11 Works of My Writing By: Zach McCormick Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 2 Vietnam War Stories ..................................................................................................................................... 3 A Life Lesson .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Frankenstein: Tragedy and Suffering ............................................................................................................ 4 Religious Imagery of William Blake ............................................................................................................... 5 Adam and Eve ............................................................................................................................................... 6 The Creativity of Helen .................................................................................................................................. 6 Opinions of Othello ....................................................................................................................................... 7 A Collaborative Work .................................................................................................................................... 7 A Sad Tale ...................................................................................................................................................... 8 Allie in Holden’s Life ...................................................................................................................................... 9 An Essay about Myself ................................................................................................................................ 10
Introduction Throughout 2008 and 2009, I have written many pieces for AP English Literature and Composition. My writing has improved throughout the year as I learned to hone my writing skills and organize my thoughts more coherently on paper. I have used unnecessary phrases less and less and become more specific over time. I have learned to use more solid examples and have improved in the examples that I have chosen to use. With my works listed being in chronological order of when they were written (other than the last essay), it is easy to see that I have also worked to summarize less and explain more in my writing. Overall, I think I have improved as a writer. These 11 works summarize the best of my writing. In my first essay, Vietnam War Stories, I applied comparing and contrasting elements to two stories I read during the summer. It is apparent now that the purpose of the paper is vague but I learned from that error and improved all the way until my last piece, Allie in Holden’s Life, where my purpose is clear, and I use concrete examples. At each point during the year, the work I had written was the best that I could write. Sometimes I would be discouraged to write as much as needed or try as hard, but each time I overcame and wrote something to the best of my abilities.
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him seem much unlike a hero. Vonnegut even states, “[Billy] didn’t look like a soldier at all. He looked like a filthy flamingo.” Billy later became a prisoner and he passively accepted it. O’Brien openly accepts his cowardice: “I was a coward. I went to war.” O’Brien also talks of the man he killed: “I was afraid of him.” They had no qualities of traditional heroes, yet were realistic and human because of it. Both authors commented on the age of the protagonists. They were young – kids even – who were on a “Children’s Crusade.” Billy Pilgrim and O’Brien were not heroes and they did not belong in the war they fought. The irrationality of the wars, of the youth fighting them, of the immense death, and of the horrible conditions seems to provide a perfect sandbox for an All‐American hero to arise from the ashes and save the day. Billy and O’Brien, however, are only common men fighting a common man’s war. They are not heroic, and as the authors try to convey, there is nothing heroic about their wars. The two men are realistic and cowardly, and have flaws like all men. Their war was not entirely devoid of heroism, for some men like Jimmy Cross tried to save life too, but neither the men nor the war could redeem themselves. Their cowardice and lack of heroism cost many lives, and their existence is devoid of heroism.
Vietnam War Stories Tim O’Brien and Kurt Vonnegut both avoid cliché heroes in their novels The Things They Carried and Slaughter‐House Five. Instead of courageously going to war, like other war novels, the main characters, Tim O’Brien and Billy Pilgrim only go because they must and because they are too cowardly not to go. Traditionally, heroes have been defined as strong, glorious victors who are great at everything they do, but O’Brien and Vonnegut change the focus. Through characterization and symbolism, O’Brien and Vonnegut create two characters, O’Brien and Pilgrim, who are not what the reader desires to be, but rather what the reader might actually be. Heroism, thus, is not a quality of common man. The two authors knew this and wrote with it in mind. Billy Pilgrim in Slaughter‐ House Five is portrayed as a weak, scrawny kid in the war who cares so little that he even gave an enemy sniper a second chance to kill him. He represents hopelessness in the battle to change fate and the inevitable. He cannot change fate nor fight the inevitable as heroes do. O’Brien the character, too, is not a hero. He made no amazing rescue nor did any heroic deed; he watched. He merely listened and killed who he was told and was a coward in doing it. Despite this blazing anti‐heroic imagery, there are a few heroes in the novels. Many foils exist to both characters in one way or another, especially in Lt. Jimmy Cross in The Things They Carried. Jimmy Cross saved his soldiers, and led them in the face of danger. He made personal sacrifices to keep them alive, as he destroyed his most valued picture because it became too much of a distraction. Roland Weary, in Slaughter‐House Five, may not have been much of a hero, but he had heroic qualities at one point. He stayed behind with Billy and saved him; he had courage, unlike Billy Pilgrim or O’Brien. Both antiheroes were afraid and ill prepared to be heroic. Billy Pilgrim, devoid of heroism, suffered much in the war and it made
A Life Lesson “Atrophy” by Edith Wharton deals with a woman on a journey to visit the love of her life and the tragedy that follows. The author focuses on Nora, the protagonist, and her conversation with Jan Aldis, the antagonist, about Nora’s love. By delving into the thoughts and actions of Nora, Wharton conveys the theme that things do not always work out in the end; the story ending with Nora having made a wasted trip to see Christopher epitomizes such a theme. Symbolism, such as the persistent fly in the parlor, also drives the message Wharton is conveying. Nora changes from a confident individual escaping the shackles of her husband to a dejected individual who realizes that she 3
cannot do what she wants. The theme that not everything works out manifests clearly in this story. At first, Nora is on the train to run away from her husband to see Christopher. Symbolism and characterization converge here, as Christopher is a symbol for desire or for woman’s independence. George, the husband, has more negative symbolic aspects: the drudgery of women in a patriarchal society, the dependence of women on men, and even oppression of free will. Ideally, Nora’s journey would be one of liberation, where she gets off the train and gets to see Christopher and break these dependencies; however, her journey proves to be far from one of liberation, as she is blocked, in a sense, from seeing Christopher by his sister who knows all about the affair. In a sly way, equally as sly and shady as the structure of patriarchal dominance and general oppression, Jane informs Nora how she is going to tell George about the affair. Jane, even thought she is a woman, uses the patriarchal society to prevent Nora from breaking free of the bonds upon her and due to this obstacle, Nora’s plan to see Christopher does not succeed. No matter what she did, Nora could not succeed in seeing Christopher; her journey, symbolized by her leaving home on a train with goals in mind, came to a halt within inches of her goal. Wharton applies great symbolism to the story to force her point further, such as the fly buzzing incessantly around Nora during her conversation with Jane. The fly symbolizes several things about the situation. It represents the annoyance that Nora definitely possessed for Jan and the impedance she created between Nora and her goal. It also represents, due to its repetitive crashing into the glass window, Nora’s desire to escape the clutches of modern society and its values holding on to her. Along the same line of thinking, the fly could also be a symbol simply referring to Nora’s desire to leave the room, just like the fly. Regardless, the fly symbolizes a great annoyance and desire to escape. Neither Nora nor the fly can escape from their situations and avoid their barriers despite their attempts to maneuver around it.
Not always being able to succeed is difficult for many people to realize, especially for Nora, but it is something of which one must always be cognizant; people do not always win. The characters, the plot, and the symbolism prove that situations do not always work out successfully. Edith Wharton had a great lesson in mind when she wrote this story, as it clearly explains an axiom that everyone must know to have reason to continue living: we will lose battles – it is inevitable – but we must always continue living, because to quit fighting these battles is the only way to lose the entire war.
Frankenstein: Suffering
Tragedy
and
The fear and ghastly sorrow in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley comes from the authentic suffering caused by Victor. He brings upon such gargantuan suffering to the other characters in the novel that he nearly brings identical suffering upon the reader himself. His heroic qualities such as his quest to save life, his focus, and his determination make him a conductor of something great, but tragically, he became the conductor of enormous grief; he alone caused the suffering of all of the characters in Frankenstein. Victor’s compounding suffering begins with his mother’s death and proceeds to be present until his creation is complete, where it should disappear. Instead, Victor is appalled by his creation, and he deems it a plague – making his two years of work worth nothing and creating a feeling of intense failure from which Victor suffers. The monster haunts Victor: first physically, then through his fear of its appearance or its intentions. During a time where the monster and Victor speak to each other away from society, the monster demands a companion, and Victor suffers mentally and physically from this as well; he must create another being – possibly worse than the first – and abandon his present life for a while to do so. Victor scraps the parts of the second creation halfway through, and the monster 4
swears vengeance on him for destroying his mate – placing Victor in a state of suffering for fear of his life. Victor finally ends his suffering when he pursues the monster north and dies. He was ultimately responsible for his own suffering not only because he created the monster, but because he abandoned his own creation. Victor was also responsible for the suffering of his family and of his friends. His monster killed William, Victor’s brother, out of anger and confusion, thereby causing suffering for Victor’s family and after Victor denies a companion to him, the monster kills Victor’s longtime friend Henry. At this point, it is clear that the monster is out to make Victor’s life one of grotesque suffering; the monster fulfills this by killing Elizabeth on the night of the wedding. To complete the fate of all of Victor’s loved ones, his father dies days later from grief. Victor swears to get revenge on the monster after losing all of his loved ones. The monster only kills Victor’s loved ones out of loneliness, confusion, and disappointment from rejection. He suffers just as much and possibly more than Victor does because he was rejected by his creator and he cannot find a purpose for his life. The monster, nameless, has no identity and no one to ask for help; his maker will not help him, as even when Victor promises to help, he realizes whom he is helping and stops. The ultimate anguish for the creature, however, occurs when Victor dies aboard the boat. The creature realizes that when his creator died, he had no hope of finding a purpose and, in ultimate suffering, decides to go die himself. Victor Frankenstein as a tragic hero promotes the suffering of others throughout his entire adult life. His suffering possibly begins with his mother’s death immediately preceding his leave to study at the university at Ingolstadt. Even further, the monster Victor creates causes suffering in Victor’s life, in the lives of his friends and family, and in the monster’s life. This horrendous plot and the character development of Victor as the people around him die elicit that no aspect exists
of Frankenstein that is anything but obscenely tragic, as the suffering of each character both builds upon the suffering of the others.
Religious Imagery of William Blake William Blake describes good and evil in his poems “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” with contrasting imagery, diction, and syntax. “The Lamb” is a softly‐spoken piece describing Jesus with very soft words like “tender,” “meek,” and “mild,” while “The Tyger” is a complex and harshly voiced piece questioning evil with images of “hammer(s)” and “furnace(s)” to symbolize the heat and fires of Hell. Between both pieces, Blake establishes that God made the lamb – the good – and asks if He made the tiger – the evil – too. Blake utilizes figurative language and imagery heavily to contrast these two subjects in these religious works. “The Lamb” begins with many soft words such as “wooly” and “tender” as well as the soft “thee” instead of “you” to establish a smoothly flowing attitude with a delicate overtone. “The Tyger,” however, starkly contrasts this with images of “forests of the night” and a “hand, dare seize the fire.” The darker imagery and more guttural tones in the language halt the smooth‐flowing diction of “The Lamb” and create a harsh tone in the work. Alliteration of hard sounds such as “burning bright” and “began to beat” add to the harsh language. The more “evil” of the poems linguistically matches the concept of evil: harsh, hard, and heavy, while “The Lamb” embodies the softness of “good” with soft words, flowing verse, and lack of hard accent. Another contrasting literary technique of these poems is the opposite syntax of each poem. “The Lamb” utilizes two stanzas with lines ending in periods, commas, and colons to promote a flowing thought that is tastefully simple. “The Tyger” displays frequent use of exclamations and questions to exclaim fact and question it. The awkward syntax pervades the middle of many lines, much in the way evil 5
pervades life all over. The repetition of exclamations and questions makes evil seem inferior to good because of its uncertainty. Blake’s religious poetry conveys an attitude that goodness is flowing, soft, and simple, while evil is hard, hard, and dark by applying diction, language, imagery, and syntax appropriate for each topic to its respective poem. Jesus’ simplicity and goodness versus Satan’s uncertainty and darkness manifest clearly in these two poems.
animals like a king to his people. In lines 5 and 6, Hollander says, “each burrower… came for the name he had to give,” to imply that the animals even went as far to obey Adam and submit to his names for them. His masculine and patriarchal tone is complimented by his guttural names like “glurd” (l. 2) and “grawl” (l. 10). He ends his rhythmic spree of animal naming quickly with the phrase “day is done,” to signify his command of the situation. These qualities make Adam seem to be extremely serious over the names he chose, yet Hollander is playing a joke – Adam’s naming is too serious. Both poets write with the same humor that people spend too long on names. Either they try to find the perfect fit like Eve or they make them nonsense like Adam. Either way, the poets share a similar attitude that names are essentially meaningless and frivolous.
Adam and Eve “Eve Names the Animals” by Susan Donnelly and “Adam’s Task” by John Hollander have two completely contrasting methods to convey the same message of the absurdity of taking names seriously. Donnelly writes from Eve’s perspective and almost makes fun of the idea of naming the animals, as she changes them daily. Hollander speaks as Adam in a powerful, even primitively regal way to the animals and names them as a king would by bestowing titles on his subjects. Both poets share a similar attitude of contempt on naming the animals but approach it in two different ways. To Donnelly, Eve is a powerful figure separate from man, and even cleverer, as she privately rebels from his rule. She goes as far to refer to Adam as “pour finch” (l. 20), as he cannot stand to have her wander out of his sight and control. Away from Adam, Eve names the animals whimsically and lightheartedly, even with the light metaphor, “lion was sun on a wing/ over the garden.” Donnelly’s syntactical strategies include a long and winded explanation to describe each animal and its traits. She names them all differently than our current convention, such as a spider for a dog (l. 17). Her lightheartedness peaks on the last three lines, as she states that she goes as far to name them daily. Adam’s much more serious situation in Hollander’s poem can be described as kingly and conquering. He uses “thou” all over the poem to signify his direct address to the
The Creativity of Helen In Eurpides’ Helen translated by Rachel Hadas, several dramatic devices manifest upon examination using Aristotle’s “Element of Drama.” The story definitely possesses the elements of a romance story and is not far off from an ironic comedy of sorts. Through careful explanation of plot and character, Hadas’ translation imparts a theme of deception and blame, both fair and unfair, and reveals an ironic twist of the victims becoming the attackers, further humanizing the idea of deception to fulfill self‐goals. Her translation not only shines in its literary complexity but its syntactical construction as well, as the language is flowing with a certain rhythm to keep the story going. Overall, Hadas’ dramatic elements make the play shine as a glorious piece of modern art among the boring cave‐paintings that are most Ancient Greek dramas. As a Greek Drama, the production has deep and almost convoluting character maps if all of the characters, gods, and spirits mentioned are considered, but this translation narrows it down to just a few critical people aside from the gods who set up the story. In her first lines, Helen introduces the characters 6
and the deception that caused her being in the palace. She explicates the story of the Trojan War with a feeling of self‐loathing and self‐pity with a focus on how she is blamed but is not truly to blame and how the deception of the gods affected men. Much later, when Helen and Menelaus ask Theonoe for help, the theme of deception reoccurs and continues strong through the last moments of the play. Though Helen describes herself initially as the archetypal female victim, she reveals in her plot that she is too cunning and conniving to fit that model. Menelaus, too, acts nearly opposite his true nature. Hadas describes him as walking up to the palace gates loftily and with a respect‐ demanding confidence, but he as well succumbs to giving up his honesty for fraud. Theoclymenus, on the other hand, only wanted what he thought was his, and gladly provided for Helen when she wished to provide a funeral for Menelaus, making him a sort of foil to Menelaus. He never tricked anyone, yet he is portrayed as the “bad guy” by both Helen and Menelaus, furthering Hadas’ and Euripides’ idea of deception encompassing all men. Hadas’ goes further, too, in having Theonoe and Helen as the two characters most enthralled in trickery, thereby injecting a sexist twist that approaches its zenith when Theoclymenus exclaims that he was “Caught in a web of women’s treachery!” These themes dominate the story line in a way both gripping and entertaining. Syntactically, the story follows a rhyming pattern and rhythm somewhat reminiscent of Shakespeare: 10 syllable lines of flowing verse with pairs of lines rhyming. The mood of the drama compliments the rhythm where both present a flowing and action‐based plotline while he multitude of long and winded speeches and monologues with constant dialogue about the gods provided the pauses between the action and let the mood darken amongst the deceit. One of Aristotle’s elements, spectacle, is not particularly applicable when reading a play, but nonetheless the play seemed to transmit a dark setting
through liberal use of trickery and the mourning of Helen. Helen by Euripides proves that, by using dramatic elements and creative tools in both authoring and translating, an Ancient Greek drama can hold a time‐transcending theme and continue to be entertaining and thrilling to an audience normally impartial to Ancient Greek theatre.
Opinions of Othello West, Fred. "Iago the Psychopath." South Atlantic Bulletin 43 (1978): 27‐35. This piece of literary criticism looks critically at the character of Iago in Othello by Shakespeare. Multiple viewpoints are evaluated of the possibility of Iago being one of the first literary stereotypical psychopaths. Through many examples of remorseless behavior and guiltless lies, West explicates the several qualities of psychopaths and how Iago fits them. Young, R. V. "The Bard, the Black, the Jew." First Things 141 (2004): 22‐28. This particular article presents the case of racism and discrimination being present in Othello (as well as The Merchant of Venice) heavily. It views the many situations where Othello is portrayed as a hero in one light and a villain in another when race is the only factor distinguishing his heroism. The article examines critically both the natural inclination of some characters to racism and the use of racism as a tool of destruction.
A Collaborative Work In “The Pawnbroker” by Maxine Kumin, a conflict between the speaker’s outside world and inside world arises. The speaker confronts a harsh and unforgiving reality, but on the inside she finds her father’s love and comfort. This conflict is established by the author’s use of imagery, diction, and symbols. 7
Throughout the poem, Kumin utilizes elements of imagery to show the relation between the outside and inside world. On the outside, the speaker’s world encounters the aspect of materialism and appearance. The speaker’s father receives a “pain” that was “as sharp as gravel” by seeing his children barefoot. This simile portrays the sensitivity of the speaker’s father towards her outward appearance. Images of purity describing the father also reoccur often throughout the poem. Whenever the father’s feet are spoken of, they are “graceful and clean.” The father also “cleans himself of the pawn‐ticket stains of purple ink.” This shows how the speaker’s father values outward appearances and keeps his own clean. On the other hand, the father gives the gift of love to the speaker which is represented as a “small pearl of selfhood.” Even though the speaker’s father appears demanding on the outside regarding cleanliness, she finally understands his intentions through his pure love received internally. Kumin uses a common diction similar to that of a pawnbroker’s daughter, as it is not particularly educated, nor specifically colloquial. “Our breakfast eggs” and “cops outside on regular duty” indicate through connotation her status in society and establishes her as a normal girl emotionally and physically. At first, she describes her “outside world” of work, appearance, and material things as “secondhand” to indicate that her outer shell was working with her father and watching him sell material things. She continues to describe her “inside world” of love as “firsthand” and that she shared with him “the grace of work.” Her love for her father is obvious and her grief for his death is evident especially in the last stanza where he is deemed her “lifetime appraiser” and her “first prince whom death unhorsed.” The use of symbols throughout the poem further conveys the conflicts of the speaker. As the speaker states in first line “the symbol inside this poem is my father’s feet.” Throughout the poem, the pain her father feels in the symbol, his feet, continues to build. His
feet “hurt when he did up his accounts in his head at the bathroom sink of the watches…” and continued to hurt “when he turned the lock on the cooks…” the mention of her father’s feet carries the poem through to the end. The symbol of feet develops the outward world of the speaker because it establishes how much work the father did to provide for her. Each pain in his foot granted the speaker an opportunity to have some kind of material possession or something to build a more satisfactory life. Along with this external world, this shows the internal journey the speaker experiences from a child under her father’s guidance to a young adult mourning the loss of her father. Her father’s feet were “smooth and lay on the ironed sheet, a study of white on white…” Later in the poem, the speaker mentions the grief she and her siblings experience due to the loss. Overall, the imagery, diction, and symbolism of the poem synergize to create a tone of mourning and a reflective, nostalgic feeling to the conflicts the speaker addresses. The speaker establishes her inside world as a peaceful place of sincerity and develops her outside world as a material and palpable place. Even though her outside world is harsh and somewhat unforgiving, it is evident that she has her father’s love.
A Sad Tale Kogawa’s somber attitude in “Obason” manifests in the style, structure, and detail of the story. In the passage, the content is developed as two different parts: a reflective, figurative piece, and a historical, personal piece. In different ways, the pieces convey emotions of sadness and hurt. From lines 1 to 22, the passage is very figurative with a plethora of metaphors and personification. The air was “overladen with weeping” and their memories “[swim and drown] in a salty sea” (ll. 1‐2). Further, Kogawa describes the Japanese‐Canadians in a very reflective tone heavy in metaphor. At line 23, the style shifts to a sad memory of the trip on 8
Allie in Holden’s Life
the train that is very personal. At first, the child describes her surroundings and situation, but at line 46 a woman with a child is noticed. At line 52, the tone shifts from childlike sadness to a deeper, more serious sadness about the woman and her small child. Throughout the passage, these downward steps toward a depressing reality gradually set the tone. In a similar way, the structure reflects the downward steps. Initially the passage emphasizes the horrible fate of the people on the train through an almost dreamlike repetition of “we are.” The structure changes at line 23 to the first person personal observations. Unlike the words describing the whole group’s fate, these words express the personal observation of the little girl. The mix of description and dialogue depict a real setting rather than an abstract group of prisoners as the first section does. In this way, the author makes the hurt both all encompassing and personal. The detail may be the most striking part of this passage. Not only does the first section use lavish metaphors, but also the story part is very descriptive. The imagery of the first part, such as the “momentum of the expulsion” pairs with the train, while the imagery in the second part, “oil and soot and orange peels,” parallels the “air overladen with weeping” in the first. The story has many details that indicate the importance of the scene. The author even mentions the colors (ll. 26‐29), the smells (l. 36), and the things in the way (ll. 37‐41). The Japanese language expresses a feeling of foreignness and it is used to indicate the foreignness of their detainment to them as well. These creative details amplify the importance of the memory and show them how strong the author truly felt. All of the tools used by Kogawa create an overcast of sadness and a feeling of hopelessness. This feeling combined with the obvious severity of the memory reflects well her complex attitude toward that part of her life.
In “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, the main character, Holden Caulfield, is often balanced out by his dead brother Allie. Often in the story Holden brings up memories of Allie and how much he liked him, which starkly contrasts the majority of his feelings of dislike and disdain for all of the “phonies” in his life. Holden remembers Allie as this fun, perfect model of how to be and, even though he is not present, uses Allie as a tool for emotional cleansing and friendship. Allie remains to Holden and to the audience as a symbol of childhood and inner piece. When Holden finds himself recovering from a fight or all alone in the city, he thinks of Allie and remembers memories with him, or thinks of his sister, Phoebe. Even though he can contact Phoebe in the real world, he waits a significant amount of time before he talks to her about his problems. Instead, his best friend is Allie. Holden had a sensible childhood with loving parents and a brother close in age, but the death of his brother signals the loss of this rightness and his sense of innocence. Throughout the novel, Holden fails to make any real new friends and clearly does not possess this childhood innocence. Everyone seems alien to Holden, except for Allie. Even if Allie never exists outside of Holden’s memories, his impact and the impact of his death severely affect Holden’s psyche and emotions throughout the story. Allie also functions as a symbol of peace and childhood both for Holden and the audience. After Holden gets in trouble, Allie appears to calm his mind and remember life before the “phonies.” The memories are never complex or hostile; instead, they are simple and often times of laughter and joy. Allie dies, and so too does peace and childhood die to Holden. He picks up smoking and drinking and becomes victim to both inner and outer conflict. Both the effect of sibling death and the deaths of childhood and innocence become apparent. Allie exists only in fleeting moments but in no
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way like his former self, symbolizing Holden’s last grip on his own childhood. Often in the novel, it seems as though Holden’s thoughts and accusations are irrational – a sign of adolescent angst. Allie appears as a component of rational thought to Holden. When Holden has a long night and has been beaten up and rejected due to his irrational decisions, Allie’s memory calms him and brings Holden closer to reality. Allie was alive but died young, so Holden’s rationality often mimics it: somewhat rational, but suddenly turning away. In this way, Allie was again a support to Holden and the development of his character. Overall, Allie functions as a foil to Holden. Salinger designed Allie as the opposite of what Holden was experiencing. He provided a calming and rational presence to Holden as well as an image of childhood and innocence to him. Despite his lack of physical presence, Allie had a large impact on the action and character of Holden Caulfield and provided substantial symbolism to the story.
evolved from “my office” into a mental sandbox where I try to solve the mysteries of life. Even now, I look at every day events and problems, imagining how I might better understand and unravel these puzzles regardless of the labyrinthine complexities. To say that I possessed an over‐active imagination while growing up would be a gross understatement. My mind, always racing with new thoughts or ideas, would often escape to the “office” inside my imagination. My parents tell me that, every day, I would recount the amazing things I had accomplished in my “office.” Sometimes these accomplishments would be discovering new things or finding a way of building something bigger, better, or faster. I was always positive that if I could imagine it and believe it then I could achieve it. As I have grown older, I have refined my imaginary “office” into a quiet construct where I can put together pieces of puzzling problems and fit them together without constraint. This comfort with my imagination allows me to excel in any science or math class because I can simply isolate the problem and reason the answer in my mind. In the last few months, for example, I have been taking AP Calculus and have been puzzled by an equation with indeterminate form when finding its limit at infinity. I eventually figured out that I could take the derivative of the top and bottom and find its limit that way. I explained to my teacher my findings, and he said that I had uncovered L’Hopital’s rule, a concept we would not learn until the end of the year. In my life, I have learned to recognize my imagination as a problem‐solving tool. Will my imagination determine my destiny? It is my desire to use this gift every day in my journey to lead and serve society. Ultimately, I am only limited by my imagination.
An Essay about Myself Does a relationship truly exist between our imaginations and our destinies? I wholeheartedly believe so. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives and characters.” To me, my imagination has always been the foundation of my personality. As a child, I had “my office,” my name for my imagination, and it was my hideaway of endless possibility. If there was a problem in real life I could not yet understand or did not know how to solve, then I would go to “my office” and figure it out in there. The peculiar part of this story was that neither of my parents ever worked in an office – I had invented the concept for myself from reading books. My office had my desk, my chair, and my filing cabinet where, at three years old, I sorted my ideas and thoughts by category and importance. I kept this system throughout my childhood and into my life as a young adult. It
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