and that would clearly end in a disaster. Some voices against liberal arts majors may also say that these majors make far less money than STEM majors. However, this is proven to be false. Right out of college, STEM majors tend to make more money but once someone is ?at peak earning ages (51-60), the average annual salary for liberal arts majors is $66,185, compared to $64,149 among professional majors: (Harriman). This is most likely due to the fact that liberal arts degrees come with much more flexibility in the long-run than STEM degrees, which are typically more specific to a particular job (Harriman).

Pascarella and his team?s studies found several positive outcomes when it comes to the liberal arts. Students?degrees of personal recognition, self-definition, and moral reasoning are higher at liberal arts schools than public universities. Students are more aware of the change they can make on the world and have a better understanding of not only themselves, but the people around them. In one study, students who attended liberal arts college appreciated, trusted, and liked their professors and were more engaged in the general education they received far more than those who attended a non liberal arts school.

Liberal arts education promotes cooperation and support as well as solid relationships between students and faculty allowing faculty to provide useful feedback through high quality teaching skills and high expectations. One study examined graduates from both private and public colleges and universities for up to twenty-five years after graduation. ?Liberal arts college alumni were about 1.27 times as likely to obtain a graduate or professional degree as graduates of public institutions? (Pascarella 75). These graduates also smoke and drink less than public graduates, and believe that their spiritual development and role as citizens are important to their character. Overall, they are generally happier with their college education.

Another factor influencing the success of liberal arts schools is their tendency to be smaller in enrollment size. Median enrollment size was 1,707 for liberal arts schools and 22,990 in the public universities. This small size creates constructive interactions with other students through extra-curriculars, allowing a flow of ideas between one-another, and promoting positive faculty-student relationships (Pascarella).

Now that the value and usefulness of a liberal arts education has been laid out, it is imperative to recognize the advantage of incorporating STEM into this type of education. Razib Khan and Michael Crow have opposing opinions on liberal arts and STEM. Khan believes public universities should focus more on STEM while private universities should continue to focus on liberal arts. He believes that public university students would lack the connections private university students would have after graduation, so they should not be focusing on these liberal arts subjects because they will most likely not succeed (Salam). It is accurate that liberal arts colleges tend to be more expensive due to more options and services available to students, as well as smaller student to teacher ratios. Therefore, liberal arts colleges are majority middle and upper class students in comparison to public universities.

However, it is unfair to say that public university students won?t succeed if they major in a liberal art. Connections can be obtained through greater things than how much money someone?s family has, and whether one goes to a private or public institution. This shows STEM and liberal arts should not be separated but rather integrated. Crow, a university

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Research & Argument

president, in opposition to Khan, believes in continuing STEM education because the world is highly revolving around these fields, but liberal arts education gives a large variety of skills to make the STEM subjects thrive and work into everyday life. He talks about how STEM skills are obviously a necessity for engineering students, but they need far more skills only provided in a liberal arts education. ?It is essential that we develop in our students the ability to understand the complexity and interrelatedness of our cultural, economic, natural, political, social, and technological systems? (Salam).

Carol Christ, President of Smith College in Massachusetts, believes that engineering students especially need the skill of listening to and understanding contradictory beliefs even if they do not completely agree. This will allow the students to look deep into a subject matter rather than skim the surface simply because they do not agree (Christ). Georgia Tech President changed the acceptance process for the engineering program by looking specifically for people with broader talents like playing an instrument or having cooking skills (Hurley).

Although these skills don?t seem like they would match up with engineering, they make you a versatile person with the capability of becoming a noteworthy and prosperous leader in the workplace and world.

It is important to recognize what employers are looking for in potential employees and how a liberal arts education will positively affect a student?s job search and workplace experience after college. STEM is clearly becoming a major contribution to our world considering ?STEM workers overall may earn 26% more than their counterparts? (Hurley).

Nonetheless, relying solely on STEM professions can be risky and unpredictable because ?a college graduate will hold multiple jobs and may even see multiple careers? (Hurley). So how can someone outshine the competition while applying for a job? One would want to prove to the employer that he/she has the skills needed for thriving in the workplace environment. ?93% of employers agree that ?a demonstrated capacity to think critically, and solve complex problems is more important than [a candidate?s] undergraduate major ?? (Harriman).

A study involving interviews with several CEOs of companies, CEOs would rather hire someone with liberal arts skills such as teamwork, optimism, and critical thinking rather than solely occupational skills? (Hurley). There is also a high acceptance rate for graduate schools when the applicant is proficient in these skills. Smaller schools have more leadership opportunities and activities to get involved with, deepening the interactions between peers and putting forward new perspectives. Liberal arts schools also put an emphasis on commitment in putting forth one?s best effort and making sure concepts are thoroughly understood through in depth writing assignments. If someone wants to become a physician, for example, his/her knowledge from and attained by these qualities and experiences are critical. ?Medical schools also look for...traits such as leadership, social maturity, purpose, motivation, initiative, curiosity, common sense, perseverance, and breadth of interests? (What 11). Therefore, the prosperity of one?s career post-college is almost entirely dependent on the experience and exposure to these skills during college, and are best attained at a liberal arts college.

Several executives, including Walt Disney and the CEOs of FedEx and Dell, received a liberal arts education and acquired the skills not only essential for the specific job, but crucial

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techniques in order to rise to the top of their companies. Steve Jobs, famous for his work with Apple, dropped out of college and continued his interest in the liberal arts by attending designing classes. He later incorporated technological and art and design skills to create products such as the iPad (Hurley). This shows that STEM should not be separated from the liberal arts because when put together, the two can make an innovative product.

Some may say it is obviously not realistic to think that everyone will become as successful as these CEOs. This is true, but, you don?t have to be a CEO to be successful in your career.

Carleton S. Fiorina majored in philosophy and history and is now the head of Hewlett Packard, and has accomplished a great deal for gender equality in technological fields (What). This shows that education in liberal arts not only provides the strength and determination to make it to the top, but also the courage to make a difference once you?re up there.

It can be argued that focusing on occupational skills is enough to be successful, however, applying communication and critical thinking skills will allow these successes to grow. Loretta Jackson-Hayes is a professor at Rhodes College and teaches chemistry. Loretta states, ?we can have both? (Jackson) and advocates for the combining of liberal arts with STEM. She mentors her students and helps them to develop the skills needed to plan and evaluate experiments together as a group, so they will eventually be able to do it on their own. She allows her students to attend conferences and write articles to communicate their findings and thoughts to the public. One student used the knowledge he gained in his computer science class to invent a machine to decrease errors in calculations (Jackson). This is a perfect example of using critical thinking to apply different areas of expertise with one another.

This skill is imperative and will be looked upon highly by this student?s boss someday; that is if he himself isn?t the boss. A liberal arts education provides the resources and experiences necessary to be a well-rounded person. Optimism, perception, analysis, critical thinking, and communication are just a few skills this type of education implements. Attending Fairfield University, I have personally been affected by this type of learning. Upon taking art history I have acquired a greater appreciation for art and architecture, and have applied what I have learned in my religion class to figure out the reasoning behind the creation and construction of specific ancient artworks and architecture.

I have attended events that have connected me to the world and culture outside of Fairfield, and developed a sense of perception in regards to the people and world around me.

Aside from the liberal arts, majoring in STEM related fields is becoming more of a necessity considering the world is becoming more dependent on scientific and technological advances.

It is understandable that some people think that STEM should replace the liberal arts because of its relevance. Nevertheless, when STEM and the liberal arts are put together as a dynamic duo, they allow students to thrive not only in their specific jobs, but in a forever changing, complex world.

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Works Cited Christ, Carol T. "Myth: A Liberal Arts Education Is Becoming Irrelevant." American Council on Education. N.p., 2012. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

Harriman, David. "The Pros and Cons of a Liberal Arts Degree." SchoolMoneyorg. N.p., 09 June 2015. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.

Hurley, Richard V. "Beyond STEM: Educating a Workforce of Thinkers and Doers." U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. N.p., 17 May 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

Jackson-Hayes, Loretta. "We Don?t Need More STEM Majors. We Need More STEM Majors with Liberal Arts Training." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 18 Feb. 2015. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

Pascarella, Ernest T. Liberal Arts Colleges and Liberal Arts Education: New Evidence on Impacts.

31, no. 3;31, no. 3.; Vol. San Francisco: Wiley, 2005. Web. Salam, Reihan. "What Should Be the Role of America's Public Colleges and Universities?"

National Review Online. N.p., 24 Oct. 2011. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

"What Is a Liberal Arts Education and Why Is It Important Today?" (n.d.): n. pag. Purchase.

Purchase College. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

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Pr oposal for a Passpor t to the Vir tual Wor ld

by Timothy Salit

Unlike any other time, the world is available at our finger tips; we are the first fully connected generation. Virtual platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Yik Yak offer the opportunity to unite everyone. Social media has provided society with unparalleled communication capabilities; we know our friends?, family?s and favorite celebrities?thoughts, actions and views at any given moment or location. Unfortunately, this alternative world has evolved into a dangerous environment due to anonymous settings.

Social media is a destructive platform that generates hate and enables malicious behaviors such as cyberbullying and derogatory language. As a result, technology is ahead of ethics and we are faced with the dilemma of trying to figure out how to enforce correct online behavior.

Society should not eradicate social media because it has the ability to ignite positive change. We can educate and advocate about current events or meaningful causes. In order for social media to strictly be used in positive ways, we need to institute required standards in order to maintain and access accounts on virtual platforms. To ensure the dismissal of negative online actions, society must eliminate any of social media?s anonymous accounts, settings or platforms because it restricts the ability to hide behind a digital faรงade; to ensure traceable identities we should establish a passport to the virtual world.

Social media has enabled one to develop a new identity within the internet. According to a study from the Pew Research center, 76% of all American internet users partake in at least one form of social media (Perrin). Therefore, this problem is applicable to a majority of the population, and is only growing. Millenials have become captivated on the online realm, where they find themselves addicted to the life style that these platforms have to offer. David Brunksill, a consultant forensic psychiatrist, conceptualized the idea of an online avatar. He concluded that the virtual online world has allowed individuals to develop an avatar that interacts within cyber space.

With the advent of social media providing an opportunity of self-representation, the term avatar has been modernly defined as ?one?s personal manifestation in a virtual world- the image you create for yourself, as well as the psychological character or persona you present to others? (400). A virtual avatar can often drift away from one?s physical self, they can become an alternative representation of who they are due to the security anonymity provides. The school?s jock can become an emotional and compassionate person who posts vulnerable information. While the quiet and insecure student in the back of the room can stand up for social movements they believe in.

Although this mechanism gives one the opportunity to say what they are afraid to say in person, the freedom of being someone new is often taken advantage of. Avatars can be

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unexpected people, opposite to who they portray themselves as. Many individuals feel liberated to speak out since social media platforms sanctions anonymity. Issues of hate speech and cyberbullying have generated as a result of anonymous internet settings.

A primary example of social media?s anonymous capabilities is demonstrated daily on the app, Yik Yak. Caitlin Dewey, a digital culture critic, explains that it is a public, anonymous, location based message board that is popular on college campuses. Once you acquire the app, you can post anything you want to nearby readers who can anonymously comment, up-vote or down-vote the messages posted (5). Yik Yak contains so much potential and possibilities for the way students utilize it. In some cases, it serves as an opportunity to empower students who feel marginalized. Arguably, students have the ability to use free speech as an opportunity to make a positive change and spread a progressive message.

Additionally, it could serve as a platform for jokes, campus activity updates and an outlet for adjusting students. For example, on November 18, 2015 at Fairfield University you could find a variety of Yaks from ?What?s the deal with the SHU game on Saturday.. Do we need tickets?

How do we get there?? to ?Girl sitting in the front at the IRHA meeting, you are absolutely stunning?. However, the fundamental right of free speech is often abused and emphasizes odium within human nature.

This negative side is exemplified on Fairfield University messages posted on December 5, 2014 during a silent demonstration. According to Shana Lynch, a Fairfield University student, after the death of Michael Brown and Eric Gardner students showed support for the #BlackLivesMatter campaign around campus. Students responded negatively as they yaked: ?#WhiteLivesMatter ?, ?And a big fuck you to the ignorant protesters?, topped off with ?If I was a cop I woulda shot 12 times? (Lynch). Nothing in Lynch?s report indicates anything to be said in person to any protester. Therefore, anonymity encouraged these comments. The app was a safe gateway for promoting and publishing hate within the college campus. These unjust and disturbing comments unfortunately parallel those at many college campuses across the country. Harassment through racist, homophobic and sexist comments has taken Yik Yak by storm in the past month.

Similar to last December at Fairfield University, Yik Yak was used as a foundation to create threats at the University of Missouri this past week. USA Today reported that after racism issues arose on campus, freedom of expression interfered with the insurance of a safe environment when hateful and threatening Yaks were posted. Northwest Missouri State University student Connor Stottlemyre was arrested on suspicion of making a terrorist threat after he allegedly posted a menacing message that read "I'm going to shoot any black people tomorrow, so be ready" (Alcindor and Stanglin). Stottlemyre?s online avatar had clearly felt empowered behind the screen of his phone. One could argue and point out that although the app is advertised as an anonymous domain, it is still traceable for the police to step in when necessary. Therefore, we do not have to worry about the incapability of revealing anonymity when messages put others in danger.

However, I believe that this was an avoidable act of injustice. If the opportunity to post without a name on the surface never existed, Sottlemyre or the Fairfield students would not have the guts to say their discriminatory comments in person. The superiority and power that

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Sottlemyre felt is common amongst many internet users. Often, online avatars single out and harass individuals which leads to cyber bullying. Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place over electronic devices such as cell phones, computers and tablets to victimize individuals. Hateful text messages, rumors on social media and embarrassing pictures or videos posted are common examples of cyberbullying. Unlike traditional bullying, cyberbullying messages and images can be posted anonymously and distributed quickly to a very wide audience. The United States Department of Health and Human Services explains that this form of bullying is harder to escape as a victim, which leads to more serious effects.

Hateful acts can relentlessly carry on all hours of the day, any day of the week, regardless where the bully is located (What is Cyberbullying). When callous individuals take advantage of these internet settings, it merges the digital and physical world in a deleterious way. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDP) more than 14 percent of high school students have considered suicide and nearly 7 percent have attempted it (Definitions: Self-directed Violence). The CDP recognizes cyberbullying as a rising and leading cause to teen suicide. Since the origins of these platforms, from MySpace to Facebook, there has been a series of disheartening teenage suicides due to online bullying.

According to LegalTrac, a legal database, a known example is the Meghan Meier Case. In 2007, Megan Meier took her life weeks before her 14th birthday due to antagonization from classmates and an online friend, Josh Evans. Josh and Megan became acquaintances online, the relationship helped Megan cope with low self esteem due to her weight. However, Josh spitefully ended the online friendship which alluded to the message, ?The world would be a better place without you?. When other classmates agreed online, it was the breaking point for Megan. It was later found out that Josh was a fictional avatar; instead, the account was created by Lori Drew, a mother of one of Megan?s neighborhood friends, Meredith. This detestable online hoax caused a teenager girl take her life because a woman was able to digitally disguise herself with a false identity. Clearly, nothing positive arises from the anonymity of avatars.

Social media has an abundance of wasted potential due to these issues, when people do not feel the need to hide themselves righteousness will emerge. With instant communication to an endless amount of users, social media gives one the power to make a positive change.

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is primary example of how social media can be used in an upbeat way. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge started in the summer of 2014 and became the world?s largest global social media phenomenon. During the three-month span, 17 million people uploaded their challenge videos to Facebook; these videos were watched by 440 million people a total of 10 billion times (ALS Ice Bucket Challenge - FAQ). These challenges required friends and family to dump of bucket of ice water over their head or donate to the ALS Foundation within 24 hours, or both. President Obama, professional athletes, celebrities, and myself, alike, were brought together for the common cause of putting an end to ALS. The social media campaign lead to extraordinary and unexpected results.

According to the ALS Association, with $115 million raised the challenge triggered new initiatives and accelerated research. Additional resources to pursue new programs for greater collaborative efforts have generated from funds. Most notably, the accumulation of all the

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newly added resources have accelerated the treatment development timeline. The ALS Association explained, ?The challenge has energized the research community, and The ALS Association has laid out a plan to triple the amount we spend on research every year ? (ALS Ice Bucket Challenge - FAQ). This medical progression would have been impossible without Facebook and other social media platforms. Started by an individual, he used the power of social media to quickly and efficiently send out a message. This campaign successfully began a digital movement that flourished into positive change for the physical world.

This movement differs from the hateful Yik Yak post at the University of Missouri and the cyberbullying of Megan Meier because there were never anonymous actions. Society was aware of who was posting, there was no reason to hide behind a computer screen when you are contributing to a cause greater than yourself.

On a smaller scale, but in a similar manner, students at Fairfield University in Professor Madden?s text and context class were able to see social media?s capabilities first hand. In place of a major essay, students were challenged to research and advocate for a charity that aids the global water scarcity issue. Students divided into groups and worked together to campaign for a charity of their choice. While many students did face to face fundraising at their day jobs, in their resident halls and at the re-inauguration of the university?s water wall, the most effective was online fundraising. Every group created a GoFundMe account which enabled them to have online donations. Using social media as a platform to put their charities in the spotlight, friends and family were able to donate.

Unlike any other time, fundraising is not limited to endless phone calls and door to door advocacy; instead, the internet allows one to quickly promote their charity to limitless amounts of people. Although the numbers are minuscule in comparison to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, every group was able to proudly raise over $100. The accumulated efforts and encouraging results were unfeasible without social media. On the downside, online fundraising campaign can be untrustworthy. However, I believe that this doubt will fade away with the proposed virtual passport; ultimately allowing social media to reach its full maximum potential to positively impact society. Although social media has privacy settings, it is clear that online avatars still have the ability negative effect society.

To eliminate problems such as cyberbullying and boost positive online behavior, society must restrict anonymity in the online world. It is clear that immoral motives all derive from the ability for one?s avatar to remain anonymous within the online realm. I propose that the most effective solution is for society to institute a virtual passport that makes one carry their true identification around the world of social media. Similar to a physical passport, your identification and travels are traceable on it.

As you grow and mature, you gain access to a wider domain of the online realm. Similar to our justice system, you can be restricted by past actions. Posts that break a set of laws result in result in suspension or expulsion depending on the magnitude of the crime. Through an online government, overseen by programmed computers, avatars?posts and actions are closely monitored. Through this system we can eliminate anonymous actions on the internet.

Avatars can never be a false faรงade that one cowardly hides behind on screen while posting nasty or derogatory comments. Avatars still have the ability to say what they want, but

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hopefully limited to only positive actions. Through this, society and their avatars can hopefully move towards solving social issues such as racism and gender inequality. With the online passport, we can ensure that the virtual world and physical world do not negatively collide with one another. Online behavior can emerge as positive change for the physical world.

Social media is a representation of the technological advancement society has progressed into. Unfortunately, it is clear that this new online world gives one the ability to convey hatred while hiding their face. Chauvinism and cyberbullying bring fear and destruction beyond the screens of one?s computer or smartphone. One could argue that social media should just be exterminated. This is not the answer because so much good has arisen from the evolution of technology. Society needs to eliminate anonymous settings. Of course, some people?s immoral and hurtful behavior cannot be stopped; however, through the creation of an online passport, the problems of social media can be minimized. As a result, the virtual and physical world will coexist as improved and progressive environments.

Works Cited Alcindor, Yamiche, and Doug Stanglin. "Non-student Arrested over Social Media Threats at U. of Missouri." USA Today. Gannett, 11 Nov. 2015. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

"ALS Ice Bucket Challenge - FAQ." ALSA.org. The ALS Association, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.

Brunskill, David. "The Dangers Of Social Media For The Psyche." Journal Of Current Issues In Media & Telecommunications 6.4 (2014): 391-415. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

"Definitions: Self-directed Violence." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 Aug. 2015. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.

Dewey, Caitlin. "What Is Yik Yak, the App That Fielded Racist Threats at University of Missouri?"

Washington Post. The Washington Post, 11 Nov. 2015. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.

Lynch, Shyana. "A Response To Fairfield Student's Protests for Social Justice." Her CampusFairfield University. Her Campus, 10 Dec. 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.

Meredith, Jessica P. "Combating cyberbullying: emphasizing education over criminalization."

Federal Communications Law Journal Dec. 2010: 311+. LegalTrac. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.

Perrin, Andrew. "Social Media Usage: 2005-2015." Pew Research Center. The Pew Research Center, 8 Oct. 2015. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.

"What Is Cyberbullying." What Is Cyberbullying. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

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What Ar e You Having?

by Katie Thomson

Would you do me a favor? The next time you are out for dinner at a nice seafood restaurant, look down at your plate and try to imagine the journey the fish took to get to you.

Let?s say for the sake of this exercise that you?ve ordered the Barramundi with Lemon Basil Sauce. Excellent choice. The peculiar thing about your dish- and its foreign sounding name, ?Barramundi?, is that the rest of the world calls it Asian sea bass. In the late 1980?s, the name was changed in order to market the fish better and it was rebranded with an Australian name that translated means ?large scaled river fish?. Maybe you?re thinking, ?Ok, but it was probably caught off the coast of Southeast Asia or Australia, it?s a wild Asian-Australian fish that a hardworking fisherman caught from his boat, threw on ice, and had it flown directly from their docks to Boston. Once this fish made it to America, an importer distributed it via refrigerated truck to the restaurant where I am enjoying my lovely dinner.? You couldn?t be more wrong.

The truth is, if you?re eating Barramundi in North America, its entire life- from roe to smoltwas spent circling in a tank before it was frozen and shipped to your favorite farm-to-table restaurant from a sleepy town in Western Massachusetts.

Over the last decade, a company called Australis Barramundi has been sustainably farming Asian sea bass in large, recirculating pens (think: massive, above ground whirlpools) in a hangar-sized warehouse on the outskirts of Springfield. Your fresh ?sea? bass has never actually swum in the sea- and that?s not necessarily a bad thing. Congratulations, you have chosen a sustainably sourced and hopefully delicious meal.

However, your dinner date ordered the salmon- and that is another story. Her fish came from the coast of Chile, where it was recently reported that the salmon farming industry used an astounding amount of antibiotics as a part of their farming methods? the highest amount out of any country. The report by Chile?s National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service revealed that the industry used over 993,000 pounds of antibiotics in 2013 alone. (Simon) While antibiotic use may ward off disease in these fish, the concern is that overuse of these antibiotics? many of which are used to treat human disease? may cause human antibiotic resistance.(Simon) We have to become more conscious of the fact that what is being put into the ocean, we are also putting onto a fork and into our mouths. Or, as it was more aptly put by the Monterey Bay Aquarium ?The ocean sustains all life on Earth. From the air we breathe to the seafood we eat, our very survival depends on healthy seas?.

As recently as 2008, aquaculture was thought to be an ideal solution to the ever increasing, worldwide demand for cheap protein- a problem worsened by declining wild fish stocks.

Aquaculture as it is practiced today has serious drawbacks, not the least being the issue of sewage, the heavy reliance on antibiotics, and the unsustainability of feed supplies for

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carnivorous fish such as salmon or halibut. But recent years have seen the development of alternative methods of aquaculture known as deep-water or open-water aquaculture, and new plant-based feed supplies- alternatives that, under the right circumstances, could become a massive new source of high-quality, relatively low cost protein with fewer externalities than todays dominant meats. (Roberts, 311) Unfortunately, the majority of fish farming occurs in coastal facilities which are extremely vulnerable to environmental problems. Furthermore, when larger fish like salmon or tuna are farmed it can be at great cost to the coastal habitat, whether it be in Chile, Norway, Alaska or Scotland. The majority of salmon are raised in open pens and cages along the coast, where the fish are targeted by predators such as seals and sea birds, who attempt to get through the nets. As a result, many salmon escape from their enclosures. These escapees threaten the wild species, increasing competition for food and for places to spawn and fertilize eggs. Fish farms pump uneaten food, a massive amount of excrement and often pesticides and antibiotics directly into the ocean, polluting the water. (Slowfish) Another adverse effect of aquaculture is that even though the cost is known to most who produce and consume salmon from coastal net cages, it remains a popular menu item and the global production of farmed salmon has roughly quadrupled in volume since the early 1990?s.

(Naylor, 185) The increasing size of the human population and their appetite for seafood is placing demands on the ocean that it can no longer meet.

According to a recently published study by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) there has been a 49% decline in the size of marine populations, more aptly put ?we?re down to half the fish in the sea?. (MacDonald) Though overfishing is cited as the major culprit for the disappearance of trout and mackerel, the inconvenient truth is that farmed fish, which should theoretically alleviate pressure on the wild populations, have negatively impacted both the wild population and the ocean areas in which they are farmed.

There are major factors to consider when it comes to offshore aquaculture: feed, chemicals, pollution, disease/escape and habitat damage. Farming fish is not always a sustainable alternative. In many countries, aquaculture production has depleted key ecosystems like mangroves, polluted aquatic environments and potentially reduced climate change resilience for coastal communities. When fish or shrimp are kept in pens or ponds, some can escape. When Atlantic salmon escape into the waters of the Pacific, they compete with already threatened wild Pacific salmon for food and disrupt habitat in wild rivers and streams. (Aquaculture) Poor management, a lack of capacity and access to technical knowledge, or irresponsible practices have also led to large-scale disease outbreaks, such as early mortality syndrome for shrimp in Asia. (Culprit, FAO) The disease, has over the past two years caused large-scale die-offs of cultivated shrimp in several countries in Asia, where one million people depend on shrimp aquaculture for their livelihoods. (Detail, FAO) In open pens or ?loch? systems the excess feed and feces created by hosting a large population of fish in a relatively small area can release untreated nutrients, and sometimes harmful chemicals and pharmaceuticals, into marine ecosystems, using "dilution as a solution"

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to water quality problems. Untreated wastewater laden with uneaten feed and fish feces contributes to nutrient pollution near open net pens. (Naylor) This creates a toxic environment for fish and shellfish. Antibiotics are typically administered in feeds and can enter the water the same way, through uneaten food or feces. Depending on the treatment, they can accumulate near net pens where fish have been treated and remain anywhere from a day to one and a half years. This long-lasting water pollution is occurring every day off the coast of every continent.

Even though we are inundated with the horrors of factory farming when it pertains to our diet and other sources of protein: beef, chicken and pork, yet we tend to overlook the production methods that make seafood readily available to us. We can no longer turn a blind eye to the unsustainable methods that bring fish to our plates. The ocean is screaming for our help.

Now that you?ve heard about some of the environmental atrocities committed by fish farming, you?re probably thinking, ?how can I help protect the future of the ocean?? The answer to this is simple: you can educate yourself and make better choices as a consumer. You can also get involved with, volunteer for or donate to programs that work with oceanic conservation. Not all seafood is unsustainable, but understanding which choices are hurting the ocean most and making more informed choices can lessen the demand for poorly sourced seafood.

There are incredible, delicious and truly sustainable options available. Especially if you live in New England- mussels, oysters, lobster and clams are just a few of your easily available, delicious choices that are sustainably sourced and also support local fisheries along the coast of the Northeast.

Get educated. There is no shortage of information available. Monterey Bay Aquarium?s ?Seafood Watch? has a wonderful and easy to use website and a mobile app that can guide you as to whether or not your meal is ocean-friendly. Some of the current ?best recommendations? right now are Arctic Char, Barramundi, Rainbow Trout, Bluefish, Catfish and Scallops. You certainly won?t be starving with those choices. Change begins with your plate.

You can also get involved with conservation efforts, especially by supporting your local aquarium or by writing to your elected officials.

You can be a voice for the ocean. There are policymakers at local, state, national and international levels that have the ability to help with the protection of vital species and also address global threats to fisheries as well as coastal communities, including overfishing, pollution and climate change. But most of all, the next time you sit down to dinner, my hope is that you will think of the ocean and make the sustainable choice.

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Works Cited "Aquaculture." Effects of Farmed Fish Escapes on Wild Populations from the Seafood Watch Program of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2015.

"Culprit behind Massive Shrimp Die-offs in Asia Unmasked." Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. N.p., 3 May 2013. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.

"Detail." Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. N.p., 3 May 2013. Web. 02 Nov. 2015.

McDonald, James. ""We're Down to Half the Fish in the Sea"" Www.jstor.com. N.p., 7 Oct. 2015.

Web. 2 Nov. 2015.

Naylor, Rosamond, and Marshall Burke. "AQUACULTURE AND OCEAN RESOURCES: Raising Tigers of the Sea." Annual Review of Environment and Resources Annu. Rev. Environ.

Resourc. 30.1 (2005): 185-218. Web. Roberts, Paul. The End of Food. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. 311. Print.

Simon, Madeliene. "Chilean Salmon Industry Found to Use Highest Amount of Antibiotics Worldwide." Oceana. N.p., 22 July 2014. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.

"Slow Fish." SLOWFOOD.com/Slow Fish. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2015.

6 201 BL E A OR N N H O NT I O fect a M E i a Per ent r d u q a El o Aw

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Liter ar y Analyses Writing compelling Literary Analyses is a requirement for both EN11 and EN12 classes. We have chosen these exemplary examples of literary analysis by Sabrina Musto, Mallory Thornton, and Heather Weber.

Their work is insightful, well structured, creative, engages with the text, makes excellent use of quotes, and contains strong Works Cited pages.

Sabrina Musto examines the themes of loss of innocence, hope and self in her insightful essay ?Expressing Loss Through Poetry? which examines poetry written by Maya Angelou, Edward Field, Robert Frost, Anita John, and Elizabeth Bishop.

Mallory Thornton engages with poetry in a creative and nuanced manner as she analyzes two poems written by Mary Oliver in ??The Journey,? ?Morning Poem,? and Self Discovery.?

Heather Weber uses complex structure and strong, supporting quotes to compare and contrast Maxine Kingston?s ?No Name Woman? and Alison Bechdel?s Fun Home in her powerful essay, ?Exposed.?

We hope you can use these pieces as models and reference when working on your own literary analyses in class.

-Prof. Kristin A. Rose

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Literary Analyses

Expr essing Loss Thr ough Poetr y

by Sabrina Musto

Approaching this anthology trying to express loss through poetry, it would have been easy to lock in on poems about loss of love or loss of innocence; however, I wanted to make my theme broad. By choosing the theme of loss I have chosen a topic that is open to interpretation, and can take on so many different forms in that everyone has experienced some kind of loss, and so no matter which aspect you relate to or sympathize with there is something in this anthology for everyone.

The poems I selected do not only discuss death, they discuss the loss of freedom, loss of innocence, loss of hope, loss of self, and loss of love. Loss is a controversial topic, and many people think that poems about loss are automatically depressing, yet I find them intriguing. I appreciate the way poets are able to examine such a difficult and personal topic and make it into something that can be beautiful and can be related to. One quote that haunted me throughout putting together my anthology and this introduction is a quote where Dave Grohl says, ?That?s one of the great things about music. You can sing a song to 85,000 people and they?ll sing it back for 85,000 different reasons.? I feel that poems about loss are the same way because everyone has their reasons why these types of poems cause them to feel something, and everyone reacts to loss in their own individual way. ?Woman Work? by Maya Angelou is a poem in which the speaker works tirelessly to support and take care of her children. The first stanza is presented as a sort of to-do list or shopping list. The speaker goes through the plethora of tasks that she must complete, and none of it involves taking care of herself. The speaker describes how she has ?the floor to mop and the food to shop?, which is clearly a rhyme. In fact, the entire poem is an ABAB rhyme scheme, emphasizing the monotonous tone of her day and shows how she is stuck in this cycle of toiling and drudgery.

The loss here is the speaker ?s loss of freedom and loss of free time to do anything for herself, and she often finds herself calling upon nature to help her complete the same tasks the next day, and by doing this she personifies nature as if it is her only friend. In the final line, she tells the sun, moon, and mountains that, ?You?re all that I can call my own?, which raises the question of whether her children really appreciate all the work she does and calls into question what earthly possessions she has been rewarded with for doing all of this work, if any (33).

The next poem I chose is ?Icarus? by Edward Field, which I chose because I read it in high school and find it to be one of the most compelling poems I have read. To understand the poem one must understand the story of Icarus. In Greek Mythology, Icarus is the son of

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Daedalus and one day the father and son fashioned wax wings and flew into the sky. However, Icarus flew too close to the sun which caused his wings to melt and resulted in his death by drowning (?Icarus?). This story is a classic tale of how when ambition clouds judgment we may end up falling; however, the poem praises this heroic act of Icarus and serves as a warning about the mundaneness of normal life. Icarus is the hero that flew too close to the sun, and in this poem he does not drown, but swims to the city to become ?nice Mr. Hicks? who dresses in a ?grey respectable suit? and has ?sad, defeated eyes?.

These images serve to contrast what Icarus once was and had the potential to be, a free, wild hero flying high in wings is now nothing more than someone?s neighbor that ?serves on committees, and wishes he had drowned?. By using this as the final line, Field is making a statement about the loss of identity and the loss of pure freedom and excitement by showing that this once ?hero? is now just another normal guy who walks around the same as everyone else and has never moved on from that excitement that he once briefly touched.

Arguably the worst loss is the loss of love or a loved one, which is exactly what has happened in ?Funeral Blues?. In this poem the speaker is a man who?s love has died, and it is as if his whole world has stopped. To emphasize the speaker ?s imperative tone in the first stanza, Auden utilizes spondee, stressing both syllables. The speaker is commanding the world to be silenced and recognize that his loved one has died, and demands that the world ?stop the clocks? and ?silence the piano?. The only sounds allowed are sounds of grief, such as the ?muffled drum? and the ?moaning? of the airplanes, showing the speaker ?s bereavement and desire to have someone mourn the death of his lover with alongside him.

The third stanza shows just how important the deceased is to the speaker when he is described as ?my North, my South, my East my West? and ?my noon, my midnight, my talk, my song?, in other words, he is the speaker ?s entire world. The third stanza is personal, unlike the others, and the fourth stanza calls on all of the celestial beings to go away, to ?dismantle the sun? and ?pack up the moon?, showing that the world is truly empty without his loved one and that love does not last forever.

On the first day of class I read an excerpt from The Outsiders, and it was in that movie that I first heard the poem ?Nothing Gold Can Stay? by Robert Frost. In this poem, Frost uses natural imagery to present that nothing lasts forever, and the colors used in the poem can correspond to stages in our lives. For example, the line ?Nature?s first green is gold? can represent childhood, and how when we are children everything is a vibrant gold, a dawn of a new life full of experiences, yet as we grow things change and that gold changes color as we become darkened and hardened by the world.

This poem can also fit for relationships, where in the beginning the relationship is vibrant and gold, then ?leaf subsides to leaf ? and then that gold goes away. My favorite image is the religious imagery here where frost says, ?so Eden sank to grief ?, meaning that even the original paradise created by God succumbed to change and grief, because ?nothing gold can stay.?

Thinking about it, it is important that ?gold? is fleeting, otherwise nothing would be special because that beauty and bliss would always be there. ?The real wise guys/ know/ that we?ve all/ got to go chasing stars/ again/ in the hope/ that

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Literary Analyses

we can get back/ some of that/ Kid Stuff/ born two thousand years ago-?, is a powerful message in Frank Horne?s poem ?Kid Stuff ? that shows how with a loss of innocence sometimes comes a loss of humanity and a loss of morals. This is a Christmas poem and the speaker uses the peaceful nature of the birth of Jesus to contrast the chaotic and fierce nature of war. The speaker here has lost his innocence, causing him to assume a downtrodden tone about how drastically and horribly things have changed from the birth of Jesus to this new age of constant war. The speaker offers the solution that maybe humans need to return to their childlike state of mind of ?chasing stars? in order to come back to the peaceful and harmonious state that once existed.

In his poem "Loss and Gain? Longfellow writes of regret, longing, and of the wisdom born of humility and realization. The speaker understands and recognizes that there have been times where he has ?idly spent? many days and many times where his intentions have been ?like an arrow? but just miss the target. It is okay to lose some, as long as you do not give up on the future and as long as you realize that even though one day has been spent being idle, every day after that is an opportunity to make gains, and that ?defeat may be victory in disguise?, and is not always something that should discourage us. This poem is motivational, and reminds everyone that there are usually failures before success and usually there is no gain without a loss somewhere else, but no loss will be in vain if we learn from it and try harder next time.

Anita John reminds all of her readers how sad it is when a child loses his or her innocence.

Her poem ?Loss of Innocence? is all about what happens when a child is forced to remove the ?rose tinted glasses? that once kept them pure and innocent and now that same innocence is ?shredded? by the truths of adulthood. John writes about how the ?world waits to steal? the innocence away from children, and how these children are forced to grow up much too soon.

This is a common argument in today?s society, whether or not children are growing up too fast and losing their innocence too early on in life.

Finally is ?One Art? by Elizabeth Bishop, which is different than the other poems in that she talks about appreciating the art of loss. As stated above loss is always looked at as something depressing and personal and hard to talk about. In this poem she is saying that the idea of looking at loss in a different light is something that is hard to wrap your head around, but sometimes just appreciate the ?fluster of lost door keys? because loss is something that is inevitable and comes around all the time, and it is not something that always has to be a huge, sad disaster. Although there will always be significant losses, such as the loss of a love one or the loss of ?places, and names?, but for the most part so many things are created to be lost, and that is something that we should practice mastering.

Her glib approach to loss is very interesting and different, and I question whether or not she is truly so nonchalant about her losses, or if it is her defense mechanism against admitting that the loss of losing ?you?, presumably a loved one is something that still haunts her. Upon doing research I found that Bishop wrote letters to her doctor in her seventies in which she writes about losing the last person who truly loved her, and she is worried about the life she would now live ?empty of love? (?Elusive Mastery?). It is apparently this lost love that inspired

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Literary Analyses

?One Art?, proving that perhaps her glib and tongue-in-cheek tone toward loss as no big deal is just a faรงade for the fear she feels now that she has lost love.

Overall, no matter how loss is approached, it is an inevitable part of life that poets are usually drawn to for its ability to allow the reader to connect and relate. Whether it is the loss of love, innocence, independence, or freedom, loss is something that everyone must prepare to face at some point and meet it head on when it comes.

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Literary Analyses

"The Jour ney", "Mor ning Poem", and Self Discover y

by Mallory Thornton

Nature can be absolutely stunning. Whether it?s the sunlight hitting the water perfectly on a warm summer day or snow falling on a brisk winter night covering the trees, nature can help us find ourselves. There is no one that understands this more than Mary Oliver. Oliver, an American poet, is famous for her beautiful depictions of Mother Nature and humans interacting. As a young girl, Oliver, born on September 10, 1935 in Maple Heights, OH, was taught by her parents to respect and admire nature and that has stuck with her for the remainder of her life and has influenced her writing ("Mary Oliver Biography"). Her love of nature is especially seen in two of her poems: ?The Journey? and ?Morning Poem?. These two poems both successfully utilize romantic imagery with soft and simplistic diction to convey similar themes of self discovery, but do so with dramatically differing tones. In carefully analyzing these poems, I will provide a line by line analysis of both poems discussing rhetorical devices used and the overall themes, and finally I will compare and contrast the two texts.

To begin, we will start with ?The Journey.? This poem contains a total of thirty-six lines with five sentences. The first three sentences symbolize the beginning of the journey through life.

The opening lines draw the readers in right away, ?One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began,? (lines 1-2). Right at the beginning, the audience may be able to connect with this experience of knowing what they are supposed to do and beginning on that path. This draws the reader into the poem to discover how this journey may compare to their own. The next lines ?though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice--,? (lines 3-5) represent the voices of society always telling someone what they think they should do.

Everyone always has an opinion on everyone else?s lives, but in the end, the only opinion that matters is their own. The remaining lines in the sentences provide a good source of imagery of the bumps experienced throughout life, ?though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles,? (lines 6-9). Reading these words, the reader can imagine a house trembling in an earthquake or someone trying to tug at one?s ankles and this symbolizes the rough patches one goes through while on the path to self discovery. It is not going to be easy, but they need to keep going.

The next sentence focuses on the middle of the journey when the times begin to get tough. Oliver utilizes personification to convey her point, ?though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations,? (lines 14-16). This image of the wind prying at one and the very foundations of a person is a powerful one and one that helps illustrate just how difficult this path can be. The simplistic, but powerful diction in this line helps to further drive the point home. Instead of using difficult words, Oliver employs diction such as ?stiff fingers? and ?very foundations? to convey that sense of difficulty that lies ahead. Oliver has often been criticized

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Literary Analyses

for her use of simple diction, especially by Gyorgi Voros who refers to Oliver ?s poetry as of ?generic quality? when it comes to language and landscape and he even goes as far to say that ?it does not suffice as poetry,? (Voros). However, what Voros does not understand is that just because Oliver ?s poetry is not overflowing with scholarly diction, her poems hold deep meanings and her simplistic diction helps her poetry to become more relevant. Laird Christensen also disagrees with Voros?opinion on the simplistic language Oliver uses arguing, ?It is not so much the words of a poem that enact such experiences in the reader ?s mind but rather the constellation of emotions and implications that accrue to those words and flicker through the spaces between them,? (Christensen 139). Christensen is asserting that the actual diction used does not matter; what does matter is how the poetry comes across to the reader and what images it invokes in their minds.

Oliver throws more distinct imagery at the audience, ?the road full of fallen branches and stones,? (lines 21-22). This imagery is almost romanticizing nature and the havoc it can wreak on someone?s life. Everyone can connect to this image of a road blocked after a storm because the trees had fallen down, so this is an excellent metaphor to display the rough patches of the journey. At times, it may seem that the journey is at a standstill and there is nothing more to do besides give up, turn around, and go back to the comfort zone, however, that is not an option. They need to weather the storm and push through the damage to get to the other side and as Oliver told the audience, ?You knew what you had to do,? (line 13).

The last sentence is the end of the journey to self discovery. As they keep going on the voyage, they eventually leave the voices of society behind (lines 23-24) and suddenly, ?there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own,? (lines 27-29). They start to find themselves and eventually they are able to drown out the opinions of others and listen to themselves. In this last section of the poem, there is more romantic imagery with nature, ?the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds,? (lines 25-26). In the ending lines of the poem, the audience discovers the real purpose of this journey, ?Determined to do the only thing you could do -- determined to save the only life you could save,? (lines 33-36). In the end, finding a purpose for one?s life is essentially saving their life. Without ever finding their purpose, life will not be as meaningful to them. This path to self discovery is critical for one to live a happy, full life.

Oliver ?s ?Morning Poem? also contains romantic imagery with basic diction as well as themes of self discovery. This poem is comprised of four sentences with a total of thirty-six lines. The opening two sentences of the poem are setting the scene of an average morning.

The first sentence simply states, ?Every morning the world is created? (lines 1-3). The second sentence is much more descriptive and contains a great amount of imagery, ?Under the orange sticks of the sun? (lines 4-5) and ?Painted islands of summer lilies? (lines 12-13). Oliver also personifies ashes in this sentence to paint the scene, ?The heaped ashes of the night turn into leaves again and fasten themselves to the high branches,? (lines 6-9). The next sentence is simple and straightforward in saying that if one is a happy person by nature then life is going to be an enjoyable and somewhat easy journey. Her soft diction is particularly evident in telling the audience they will ?swim away along the soft trails,? (line 16).

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Literary Analyses

The tone begins to change in the final sentence of the poem. In the first three sentences the tone has remained light-hearted, but in the fourth it turns to be a tad more serious. Oliver addresses the people whose ?spirit carries within it the thorn that is heavier than lead,? (lines 19-22). She explains that those people need to dig deep every morning and fight to be alive and each morning they have a chance to do so. Her simple, but poignant diction is again present with phrases such as ?blazing lilies? (line 29) and ?heavier than lead? (line 22). This diction helps to convey the sense of struggle that some undergo every single morning when they feel as if they cannot go on.

The ending lines of the poem are strong and display her message of courage to those who need it, ?Every morning, whether or not you have ever dared to be happy, whether or not you have ever dared to pray,? (lines 32-36). Each morning there is the opportunity to decide to live the life one wants to live and each morning they need to try. Laird Christensen described Oliver best when he says she ?offers abundant compensation by teaching us to embrace our participation in the community of life,? (Christensen 136). Oliver is indeed encouraging her audience to engage with the world and live the happiest of lives they can live.

The two poems share many similar characteristics including loving imagery, soft diction, and structure. Both texts contain thirty-six lines and are written in free verse. The overt presence of nature is seen in both of these poems much like her poetry idol, Walt Whitman, was famous for (?Mary Oliver ?). However, it is important to discuss the similar themes of self discovery between the two. ?The Journey? reads almost as an anthem to finding oneself and finding one?s passions in life. Oliver essentially tells the audience that when someone finds their passion, they save their life. A life without passion is no life to live. ?Morning Poem? is subtler in its theme of self discovery. Oliver addresses how hard it can be to get up and live each day when it seems hopeless and seems as if there is no point, but those people need to keep pushing through. They will find themselves in the end when they choose to live the life they want to live and each day they are given the opportunity to turn their life around. Both poems address the rough patches and hard times in life, but encourage the reader to keep on fighting.

Although the two poems share some attributes, they do have some differences as well.

The major difference is regarding the tone of the poems. ?The Journey? has an interesting tone because at parts it reads almost as apprehensive about the journey to self discovery, but then towards the end the tone becomes more confident much like the person in the poem does about their path. The tone in ?Morning Poem? remains optimistic throughout the poem, even when it turns more serious in the end as opposed to lighthearted in the beginning. ?The Journey? and ?Morning Poem? both deal with self revelation in times of doubt and utilize similar rhetorical devices such as personification and metaphors along with colorful imagery and transparent diction. Mary Oliver remains true to form and explores the relationship between nature and humans in the face of hardship. She challenges the audience to engage with the natural world and along the way, they just might find themselves.

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Literary Analyses

Works Cited Christensen, Laird. "The Pragmatic Mysticism of Mary Oliver." Ecopoetry: A Critical Introduction.

Ed. J. Scott Bryson. Salt Lake City: U of Utah, 2002. 135-50. Print.

"Mary Oliver Biography." Ohio Reading Road Trip. Greater Dayton Public Television, n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2016.

"Mary Oliver." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, 2010. Web. 08 Feb. 2016.

Voros, Gyorgi. "Exquisite Environments." Parnassus Poetry RSS. N.p., 1996. Web. 08 Feb. 2016.

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Literary Analyses

Exposed: The Tr ue Use of Secr ecy in Maxine Hong Kingston's "No Name Woman" and Alison Bechdel's "Fun Home"

by Heather Weber

?You must not tell anyone? (Kingston, 383).

Secrets provoke the audience to keep reading. Secrets controls the readers?minds by forcing them to think. What secret? Why can no one else know? This type of secrecy makes the audience an active participant throughout the story, nothing more than a tactic employed by the author in order to establish a connection between the author and the audience. The idea of secrecy both engages the audience in the story and bonds the readers to the author on a deeper level. Each individual has their own secrets that they want no one else on this world to know; yet, they share them anyways by their own freewill. Not only do they share their own precious secrets but they crave to know the secrets of others. It is if the word ?secret? itself makes an idea more important, more valuable. But what really is the point of a secret? Secrecy is nothing more than a tool, a way to manipulate those around us into acting a certain way or displaying a specific behavior. There is always a reason behind a secret, a desired reaction. In both Maxine Hong Kingston?s ?No Name Woman?and Alison Bechdel?s Fun Home, both the author and those closest to them use secrets to gain control. Each secret is carefully constructed for a distinct reaction. Secrecy in both texts establishes control through the use of engagement, manipulation, and justification.

In "No Name Woman?secrecy is used as a tool throughout. The secret that Kingston?s aunt was brutally killed and her family was tortured because she was pregnant is the basis of the entire text. Kingston?s mother shares this story with her as soon as she begins menstruating, as a way to demonstrate the dangers of sex and becoming pregnant as a member of the village. There is no way to know for sure whether or not the story Kingston?s mother claims to be true actually happened. It is even apparent how the author attempts to regain control from the primary storyteller, her mother, from the first line of the piece. Kingston purposely started off the story by stating how it is about a deep, dark secret, warning. After reading this introduction, readers know that there is secret being told and automatically become a part of keeping it. The author continues to engage the audience by making them active participants throughout the text. Since there are many discrepancies surrounding the reliability of this story and as readers are left with no definite answer, readers must use their own interpretations to conclude what actually happened. Although the truth behind the story is never discovered, it is clear that the secret is used as a way to teach a lesson.

It is interesting how a secret that was supposedly so crucial to keep hidden was exchanged almost thoughtlessly when it was in her mother ?s best interest to share it. It makes the readers start to wonder about who it is safe to trust in their lives. This is when the idea of manipulation becomes apparent throughout the text. Secrecy is a way to gain control in this story and is

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Literary Analyses

established through the use of manipulation, both from the author and those she interacts with. Not only does the author use manipulation by creating an ambiguous tone throughout the entire story, leaving readers wondering whether or not the story itself is reliable, but also concludes the piece with a cliffhanger, in hopes that they will want to continue reading her novel, not just this specific story included within it. More obviously, readers are able see how Kingston?s mother used manipulation when she was easily able to sell her husband?s precious family secret to Kingston as a way to teach her a lesson. It becomes very apparent how the secret was used as a way to instill fear into Kingston when her mother says, ?Don?t humiliate us. You wouldn?t like to be forgotten as if you had never been born. The villagers are watchful?

(Kingston, 385). Her mother carefully uses the secret to teach her a lesson, which diminishes the integrity of the story itself. She could have simply explained to Kingston the dangers that come with going through menstruation however she specifically used this secret to invoke shame and fear within Kingston, a clever use of pathos, or in other words manipulation of her emotions. As if having control over her daughter simply because she is her mother isn?t enough, she wanted to inject fear in her daughter through this story to gain even more control, a cruel, even sinister method.

Some may try to justify the author ?s mother ?s actions by arguing how Kingston is part of the family and deserves to know the truth. Others may look at it as a way to prevent this tragic event from occurring again. The idea of justification is crucial when analyzing this story because the significance of a secret is each individual?s personal perception of it, whether one accepts it as the truth, and whether or not it is one worth keeping. This idea helped uncover the idea that secrets are not meant to be kept. Of course this does not mean that when someone tells you something in privacy you should go around telling others, however it reveals that they are telling you for a reason. Whether it is to get them the help that they need, or even to teach a lesson, a ?secret? always has significance. Each secret is shared for a distinct reason. If someone truly has something that they want no one in the world to know, then why would they want to tell someone? People share secrets because the crave the reactions of others. They want to get a response out of the person they share their secret with. Whether it is admiration, empathy, or even shock, there is definitely a more complicated meaning behind sharing secrets than most people believe.

According to The Psychology of Secrets by Anita E. Kelly, ?People who reveal secrets to establish social control are attempting or hoping to control the behavior of another by expressing disapproval of their actions? (Kelly, 18). Through the use of manipulation, secrets can be used to gain control over another person, even in the context of a story. This idea isn?t simply a theory, it has a psychological explanation: ?...disclosing personal emotional experiences to others is a compelling need? (Kelly, 18). If secrets are a need, a part of human nature, is wanting to gain control over another person natural too? This idea causes individuals to wonder about the behavior of those around them and the way in which they might use secrets to gain control too, even if they are not conscious of their actions. There have been various experiments about the reasoning behind secrets, specifically within families: ?The results showed that the types of family secrets they described could be categorized as taboo

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Literary Analyses

topics, activities that are stigmatized or condemned by the family and the larger society, rule violations which break rules common to many families, and conventional topics, which represent informations that is not necessarily wrong but often is considered inappropriate for discussion? (Kelly, 14). After considering the results of this experiment, the secret in ?No Name Woman? makes perfect sense from a psychological standpoint. The idea of getting pregnant within Kingston?s society was considered taboo and a highly offensive rule violation. However, what is stigmatized or condemned differs among each individual family and society.

Alison Bechdel?s Fun Home uses the idea of secrecy in both an engaging and effective manner as well. The parallel between Alison and her father and the unspoken language that was shared between them was brilliant. The similarities that unfold between the two of them are almost so analogous that the story seems fictitious. The images along with the words provide a propitious way for readers to fully comprehend some of the more difficult topics being discussed, as well as to see the emotions attached with each secret. The purpose of Fun Home was to end the cycle of secrecy surrounding Bechdel?s father ?s death once and for all and to gain power back within her family.

The use of secrecy in Fun Home is prominent throughout the entire novel. As the novel unfolds, readers see the major secret of her father ?s death and sexuality unravel, including some more subordinate secrets. Since Bechdel spends a significant amount of time in the novel discussing the ?real? cause of her father ?s death, readers stay engaged in the story hoping to uncover the secret of how her father really died. Since the novel is not written in chronological order, readers are told small secrets from all the different parts of her life that they are then left to puzzle together. This gives the audience an active role in which they are assigned the task of keeping track of the different secrets they are told throughout the novel and arranging them in chronological order. Having an active role in this story keeps readers engaged because they play a role in solving the mystery of Bruce?s death. This is also a way for the author to gain control over the audience by assigning them a role in the story that calls for their complete attention and focus throughout.

Through the use of manipulation Bechdel was able to establish some control over her father ?s death. Although it is not immediately obvious what kind of manipulation is used throughout the novel, it becomes clear when looking at the larger picture. The novel is written solely in Bechdel?s point of view and concludes with her belief of how her father died.

Throughout the memoir Bechdel leads the audience to question whether or not what she is saying due to the many discrepancies throughout the memoir including, ?My narration had by this point become altogether unreliable? (Bechdel, 184). This gives Bechdel full ability as a narrator to manipulate how the story is told.

It also helps her to gain power within her family by being the first to publicly come out and tell the story. She takes away the voice of her brothers and stands alone as the sole storyteller.

Even if they wanted to share their side of the story of her father ?s death, it will always be compared to Bechdel?s perspective, despite the fact that she is telling secrets that are not hers alone to tell. The fact that Alison writes the story as a telling of a secret refutes any

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Literary Analyses

counterarguments that her family could make, because the idea of secrecy gives Bechdel all of the control. Any arguments against her work will be considered her family?s way of trying to hide the secret once again, a form of denial.

Accepting the truth is probably one of the most difficult things we have to do as humans, especially when there are doubts about the reliability of what is being discussed. The novel is Alison?s written justification of her father ?s death and sexuality. Although both of those things were once a secret, after the novel is written they are secrets no more. This relates back to the idea that all secrets have a distinct purpose when they are shared. The use of secrets in the memoir end the secrecy of her father ?s death, establish power within Bechdel?s family, and help her cope with losing her father. She admits how there is no definite answer regarding her father ?s death: ?I have suggested that my father killed himself, but it?s just as accurate to say that he died gardening? (Bechdel, 89).

However, she continues to believe that her father ?s death was a suicide despite there being no evidence, because it would put her more at ease. The unreliability of the novel and the many secrets that make it up, all add to the sense of control Alison gains through her recollection of her childhood memories, where she is able to classify the ?true? cause of his death.

Through the use of engagement, manipulation, and justification, secrecy acts as a way to gain control. Secrets are told each for their own distinct reason. Whether it is to teach a lesson, like in No Name Woman, or to gain power as seen in Fun Home, secrets are always told with the intention of sparking a reaction. If secrets had no purpose then they would never be shared.

There would be no value in telling someone a secret. People feel more connected to each other when they share a secret together, however, if there was no significance then it wouldn?t matter who was told, trust would no longer be a factor. A secret is nothing more than a tool used to produce a desired outcome. When stories are powerful enough to make readers wonder about their own life, they must not go unnoticed.

Works Cited Bechdel, Alison. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. Print Kelly, Anita E. The Psychology of Secrets. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum, 2002. Print.

Kingston, Maxine Hong. "No Name Woman." The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts. New York: Knopf, 1976. 382-94. Print.

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Pr of iles A good profile is more than a portrait in words of an interesting or celebrated person. It gives us a glimpse into the heart and soul of that individual, showing us what makes him or her tick, and often gives us something that we can take away and use in our own lives.

John Laske takes a light approach in his reunion with a favorite high school theater teacher and director who once was a star on a popular 80s television comedy series. With deep feeling and warm humor, he draws a memorable picture of a strong woman who has found complete satisfaction in her ?Life Out of the Limelight.?

Erin Nordgren?s ?The Skeleton Man of Carver Hollow? is a moving reflection on the tattered life of a wayward uncle at his funeral service. Its deeply compelling portrait of a man whose demons destroy him won her the Core Writing Award last spring.

-Prof. Steven A. Otfinoski

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Profiles

Life Outside the Limelight: A Pr ofile of Diana Canova

by John Laske

Going back into the auditorium of Joel Barlow High School after graduation for the first time was, to put it lightly, odd. To feel so utterly familiar with a place, but also removed from it, gives the strange feeling of being a ghost haunting its mortal dwelling places. The familiar echoes, the distinct smell of wood polish, and the strange and often hilarious graffiti students of years past had hastily scribbled on the walls backstage tied me to this place like an old friend. Perhaps nothing was quite as quite as familiar, though, as the cheery but no-nonsense voice of the director herself, Diana Canova. ?Project, Justin, project! I?m in the front row and I can barely hear you, darling! We are actors, children, not mice!? If ever there was a cure for stage fright, this lady is it. If I could find a way to bottle her immense moxie up and sell it, I could kiss my student loans goodbye. Alas, no time to worry about debt right now, I tap her on the shoulder and am immediately greeted by a familiar face and a nearly smothering hug. Flustered, I try to keep up with her machine-gun volley of questions about college. ?Yes, I?m at Fairfield? ? ?No, I?m not still doing theatre but I?m definitely considering it? ? ?Oh, I?m studying film right now, yeah I love it! It?s great?

Once the barrage had subsided, I described my assignment to her in a fairly roundabout way. It seemed so odd to admit that this person I knew so little about the personal life of this person I?d spent so much time with. Fortunately, she seemed to completely understand my ignorance. ?I?m not exactly the most open about my past with the kids,? she tells me. ?I much prefer to be that crazy acting lady than some washed-up starlet that faded too early.? Before I had time to reflect on this, she quickly followed herself up. ?Hun, I?ll be happy to catch up with you soon, but we?ve got a week till opening night and I need to get this show on the road. How?s about we catch up Friday after improv??

I smiled. ?Friday after improv it is, then.?

The next few days leading up to Friday were spent piecing together a rough outline of Diana from a few cursory Google searches. I wanted to know just enough about her past to be able to ask questions and make sure I didn?t appear like a blithering idiot, but not so much so as to appear like I knew her life story like the back of my hand. It turned out my fears of over-researching were unfounded. Almost every search result came with the same basic information over, and over, and over again. Diana Canova is an American Actress best known for her role as the promiscuous Correnine Tate on the popular 1977 comedy series SOAP, a

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Profiles

parody of many daytime Soap Operas of the era. The show often included bizarre, controversial and even risque elements. It was highly controversial upon its release for its rampant use of sexuality and its inclusion of an openly gay character, played by Billy Crystal. In fact, the show was the first ever to include a ?Viewer discretion is advised?warning before its title credits.

Despite some harsh initial critical reception for its raunchiness, SOAP is widely regarded now as one of the best shows of all time, and is especially well-regarded for its ?exceptionally rich cast,? even by its critics. In 2007 TIME placed it on its list of the 100 Best Shows of All Time, and the Huffington Post called it ?A timeless comedy.? Clearly, SOAP was important, if even for the wrong reasons. It marked the launching pad for later off-beat sitcoms such as the Simpsons, Family Guy, and How I Met Your Mother. Billy Crystal was launched into success with How Harry Met Sally, The Princess Bride, and Monster?s, Inc, but for Diana...what came next?

She enjoyed some post-SOAP fame in a couple other ABC shows, including a prominent role in the 80?s series Throb, which in my humble opinion takes the cake for the most ?80?s-esque? television program of all time.

Ever since her fame in SOAP the Church of Scientology had been trying to recruit her, and she became a member for many years before becoming fed up with their shifty ways and left the group in the late 80?s. After a short unsuccessful marriage, she married Elliot Schneider, an eight-time Emmy Award winning sound designer and engineer just as she was moving out of the public eye. She?s been working with directing high school and middle school shows ever since. I?ve acted enough to know that every actor dreams of hitting the big screen, the A-List, of rocketing to the top of the charts. Diana must have, too. Thinking about that made me sad. I began questioning whether this interview was really a good idea after all. The whole concept seemed almost tabloid-esque: You Won?t Believe Where These Ex-Stars Are Now! It seemed disrespectful to frame someone who had such an impact on my high school career as ?washed up.?Alas, I?d set the appointment and I had to carry through with my word. I climbed into my car and sped off to Redding.

Every Friday night Diana hosted improv night at her house in the outskirts of Redding, but through equal parts being too busy to go and a healthy dose of sheer Friday laziness, I?d never turned up. The November chill cut me to the bone as I stepped out of the car and made the long journey down her extensively long driveway, which was already packed to the brim with the cheap cars of other high school and college-aged kids.

After reading so many short bios of her on Google, I had expected the small, quaint little house of a retiree who had last seen a paycheck in the mid-nineties. The house I got instead was a sprawling, beautiful home with columns stretching upwards at the doorway. Stepping inside I was first met with a welcoming rush of warm air, followed by the sight of a magnificent chandelier, lavish rugs, and post-modern paintings adorning every wall. I could hear the sound of very familiar laughter coming from somewhere in the house, and after cautiously walking downstairs to the finished basement I walked right into a scene with three of my high school theatre friends doing their best impersonations of a monkey, a hedgehog, and a piece of toast, respectively. Once you get into improv, you really get into improv. The twenty or so kids there were an odd bunch: Part shy freshmen, part Juniors and Seniors in Diana?s starring roles, and part College students near enough and committed enough to make Friday night improv a

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Profiles

weekly reality. And of course, who could forget Diana, laughing just offstage, enjoying herself just as much as any student there.

She saw me the moment I inched into the room and motioned for me to join the scene onstage. I happily obliged. After improv had subsided and most of the guests had said their goodbyes, Diana sat, legs crossed, on the small stage she had built a couple inches off the ground. ?I haven?t sat down for an interview in a long, long, time. You?re not filming this, right? I can?t buh-leeve I forgot to do my hair,? she says, grinning. I reassured her that they gave me a special day off from being a film student so I could go hang out with the theatre geeks again. She laughed, followed by a pause. I felt awkward launching into the interview questions I had mentally set myself up for. I say the only thing I can think of that?s sincere. ?This is a really nice thing you?ve got going here,? I say. Diana looks around at the walls covered in photos of her posing with long-forgotten celebrities, as well as cast pictures from over a hundred shows, and smiles. ?I?ve gotta say, I really do.? she tells me. ?Hun, I wish you every success in life. I really do.

But the thing that you really need to know is that fame doesn?t mean a damn thing. A lot of people live their whole lives thinking they only meant something if everyone knows their names. That?s a load of hooey. When I was a kid there was nothing I wanted more than to see my name everywhere I went, and only then I could feel like I mattered. The truth is, nobody gives a damn about Corinne Tate, myself included. Here, in Redding, helping kids find their talents and enjoying every day, that?s real. That?s where I matter. Find what you love, and do it. I won?t promise you?ll make millions of dollars, and I won?t promise you?ll be known the world over. But you?ll be adored by the people who matter, and that?s what fame?s all about.?

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Profiles

The Skeleton Man of Car ver Hollow

by Erin Nordgren

It was grey and damp the day they buried him, as if the sky itself was weeping for another lost soul. The funeral home smelled sickly sweet, the stench of embalming and cleaning chemicals masked by baskets heaping with flowers, the slowly wilting blossoms falling over the sides. His suit was blue, the kind of polyester disaster you'd find in the closet of a geriatric who just couldn't let go of the 70s. It was a sight to see: a heavily tattooed, long haired man in a gaudy retro suit lying in a white--lined casket that would soon be lowered into the earth and covered up and never seen again.

It was just as well. He was no longer himself. His skin was cold and dry. His playful smirk was gone forever. The sun glow that radiated from him was extinguished and would never shine again. He was gone.

It seems like so long ago when I was a little girl with tangled hair and books bigger than my head and we would sit outside and tell stories and mimic the whippoorwills. I'd sit, my bare feet rolling absently over the gravel of my nana's driveway, my thighs hanging over the cold cinder blocks of the front step. In the seat next to me, black paint peeling off the wrought iron back, my uncle would sit, cupping his hand to protect his lit cigarette against the cold air. A tiny orange ring would glow brighter before fading away, trapped in his long, slender fingers like a dying lightning bug. He looked like a skeleton sitting there shirtless, against the pale white of the fake siding of my nana's mobile home. The sun would disappear slowly, leaving shadows to play dangerous games upon his face and making his eyes appear more sunken and hollow than usual. His mischievous smile as he told me haint tales appeared more of a dark grimace and I was reminded of those old war paintings with skeletons following the soldiers into the fray. His tattoos came alive with each minute movement he made, shadows dancing under his pale skin, shown only in the moonlight peeking through thick clouds as somewhere in the forest before us, a coyote cried. He was my best friend, that old tattooed skeleton man with the biker boots and ripped jeans.

But even in the daytime, when we'd traverse the dry creek beds, I could see past those familiar worn laugh lines. I saw the purple rings below his fading eyes and the sickly, lethargic pallor of his skin. I saw the muscle wasting away before my eyes, his teeth yellowed like old paper. I knew that he was hiding something;?something twisted and gritty that he'd promised he'd never do.

He knew that I knew he was slowly killing himself. Day after day I'd walk into my nana's house and find him slumped on her green couch, head rolled back on his shoulders, eyes closed, mouth hanging open, drool pooling in his sunken collarbones. The times spent exploring the woods and roaming the creek beds slowed. The outside talks grew scarcer. It

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Profiles

was barely noticeable but it was there. He had lost his little girl to cancer when I was a toddler and stashed her oxycontin pills, making the shift from alcohol and marijuana, to pills and needles like so many lost souls in Smalltown, America do.

If you would so dare as to hint about the matter, Nana would waggle her crooked finger at you and defend her son 'til the cows came home but I could see it in her eyes. She knew too.

She knew why her nice metal spoons were burned. She knew why he'd disappear for days on end. She knew why he'd ask her for biscuits and gravy in the middle of the night, then slink into the other room to root around for her rainy day money. She knew about that little carved box shoved in the back of her bookcase holding that tiny metal sliver of death that marked his slow suicide.

I still remember the way the crimson looked, unceremoniously staining the pristine white carpet like ink spattered against paper, signing his own death certificate. I remember the fear that coursed through my veins like the poison that was pushed through his. I knew he wouldn't live to see another sunrise, lying in the living room floor, lungs wasted away, drowning on the inside.

My Nana lost her baby boy that day. My mom lost her big bubby. My dad lost his best friend. And I lost the illusion of innocence I had feigned because I couldn't bear to ask him to stop hurting himself. After his casket was lowered into the damp earth, I dropped a fistful of dirt onto the hole in the ground, marking the hole within us all now. The action was mechanical, numb. I couldn't understand why anyone would do this to themselves. All around me my family wept and held onto each other and I found myself standing silently and thinking about how terrible the suit was that he was buried in.

6 201 R E NN er fect a I W ia P t n que war d o l E A

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Cr eative Inter vention The space for inquiry, a major component of the EN11 and EN12 sequence, is one that allows for personal exploration of the texts we encounter in the classroom. We know that literature takes us beyond our own assumptions about the world, and asks us to draw new conclusions, weave new pathways, and sketch out new maps. What does it mean to put those impulses into action? and how might it look on the page?

The creative intervention assignment is a way for students to reach beyond the standard written essay and find a voice through thoughtful attempts in poetry, short fiction, media and visual arts, and other hybrid forms. It allows the space for the unexpected question to be answered, the impulse towards new aesthetic tastes to be realized.

Taking direct influence from a component of class, students may work through the literary arts, through pastiche, imitation, critical analysis, or media collage, to write something new. They will author a creative piece that reflects their interpretations of a text or idea, and opens up their understanding of the work more personally and profoundly.

In ?Haiku for a Snowy Day? students were asked to look out the window on a snowy Friday and write a Japanese haiku poem based on their observations and thoughts. The examples in our anthology show students becoming personally acquainted with the form, and demonstrating a better understanding of the rhetorical and emotive importance of each word and image in a poem. The students include direct lines of

observation: ?poor burdened branches/buckling beneath fallen snow? as well as introspective reflection: ?time seems to stand still? to capture the snowy scene outside the classroom. ?Boy? by Dimitri Kousidis marvelously imitates the voice in Jamaica Kincaid?s famous short story ?Girl? and analyzes the profound content of sexist double standards that Kincaid alludes to in her work. The writing in this student piece intervenes with questions of sexism and gender roles and creates a narrative that asks young men to consider what it means to treat women as equals; to grow beyond the societal assumptions of what it is to be a man.

Kousidis writes: ?This is how you talk to a girl/and this is how you accept her saying ?yes? or ?no?/ This is how to be strong.?

In ?Gold? by Antonio Myers, the reader witnesses a student attempt at the art and craft of free verse poetry, a form studied critically in EN12. Myers weaves images, one after another, of the experience of gold as a color, signifier of wealth, of greed, of seduction, and of death.

This piece in particular demonstrates the ways in which engaging with a genre of literature can spark new pathways for direct creative expression, and encourage students to explore new avenues of writing during their first year of school.

In all three examples, one witnesses a true sense of inquiry and creative exploration that comes from experiencing literature and dialogue, and asking the questions that arise in between.

-Prof. Laura Marie Marciano - 68 -

Creative Interventions

Haiku for a Snowy Day

Poor burdened branches Buckling beneath fallen snow Their pain our beauty -Katie Thomson

The ground painted white Bare trees shiver in the wind Time seems to stand still -Jake Buttiker

Sharp shards of cold glass Slice across a frozen face Warm breath vanishes -John Laske

Waking up to snow Can be a pretty sight but Not if I have class.

- Mallory Thornton

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Creative Interventions

Boy

by Dimitri Kousidis

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Creative Interventions

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Creative Interventions

Gold

by Antonio Myers

The color of fame and fortune, as well as the jealousy within your eyes The bringer of joy and gladness, maker of greed and despair Precocious Gold The color of Heaven of above and the seat of all happiness A token of love and prosperity While a confirmation of one?s love Oh seductive Gold From the depths of the Earth, we yearn for you We think of you as power forged with the sweat and pain of the weak But if found, you give hope to even the poorest of poor The promise of riches, the result of life long ago Elusive Gold The destroyer of land The initiator of hatred and thieves Sanguinary Gold The bringer of death.

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Wr iting Pr ocesses What could be worse than writing? You sit at your desk, shooting pains in your slumped shoulders, eyes baking in the blue light of your blank screen. You type a few words, then a few more; it?s a sentence, sort of. It doesn?t say what you want it to say, though. You reorder the words, expand this, cut that, add a semicolon to show that you know how to use a semicolon, read it out loud to yourself. It?s so, so dumb. You delete the whole mess, one character at a time.

You need a break. You pick up your phone, scroll through Twitter, click on a link. You read something. It?s good. It makes you laugh, or think, or cry, or all three, and you ask yourself, Why can?t I write like this?

thinks best to reach that audience. In the early draft that follows, Michael works through some of the complexities of his chosen subject, incorporating the fruits of his preliminary forays into research. The argument emerges in his final draft, which is accompanied by an annotated bibliography of the sources that inform his paper. Michael?s command of his subject matter grows from one phase of the project to the next, and it is evident that he has used the feedback he received throughout the process? draft comments, in-class peer review, a one-to-one conference with his instructor? to give a shape to the ideas his piece pitches in conversation.

Well, folks: writing is work. It?s hard work, no matter who you are or how long you?ve been at it. What?s worth remembering, though, is that when you read a polished piece of writing, it probably didn?t come into being fully grown and gleaming like Athena from the skull of Zeus.

More likely, it started its life as a draft, rough around the rim, full of mistakes or faulty logic.

And that?s exactly as it should be. In this section, we take a close look at the approaches of two students to some of the writing assignments they encountered in the EN11?12 course sequence.

Michael Roche?s ?How Mass Migrations Are Showing Us Our Future? is his response to a formal argumentation assignment in EN11 comprising several discrete segments? a proposal, some guided research, a series of drafts and revisions, and ultimately a finished product. Included here are a few snapshots of Michael?s work at various stages of his process.

A topic proposal discusses an issue he wants to explore, the argument he plans to make, the audience he hopes to reach, and the form he

Lauren Vilchinsky?s reading-journal entries offer insights into a writing process that is much less formal. The entries, a series of musings in dialogue with one of her EN12 course texts (How Literature Saved My Life by David Shields), cast writing as not only a technology for communicating ideas and information, but as an essential practice that undergirds learning.

Lauren?s journal is an open space to investigate, contemplate, and comprehend; in her words, we glimpse a mind immersed in the intellectual work of reading.

By turns reflective and analytical, Lauren turns inward to examine her own experiences, attitudes, and assumptions; she makes important connections to ideas beyond the text; she turns outward again as she considers the broader reverberations of Shields?s arguments.

Discursive and essayistic, these journal entries record the movements of a storming brain, revealing that the processes of writing and the processes of thought are indistinguishable and the same.

-Prof. Brian Hoover - 76 -

Writing Processes

How Mass Migr ations Ar e Showing Us Our Futur e

by Michael Roche

Topic Pr oposal (Novem ber 5, 2015) Earlier this year, news broke about desperate Africans arriving ashore in Europe on life rafts. It was quickly realized that this was no acute problem, there was a migration beginning.

People were fleeing countries like Syria and Afghanistan because their lives were no longer sustainable. Amidst years of political chaos, another factor, an unfriendly climate forced people to make a desperate attempt to flee their situation for a better one. According to Time, over ten thousand people are pouring into Europe every week. This poses a problem for many European countries: ?What do we do with all these people?? Some countries have made it clear that they do not want migrants to enter their borders, while others have established a limit on how many they will accept. What is clear is that the obvious problem of oppressive-governing failed states are being worsened by climate change and as a result creating more hostile environments for people to live in, thus making them ever more desperate. What is also clear is that there are too many refugees for European countries to play the ?it?s not my problem? card, because it is a world problem. There are so many political, economic, social, and religious factors at play that almost anyone can find themselves in the audience. I think a written paper would be the best medium to portray the situation, because even though there are many striking images of the migration, words can do some justice to the desperate situation at hand.

Pr elim in ar y Wor k s Cit ed Baker, Aryn. ?How Climate Change Is Behind the Surge of Migrants to Europe.? Time, 7 Sept.

2015. Web. 4 Nov. 2015.

Bennett, Craig. ?Failure to Act on Climate Change Means an Even Bigger Refugee Crisis.? The Guardian, 7 Sept. 2015. Web. 4 Nov. 2015.

Fir st Dr af t (Novem ber 12, 2015) It is accepted as a consensus in the scientific community that man contributes to climate change. Politicians and religious figures around the globe have called for action to reduce carbon output, which is heating our planet. The problem for these politicians is that the average person does not experience the immediate effects of climate change in their everyday life, and so they see no need to make a change to their routine. However, recent events in the Middle East and Europe are showing us what is at stake if we do not act. Since March of this year, thousands of refugees from countries like Syria and Afghanistan have been fleeing their homes and escaping to Europe. One factor driving these people from their homes is climate change; there are not enough resources to sustain these people in their current situations. The

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Writing Processes world must acknowledge that climate change is a serious threat to our global ways of life, and the migration crisis offers a peek of what is to come if we continue our inaction.

In his article from 2007, ?Climate change-induced migration and violent conflict,? Rafael Reuveny discusses the violent implications of climate change. People can adapt to environmental problems in three ways: stay in place and do nothing, accepting the costs; stay in place and mitigate changes; or leave affected areas. The choice between these options depends on the extent of the problems and mitigation capabilities. Developed countries (DCs) are likely to mitigate problems through technological innovation and institutional redesign.

Less developed countries (LDCs) are less likely to mitigate such problems since they lack wealth and expertise. Facing severe environmental problems, people in LDCs may have to leave affected areas, which, in turn, may cause conflict in receiving areas due to several reasons. I explore this theory empirically by investigating certain global environmental changes, effects of natural disasters, and patterns across many environmental migration episodes. I find that severe environmental problems play a role in causing migration, which, at times, leads to conflict in receiving areas.

What he describes in his article, is what we are seeing today. Countries like Syria and Afghanistan fit perfectly into the ?less developed countries? category. Recently, the entire Middle East saw a reshaping of political control as dictators were thrown from power in what is now known as the Arab Spring. Syria was one of those countries, but their new form of government has been anything but stable. Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, who has been in power since 2000 remained in power even through constant violent protests aiming to overthrow him, and an outbreak of civil war in 2011. Assad?s regime has been accused of war crimes and the use of chemical weapons against civilians. To make matters worse, militant groups including ISIS have strongholds throughout the country making life for the seventeen million citizens nearly impossible. These are the very political factors that Reuveny discusses. If people cannot feel safe under harsh regimes, and if there is no guarantee of resources for them, they will be forced to leave.

In addition to political turmoil in Syria, a study published in March 2015 found that between 2006-2009 an extreme drought in Syria was caused by climate change and was a factor in the 2011 outbreak of civil war. The study indicated that temperatures rose far more than what was precedent in the last hundred years, the period in which carbon emissions have been greatest. This caused greater evaporation of water in the air coming from the Mediterranean that never reached land, and therefore meant that there was not water for crops or drinking. As a result, two million Syrians were displaced in their own country. This is because Syrians who lived in rural areas and relied on farming were forced into cities. Time magazine also states that that relocation of Syrians could have incited social conflicts which led people to migrate to Europe.

On the other side of the issue is Europe, which is now dealing with an influx of refugees that hasn?t been seen in over half a century. The statistics on the migration are mind-boggling.

According to NPR, over 4 million Syrians have fled the country since the beginning of the civil war, not including 7.6 million Syrians who were displaced within Syria. In addition, over 380,000 Syrians have escaped to Europe taking the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea, which has killed an estimated 2,800 people in 2015.

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It does not matter that climate change is not the central factor affecting the Syrian refugee crisis. It matters that climate change is on the list of factors. The science proves that humans are the greatest contributor to climate change. If the science will not sway you, ?The United States military has described climate change as a ?threat multiplier ? that may lead to greater instability in parts of the world? (Fountain 3). This is reality, and before we exacerbate any more conflicts in the world, it is time we step back and examine the bigger picture and acknowledge the implications that inaction will sew; fewer resources, more conflict, and a harsher environment for everyone.

Fin al Dr af t (Decem ber 12, 2015) It is accepted as a consensus in the scientific community that man contributes to climate change. Politicians and religious figures around the globe have called for action to reduce carbon output, which is heating our planet. The problem for these politicians is that the average person does not experience the immediate effects of climate change in their everyday life, and so they see no need to make a change to their routine. However, recent events in the Middle East and Europe are showing us what is at stake if we do not act. Since March of this year, thousands of refugees from countries like Syria and Afghanistan have been fleeing their homes and escaping to Europe. One factor driving these people from their homes is climate change; there are not enough resources to sustain these people in their current situations. The world must acknowledge that climate change is a serious threat to our global ways of life, and the migration crisis offers a peek of what is to come if we continue our inaction.

In his article from 2007, ?Climate change-induced migration and violent conflict,? Rafael Reuveny discusses the violent implications of climate change: People can adapt to environmental problems in three ways: stay in place and do nothing, accepting the costs; stay in place and mitigate changes; or leave affected areas. The choice between these options depends on the extent of the problems and mitigation capabilities.

Developed countries (DCs) are likely to mitigate problems through technological innovation and institutional redesign. Less developed countries (LDCs) are less likely to mitigate such problems since they lack wealth and expertise. Facing severe environmental problems, people in LDCs may have to leave affected areas, which, in turn, may cause conflict in receiving areas due to several reasons. I explore this theory empirically by investigating certain global environmental changes, effects of natural disasters, and patterns across many environmental migration episodes. I find that severe environmental problems play a role in causing migration, which, at times, leads to conflict in receiving areas.

What he describes in his article, is what we are seeing today. Countries like Syria and Afghanistan fit perfectly into the ?less developed countries? category. Recently, the entire Middle East saw a reshaping of political control as dictators were thrown from power in what is now known as the Arab Spring. Syria was one of those countries, but their new form of government has been anything but stable. Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, who has been in power since 2000 remained in power even through constant violent protests aiming to overthrow him, and an outbreak of civil war in 2011. Assad?s regime has been accused of war crimes and the use of chemical weapons against civilians. To make matters worse, militant

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Writing Processes

groups including ISIS have strongholds throughout the country making life for the seventeen million citizens nearly impossible. These are the very political factors that Reuveny discusses. If people cannot feel safe under harsh regimes, and if there is no guarantee of resources for them, they will be forced to leave.

In addition to political turmoil in Syria, a study published in March 2015 found that between 2006-2009 an extreme drought in Syria was caused by climate change and was a factor in the 2011 outbreak of civil war. The study indicated that temperatures rose far more than what was precedent in the last hundred years, the period in which carbon emissions have been greatest. This caused greater evaporation of water in the air coming from the Mediterranean that never reached land, and therefore meant that there was not water for crops or drinking. As a result, two million Syrians were displaced in their own country. This is because Syrians who lived in rural areas and relied on farming were forced into cities. Time magazine also states that that relocation of Syrians could have incited social conflicts which led people to migrate to Europe.

On the other side of the issue is Europe, which is now dealing with an influx of refugees that hasn?t been seen in over half a century. The statistics on the migration are mind-boggling.

According to NPR, over 4 million Syrians have fled the country since the beginning of the civil war, not including 7.6 million Syrians who were displaced within Syria. In addition, over 380,000 Syrians have escaped to Europe taking the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea, which has killed an estimated 2,800 people in 2015.

It does not matter that climate change is not the central factor affecting the Syrian refugee crisis. It matters that climate change is on the list of factors. The science proves that humans are the greatest contributor to climate change. If the science will not sway you, ?The United States military has described climate change as a ?threat multiplier ? that may lead to greater instability in parts of the world,? (Fountain 3). This is reality, and before we exacerbate any more conflicts in the world, it is time we step back and examine the bigger picture and acknowledge the implications that inaction will sew; fewer resources, more conflict, and a harsher environment for everyone.

Climate change will not go away in our lifetimes, it is a burden that will be carried for generations, but I see two scenarios of such a burden. In scenario number one, we continue to burn carbon recklessly until our limited supply of fossil fuels dries up. In this version, we will have completely altered the earth?s ecosystem and possibly doomed ourselves as a species. In scenario number two, we decide to act to slow the effects of climate change by hunting for alternative energy that has no harmful emissions, and this time instead of wondering if our children and their children will survive, we create a life for them where they are forced to be conscious of their actions, because we today are not.

So what do we do? The thing that any American can do so that climate change is taken seriously and acted on, is to contact a politician. Annoy a senator or a congressperson to get them to support climate-related bills. Unfortunately, the oil industry has copious amounts of money that they spend on lobbying each year. This creates a conflict of interest between politicians and their constituencies, but that is the nature of the beast. If enough Americans wanted a to see a change in climate action, then public opinion would win over the lobbying

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groups and the world would follow in America?s footsteps as leaders in clean energy. That sounds great, but it is not practical, the battle for a healthier climate will have to be one by you and me.

For an average American household, the cost of installing solar panels is between $15,000 and $40,000. This probably isn?t in the budget for an average American, however, whereas heating a home or running a car on gasoline is very cheap by comparison. Unfortunately, carbon is the greatest contributor to climate change and unless we can overcome our global addiction, we are helpless. So maybe for the average American to make a difference, they buy a hybrid or full electric car the next time they are looking to buy. Maybe the average American works for a cleaner world with the assumption that globally, politicians do nothing, but at the same time they pray that that global political action comes immediately.

Change does not happen overnight. At the end of a long day, most people still need their gas-fueled car to take them to their gas-fueled house. Events like the refugee crisis seem so distant, but we are confronting them more seriously everyday. Because maybe the next refugees are Californians, and maybe the next world war is really a battle for basic resources.

But maybe average Americans can be global leaders by living their lives climate-consciously.

We have examined the bigger picture, we have acknowledged the implications that inaction will sew. Now the only thing missing is action. From me. From you. From everybody.

An n ot at ed List of Wor k s Cit ed Baker, Aryn. ?How Climate Change Is Behind the Surge of Migrants to Europe.? Time, 7 Sept.

2015. Web. Accessed 4 Nov. 2015.

This article provides further evidence as to how climate change is affecting people and forcing them to escape from their current situations. The author also discusses how climate change created a scarcity of basic resources for everyday people which is a great piece of evidence for arguing that climate change is driving people away from their homes.

Bennett, Craig. ?Failure to Act on Climate Change Means an Even Bigger Refugee Crisis.? The Guardian, 7 Sept. 2015. Web. Accessed 4 Nov. 2015.

This author quotes a study linking global warming to the refugee crisis and discusses the possibility of ?a brewing storm? scenario in which without a response to climate change, the crisis will continue to grow and become more serious as time goes on.

Fountain, Henry. ?Researchers Link Syrian Conflict to a Drought Made Worse by Climate Change.? The New York Times, 2 Mar. 2015. Web. Accessed 22 Nov. 2015.

In this article, Henry Fountain cites a scientific article that linked climate change to human conflict in relation to a drought in Syria and a civil war that broke out in the country. Fountain also provides context to the social and political climate (no pun intended) that are crucial to understanding the current crisis and how and why it has escalated.

Hillman, Mayer and Ian Roberts. ?Climate Change: The Implications for Policy on Injury Control and Health Promotion.? Injury Prevention, vol. 11, no. 6, 2005, p. 326?29. Web. Accessed 11 Nov. 2015.

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In this scholarly article, the authors essentially argue that climate change will cause injury because migration comes with inherent risks. The authors link climate change to injuries and deaths in a variety of ways including natural disasters. Upon further inspection of the document, it may not be as credible as I was led to believe and I may decide to find another scholarly article to support my paper.

Maehlum, Mathias Aarre. ?How Much Do Solar Panels Cost.? Energy Informative. 23 Mar. 2015.

Web. Accessed 9 Dec. 2015.

This webpage was created to inform people about solar energy. The site provides readers will all sorts of information related to solar energy and also supplied the statistic for average cost per household, which I used in the paper.

Reuveny, Rafael. ?Climate Change-Induced Migration and Violent Conflict.? Political Geography, vol. 26, no. 6, 2007, p. 656?73. Web. Accessed 11 Nov. 2015.

In this scholarly article, author Rafael Reuveny provides evidence for environmental causes of migration. He also compiles a list of migrations and how they were influenced by climate. He also explores social and political factors that effect change and how climate can exacerbate them when populations collide.

The World Factbook 2013?14. Washington: Central Intelligence Agency, 2013. Web. Accessed 11 Nov. 2015.

The CIA?s World Factbook provided accurate data on population, immigration, and political circumstances in Syria.

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Jour nal Entr ies in Conver sation with David Shield's How Literature Saved My Life

by Lauren Vilchinsky

Ch apt er 1, ?Negot iat in g Again st M yself ? Pr om pt 2: ?I value writing and reading as essential communication between writer and reader,?Shields writes. ?It?s why I want writing to be so intimate: I want to feel as if, to the degree anyone can know anyone else, I know someone? I?ve gotten to this other person?(32). Discuss a piece of literature that has gotten to you in the way that Shields describes. How was it able to forge intimacy with you? In what ways did you feel connected to the person who wrote it?

A significant piece of literature that I have felt extremely connected with has been The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. Reading this novel, I felt more understood and truly connected with the author as Shields described. It amazes me how just some words on a paper were able to resonate with me and make me feel connected with someone who I do not know on a personal level and who has been dead for decades. One can see Sylvia Plath in her own characterization of Esther Greenwood, an adult who struggles to find her purpose in life and reap gratification from the simple joys of life. Plath poetically depicts how life is full of countless dissatisfactions, and how the mind is so wonderful at subconsciously accumulating each and every one.

She demonstrates how splintered the mind can become when it is led to believe that happiness is found one way, and then another, as it is betrayed again, and again. It is all too easy to think oneself into a box of ?if I just did this everything would work out? and ?why can?t I do all this like everyone else is? and ?oh I can?t do that because it costs too much money or wastes time,? etc. Plath strongly resonates with me because her words emphasize that it is all too easy to subconsciously realize how all these ?proper ? pathways have failed and have led to the simple urge to want to give up.

The relationship I have with one of my favorite authors, Sylvia Plath, emulates the type of relationship between an author and a reader that Shields claims. Plath?s writings have forged intimacy with me since I am able to realize that other people experience similar feelings and views that I do and that they are just able to communicate them better through literary works.

I felt connected to Plath?s writings because I believe that we both recognize that each day has a chance of containing small wonders, horrors, and small acts of weirdness, and that the mind is capable of determining one?s outlook on life.

Ch apt er 2, ?Love is a Lon g, Close Scr u t in y ? Pr om pt 1: ?We are all so afraid,?Shields writes. ?We are all so alone. We all so need from the outside the assurance of our own worthiness to exist?

(63). The idea of human loneliness is central to Shields?s argument for literature?s vitality. How does literature ease our fears, keep us company, or assure us that we are worthy of existence?

Right from when we are born, we rely on interactions with other human beings and are

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Writing Processes dependent on them for survival. As we progress throughout life, we are conditioned and socialized to believe that being alone is not a favorable lifestyle. We may believe that being alone is tolerable, but it is the loneliness that often accompanies being by one?s self that is difficult to endure. Having many friends, a family, being social, and connecting with a community are all mundane promotions in our society. All individuals at one point in their life, especially many introverts, struggle with their need for time alone to accomplish inner reflection as they sort and integrate new information and experience. Literature is one of the main mechanisms that help individuals accomplish a deeper sense of self, and establish empathy with others. Writers have tended to be invested in the notion that narrative art can jolt us out of our selfish complacency and into a deeper sense of the experiences and sufferings of other people.

David Foster Wallace wrote, ?We all suffer alone in the real world. True empathy?s impossible. But if a piece of fiction can allow us imaginatively to identify with a character ?s pain, we might then also more easily conceive of others identifying with their own. This is nourishing, redemptive; we become less alone inside. It might just be that simple.? One of the most interesting things about reading is the way the reader must recreate the stories, characters, plot, and ideas in his or her own mind. It is a very intimate process since you are letting someone else?s words inside your own head. This could be a significant reason for why we do not feel as alone when we immerse ourselves in a piece of literature. Even if you are married, are a part of a community, or are just very sociable in general, at the end of the day you are always alone with your thoughts. Literature has a way of making one?s thoughts more bearable and can ease one?s fears by demonstrating that other individuals (whether they are real or imaginary) go through similar feelings and situations as you do.

Therefore, this recognition that other people are in the ?same boat? results in the establishment of empathy, which increases our connections with others. As our connections with others increase, we start to believe that we have a purpose in this world and that we deserve to be an active participant within it. Recognizing that we are worthy of living in this world often stems from studying the human condition and the lives of others, which in essence is the definition of literature.

Ch apt er 3, ?Wh y Is Th e Hu m an An im al So Sad?? Pr om pt 2: On page 79, Shields observes that ?what animates us inevitably ails us,?and he calls people ?deeply divided animals who are drawn to the creation of our own demise?(77). How can our greatest strengths also be our most glaring weaknesses? How is it possible, as Shields says, ?that what makes us great will inevitably get us in terrible trouble?(77)? Discuss a trait of yours that paradoxically serves as both an asset and a liability.

I believe it is definitely evident in most lives that ?what animates us inevitably ails us? and that we are all ?deeply divided animals who are drawn to the creation of our own demise? (77).

Many of our major strengths come with strength barriers and the improper usage of our strengths can often lead to failure or one?s downfall. The Eagles?hit ?Hotel California? is not only a masterpiece but it also poetically depicts the struggle one encounters from the consequence of his/her own actions. One of the lyrics is ?we are all just prisoners here of our own device.?

This lyric has always impacted me because it depicts that we are often destroyed by our own actions and thoughts. What makes us great can inevitably get us into trouble and lead to

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our downfall because we have the tendency to loose sight of how we can improve and grow.

Individuals believe that they do not need to work on their strengths or what they are already good at. However, there is always room for improvement and our strengths may show some potential but they do not guarantee our successes.

By identifying and taking steps to mitigate potentially destructive behaviors, one needs to avoid letting their greatest strengths become their most glaring weaknesses. Strategic self-awareness is the comprehension of your strengths and limitations, and how they compare with those of your peers. According to the law of polarity any given thing cannot be a strength if it cannot also be a weakness. Strengths can become weaknesses when overused or when not used properly. For example, we have witnessed among members in our society confidence to the point of hubris and humility to the point of diminishing oneself. We?ve seen vision drift into aimless dreaming, and focus narrow down to tunnel vision. Many times we try so much to reveal our strengths to others and show what we are capable of but we never try to build upon that strength and seek improvement.

One of my top strengths is that I am extremely competitive but this definitely has its barriers and can be seen as a weakness. Being competitive can be a weakness because it is rooted in comparison and comparing yourself to others can damage your own self-esteem. No matter how hard you try, no matter how worthy your intentions are, if you reached your goal but did not outperform your peers, the achievement feels hollow. This quality is also a weakness because I am not only competitive with other people but I am competitive with myself and with my past accomplishments and performance.

I consistently strive to do better within all of my endeavors and rarely take the time to reward myself for a job well done. Instead, I believe that there is always room for improvement and that perfection is everything. Therefore, I spend a lot of my time chasing perfection, which sometimes leaves me in a state of feeling that nothing I accomplish will ever be enough.

However, I am still learning to use my competitiveness to my advantage and use it as an asset.

The act of competition could be a liability, but I strive to view it as invigorating, energizing, and I believe that the only time to be fully satisfied with one?s accomplishments is at the end of one?s life. In other words, I am going to keep chasing perfection and keep trying to be the best of the best until I am on death?s doorstep.

Ch apt er 4, ?Ou r Gr ou n d Tim e Her e Will Be Br ief ? Pr om pt 2: Shields seems to suggest that religion offers him no real comfort in the face of death. Death, he says, ?is not a passageway to eternity but a brute biological fact. We?re done. It?s over. All the gods have gone to sleep or are simply moribund. We?re a bag of bones. All the myths are empty?(98-99). He talks about how we distract ourselves from life?s lone certainty by inventing diversions, and he wonders whether any of these diversions is any more significant than any other. What do you think? Is everything we do simply an attempt to forget our own mortality? And if we?re all going to die anyway, does it really matter how we spend our idle time (so long, of course, as we are not harming anyone)?

This passage really impacted me because I share very similar beliefs to those of Shields. As an atheist, I believe that birth and death are the bookends of our life and the only certainties in life. I have always been more ?left-brain? oriented in that I rely on logic and factual information.

During my childhood, I was never known to be extremely creative or imaginative. Although, I

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Writing Processes do let my emotions get to me more often than I would like to admit, I make great efforts to think with my head rather than my heart when it comes to typical human behavior and life?s happenings. Many parents wish to instill a value system within their children at a young age and make sure they hold the beliefs that run in the family.

In the rules of basic psychology, it is always better for someone to believe in something supernatural or in a power ?bigger ? than them. I remember my abnormal psychology professor discussing that this is actually a major protective factor from developing a mental illness or abnormal behaviors. Maybe I am deviant, but throughout my life I have adopted the belief that one should always be open-minded and not conditioned at a young age to have certain thoughts and beliefs. We often label infants as a certain religion and they can?t even talk, let alone comprehend the basics of that religion. I do believe that people are religious and adopt certain values in an effort to feel secure about their very own mortality. At an early age people are brought up in a certain religion to make sure that if they sin or live their life wrongfully somehow (if that is even possible) they can still find salvation after death.

I agree with Shield that we distract ourselves from the certainty of death by inventing diversions, one of these diversions being the concept that we get a second chance or another life after death. I think people make many efforts to forget their own mortality, a perfect example being the notion of delaying behaviors. For instance, many people resist telling someone how they truly feel in a moment because of the risk of humiliation or rejection.

These same people stress the sayings of ?Carpe Diem? and ?You only live once.? Yet, these people act as if they have plenty of time and that maybe in another life they will be able to do the things they didn?t do in this life. To think too much about death and mortality in our society is deemed morbid so we distract ourselves by believing that we can stay young forever. We are bombarded with advertisements of products that will reduce wrinkles and other ways to perpetuate our youth. Our culture is devoted to sustaining the myth that you can stay young and vital for as long as you wish. I believe, and I think David Shields would agree, that it is our very mortality that makes our life valuable in the first place.

Even though we are all going to die, it does matter how we spend our idle time because our existence is the only certainty in life. Being aware of the spectrum of birth to death has the power to encourage us to live a meaningful and virtuous life. On the other hand, holding on to the belief that there is something after our life distracts us from ceasing opportunities and taking advantage of life?s short duration. Death is the most profound explanation for living and it is death that illuminates, clarifies, and crystallizes the meaning of our lives. Mark Twain once said, ?The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at anytime.? I would respond to Mark Twain by saying that I am prepared.

Ch apt er 5, ?Th e Wou n d an d t h e Bow ? Pr om pt 1: ?It?s often said, with some justification,?

Shields notes, ?that most novelists have, finally, only one story to tell and that, in book after book, they ring endless changes on a single essential narrative?(115). Is there anything in your life that you constantly feel compelled to write about? What is your own ?single essential narrative?that you feel you must share?

I constantly feel compelled to write about the concept of control and it is my ?single essential narrative? because I think control may be the very thing that drives all human behaviors and thoughts. I believe that the reason for human suffering is because individuals are always trying to control others or certain aspects of their surroundings, but they can?t even control themselves. From my own personal experiences, I have had to learn that I cannot

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control others or certain situations. Basic therapeutic approaches strive to teach individuals this lesson and that the only thing you can control is your own attitude and behaviors. I have always battled with this idea because at times I feel like I cannot control my emotions and that I may be ?going crazy.? People say that no one is in control of your happiness but yourself. I believe this statement to be misleading because external forces can have a big impact on outcomes and one?s overall mental health.

As a student that is pursuing a career in psychology, I understand that most mental illnesses are based on the struggle of controlling aspects of behavior. People take medication or are involved in psychotherapy in order to control their behavior and to learn healthy ways to respond to life stressors. I always feel compelled to write about the fight to obtain control over one?s own life because many of my close friends and family members experience this struggle. I think the subject of mental illness in our society carries a lot of social stigma.

Through a variety of occurrences I have learned that people do not have a secure sense of control and that many individuals feel ?lost? and confused in their life. As a society, we view alcoholics that take their first beer as weak or depressed individuals that feel the need to self-harm as weak.

There are so many more cases that deal with the struggle of control such as eating disorders, personality disorders, etc., but I want to write more about this behavior because it is also seen in everyday instances. People are always trying to gain control over their grades, careers, appearance, or really anything. Our very own ego and personality arises from the concept of control. Yet, we never reflect on the fact that we cannot control every aspect of our lives. Thus we have no trust in ourselves, and we project this into the world and are not trusted in return. On an instinctive level, we desire families, friends, partners, children, etc., because that is human nature. Then control comes in, which is also human nature, and if misused can be the destruction of these relationships. I believe no matter what I write about, it will always come back somehow to the aspect of control because it is a human obsession and our writings normally stem from our innermost thoughts and feelings, and this is usually at the top of my list.

Ch apt er 6, ?All Gr eat Book s Win d Up w it h t h e Wr it er Get t in g His Teet h Bash ed In? Pr om pt 2: Shields compiles a list called ?Fifty-five works I swear by?(140), in which he offers brief synopses of the literature that is the most important to him. Make your own such list. What are, say, ten works you swear by? Distill in no more than two sentences why each work makes your list.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird: I remember getting grounded one night and finishing this book in my room for school but then crying because the end of the book moved me so much. Not only did it elicit a strong emotional response from me, it will always be one of my favorite books because it has so many beautiful lessons within it.

2. The Bell Jar: Through the character of Esther Greenwood, Plath shows her readers the universality of feeling unsure of oneself. When I first read The Bell Jar, I felt relief, knowing that someone understood the anxiety of being a young woman in a crazed-and-difficult world and it will always help me through hard times.

3. Tuesdays with Morrie: Its important to me because it teaches the importance of happiness,

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dealing with death, and the importance of loving the life you live. It strengthened my commitment to engage in activities I find joyful and meaningful.

4. Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York: This book helped me get through a difficult time period when I felt extremely alone and confused; and when my loneliness feels as vast, this dark humorous book about self-destruction comforts me more than any type therapy. ?Life on one?s own,? does not always feel like a choice, but Sheila reminds us that it is always our choice whether to live at all.

5. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide: This book bolstered my passion for engaging in women?s studies and demonstrated that nearly 58 million primary-school-age children around the world are not in school today. It will always make me grateful for everything I have as well as encourage me to fight for others and give them opportunities.

6. You are Special: This was one of my favorite children?s book as a kid and it is a beautiful story with many facets to it and much to be learned from it. It is a sad story of judgment, pride and slavery, and it is a beautiful story of hope and individuality. <![if !supportLists]> 7. A Stolen Life: I love this memoir about the intimate details of Jaycee Dugard?s kidnapping, sexual abuse and 18 years spent as a hostage. It is a tough reading, but it is worth the effort and will always show me the resilience of the human body and spirit; and to put my own problems in perspective. <![if !supportLists]> 8. House of the Spirits: I found this book difficult to read but I thought it was well layered, complex, and beautiful. It accurately portrayed the human experience throughout one?s life and was just very intriguing. <![if !supportLists]> 9. As I Lay Dying: I hated this story at first because it is actually stupid in a way and Faulkner ?s linguistics and writing is definitely confusing. Yet, it was one of those books that had a great dark humorous ending that really captured the idea of human beings being replaceable and our existence as not even that important. <![if !supportLists]> 10. Sister Outsider: This is a brilliant collection of essays from Audre Lorde that demonstrate the oppression that third-world women still face in our society. She puts into words so many feelings I?ve never been able to articulate, explains so forcefully so many different things I?ve thought, and does so in a way that is breathtaking and challenging.

Ch apt er 7, ?Lif e v. Ar t ? Pr om pt 2: The writer Sarah Manguso tells Shields: I?ll watch a genius do anything. I?ll watch my friend Andy use Photoshop to erase color impurities on the same image for an hour because he sees things I don?t see. I?ll watch him until I see that he sees them. It?s like opening a gift. Or the original meaning of ?apocalypse?: the lifting of the veil (160-161). Have you ever witnessed genius in action, as Manguso describes? Relate an experience of watching a master (of any kind? a chef, a golfer, a mechanic, a performer) at work. How does this experience help to define the idea of genius for you?

My grandfather has always been extremely artistic and creative. Not only is he amazing at making beautiful oil paintings, but he brings his artwork to life. In his basement, he has constructed a large train set (he is fascinated with the idea and image of trains). It is probably about the size of our classroom and it includes tiny people, trains that actually move with a

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Writing Processes remote, and he painted rivers, mountains, and built the entire collection. I have been watching him build upon the train set for the past 10 years and it has been incredible seeing him at work. I truly do believe he is a genius and it is astonishing watching a 76-year-old man meticulously grab small artifacts with his shaking hands and still be able to mold everything into a masterpiece. Yet, the most satisfying aspect of watching him at work is seeing him passionate about his hobby.

This experience has helped me define the idea of genius because I believe it is someone who is passionate about an activity and finds it rewarding. Sarah Manguso said that she would watch what the person is doing until he sees what she sees. I do believe my grandfather is aware of his potential and his talents and I think a genius is aware of his talents but still treats them as if they wake up everyday and are able to do something they didn?t know they could do. In other words, as the viewer we are just as astonished and surprised of the talents of the actual genius as the genius is of his talents as well.

Ch apt er 8, ?How Lit er at u r e Saved M y Lif e? Pr om pt 2: ?I want work,?Shields says, that, possessing as thin a membrane as possible between life and art, foregrounds the question of how the writer solves being alive. Samuel Johnson: A book should either allow us to escape existence or teach us how to endure it. Acutely aware of our mortal condition, I find books that simply allow us to escape existence a staggering waste of time (literature matters so much to me I can hardly stand it) (197). Escape is one of the most common reasons people cite for reading, but this suggests that people read simply as a way to turn off their brains or a way to avoid thinking about their own lives.

Shields doesn?t want literature to be another mindless diversion, but rather a way to engage with the world of ideas, a way to learn how to live. Discuss an experience with literature that has taught you something about how solve or endure the tricky business of being alive.

One of my favorite books is Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York by Gail Parent. It is about a woman who decides to commit suicide because she has failed to find love and it is practically a long dark and humorous suicide note. Albert Camus wrote in The Myth of Sisyphus that there is only one really serious philosophical problem and that is suicide: deciding whether or not life is worth living is to answer the fundamental question in philosophy.

Although the book is primarily about giving up and checking out early, this book really taught me about the ?tricky business of being alive.? It taught me that expectations will always be a part of daily living, whether these expectations are stressed by your parents, partners, or society itself. We often feel like we must do certain things and act a certain way in order to satisfy someone else. This belief causes us to believe that we never have a choice in any matter.

Yet, this book taught me that there is always a choice. Yes, the choice being discussed in this book is life or death but Gail Parent demonstrates that there are always choices. She demonstrates that life is actually simple but it is the individuals within it that make it so overdramatic and complicated. The novel illustrates Sheila Levine as a woman in her 30s who is preparing to commit suicide because she failed to please society?s expectation of becoming a ?Mrs.? By the end of the story, Gail Parent signifies how ridiculous it is that human beings ruminate over problems that are actually miniscule but we allow them to become our whole world. I learned through this novel that not only is it okay to be alone but enduring the tricky business of life is all about recognizing that you do not have to let other people or society define how you must live life.

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Designed by Shauna Mitchell Cover photo contributed by Creative Commons