Tow #3: How To Fall in Love For Real

http://brevitymag.com/current-issue/how-to-fall-in-love-for-real/

How To Fall in Love For Real caught my attention when I first read the title online. Love is such an abstract idea, and I like the idea of love because it can be interpreted in so many different ways. There are no limits to what love really is. In this non-fiction essay, written by Kent Shaw, the reader is provided with a new way to look at "love". As his first sentence, Shaw writes, "At twenty-two, I feel in love with the sales clerk who helped me pick out my clothes at the mall. I was in love with my best friend's wife." Immediately, I was hooked. As I read on, I noticed a few words used again and again which were, "At twenty-two years old...". To continue, Kent falls in love with everything. He falls in love with the salesclerk and the navy. He falls in love with an intellectual who puts an ad out about herself in the paper. At one point in the essay, he claims that love is simply, "more". What he wanted was never good enough. I think one of Shaw's main purposes was to introduce himself as a writer. He says that he is a sailor in the US Navy and that he has read books written by Dostoevsky and Hemingway. He is writing for a magazine, so he is trying to capture his audience's attention. I think his first line does this extremely well. As he tells his personal narrative, he uses relatable examples while also incorporating the fact that he is in the US Navy. I think he attempts to use repetition and personal narrative to appeal to pathos. By giving several examples of the things that he either loves or has fallen in love with, I noticed that love can also be equivalent to overall happiness. Being a sailor in the US Navy made Shaw happy, and by the end of the essay he was leading men on his ship. The clerk made him happy, and even though she happened to be the wife of his best friend, he wrote letter to her multiple times. I think he is trying to say that love is not a matter of "liking" something most or liking something more than one can use the word, "like". It's a matter of what makes you happy in life, and how you choose to go about looking at things.

Tow #2: The Art of Rejection

https://www.creativenonfiction.org/brevity/craft/craft_agodon5_09.htm

In this little narrative created by Kelli Russell Agodon, she speaks about the intelligence of writers and how rejection effects the mind of a writer, as well as the emotions. She examines the idea of whether or not writers give up after being rejected. This caused me to think about a few things. One idea was, what if people who were rejected had given up? Although it sounds super cliche, it's extremely interesting to think about. The writer uses a bit of a personal narrative to show that she hadn't given up; she had been rejected eight times as a writer. Then, she goes on, using the phrase "writing is a marathon, not a sprint" (which was ironically used in Mr. Yost's class almost every day, and I'm wondering if this is the article he had found it from...) Anyway, I found it interesting that the author concluded by saying that all

writers are in it together. I never really thought about writing as a team effort, but when looking at the big picture, one can argue that supporting the writing of others can actually help maintain that person's career. Someone who had been rejected is more likely to continue trying if they have other writers supporting them. The author, in this case, had been rejected by The New Yorker, The Notre Dame Review, and The North American Review. She uses this analogy of a race to show that giving up is never the answer. She claims that just because she "slowed down in mile two, doesn't mean that the race is over" (Agodon 1). This little article was not only intriguing, but it was inspiring. I would have never thought about writing as something that someone would give up on, like playing a sport or and instrument, but when I was finished with the article, it reminded me that writing is a sport to some people. It's a way to creatively express yourself and keep your mind active. The author even wrote about the pity-parties that she sometimes throws herself after being rejection, just to try and keep her spirits up. I love her little humorous comments throughout the article because it made it more entertaining to read. I definitely learned that writing will not always be perfect, and it helped me better understand why an English class will be so difficult- no writing will be perfect. 

Visual Analysis #1: A Train Near Madgeburg

A Train Near Madgeburg
Major Clarence L.  Benjamin 

This picture was taken by Major Benjamin. I didn't choose this picture because I thought it was a picture that I could analyze for hours and hours. I didn't choose the picture because it was deep, but I chose it because when I read the caption, and later, the story behind it, it made me smile. This picture was taken on Friday April 13, 1945, the midst and near-ending of World War II. In this refreshing moment when the picture had been taken, these people were being released from their internment camp, "death train". In the picture, a woman in the background has her arms flung out to her sides, soaking the warmth of the sun that some hadn't seen for many weeks. According to the photographer, the woman in the foreground had found rations in a tin seconds later, and was attacked by the skeletal bodies around her, just to grab a piece of what she found. The photographer had to push his way through the ragged women to display a considerably heroic act of saving the poor woman, who was in tears five minutes after the photo was taken. The content of the photo is critical when trying to understand how the picture can relate to modern life. In all honesty, I almost cried looking at the picture. It gave me a better understanding of how precious every single moment I live actually is.  I take so many things for granted that I shouldn't, and it think the photographer properly displayed this through the emotion that was depicted by the people in this photo. It's amazing how much a photo can make a person think of every single good thing that they have in their life, and not many photos are able to do that; this one did that for me. It makes me thankful for the world we live in now, and all of the changes made in history to get us to the point that we are at now. In contrast, it can also show how a picture does not always depict the situation that is seemingly being shown in the picture. I would have never guessed that the woman in the picture would be tackled seconds later because she found bread on the ground. Photos not only capture the essence of emotion in that specific second, but they can also lie about the next few moments in time as well. 

IRB Preview (Born on a Blue Day)

When trying to find an IRB to read, there were many factors I had to consider: Would I be able to read it without wanting to put it down? Was it something I was interested in? Was it a book I could talk about on a blog? I had already decided that for my first IRB I was going to read some kind of autobiography or memoir. In my opinion, those are the most intriguing non-fiction stories. Anyway, I went online and searched for almost an hour before I found Born on a Blue Day written by Daniel Tammet. When I found this book, the first word I noticed in the description was "autism". I've always had a certain, for lack of a better word, fascination with autism. In the author's particular case, this was a very different and interesting type of autism. He was diagnosed with savant syndrome, which is a kind of autism that demonstrates extraordinary mental capacities and capabilities. Being able to work with insanely large numbers or presenting beautiful and intricate artwork or music can be just a few gifts brought on by this mental disorder. In my opinion, not only is this extremely compelling, but it will be such an easy read, not in the sense that i can "get through it", but in that I'll probably be disappointed when it ends. Although he was struck by autism, Tammet taught literature in Lithuania, was the subject of a documentary film, and participated in the World Memory Championships twice, placing 12th and 4th in different years. These little tidbits that I found about the author ensured that I'd be reading the book. I find it incredible that people with mental disabilities go out into the world and make more of an impact than someone without a mental disability would. It is extremely motivational, and I'm really excited to hear about how Daniel Tammet's story goes. Non-fiction has never really been my favorite kind of text to read, but I'm hoping that this book and the others that I read this year will change that for me.