*Essay 1st Sentences*

1)When biting into that succulent morsel, it may be edible or not, what thoughts go through your mind?

2) America's obsession with television today is getting out of hand.


3) Going through hard times is part of life, it's inevitable, but when it involves family the stakes seem to be higher.

4) Everyone has a secret.

5) When it comes to money how might one view this: in a negative light, or positive?

Fav Five 1st Lines

1. What a strange, demented feeling it gives me when I realize I have spent whole days before this inkstone, with nothing better to do, jotting down at random whatever nonsensical thoughts have entered my head. ( Essays in Idleness) p. 30
2. This story will go its way simply, for I leave it to the doctors to discuss it. ( Of a Monstrous Child) p. 57
3. Hope, they say, deserts us at no period of our existence. ( On Marriage) p.229
4. I have no ear. ( A Chapter on Ears) p. 164
5. Every man hath two birth-days: two days, at least, in every year, which set him upon revolving the lapse of time, as it affects his mortal duration. ( New Year's Eve) p. 160
   

My 5 Title

• "Why everything that tastes good just might be bad for you"

• "Our obsession with E!"

• "My big fat dysfunctional family"

• "My secret infatuation with A*Teens"

• "Money:Friend or Foe?"

I. The Conversational Element (xxiv-xxv). Would you describe yourself as someone who often feels ambivalent about issues? Are you the kind of person who has lots of doubts? Do you make a habit of examining your doubts?



II. Honesty, Confession, and Privacy (xxv-xxvii). Would you describe yourself as a private person or do you tend to be more of an "open book"?
I would say I'm an inbetween peron; an open book in a sense of the word, but not every sense but I'm not too private. I believe sharing is helping others learn from you or your mistakes, so being too private is a mistake and a waste of some valuable lessons. If private were a 1 and open book were a 10 I'd be a 6. But if someone has a question for me I'm pretty much a "open book". I like to share and help other, but if they're asking somehting personal, trying to pry I may be mroe private about the situation. If the infromation will help noone or hurt more than help I like to keep those details private.

III. The Contractions and Expansions of the Self (xxvii-xxix). How comfortable do you feel about talking about your flaws or things you've done in the past that embarrass you now? Are proud of your knowledge of a particular subject?
I'm pretty comfortable talking about my flaws; as comfortable as anyone could be. I feel we, as humans, all are inperfect beings, full of flaws. I also feel that flaws show peoples character and make people stand out. We've all done embarrassing things and hopefully have got over them and grown from the experience. I feel every opertunity in life presents itself so we can learn and grow from them and that helps us grow into better and less ignorant human beings. And as for flaws I feel they are in some way here to help us out, to make us stronger. If we try and work on those flaws and conquor them I feel it makes us stronger and more knowledgeable.
I'm then kind of person who knows a little of everything and only a couple subjuects am I hugely knowlegable in. One subject I have researched and studied in, and although I feel in no way an "expert" on the subject, I feel that I am more knowledgeable in this subject than the average person. That subject is serial killers. They interest me and boggle my mind so that I find myself reading so many books about them and read so many articles that I feel I can teach others about them. I know statistics, background stories, habits, quoates, ect. about these individuals that I can go on for days and even though it may be a strange hobby, I can say I'm somewhat proud of all my knowledge. I worked hard on finding what I know and am proud of that in itself.


IV. The Role of Contrariety (30-31). How comfortable do you feel expressing an opinion that you know others will disagree with?
I'm an unconfrotational person, so saying something that I know most will disagree with ahead of time would not be the funnest thing to do; but if I'm passionate about something and feel it must be saiud I will.

V. The Problem of Egotism (31-32). Do you worry that writing about your personal life in detail is a sign of egotism or vanity?

VI. Cheek and Irony (32-33). How comfortable do you feel making fun of yourself? How do you feel about mocking other people?
I am extremely comfortable with making fun of myself. I do it everyday and have fun with it. I think everyone should be comfortable with that, but within reason. Never loose respect for yourself. But moking others is not my cup of tea. Unless they know about it or find it funny themseleves I am not one to do that.

VII. The Idler Figure (33-35). How do you feel about wasting time? Are you the kind of person who likes to have a strict schedule that you can stick to or do you prefer not to have a schedule at all and let things happen spontaneously?
I'm inbetween. I love having structre and plans and knowing what I'm suppose to be doing at what time, but then again I love the excitment of being spontaneous and doing things out of the oridinary. I feel it's good for people to get out there and experience life. Life's too short not to.


VIII. The Past, the Local, and the Melancholy (35-37). Do you often find yourself looking back at past experiences and reflecting on how they shaped the person you are today?


IX. Questions of Form and Style (37-41). Would you say you feel more comfortable writing narratives or writing arguments or writing reports? Do you like to read texts that take a straight path from A to B or do you prefer to read texts that meander into unexpected places?

X. Quotation and the Uses of Learning (41-42). Would you describe yourself as someone who is well-read? Do you like to quote others in your own writing? Do you like to write about what others have written?

XI. The Personal Essay as Mode of Thinking and Being (42-45). Would you describe yourself as someone who is open to a radical change in your life right now?

writing

First blog, about writing....that's really broad. I love to read as well as write, but it's only really great writings that we the people want to read. In order to find this in a writing we I look for captivation and inspiration.. If you want to captivate you must think about what makes a really great writing! Is it a hook, a pull, or a cleverness throughout? Or does it really depend on the reader themselves? I, myself, feel that the components to a great writing depends on what captivates you, as the writer. Words that are not regularly used seem to captivate readers. It pulls them in with interest. What does this word mean, or wow, I wouldn't have thought to use it in this context. When something gets you to start thinking that starts the captivation, thus produces a really good writing. Now for that great writing you must need a little more than captivation, you'll need to inspire. Inspiration comes from within and when something is so powerful that it not only captivates but inspires, you know that something is great. There are many forms of inspiration, but most inspiration from writing come sin the form of making you want to do something, explore the unknown or just push yourself to an extreme level. When you write something that inspires, theres a good chance it will also inspire the reader as well. Many times I've read a good book and the dedications say something about the book you're about to read has inspired the author and they hope it will inspire the reader as well, and many times it in fact does. They are argumentatively more than just two components to a great writing, however, these are my favorite two.