Personal Narrative: Flat Tire By Shellie Frieson

The connections I have between the book and my life is I really connect to all the daughters in different ways. Especially when they are saying how their mothers are putting pressure on them. I definitely understand what the daughters are saying when they talk about pressure from their mothers, because me being younger in the family and the next one to graduate I have pressure from my mom. My mother always tries to put me in camps, sports, internships and anything for my future, like all the daughters the mothers put them in activities for their future.

“The Wreck of Time,” written by Annie Dillard, illustrates societies battle with population. Dillard emphasizes the disasters that savage our world. According to the author, “ By moderate figures, the dead outnumber us about fourteen to one. The dead will always outnumber the living.” (Dillard 168) The amount of natural or man-made catastrophes do not affect the population as much as we claim. Dillards opinions are supported with facts throughout her essay, but readers are still left to question, why is our world considered to be overpopulated? Perhaps it is time for our society to consider Earth is not overpopulated in terms of people, but in resources. In addition, humans are struggling to grasp that other ecosystems are also being affected. With the introduction of Darwinism (the theory of evolution, by natural selections), humans are programed with the mentality of “survival of the fittest” forcing our humanity to evolve. Although evolution proved to be beneficial, as our immune system and way of life improved, we sacrificed our natural resources along the way. The problem with our society is not the lack of knowledge, but the ignorance and selfishness within our society. Overpopulation, threatened by the lack of resources, intimidates humans to disrupt biodiversity as we know it. (1) Man-made changes jeopardize our biodiversity. (2) As a result, the Earth’s resources are being depleted due to rapid consumption. (3) Even though we lack resources,

In Zinsser’s “How to Write a Memoir” he gives you three pieces of advice, be yourself, speak freely, and think small. I’m going to be comparing these three pieces of advice to my memoir I’ve read ”Guts”. I will be writing at least 5 paragraphs minimum for my essay. Now that I told you what I’m going to be doing, lets get right to it!

In the essay, “The Storyteller,” Sandra Cisneros describes different aspects that happened throughout her life. For example, she talks about family traditions, her independence, how her father didn’t agree with her decision to become a writer. Cisneros also describes about how passionate she is about her writing and how she was a teacher. Her father wanted her to be a weather girl on television or get married and have babies. Even with all the criticism of her father Cisneros still managed to live her life as she wanted. Cisneros also emphasizes how important it was for her to have her own space and privacy. Cisneros didn’t let anyone make choices you don’t want to do, always do what you want to make yourself happy and not anyone else.

Crossroads at Clarksdale by Francoise Hamlin sketches the struggle to freedom for African Americans in Clarksdale, MS. Hamlin shares the stories of two successful African Americans at the forefront and how they work to become leaders in Clarksdale. From the 1950’s to the 1970s, college students, numerous organizations, and campaigns for social transformation fought hard battles for social and economic justice. In an attempt to withstand the social prejudices that were highly advocated in Mississippi African Americans were targeted for violence and degraded by Jim Crow laws that were inhumane and restricted their rights. Despite the poverty and inequality African Americans had to undergo, their slow struggle to freedom in Clarksdale was accompanied by accomplishments and relentless efforts for civil rights. Hamlin articulates in detail the situations that were occurring in the south, how the citizens were affected by the situations, and their responses to these situations.

Yeah, I directed an episode of Haven in its last season. And that was something I had always been working toward even before I worked on Haven. I've shadowed directors as much as I could and as long as I could in the hopes of one day getting to direct myself. And that actually came to pass, and the experience was beyond my wildest dreams. It was just incredible. I loved it. I was terrified and just completely overwhelmed the whole time with a combination of sheer terror and pure joy. It was amazing.

Those who take the time to fully examine the Holocaust, and its exemplary survivors deal with the unsettling knowledge that those before them over looked. Between the years of 1933 to 1947, the Holocaust prospered through many countries in Europe, including the proximity of one survivor’s homeland, Poland. Alicia: My Story by Alicia Appleman-Jurman is historically famous for it’s shocking relevance throughout its background. It has also been infamous for its brutal unvarnished truth by well-known book reviews, but overall it’s cultural impact on the world has shown it is a lesson that should be known by all.

It was November, 2007. A phone call that my daughter was in the principal’s office in the

Now before you get too comfortable with the simple little title listen up buttercup and allow me to let you in on a little secret. I’m not what you would call a nice guy I might walk the walk, but deep down once you get to know me on a comfortable level I can come off as a dick and often times I don’t think before I talk. It’s good that I’m getting this out of the way because according to Mary Karr in her book titled “The Art of Memoir” she mentions that “the best writers make you feel they’ve disclosed their soft underbellies." Which I believe highly qualifies my memory as a memoir due to the fact that I’m being honest and I’m being myself. I believe that I have given my all into this paper disclosing to you about my personal love life. Now before you read on into my so called “exciting” life allow me to give you a bit of a warning I may or may not say something that might offend you and if you are one of those that gets easily offended, I highly advice you to put this paper down and walk away just pretend you never even laid eyes on it. Now for you brave souls that are still reading this then congratulations, you have passed and you are ready to read about my dysfunctional life.

After finishing this memoir, there is no denying that the main character, Augusten Burroughs, has a problem. From a very young age his alcoholic tendencies (coupled with other drug use) have caused hardships for both himself and those around him. As he aged, so his alcoholism increased. In Dry: A memoir we get to see Augusten’s challenging journey from a life revolving around alcohol to sobriety. As previously mentioned, it is undeniable that Augusten did have a problem. But, does this automatically mean he is clinically diagnosable with an alcohol related disorder? Unfortunately, in this case, the answer is yes. Augusten Burroughs is not only diagnosable for clinical substance dependence, but could be considered the poster child of the

Giving an Account of Oneself, a compelling piece of work written by Judith Butler, digs deep into what it means to give an account of oneself and how it is nearly, if not entirely, impossible to do such an activity without becoming “a social theorist” (Butler 8). Butler states “the story of my origin I tell is not one for which I am accountable, and it cannot establish my accountability,” (Butler 37) since the story is always changing. We are not able to give our accounts as the accounts we give will always be told in different lights and we, as beings, are always changing as the norms around us change. The sense of being ties into us not being the same person we were when we came into being, and nor are we the same being as when we begin to tell the story of our origin of being. However, other notable influences, such as Levinas, believe that fully exposing our origin of being would act as a sort of “surplus” (Levinas 79) meaning those we expose our origin of being to will be so overwhelmed with the situation that we would never be able to give an account of ourselves overall. Levinas’ views coincides with Butlers’ on the topic of norms and how we will never be able to act outside of norms when he states, “the moment I realize that the terms by which I confer recognition are not mine alone… I am, as it were, disposed by the language that I offer” (Levinas 26).

Ella Wood. That’s who I am just Ella Wood a 16 year old girl who never really had much going on and who not many people knew. At least that’s what I had thought a few hours ago when my name wasn’t on the news and pretty much every other place that you could think of. You may be confused as to what I’m talking to you about, so let me tell you a story. Let me warn you though this is not just any story, but my story. First of all let me introduce myself a bit better. I live in a town that’s kind of big and called Blackview. I love to make music it’s one of my special talents and I could also dance. I have an older brother named Tyler. I also have a twin brother named Ethan we’re practically inseparable. We’ve done a lot of things together and

Many times, we have memories that we would like to forget, such as an unpleasant or traumatic experience. My memory of my first internship was something that I always tried to forget, along with a lot of other negative experiences in my life. However, now that almost two years have passed, and after reflecting on it time and time again, I began to reclassify that memory as a learning experience rather than a negative experience. In life, we are faced with many obstacles, sometimes on a daily basis. Our society values stories of overcoming life’s obstacles because they are inspiring, interesting and may lead to personal growth.

I send my mom a quick text to let her know where I am going, and we are off in five cars lined up like a Mardi Gras parade. I have a bad feeling about this. I have never been to Micah’s grandmother’s house, and I am totally alone in the last car. If I lose them at a turn or a light, I might never find my way, but I have no other choice but to drive myself because of my early curfew. My friend, Ben, is in the car in front of me, and I am staying close behind him, so I don’t get lost.

“WAKE UP” my mom yelled from the kitchen. “We have to go now!” My mom said at 9:00 in the morning.