Self-Doubt Analysis

In C.D. Wright’s complex investigation called One Big Self, the author twists around different views and social norms of convicts by exposing the side of prisoners that not many think about. This piece proves to be a culture shock, because of the twisted message of prisoners having a soft side, along with the unique style and conventions that the writing is delivered through with the odd layout of stanzas, fragmented quotes, and different fonts. The bizarre environment of the prison from which C.D. Wright finds her information proves to be rare and original because she uses her book as a metaphor to relate to the prisoners, which no other author has completed before. When reading One Big Self, readers feel that the book is hard to approach and not easy to understand because the tone is not accessible. By using this type of style, the author relates her writing to how people identify and relate with criminals, like those in

“Wake up!” A familiar voice pierced the silent room as I jumped out of my bed, cold sweat running down my forehead. I looked towards my wooden bedroom door, which was being pounded by someone on the other side. It seemed like someone was trying to open it. In alarm, I got up and quickly made my way towards the door, immediately remembering that I had locked it last night. What a smart move, Juliet. I internally slapped myself as my eyes skimmed the room and landed on the keys on my nightstand.

Antigone is a complex, yet debatable play, written by Sophocles somewhere around 442 BC. Chronologically, it is the third of the three Theban plays, but was the first to be written. In addition, Antigone was also one of the most famous tragedies ever to be written. The setting of the play is set in front of the Palace, Thebes, and Ancient Greece. Though most Greek playwrights were from Athens, their plays are hardly ever set there. It begins with the death of two brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles, leading opposite sides in Thebes ’civil war. They are both killed in battle fighting for the ruling throne. Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, declares that Eteocles is the one to be honored and Polyneices disgraced by improper burial. The punishment is that Polyneices’ body will not be buried by holy rites, and instead, it will be left unburied. Antigone and Ismene, the sisters of the brothers, are also descendants of the cursed Oedipus. Antigone is the result of the accidentally marriage between King Oedipus and his mother Jocasta. In Sophocles’ tragic play, Antigone, it was the conflict with morality and self-reassurance that drove the story along and it was the unpredictable actions of Antigone that left audiences with a feeling of confusion, yet acceptance. However, there is still much disagreement among literary critics interpreting what is the main central conflict of Antigone. Some

Fatigue was getting to her. The hot day got dark fast. The sky was turning dark gray. Storm clouds were gathering, fast. Maddy, still flustered, thought she was close to the building. She saw building collapsing and a ginormous crowd of people rushing out. She ran to get a closer look. Maddy’s stomach dropped, that was the hotel she was staying at. What if mom, dad, and the boys went back to the hotel when I left? This is all my fault, they could, they could . . . die. Maddy thought as her eyes filled with tears. Her legs took control and sprinted to the sight of the collapsing hotel.

I find it hard to self-assess oneself. I do not feel I do poorly in any category, but I know I am not great at every category. The weaknesses I have are in areas that I already feel need improvement. Now we will dive into some of those weaknesses and strengths.

I know that there will be some people that don’t want to know about their health. I am on the other side; I want to know when there is something wrong with me, even if it was serious. I’d love to have my DNA decoded and analyzed. Advances in analytics will enable us to decode the DNA of individuals in minutes. It will be so cheap that it becomes a routine check at birth – or even before! A more scary idea is that health insurance companies could use (or even demand) your data to customize their premiums. Yes, on one level I would welcome this because it could reward the ones with a healthier lifestyle. But what if my DNA analysis and all of the self-quantification finds some serious underlying health problems with me, which mean no insurer

The poem “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” is written by Wallace Stevens. It contains thirteen sections; each section provides us a picture that is centered by the element of blackbird. Blackbird in the poem signifies people’s consciousness. So this poem wants to tell us that every person has a perspective to look at the world. It questions our process of thought to understand the world, and reminds us realize the problem of it. In “The Language of Paradox” by Cleanth Brooks, he introduces the notion of paradox and its application in poetry. In Stevens’ poem we can also find how he uses the device of paradox to raise the question for many times, and also the use of paradox leads us to

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock blazing in my ears. I wrinkled my nose at the thought of waking up. My arm stretched out from the sea of blankets and slammed down on the snooze button, silencing the obnoxious noise. In the sleepy silence of the room, I stretched my toes to the end of my bed and my arms reached for the head board. A yawn escaped my lips, as my muscles relaxed, ready to fall back asleep.

The high pitched squealing of my alarm woke me up from my Saturday slumber. I shift my body so my legs are dangling off the side of my bed as I reach for my phone. The repeated messages of, “Meredith answer your phone, its ten o’clock in the morning.” makes me question why my friend is texting me this early. This causes me to realize that I have thirty minutes until I have to leave. As I scramble to get my clothes together, I open my blinds only to realize that I look like a walking test pattern. I change my

Toni Morrison began her literary career with the novel The Bluest Eye published in 1970. Later she published many award-winning and best-selling novels like Sula (1973), Song of Solomon (1977), Tar Baby (1981) and Beloved (1987) which earned her repute as one of the leading African American writers. Morrison’s first published novel The Bluest Eye explores the issues related to the crisis of identity of a Black girl named Pecola in a White European society as a consequence of ‘internalized racism’. Through the protagonist Pecola, Morrison demonstrates the damage caused by ‘internalized racism’ to the minds of the children in the most devastating manner. The novel depicts Pecola’s struggle for identity and self where the epitome of beauty is defined by the standardized White European norms. For Pecola, having blue eyes, blonde hair and pinkish skin tone is the true epitome of beauty, which ultimately results in her suffering. Her life-long craving for the misconceived beauty provides her nothing but a false notion of self and identity.

Katelynn pried her eyes open. Where was she? The room was almost pitch black. Slivers of moonlight peeked through the blinds and illuminated the floor, just enough for her to see clothes piled up. Clothes. Where were her clothes? How had she wound up on the floor? And why wouldn’t that awful noise shut up? Noise. That was her phone! She crawled across the floor, sliding her hand under the bed, under the shirts, the jeans. Jeans. Wait, were those her jeans? Yes! She pulled them closer and ran her hand through the pockets. No phone. She bit her lip and looked around, her eyes had adjusted a little. She made out the outline of a recliner and started towards it. She remembered now, sort of, hadn’t she been sitting on that recliner last night? A deep snore from the bed caused startled her. She soundleslly stood up and looked at the bed. She saw the silhouette of a man’s body under a sheet. She slid her jeans on quietly. The phone started ringing again. She spied the light of it shining from the corner of the recliner. Her memory hadn’t been wrong, she had been sitting there at some point last night. She dug between the smooth leather back and seat cushion.

The agonizing hours of having to wake up early in the morning were finally over, school was no longer in session but the searing heat continued without mercy to burn our faces. Even when we stood beneath the shady trees we didn’t receive a cooling gust that satisfied our heat. But the grasp of unlimited freedom was within reach, giving me power to sleep late at night, and then sleep in. Nothing could go wrong, or at least that’s what I thought.

I stared at the window, the not so perfect weather to start a Monday. Dark clouds devoured the sun and sky. The tree danced in the wind. “Maybe falling back to sleep helps me forgetting this joke,” I thought, but impossible. I opened my eyes and saw my white belly and my long unicorn legs. Hours past by, still no change. I stopped trying with a pain in my chest that I had never felt before. “Where’s my phone?” I thought, glancing around. Found my phone lying on its back and plugged in. I tried to grab it from my desk, but I made a horrible decision. My leg shoved the lamp and the homework on the ground as I unplugged my phone. I whined and tried

I sat in my room, staring out the foggy window. All I could see was the endless trees covered in bright shades of red, orange, and yellow. I wonder what this year will be like… I wondered silently. Suddenly I heard footsteps climbing the stairs, breaking me from my thoughts. I thrust myself back under the covers, frantically entangling my legs. My door opened and my mother stepped into the room. Lightly she shook my shoulder, peeking through a squinted eye I could see she was still half asleep herself. “Jackelyn,” she sniffled, “get up, first day of school.” I sat upward and pretended to be tired. I yawned, “Mom you don’t sound good.” She shook her head, “Jack you worry ‘bout me too much honey.” “Well-” She cut me off before I could say anything else. “Jackelyn, for the love of God, it’s a head cold.” I looked down. “It’s-it’s just that dad…” She lifted my chin with a bony finger, “Look honey, I miss your father too, but you need to toughen up. I promise I’m not leaving anytime soon.” I groaned, I could never handle mushy stuff. “Ok get ready fuzz ball.” I raised my eyebrow, confused. “What?” She pointed at the mirror and shut the door behind her. I glanced over at it, and saw my black hair in a giant heap of fuzz. Turning away, I looked back at myself. I had my father’s brown eyes and black hair that I kept at my shoulders and my mother’s tall, bony body and pale complexion. Thinking about my father, my eyes welled and I turned away.

“Nature verses Nurture,” it is one of the most important topics in many areas of studies such as psychology, medicine, developmental science, and so on. This concept leads to the well-known topic: Individual’s innate talent or self-confidence, which one functions as the crucial key to the road of success? In reality, when people see a professional in a certain area—instruments, compositions, mathematics, etc., they say “that person is so talented!” Although those people would not deny the effort factor, they still think that the innate talent is the essential element to succeed. However, scholars already published gargantuan amount of research papers to inform that the self-confidence functions as the main factor in order to success (Bénabou). To verify the exact term ‘self-confidence’ from the dictionary, it is the self-assurance in one's personal judgment, ability, power, etc. (The Oxford Dictionary, Chandra). But, research papers and dictionaries only illustrate the self-confidence lead people to achieve their goals, but not the intensity of the self-confidence that is needed. My definition of self-confidence that leads to achievement is having ‘less’ self-assurance, and it can adjust one’s goal more feasible and pragmatic; therefore, it is the critical factor in determining one’s achievement.