11/15

List A--
1. my family
2. Jake
3. cats
4. friends
5. cold weather
6. wine
7. music
8. stormy weather
9. psychology
10. books
11. the internet

List B--
1. working until 3 a.m.
2. waking up early
3. distance
4. mopping
5. gas prices
6. war
7. Bush
8. sharks

11 & 8--
Both the internet and sharks are big and scary, because if you think of the limitless amount of things you can look up and find out on the internet is almost frightening. Sharks are literally, not figuratively, big and scary. They are both questionable in that you never really know what you're going to get. If you Google a certain author, a recipe or a movie, you can actually get millions of different results; if you get into the ocean there's no way of knowing whether or not you'll come in contact with a shark. There is a certain mystery behind both. Even the thought of sharks makes me feel uneasy and anxious, especially since there are no oceans in Memphis.

4 & 5--
My friends are not like cold weather because they aren't cold, a temperature and they can't result in snow or ice. Cold weather can't hang out with you, tell you when it believes you're being stupid or call you on the phone. I've never met a friend that has made me want to sleep or dress in layers. I don't empathize with the cold or hang out with it. It just exists and I exist happily along with it.

5 & 7--
Gas prices are like Bush in that I think they are both ridiculous. Gas prices make me feel uneasy, as well as the fact that our country is run by Bush, a complete and total idiot. He's to blame and is most definitely at fault for starting up this war. Bush will end his "presidency" but until there is some sort of scientific break through, gas prices are and will be here to stay.

Four Essays--
1. The Rake, by David Mamet, is an essay I'd consider using in writing my synthesis essay. The way that him and his sister don't tell on each other simply out of fear of the repercussions, is very mature. Living in a home without their real father figure, but instead an abusive step father and insanely strict mother forced them to grow up a little faster than they naturally would have had they had a more nurturing home environment as children.

2. Under the Influence, by Scott Russell Sanders is another essay that I would use in my synthesis essay. The way Sanders felt that he was at fault for his fathers heavy drinking is very heartbreaking and the way he uses imagery really helped to paint a picture in my head to where I could actually see each incident played out. Each memory seems that it was a huge deal to him, not only as a child but well into his adulthood also. Even as a grown man he chooses to stay away from alcohol and places where drinking would be prominent.

3. The Limit, by Christian Wiman was a very interesting essay to read and will be considered for my synthesis essay in that he starts the essay out with the same story he ends with. Wiman's grandmother gives a name to the family's sometimes angry nature and outbursts, "the sulls", I find this to be very much like my family; in that whenever we all have the same type attitude about one certain thing someone is bound to give it a name. The suicidal aspect is described so vividly that it makes me feel uneasy and when Wiman's friend, John, shoots his father that he's mistaken for a small animal, the description of his face and whatnot is haunting.

4. Hashish in Marseilles, by Walter Benjamin is another essay to be considered. Two of the three essays are a childhood response to some kind of abuse, whereas this is an adults perspective on experimenting with the drug, hash. Benjamin's description of walking through the streets of Marseilles makes it seem ghost-like. His confusion and hard time understanding things in every day life as part of the effects of the drug are a lot like those of a child. Even the simplest thing can be hard for him to understand and that's the way it is with many children, even those written about in the other essays.

When I write, I write just to be writing at first and can seem repetitive, when really I'm just setting up a platform to bring it all together. I sometimes forget that I'm writing for other people to see and assume that the reader will know what I'm talking about. I like long sentences and using words with somewhat multiple meanings. I'm a fan of synonyms a lot as well, and I frequently use them throughout my writing. I enjoy free-writing at first, then tying it all in together. When I talk, I don't use the same kind of speech and vocabulary I use when I write. Some people might not even realize that I like to write until they actually read what I've written.