Mitch Hochstein

ENG 221_10 Introduction to Nonfiction

Professor Meehan

Final Paper

12/7/17

Mental Health Issues in College

Preface

Throughout the semester, we’ve been studying exactly what the essay is and what it means. We have discussed many different parts of the essay such as the rhetoric’s, poetics, and philosophy of the essay. Creating the essay is a process that is not easy, and will take time to perfect. During this course, we have explored the essay as readers and writers, analyzing what works and what doesn’t work when composing one. Examining many forms of the essay such as books, articles, memoirs, podcasts, documentaries and many more. Overall, I have learned how to write the essay as my own, incorporating different aspects we have learned from the course. This paper will be my version of the essay on the topic of mental illnesses and a demonstration of what I have learned from the course in order to further not just my understanding, but possibly educate societies understanding about this important topic.

Mental illnesses are becoming more and more prevalent across the nation on college campuses. This is a very serious issue that has been going unnoticed and has been ignored for too long. As this paper explores these concerns in the terms of becoming more aware of specific mental illnesses, there will be an example and a discussion on why college campuses should take a more proactive role when students realize something is altering their mental state in a negative way.

As mentioned before, we have analyzed and discussed many, many forms of the essay during the semester. Two authors that have greatly impacted me and how/why I wrote this paper are David Sedaris with his “Santaland Diaries” audio essay, and Steven Johnson’s TED Talk “Where Good Ideas Come From”. Both of these authors have different ways of sharing information to the public in forms other than a written essay.

When structuring this essay, I used a persuasive appeal to get across factual information while connecting emotionally and intellectually with the audience about the conflicting topic of mental illnesses. This connects at a macro and micro level in regard to societal and personal views on mental illnesses. The rhetoric of this essay is organized for readers to understand all sides and opinions on the topic of mental health issues, in order to make the persuasive appeal stronger throughout the argument.

A publication that would be suitable for this essay could be a TED Talk or an interview. A TED Talk would be a physical representation for people to go see and listen to. They would be able to watch an individual speak on and provide examples of mental illnesses in college, to show the audience the importance of the issue. An interview would also be suitable for my essay because it would be an opportunity to hear first-hand about mental illnesses. We would have the opportunity to converse with someone who can speak on their own personal experiences and how it has impacted their life.

A mental illness is defined as a disorder that is characterized by disturbances in a person’s thought, emotions, or behavior. Every single day a new individual becomes a victim to a mental illness, whether they are aware of it or not. College students are at the top of the list for becoming effected by a mental illness, as stress levels skyrocket on college campuses around the nation. While there are a variety of mental health concerns that are common among students today, the most prevalent illnesses on college campuses are depression, anxiety, and suicide. These health concerns are extremely serious and should not be taken lightly, especially for young college students. If left untreated, these issues can produce long-term consequences that could even be life-threatening. These issues need to become more prevalent in not only in today’s society, but mainly on college campuses. Becoming more aware of these illnesses will help individuals understand possible symptoms that could be seen as normal, when they are actually a sign of something more serious.

Before stepping onto a college campus as a freshman, most people have a general consensus of what symptoms are correlated with mental illnesses. Though a broad definition is understood, experiencing these symptoms is another story. As college students struggle with handling the stress of classes, extra-curricular activities, family, etc., stress can become something more than a temporary issue. When this stress escalates, one might not know how to relieve it to their own personal satisfaction. Therefore, this prolonged resolution can result in a mental illness. As the two most well-known illnesses amongst college students are depression and anxiety, the border between them can be blurred over time unconsciously.

This intertwined definition between stress and depression mainly has to do with analyzing the symptoms. In the case of someone experiencing depression, some of these symptoms are; changes of sleeping and eating habits, emotional symptoms (the feeling of sadness and/or hopelessness), and concentration issues. Due to the chemical imbalance in your brain that depression causes, it can lead you to have a “glass half-empty” perception on situations, rather than a “glass half-full”. Although these symptoms differ from person to person, recognizing these signs can be very difficult. Whether it’s someone with an outside perspective, or even the individual experiencing depression, there is room for altered interpretations. In reference to college campuses, 36.4% of college students reported they experienced some levels of depression in 2013 (Best Colleges 2017). This small statistic can also correlate to how only 36.4% of college students came to the realization that they have this mental illness. Given that a majority of students did not report experiencing those symptoms, it does not mean they aren’t going through a “related” type of disorder. Thus, similar symptoms could be linked to having an anxiety disorder.

In the event that one experiences some degree of anxiety, the symptoms are nonetheless important to consider in matters of possible escalation. Anxiety symptoms may include; the persistent feeling of stress and apprehension, sweating, dizziness, headaches, and trouble concentrating. As anxiety disorders affect 40 million adults over the age of 18 today, experiencing these feelings on a daily basis should not go unnoticed (Best Colleges 2017). Symptoms of anxiety may be mistaken as daily stress, as they also differ from person to person. But if these feelings and thoughts begin to control one’s daily perceptions, a more serious problem will arise. In association to depression or stress, if such an illness expanded enough to take over a student’s thought process and cognitive function, it can lead to something much more serious such as self-harm or even suicide. Once someone has reached the point of debating self-harm, it is difficult reverse this thought process. Given that suicide is the second leading cause of death in college students in the United States, it is important to comprehend the mental state of a student as they deliberate the option of suicide.

Suicide is generally defined as “the act of deliberately taking one’s own life”. Leading up to this unsettling result, one will begin to experience feelings of hopelessness and despair. While a student can internalize those thoughts, they can cause further damage by compressing emotions to the point of hindering their ability to deal with various forms of stress. When someone is on the brink of suicide, the most common warning signs are drastic changes in one’s speech, mood, and behavior. Recognizing these signs may be the most difficult aspect of the disorder. Suicide not only affects the individual or student involved, but also family members, friends, and those closest to them. Therefore as “…students experience frustration and doubt…” it can manifest internally to the point of “…bringing students to a place where they seriously consider ending their lives.” (Best Colleges 2017). Consequently, the outcome is more detrimental than being proactive in learning about these disorders and keeping up with mental health care.

Overall, brief and occasional flashes of these exhaustive symptoms do not automatically mean one has a mental illness. Recognizing these signs can also be difficult. Everybody has off days and moments when they feel down on themselves, but when these symptoms seem to be more common, it raises a cause for concern. In the context of universities and college campuses, prevention measures through the schools counseling services are the main source of aide a student can receive. When claims have been reported from students about experiencing these uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, the counseling centers arrange appointments in a way that won’t cause these symptoms to intensify. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case even on campuses we would assume to have these helpful resources.

In addition, there is a certain disconnect between health care facilities on college campuses and students in the matters of taking initiative about their mental stability. During these cases, a student brings their internal conflicts to someone of authority, or reaches out to receive the help they believe they need. The services provided on college campuses do not react to these reports as “emergencies” unless the student assumes so. This is due to policies that are put in place for student reported issues, granting they could add stress onto the initial issue that is brought to their attention.

STAT News wrote an article on Adrienne Baer, a junior at the University of Maryland, who was attempting to seek help as she experienced these waves of emotions and symptoms. During the fall of 2015, Baer had not only lost both of her grandparents, but also a good friend from high school. Baer personally felt she didn’t know who to contact while dealing with these life changing events, but eventually she was persuaded by friends to finally contact the counseling center. The problem she encountered along the way was explaining her mental state and feelings without belittling the situation, as they asked whether the call classified as an emergency. Not knowing what qualifies as an emergency within the counseling center’s policies, Baer answered no to the question. This resulted in Baer being sent to the end of a waiting list and told it would be two weeks before she could see a counselor. Immediately after hanging up she sent an angry email that concluded in saying:

“I am currently struggling with the issues I wanted to discuss with a therapist or counselor, but even I don’t know how I’ll be in 24 hours, let alone 2 weeks.…I don’t know if all that constitutes an emergency or if I need to have a mental breakdown to be seen prior to a two week wait but I am seriously disappointed in the lack of availability in mental health resources.”

Following this email, Adrienne was called in for “a quick appointment for an initial assessment.” Unfortunately, this did not hold their attention for long, as she was put back on the waiting list for another five weeks until she could get a possible prescription for medication. At this point, it came down to a waiting game for Baer to somehow resolve her mental health concerns. Adrienne’s story is one of many related with counseling centers that have led to this disconnect between students and mental health resources. Along with this disconnect, there could be prolonged hesitation in speaking to an expert associated with the counseling services for later issues that might arise within that student. This hesitation could thus add onto the debate a student has internally about what to do when they are experiencing these mental issues, or if they feel a mental issue could be on the brink.

Speaking from being a current student at Washington College, I have not had any personal experience with the services offered on campus for such extreme circumstances. From what has been told to me within conversations amongst family, friends, co-workers, etc., there is a massive issue when distinguishing when one has an illness vs. someone who doesn’t. In my opinion, this lack of recognizing an issue mainly has to do with the type of relationships people have with one another. One might not believe someone is expressing the signs or symptoms of a mental illness, but instead just having a troubling week during this time. There has been an encounter I’ve had with a friend expressing signs of severe anxiety in the past. This thought came to me after knowing how my friend at the time was doing in school, sports, and other activities I knew they were involved in. The symptoms of anxiety became more frequent as time went on, in return creating concern for how to go about the situation. Once we had a conversation of anxiety being a possibility for his actions, our friendship went “dark” in the lines of communication. Luckily my friend eventually reached out for help and is doing well today. This one event has changed the way I view mental health issues, while it has also showed me that mental health issues aren’t discussed enough in today’s society.

One way to bring attention towards mental health concerns on a macro level in relation to our society, is to explore them in a different medium such as a documentary or a film presentation. This is considered due to the glorification of media and regardless of whether something produced online is true or not, people within our social structure believe it to be and will become more informed. A larger audience that is receptive of these issues will be beneficial, as more and more people will be able to spread the awareness. If an epidemic like mental illness is talked about in a mass media presentation, then it can be taken more seriously and can be expanded on into more than one topic.

Two authors that do this very well are David Sedaris and Steven Johnson. Sedaris has used audio essays as a different medium to create an essay, instead of the normalized paper written essay. In his audio essay “Santaland Diaries” Sedaris talks about the feelings and perspective of a Christmas elf working in a mall. The use of an audio essay made his story much more entertaining, and more memorable. We were able to listen to Sedaris talk about this job, opposed to reading about it. This is an example of one way that I believe mental illnesses can be brought into a brighter light. Instead of someone reading a piece on mental illnesses, they can listen to someone talk about them. Just like when listening to Sedaris, you would be able to hear changes in tones and emotion, which would correlate with importance.

As audio is one unique way to get information into the public, so is a TED Talk. Steven Johnson is one author who uses TED Talks as his form of the essay to get his point across. TED Talks in general have always been acknowledged as a platform to bring societal issues into a new light. And since mental illnesses are a major societal issue, I believe a TED talk would be a perfect medium for representing them for what they are and how important they are.

In conclusion, mental illnesses are an issue that should not be taken lightly. Depression and anxiety are only two out of the plethora of mental disorders across college campuses throughout the nation. These two disorders, along with the others have the possibility of leading to something more serious such as the harming of oneself or even suicide. As mentioned before, suicide is the second leading cause of death in college students in the United States. This terrifying fact alone should open the eyes of people within our society, and bring this overlooked issue into a more serious discussion.

I pledge my word of honor that I have abided by the Washington College Honor Code while completing this assignment.

Works Cited

“Top 5 Mental Health Challenges Facing College Students.” Best Colleges, 26 Oct. 2017, www.bestcolleges.com/resources/top-5-mental-health-problems-facing-college-students/.

Thielking, Megan. “As mental health crises soar, colleges can’t meet student needs.” STAT, 7 Dec. 2017, www.statnews.com/2017/02/06/mental-health-college-students/.

Mental Health Issues in College

Mitch Hochstein

ENG 221-10 Introduction to Nonfiction

Professor Meehan

11/18/17

A mental illness is defined as a disorder that is characterized by disturbances in a person’s thought, emotions, or behavior. Every single day a new individual becomes a victim to a mental illness, whether they know it or not. College students are at the top of the list for becoming effected by a mental illness, as stress levels skyrocket on college campuses around the nation. While there are a variety of mental health concerns that are common among students today, I will be going in depth about three; depression, suicide, and anxiety. These health concerns are extremely serious and should not be taken lightly, especially for young college students. If left untreated, these issues can become debilitating and even life-threatening. These issues need to become more prevalent in today’s society, as many mental health concerns go completely unnoticed. In this essay, I will be discussing these concerns and why we need to see this issue in a brighter light.

The first mental health concern I will talk about is depression. Depression is the most common mental disorder and the number one reason students drop out of school, as 36.4% of college students reported they experienced some levels of depression in 2013 (Best Colleges 2017). Depression is a common but very serious illness, as it leaves you feeling helpless and completely detached from the world. Symptoms of depression differ from person to person. After all, depression is a result of a chemical imbalance in your brain that lead you to experience many different symptoms such as sleeping and eating habits, emotional symptoms such as feelings of sadness and hopelessness, and thinking symptoms such as concentration issues and seeing a “half-empty” glass instead of “half-full.” Recognizing these signs can be difficult, as displaying some of these symptoms does not ultimately mean you are depressed. Everybody has their off days and times when they are feeling down, but when these symptoms seem to be more common than not, it raises a cause for concern.

The second mental health concern I will talk about is anxiety. Anxiety on a low level is relevant in most people’s lives, however experiencing these stressful feelings does not mean you have an anxiety disorder. These disorders occur when “anxiety interferes with your daily life, halting your ability to function, and causing an immense amount of stress and fear.” Anxiety disorders are the most common illness in the U.S. today as it affects 40 million adults over the age of 18 (Best Colleges 2017). Symptoms of anxiety may be mistaken as daily stress, as they are also differing from person to person. To name a few, these symptoms range from feelings of stress and apprehension, sweating and dizziness, headaches, and trouble concentrating. One of the most important things to remember about anxiety disorders is that brief and occasional flashes of these symptoms does not automatically mean you have a mental illness. But if these anxious feelings persist, or being to take over aspects of your everyday life, then it’s time to seek help whether it be for yourself, a family member, or a friend.

The third and final mental health issue I will discuss is suicide. Suicide is the act of deliberately taking one’s own life. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in college students in the United States. Feelings of hopelessness and despair can build in students when they don’t take steps to deal with various forms of stress. Recognizing the sings of suicide may be the most difficult aspect of the disorder. “Many students experience frustration and doubt, but sometimes those thoughts gain an intense momentum, bringing students to a place where they seriously consider ending their lives.” (Best Colleges 2017). Most common warning signs of suicide develop in one’s speech, mood, and behavior. Suicide is not a topic to joke about in any setting, as it not only affects you, but affects your family, friends, and those closest to you.

As these mental health concerns become more and more common in today’s college students, I believe that it needs to be brought into a new light and society needs to become more mindful of these issues. Mental health concerns should be explored in a different medium, such as a documentary or a film presentation. A larger audience that is receptive of these issues will be beneficial as more and more people will be able to spread the awareness. If an epidemic like mental illness is talked about in a mass media presentation, then it can be taken more seriously and can be expanded on into more than one topic. Societal effects come into play because more and more people are becoming aware of the concerns; considering now a days the media is glorified so much that even if something isn’t true online, people believe it and become more informed.

Works Cited

“Top 5 Mental Health Challenges Facing College Students.” Best Colleges, 26 Oct. 2017, www.bestcolleges.com/resources/top-5-mental-health-problems-facing-college-students/.

A New Era of The Essay

“Is it even possible for an essay to be presented in the form of a video?” This is the question I had asked myself at the beginning of the week when the video form of an essay was introduced. I have never thought about an essay being in the form of multimedia. But after learning about and experiencing multimedia essays first hand, I now have an understanding of how multimedia is one way to create an essay. It was very difficult for me at first to grasp this concept, and it is still a little bit hazy in my mind. Essays are supposed to guide the reader through the story that is being told. They are supposed to keep the reader interested in what is going on so they continue to read. This goes the same for films. If the reader is intrigued and interested in the film, they will keep watching. The multimedia essays that I have watched over the past week all have this concept, which justifies that they are essays. These short films talk about a variety of different things such as personal stories and past events, in their own unique way. I originally had thought that multimedia or films were nothing but entertainment, but it has come to me that short films and multimedia essays are compelling and rhetorically effective.

George Steinmetz and his video/photo collection “Super-Size” went into detail about the industry of agricultural companies throughout the country. The information Steinmetz provided within the essay is one that not many know about. His pictures and videos were almost a behind the scenes look at what goes on not only inside the factories but out in the field of agriculture. The implementation of photos and videos from Steinmetz intrigues the reader and gets them thinking about the topic of agriculture. The captions he provides also guide the reader through the essay and clear up any questions the reader may have. They describe exactly what is going on in the short clip or photo to help the reader better understand what is going on. I like how Steinmetz did this; he provided a caption with the pictures which adds more guidance to the essay. The pictures are clear and provide a different form of information. We get to see exactly what goes on in factories and exactly how the food we eat is produced and processed. Readers normally do not get this luxury while reading a normal essay. Author must implement other writing strategies to help the reader visualize what is going on, where in multimedia essays, a picture takes care of this issue.

The short video essay “Zidane” by Claudia Rankine is also a good example of how videos can be essays. This video conveys the feelings of Rankine and her thoughts on how Zidane might have felt and been thinking during the 2006 World Cup. Another player had been yelling racial slurs at Zidane throughout the game and insulting his mother in the process. Rankine decided to include a short clip from the World Cup, where Zidane started to become insulted by the other player. It also shows Zidane head butting the other player in slow motion. Although the slow-motion effect keeps the reader attentive, it also causes frustration. Rankine purposely did this, as she wanted the audience to feel how Zidane felt; frustrated. The way Rankine narrates the video is based from how Zidane was feeling in the moment, which shows the reader the feelings he was going through. Rankine does a very good job in narrating this video and implementing the slow-motion part. It keeps the reader intrigued as well as giving an insight to what Zidane was feeling in the moment.

A third example of a multimedia essay comes from David Sedaris’ “Santaland Diaries” where he speaks about his job as an elf in a department store. This was not your typical elf that you think of around Christmas time. Sedaris goes into detail about how he feels about his job and how his coworkers (other elves) had acted on the job. A connection can be made while listening to Sedaris talk about his job, as he talks with emotion, which gives the audience a better understanding of his true feelings. The music in the background of Sedaris talking also helps him convey his feelings to the audience. The music is very slight, which some people may not even notice. It gives a feeling of frustration and uncertainty, which is how he felt while on the job as an elf. I think the music was a huge factor in this essay. It was much more impactful than I had anticipated, but it enhanced the story and it causes the audience to become more intrigued.

One question that remains in my head after learning about multimedia in essays this week is why don’t we learn about this more? This was the first time I have ever heard or learned about multimedia being a form of an essay. I enjoyed it very much and though it was impactful to see this different version of the essay. It will be interesting to see if this method starts to pick up in schools across the nation. Especially since technology has been on the rise for some time now.

The Rhetoric of the Essay

Mitch Hochstein

ENG 221-10: Introduction to Nonfiction

Professor Meehan

October 26, 2017

Writing Project 2

Abstract

This essay argues that using rhetorical writing elements is one way to make a compelling or convincing or persuasive essay, particularly in the longer format of a book. When authors use writing elements such as enargia or layering, their writing becomes much more compelling or persuasive. That being said, Lauret savoy in her book “Trace” and Susanna Kaysen in her memoir ‘Girl, Interrupted” both do a great job of using some of these writing elements to make their writing persuasive and trustworthy. Savoy and Kaysen use their own personal experiences to create these pieces of work. Something in the essay that I feel is strong/effective are the examples and passages from the book. They show first-hand how these authors are using certain writing elements to develop their work. Nonetheless, I feel like I can be clearer in my writing when explaining certain areas, as well as expanding more on ideas. I plan to come back to this essay and revise it post submission once I receive feedback on what I can improve on.

The Rhetoric of the Essay

Persuasion is defined as the action or fact of persuading someone or of being persuaded to do or believe something. From exploring a variety of authors and their work in class the past couple weeks, it has come to me that persuasion is critical to a quality essay. Authors such as Dillard, Douglas, Kaysen, and Savoy are some of the authors that do a very good job in using rhetorical elements to make a compelling, persuasive essay. These authors use elements such as enargia and layering in their writing to create these compelling pieces of work. In this essay, I will go into further detail about the pieces of Savoy and Kaysen, and how they use their own personal experiences to create such persuasive works of writing.

One rhetorical element of writing that aides in persuasion is enargia. Enargia is the rhetorical figure of vivid, lively description; writing that provides the reader with a mental picture of what is being discussed or argued. Lauret Savoy is one author that we have explored that uses this element of writing to her advantage. Her book “Trace” was composed of her personal journeys and her experiences within them. Her journeys come with historical context from throughout the country. Savoy goes into detail about the history, race, and the impacts the past have left on her. Throughout the book, she uses distinct locations and views from the United States to help her explain the past and why those locations are important and what type of impact they had on her. She uses incredible descriptions within her writing to help the reader better explain what she is trying to say. Each place Savoy talks about has a specific meaning and spot in her history. She talks and describes places like the Point Sublime Trail, the San Gabriel Mountains, and the rivers of rural Oklahoma. One quote that was very interesting to me, although very early in the book, came from when Savoy was describing her move from the west coast to the east. Savoy says, “I’ve long felt estranged from time and place, uncertain about where home lies” (2). Savoy was already facing the difficulties of moving from one home to another, but moving completely across the United States, and being exposed to the racial inequalities from the city made it more challenging. One way Savoy makes her writing persuasive is through these personal thoughts and connections she makes in her writing. Savoy is the only one that can talk about and connect to her own personal experiences. Writing with these personal connections creates a bond between the reader and the writer. Savoy is trying to make this bond, and prove that we can trust what she is saying. In “Trace”, Savoy does a very good job in creating this bond with the use of enargia, which in return makes her writing compelling and trustworthy. Enargia is a big factor in this piece in terms of persuading the reader. If enargia wasn’t used by Savoy, I do not think that her writing would be as persuasive as it is. If we as the reader did not have the vivid descriptions and language throughout this book, I believe that Savoy would not be able to persuade us the way she did.

A second author that we have explored that also uses enargia in her writing is Susanna Kaysen in her memoir “Girl, Interrupted.” This memoir is about her time spent in a mental institution. Kaysen talks about her experiences in the institution, as well as the experiences of other girls staying there, and about the supervisors of the institution. Kaysen uses enargia in her writing to help her better describe to her readers her experiences and help them better understand what she is trying to say. Kaysen breaks down her life in an interesting way. The connections she makes are ones that most readers would not be able to relate to. For example, during the memoir Kaysen starts to talk about meat in a grocery store. “The meat was bruised, bleeding, and imprisoned in a tight wrapping. And, though I had a six-month respite from thinking about it, so was I.” The strong vocabulary use and description make it easy for the reader to paint a picture in their head of what she is trying to talk about. Grocery store meat is a pretty easy image to imagine as it is, but the end of the passage takes a weird turn. Kaysen compared herself to the meats, which is not something the reader can easily relate to. I really liked how Kaysen did this. She uses her vivid description and words to catch the reader, and then goes into a direction the reader does not expect. From this unexpected odd turn, the reader can truly get an idea of how Kaysen feels about herself. This personal connection she makes about how she feels creates a sense of persuasion. Kaysen trusts in telling her readers on how she truly feels, which forms a bond of trust. This bond of trust makes the reader become more trustworthy of Kaysen, which in return makes her writing compelling and genuine.

Another rhetorical element of writing Savoy uses in “Trace” is that of layering. Her writing is one that consists of unique characteristics, unique enough she did not even know she did it herself. In an interview from 2016, Savoy encounters questions about her writing. The interviewer goes on to tell Savoy that she writes in layers. He says, “Well I hear it in layers. You are speaking of the personal, the larger scheme of what’s happening outside. It’s like a personal geology.” The interviewer is referring to the different places Savoy describes in “Trace”. Her stories seem to overlap and relate back to each other. Each location relates to an event in her past, which sparks certain feelings and emotions from these memories. These are critical pieces of her life that define her past and her experiences on how she is where she is today. Savoy’s use of layering makes the essay more persuasive due to the fact that we can trust what she is saying. She is the only one that truly knows about her past and the places she has visited and experienced. If Savoy did not layer her writing in this piece, I do not think the story would flow as smoothly and fluently.

Although Kaysen and Savoy do an incredible job in persuading the reader with elements such as enargia and layering, one might say that the use of enargia and layering could make the reading confusing and hard to follow. In Savoy’s piece “Trace”, enargia could become confusing since a lot of her audience has not visited the locations she talks about. It may be difficult for the reader to understand what she is truly describing if they don’t have any background knowledge on these locations. This goes for Kaysen as well in her memoir. She uses incredible description but the reader may have a difficult time understanding what she is truly talking about. I believe that enargia is a great rhetorical element to use while writing, but as a writer you must be careful in which context you use it in, and how robustly you use the element.

Overall, Kaysen and Savoy are two of the most persuasive writers we have explored thus far in the semester. Persuasion is an element of writing that can either make or break an essay. Using rhetorical elements such as enargia and layering can strengthen the persuasiveness in ones writing, but you must be careful that what you are describing is clear and concise. The last thing you want to come out of an essay is that the audience becomes puzzled while reading. The use of personal experiences by Savoy and Kaysen strengthen their level of persuasiveness, as we get an inside prospective of their lives and the struggles they faced during their lifetime.

I pledge my honor that I have completed this work in accordance with the Honor Code.

Citations

Savoy, Lauret E. Trace: memory, history, race, and the American landscape. Counterpoint, 2015.

Kaysen, Susanna, and Marian Lameris. Girl, interrupted. De Kern, 2000.

Savoy’s Geographic Past

Lauret Savoy’s “Trace” was one of the most interesting reads thus far in the semester. This passage was composed of her personal journeys and her experiences within them. Her journeys come with historical context from throughout the country. Savoy goes into detail about the history, race, and the impacts the past have left on her. Throughout the book, she uses distinct locations and views from the United States to help her explain the past and why those locations are important and what type of impact they had on her as she talks about them. She uses incredible descriptions within her writing to help the reader better explain what she is trying to say. Each place Savoy talks about has a specific meaning and spot in her history.

Savoy uses exotic details and language as she describes the landscapes from her past. She talks and describes places like the Point Sublime Trail, the San Gabriel Mountains, and the rivers of rural Oklahoma. One quote that was very interesting to me, although very early in the book, came from when Savoy was describing her move from the west coast to the east. Savoy says, “I’ve long felt estranged from time and place, uncertain about where home lies” (2). Savoy was already facing the difficulties of moving from one home to another, but moving completely across the United States, and being exposed to the racial inequalities from the city made it more challenging. Savoy describes these challenges she faced, as she talks about the day she spent on the playground outside of school. This would mark a very important day in her life. Another child from her class came up to her and said, “You’re colored, aren’t you?” She states that her classmate used an almost insulting tone, not one of kindness nor regard. This question sparked many more in Savoy’s head, as she would then come home with these questions for her parents. They sparked thoughts in her head that she had never thought of or come across before, and they came to her as a shock.

Savoy’s writing is one that consists of unique characteristics, unique enough she did not even know she did it herself. In an interview from 2016, Savoy encounters questions about her writing. The interview goes on to tell Savoy that she writes in layers. He says, “Well I hear it in layers. You are speaking of the personal, the larger scheme of what’s happening outside. It’s like a personal geology.” The interviewer is referring to the different places Savoy describes in “Trace”. Her stories seem to overlap and relate back to each other. Each location relates to an event in her past, which sparks certain feelings and emotions from these memories. Each location and landscape she saw are pieces of her life. They define her past and her experiences on how she is where she is today. This strategy Savoy uses in “Trace” of layering her stories makes the reading vivid and lively. It’s her own way of citing her past and what she’s been through.

After reading Savoy’s “Trace”, I still have a couple of questions that stand out. I’m curious about her language usage. Was the use of vivid strong words the reason her writing is so impactful? Did Savoy purposely write this book with such a strong personal thought? How did she decide what places to talk about and what places would shape her past? This book was very powerful and if I could write with the same strength and expression as she does, I would incorporate it into my next piece. The reading comes to life and becomes easily engaging with the strong language she uses.

Kaysen and her Experience

Girl, Interrupted is a memoir written by Susanna Kaysen about her time spent in a mental institution. Kaysen talks about her experiences in the institution, as well as the experiences of other girls staying there, and about the supervisors of the institution. One element Kaysen uses in her memoir is ethos. She does this by including actual files in her memoir from her stay in the McLean institution. This element of writing Kaysen is using gives her writing credibility as the narrator. It’s interesting to me that she does this. No one would know about her experiences more than she would. On the other hand, Kaysen needs all the credibility she can get. The way she writes is unique, some of her words and phrases and the way she frames some of her ideas are confusing at a first read. But this is understandable, she is writing about her experience in a mental institution after all. Kaysen also needs this support and credibility from her doctors to show that even though she was deemed out of her mind, she could still remember everything that had happened to her while she was a patient there.

Kaysen also uses the writing element of enargia in her memoir. She uses this to help her better describe to her readers her experiences and help them better understand what she is trying to say. Kaysen breaks down her life in an interesting way. The connections she makes are ones that most readers would not be able to relate to. For example, during the memoir Kaysen starts to talk about meat in a grocery store. “The meat was bruised, bleeding, and imprisoned in a tight wrapping. And, though I had a six-month respite from thinking about it, so was I.” The strong vocabulary use and description make it easy for the reader to paint a picture in their head of what she is trying to talk about. Grocery store meat is a pretty easy image to imagine as it is, but then the end of the passage takes a weird turn. Kaysen compared herself to the meats, which is not something the reader can easily relate to. I really liked how Kaysen did this. She uses her vivid description and words to catch the reader, and then goes into a direction the reader does not expect. From this unexpected odd turn, the reader can truly get an idea of how Kaysen feels about herself.

Reading Kaysen was definitely a different experience for me as a reader. Her writing is engaging but distinctive. She writes in a way that there are a lot of unexpected turns and twists in what she’s talking about. I feel as though she jumped around from thought to thought sometimes and that made it difficult to read at certain points. These turns were a common trend throughout the memoir so it made it easier to locate these turns as I got further through the memoir. Reading about her experiences was truly interesting and I enjoyed it very much; contrary to my initial thoughts on the memoir. One question I still have about this piece is how personal did Kaysen get when writing her memoir? Did she hold anything back or keep out any details that she did not want the readers to read? If so, why?

Dillard’s Adventures

This week in class we have been reading “Teaching a Stone to Talk”, a book written by Annie Dillard. This book is written with several different essays that connect with the author. Dillard is a well-known essayist who is big on exploring the environmental world and she shares her travels and encounters in this book.

One characteristic that differs Dillard from other authors we have been reading is that she gives incredible descriptions within her writing. When reading Dillard, it was very easy for me to create images in my mind of what she was talking about. The descriptions she uses makes it easy for almost anyone to visualize what she is trying to say in her writing. One example of this is in “Total Eclipse”, where Dillard says, “a piece of sky beside the crescent sun was detaching. It was a loosened circle of evening sky, suddenly lighted from the back. It was an abrupt black body out of nowhere; it was a flat disk; it was almost over the sun. That is when there were screams. At once this disk of sky slid over the sun like a lid. The sky snapped over the sun like a lens cover. The hatch in the brain slammed. Abruptly it was dark night, on the land and in the sky. In the night sky was a tiny ring of light. The hole where the sun belongs is very small. A thin ring of light marked its place. There was no sound. The eyes dried, the arteries drained, the lungs hushed. There was no world” (92-93). With this passage, Dillard is describing her personal experience of when she saw a total eclipse. As you can see, Dillard uses a great deal of description when talking about the scenery caused from the eclipse. These descriptions give the reader a visual in their mind from the time that there was no total eclipse, to when the moon moves over the sun and created the dark, “lid” effect in the sky. Even if the reader has never seen a total eclipse before, I think they would have no trouble imagining what the sky would look like during a total eclipse due to Dillard’s use of words.

One writing device that Dillard had used in this book to help the reader better understand what she is taking about is the metaphor. The metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action. Dillard uses this throughout “Teaching a Stone to Talk”. One example comes from “Total Eclipse”, where Dillard compares a solar eclipse and a total eclipse. She says, “seeing a partial eclipse bears the same relation to seeing a total eclipse as kissing a man does to marrying him, or as flying in an airplane does to falling out of an airplane. Although the one experience precedes the other, it in no way prepares you for it” (89). This metaphor helps the reader obtain a better understanding of the difference between a solar and a total eclipse.

The intense descriptions Dillard gives when she writes is one thing I very much liked when reading her work this week in class. Providing a clear image and description when talking about an experience is a very important aspect in writing, and I believe all writers should aim for this. It causes the reader to be more involved in what the author is talking about and makes it easier for them to understand what is going on. One question that I do have about this book still is why she chose the order of the essays the way she did. Is there a reason she started with one essay and not another? Why did she end the book with the essay she did? If I were to write an essay inspired by Dillard, I would heavily focus on my attention to detail and description. I would want my readers to be able to visualize images while reading the same way I was able to while reading Dillard.

Mitch Hochstein

Introduction to Nonfiction

Professor Meehan

September 24, 2017

Abstract

This essay argues that an essay can be deeply personal, while at the same time, still being informative. When an essay or piece of writing has a personal connection to it, the audience is normally much more involved and the writing is much easier to read and follow. That being said, Emerson and Shields do a great job of making personal connections while keeping the essay informational in their writings. I think that this is one of the most effective arguments of the essay; that an informative essay can be personal and still be an effective read. Nonetheless, I feel like I can be clearer in my writing when explaining certain areas, as well as expanding more on ideas. I plan to come back to this essay and revise it post submission once I receive feedback on what I can improve on.

The Philosophy of the Essay

Essays are most well known for being a part of a certain educational exercises, such as an English class or a philosophy class. Although this is true, there is much more to the essay that isn’t as easy to see. For a long time, I have always been guided and told exactly what to write in my essays. After the past couple weeks of readings in class from authors such as Montaigne, Emerson, White, Shields, and many others, I have learned that there is much more to the essay than one initially thinks. The writing styles from these authors are some I’ve never seen before. Normally essays are simple and to the point. A question is asked, and an answer or response is given to that question with much guidance such as what exactly you should be writing about. Emerson, Montaigne, Shields and others stray from this norm. The essays they have composed have deep personal thought and meaning within them. Key methods, such as using metaphors and using their own personal vernacular is what makes these essayists great writers. They have a different, interesting way of getting their ideas across. Although I had never seen this type of essay before, I believe that this is how all essays should be written. This type of writing allows for personal connection between the writer and their audience. Among the writers we have discussed, I think that Emerson and Shields do a great job of adding personal connection to their writing using metaphors and their own vernacular.

In the past, my experience with writing essays has been almost the same every time. We are given a question, and asked to answer it in a very formal way. The response must have five paragraphs with an introduction, conclusion, and your information to back it up in the middle. Almost every essay I’ve written has been set up this way, until now. I’ve always been taught to put forth little personal connections in my essays, as it isn’t important. I have now learned that this cannot be farther from the truth. Through reading Emerson and Shields, I have now learned that personal connections can either make or break a great essay. Strong personal connections can get the reader involved and interested about the idea you are getting across. But too much of a personal connection can end up badly, as the reader may become uninterested. Finding a happy medium is what Emerson and Shields have done best in their pieces, which is what changed my view on the essay.

As stated above, Emerson and Shields do a very good job with adding personal connections in their essays and making these connections work. Their use of metaphor and poetics or vernacular is part of what makes their writing great. “X Circles” written by Emerson, and “Reality Hunger: a manifesto” by Shields, are two pieces where these authors did a great job in adding in personal connection to the ideas they are trying to get across. With these added personal connections, the readings become much easier to follow and comprehend. The main purpose in reading an essay is to get some type of information out of it, but that information comes to you more simply when there are personal ideas within the writing that you can connect to.

So far in class, Emerson’s writing has been a popular topic that has been revisited more than once. “The American Scholar”, “Circles”, and “Experience” have been the essays discussed. I would like to focus on his essay “Circles”. This essay was written to explain the ways in which every aspect of life, is related to a circle. He talks about life being an endless loop and you always relate to your past in some way. Emerson’s use of metaphors in this essay is what brings the essay to life. He is essentially saying that life does not end, it just goes in a circle. Emerson states that life is an “evolving circle” (4), referring to the fact that everything in life is related. With the use of this metaphor, he is allowing his audience to connect to the reader; allowing them to relate their own life to the essay and think about how their life is a circle as well. This is one of the aspects I really enjoyed while reading Emerson. He is giving the audience a chance to relate themselves to what he is talking about. In return, this makes it much easier for the reader to understand wat Emerson is trying to get across. These personal connections allow you to go deeper and farther into the reading, as personal connections help you understand more and more.

In Shield’s, “Reality Hunger: a manifesto” he chose to compose this book in a way that I have never seen before. He took the work of over 100 other authors, put them into a book, cited them in the back, and released it as his own. This was a very controversial concept in class. Many people did not like it, due to the fact that it is basically plagiarism. Others, such as myself, found this piece interesting and a good read. One of my favorite lines from this book is towards the middle when Shields says, “Nothing is going to happen in this book” (122). I was very confused when I first read this, but kept reading as if it were nothing. He had placed this line well in the book, putting it in the middle where the reader was still interested and engaged. If he had put this passage in the beginning of the book, I think a lot of people would’ve stopped reading when they read it. If one were to read that line right when they opened the book, it would’ve given them a bad vibe and they may not want to continue with the book.

Another line in this book that stood out to me is when Shield’s says, “how long will the reader stay engaged?” (121). This was very interesting to me because keeping the reader interested and engaged is one of the most important aspects of writing. If the reader is not interested in the book, then they will simply stop reading. With this quote, Shields is describing how the writer must know when to keep talking about a subject, or to stop and move on to the next. Knowing when to stop talking about a topic is a quality of all good writers, since they are the only ones who know about the experience. This quote also shows that the personal connections you put into writing can affect the whole piece. If you ramble on about one topic for too long, the reader is going to become uninterested and not want to proceed. This proves that personal connections can either make or break an essay. They make reading and connecting to the writing easier, but they can make the writing boring and uninteresting if you are not careful.

An important element in “Reality Hunger” is Shields use of the metaphor. He uses metaphors throughout the entire book to explain the concepts that he is trying to get across. Towards the beginning of the book, Shields goes into detail describing how our memory is similar to old computers and boxes. He states, “Just as boxes and files molder and rot and computers become infected with viruses making the files inaccessible or corrupted, so do our memories” (59). Shields is using a metaphor for it’s true purpose, to help the reader better understand what he is talking about. In this case, he is helping the reader get a better idea of how our memories work. Computers eventually become old, they start to slow down and get buggy, and some become infected with a virus that can delete important files. This is exactly what our memory does. It is selective and picks and chooses what it wants so that we can remember things a certain way. The use of metaphors in writing is also a good way to get the reader engaged and interested. Metaphors are used to help the reader better understand what the writer is trying to say. This can help getting points across in an easier fashion. The reader can now visualize and picture what the writer is trying to say. In most cases, this is a very effective element of writing.

Everybody has a different definition of the essay and a different way of looking at it from their personal views. Every writer is going to have a different style of writing than the next, and this will be illustrated in many ways. How the essay will be written is entirely up to the writer themselves. The essays we have discussed and studied have been composed of deep personal thought and meaning. Writing methods such as the use of metaphors and different varieties of vernacular is what makes an essay unique and personal. For me, an essay should allow a connection between the writer and his/her audience. This connection causes the reader to be more involved and allows them to make their own personal relationship to the writing or even the author. That is what an essay should be and I believe that Emerson and Shields do this best. They make personal connections in their writing, which causes connections to be made by the reader.

I pledge my honor that I have completed this work in accordance with the Honor Code.

Works Cited

Emerson, Ralph W. “X Circles.” The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson – RWE.Org, 3 Jan. 2016, http://www.rwe.org/x-circles/. Accessed 29 Sept. 2017.

Shields, David. Reality hunger: a manifesto. New York, Vintage Books, a division of Random House, 2011.

Shields

Reading “Quotation and Originality” this past week was not the first time I have read and discussed Emerson, and I enjoyed it much more this time around. As I talked about in other pieces, Emerson is very confusing to read and you may have to reread certain parts to understand what is going on. With that being said, I felt that “Quotation and Originality” was an easier read compared to Emerson’s other pieces. In this essay, he wrote about nothing is essentially original. Borrowing, also known as quoting, is relevant in all work. He explains that writers are trying to replace the past with the present, but never being able to fully replace it. He expands his poetics when he uses words such as eavesdropping, imitation, and copy when talking about the act of quoting. Emerson is saying most people do not use their own intrinsic thoughts, but rather others in their writing. The essay closes with saying you could recompose this essay and it will still make sense. And as weird as it sounds, he’s not lying.

The main reading I will be talking about here is “Reality Hunger: a manifest” by David Shields. One of the most interesting lines to me in this book came towards the middle where he states, “how long will the reader stay engaged?” (121). This was very interesting to me because keeping the reader interested and engaged is one of the most important aspects of writing. If the reader is not interested in the book then they will simply stop reading. With this quote, Shields is describing how the writer must know when to keep talking about a subject, or to stop and move on to the next. Knowing when to stop talking about a topic is a quality of all good writers, since they are the only ones who know about the experience.

From reading both Emerson and Shields this week, their ways of writing and what they write are somewhat similar. “Reality Hunger” is pretty much a plagiarized book. He’s taken large amounts of passages and statements from other authors and put them into one piece. This was very interesting to me, that Shields can take these author’s work and make a book out of it. Is this an original idea? Or did he get this style and concept from someone else? Shields borrowed from a lot of people, which Emerson talks about in his writing. He says that everyone is attached to the past and that original ideas are not actually original. This is demonstrated here with Shields as he uses others ideas. It is essentially a metaphor for what Emerson is trying to say, just like how Shields uses metaphors in his writing. One main question I have left is do people enjoy this type of writing that Shields has produced? That is the combination of many different books, authors, movies, etc. Is it interesting to anyone else? Is this style of writing popular? These are all questions we unfortunately did not get to discuss in class this week.

Emerson

Ralph Emerson is an extremely well known author in the world of literacy. This week in class, we had read and discussed many of his writing pieces in which, “The American Scholar”, “Circles”, and “Experience” were the three that stood out to me the most. These essays are related in one way or the other which is unlike Emerson, as he is a unique writer. “American Scholar” is an essay where Emerson is explaining the way an American Scholar is so heavily influenced by European concepts . He goes into depth about the three influences that scholarly education consists of, that is nature, past, and action. The essay “Circles” was written to explain the ways in which every aspect of life, is related to a circle. He talks about life being an endless loop and you always relate to your past. Emerson also makes a correlation between circles and understanding or reasoning within the essay. The last essay “Experience” is a much more personal essay from Emerson. He writes about his feelings of mourning and sorrow as he writes about a song. Throughout this essay, Emerson talks about how men walk in confusion, and how life itself is very confusing. He questions a lot of things within the essay about his life and his writing.

One thing I had noticed in Emerson’s essays is that they were confusing and difficult to initially read. I found myself re-reading sentences, paragraphs, sometimes even whole pages. Although this made reading his writing somewhat unpleasant, reading certain parts more than once revealed concepts and key passages that I hadn’t noticed the first time around. This was one thing I found extremely interesting about Emerson’s writing. It’s almost like he makes you read his writing twice to understand what he is truly trying to say. His writing has a very deep meaning, often referring to life. The three essays mentioned before were written in a philosophical way, all relating in some sense.

An example of this comes from his essay “American Scholar”, where he talks about the influences a scholar experiences; nature, past, and action. Emerson had talked about the first influence of nature in the beginning of the essay, as well as periodically throughout the piece. He explains that nature is one of, if not the most important factor to our minds. A passage from the essay that really caught my eye was at the end, where Emerson states “a man is related to all nature”. With this quote, he is explaining his philosophical view of life. He is trying to say that everything is related to another, and that everything has an influence on something else. Almost like a circle. This is one way that Emerson’s articles are related to each other, as he speaks on concepts from his other work.

The second influence Emerson talks about is the past. Literature is a very important aspect of the past. Emerson had focused on literature books in most of this essay, where he continues to explain his thoughts on life being one big loop. What he means by this is as we move forward, we are still connected to our past. Coming up with new ideas and concepts for writing becomes much easier when you base them off old notions. The third and final influence Emerson writes about is action. He correlates action with experience, saying that without action there is no past or experience. Experience comes through action, and figuring out what is right and wrong. If we cannot reflect on our actions, we cannot move forward. We cannot learn from our mistakes.

From studying Emerson, there have been many questions I have come across. A lot of those questions were answered in class discussion, but few remain. One question that remains is does Emerson have a way that we can take full advantage of our experiences? He talks about the importance of experience and learning from your actions, but what is the best way to do so? That is most particular to me and remains unanswered. If I were to write an essay that engages with Emerson, or is inspired by his style of writing, I would write about my own personal life loop. How my past has affected the way my life turned out and how i’ve learned from my experiences, both good and bad. Its always been interesting to me how one small action or choice can change your future completely. I enjoyed reading Emerson’s writing because of this.