Sally Has No Shadow

Tompkins's essay discusses her history of writing in the father tongue. Summarizing her struggle to write in a personal tone validates her continuous justification for such creative and personal essays. On page 174 she elaborates on her ability, or rather lack thereof, to write in both tones. She feels as if she abandons one in order to embrace the other. "You can't get behind the thing that casts the Shadow. You cast the shadow. As soon as you tun, the shadow falls in another place." Although I understand her view point I disagree with it. Critical writing does not have a set recipe. You can add an extra ingredient or two. A pinch of creativity in my opinion makes the essay yummy. Correspondingly, taking a critical approach to one essay does not dismiss your creative and personal work. The shadow descripion in her essay should be explained as guilt. I don't think the rest of use should be taught to embrace the guilt but rather should be taught and encouraged to successful write critically and personally.

5 Essay Titles that I Might Explore One Day

Behind the Eyes
* Family based.

Christian at College
*Based on my experience at college.

Married at 6
*Based on the pressure of getting married.

Fat and Black at 20
*Based on the unhealthy habits (from eating to the environments) I inherited and efforts to change.

Unforgiven
*Based on my mother's father and his affect on my childhood.

5 favorite Essay Titles in "The Art of the Personal Essay"

5 favorites:

· Consolation to His Wife, page 17.

The messenger you sent with tiding of the death of our little daughter apparently missed me on his road to Athens, and consequently I learned about the child only when I arrived in Tanagra.

· An Essay on the Noble Science of Self- Justification, page 146.

Endowed as the fair sex indisputably are, with a natural genius for the invaluable art of self-justification, it may not be displeasing to them to see its rising perfection evinced by an attempt to reduce it to a science.

· Aunt Harriet, page 393.

When she got old and ill my grandmother grew frightened of being buried alive and she constantly asked for assurance that she would be given an autopsy.

· Once a Tramp, Always… page 546.

There is a mistaken idea, ancient but still with us, that an overdose of anything from fornication to hot chocolate will teach restraint by the very results of its abuse


· Street Haunting, page 256.

No one perhaps has ever felt passionately toward a lead pencil.


Honorary:

Of Books, page 46.

A solitude of the country, page 141

Going Out for a Walk, page 237.

Hashish in Marseilles, page. 375.

Walking, page 480.

The Crack – Up, page 520.

My Confession, page 534.

Getting to know me...

The Role of Contrariety (30-31). How comfortable do you feel expressing an opinion that you know others will disagree with?

I do not favor being the odd man out but have no problem voicing my differences if the situation arises. However, I can usually calculate how much my opinion would effect a situation. Thus, if I feel that it is a waste of my time I usually leave the issue alone, but if there is a conversion around people I feel must understand my value, moral, academic, etc. stand than I participate.

Cheek and Irony (32-33). How comfortable do you feel making fun of yourself? How do you feel about mocking other people?

I think it is healthy to laugh at yourself; of course, there is a limit but being able to let a few things run of the court is perfectly fine. However, mocking other people is completely different. I have never understood the interest or value of demeaning another person. In fact, I will never forget when one of my teachers in elementary school explained that people who mock others are only do such to compensate for their personal lack of confidence. Of course, now I have heard that explanation a trillion times but regardless of how many times you hear it, it never changes the truth. To this day, every time I hear someone mocking another I view them as weak and insecure.

My writing experience

I am a junior at East Central University majoring in English and it was just recently that I “got” the feel for my writing style. Although most people seem to think that English types are simply born with distinctive method and certainty I continually defend my normalcy by explaining how hard it is to define your self with words, organization, and structure… unlike most things it is (in a sense) written in stone. I have always enjoyed reading and writing but didn’t fully indulge into the areas until my freshman year in college. It was then I became absolutely certain of my career path. You see, I had decided in High School that I would be an English teacher but merely based my decision on that specific concentration because it was the only subject in high school that I didn’t study basketball films or cook in. Although, I love basketball and enjoy cooking I didn’t learn history or chemistry from those activities… and still to this day have not master osmosis. I know what the hell?! At any rate, I have become increasingly comfortable with my writing skills in which I mostly have to thank Robin Murphy and Mark Walling for. I am a slow writer and a stickler for strong conclusions, my weakness is definitely grammar and chocolate brownies. Overall, I need more exposure to the brilliant minds of our past and direction in calibrating their techniques with modern writing expectations, and you know the saying practice makes perfect.