The
Harper Anthology
of Academic Writing
Issue VI
1994
William Rainey Harper College
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Table
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Jennifer Barati
" Wi l liam Carlos Williams ' " The Young
Housewife " "
(Literature) 1
Cathy Bayer
" Reaction to 'An I n troduction of the Deaf
Community ' ''
(Sign Language) 4
Michael J. Burke
" Chemical Perspectiv e "
(Chemistry) 7
Bob Catlin
" Remembering "
(E ngl ish) 8
Laurene Cermak
" So You Say You Don ' t Need Design . . . "
(Interior Design) 1 2
Maria C liffe
" Mas ter of the House "
(English) 14
Frederick L. Coombs
" Young Man on the Mov e "
Qournalism) 17
Mary Ann C rosby-Anderson
" Point of View in Fau l kner's The Sound
and the Fury"
(English) 2 1
Mary Lou C rost
" Math Anxiety "
(Physical Education) 2 8
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Renee Daly
" A Day at the Lake "
(English) 32
Christine E. Haddad
" Rising Memories "
(Chemistry) 35
Joseph L . Hazelton
" Desperate for Salvation "
(Literature) 3 8
Joseph L . Hazelton
" Superficial Versus Profound: Romantic Love
and True Love i n Much Ado About Nothing "
(English) 42
Dan Joh n
" Against the Darkness: Li ght and the
Reconc i li a ti o n of Opp o s i tes i n Clear L ight
of Day "
(Literature) 49
Christian J. Klugstedt
" History "
(En glish) 53
Maryan Koehler
" Okay, B i g B rother, Watch This "
(English) 56
Sue Lee
" Play Is a Child ' s Wor k "
(Early Childhood Education) 60
B ill Mihalik
" The Stranger: Epilogue"
(English) 62
John W. Morris
" Principles of Justice in Health Care
Allocation"
(Ph ilosophy) 65
Janet Nichols
" Harper College: Land with a S hadowy Past "
(Jour nalism) 73
Parlene C . Oyer
" My Most Memorable Educational
Experience "
(English) 76
Catherine E. Scott
" Depression "
(Psychology) 80
G�orge Simon
"Jes Simmons Fishes for an Interpretation "
(English) 87
Nancy Sitarz
" Valaska and the Goldblatt Kidney "
(English) 90
Timothy P. Thompson
" Olds' Destruction of Spirit "
(Literature) 94
Timothy P. Thompson
" Yeah, Sure. It Was a Great Story. "
(English) 97
Linda Urman
" Chapman Interview "
(Journalism) 1 00
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Frances Vizek
" Co rps Copin g "
(English) 1 03
Carmella Wolfgang
" Tales from the C ri b "
(English) 1 06
The Harper Anthology Selection Committee:
What Is Good Writin g ? 1 09
Harper Students on Writing 1 1 1
Rex Burwell
A Harper Facul ty Member Writes about
Writing 1 1 5
Alternate Table of Contents
(by mode o r d iscipline) 1 1 8
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Foreword
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Six issues of The Harper Anthology. Six years.
Nearly two hundred Harper student authors pub­
l ished . I t seems l i ke only last month that the mem­
b ers of the Harper A n t h o l o gy C o m m ittee were
asse m b l i n g the very firs t issue and s earch i n g fo r
answers to firs t-i ssue ques t i o n s a b o ut conten ts,
organization', layout, and cover design. Some ques­
tions were easy, some hard, s ome have b een posed
an d answered a n ew for each i s s u e . F ro m these
answers, each issue has acqui red i ts own flavor, a
s tyle, a distinct personality.
If o n e word could exp ress the p ersonality of
this the sixth issue of The Harper A nthology, i t
would b e " creative. " The selections were written i n
response to academic assignments, yet they are as
creative in th e ir app roaches to t h e i r s ubjects, i n
t heir voices, and i n thei r style as any wri ting you
migh t find in a collection of poems or short s tories.
In the pages that fol low, you will, in fact, read poet­
ry, written, of all places, in a chemistry class . You' l l
also read fiction written i n an Engl ish class to d ra­
matize a student wri ter 's understanding of a novel
and the nove l i s t ' s style . You'll find the pain of a
writer's life transfo rmed into a true- to-life s tory of
discovery, self-accep tance, and growth . You' ll read
essays that imagine a world without design or that
project readers into the hospital of the twenty-first
c e n t u r y. Yo u ' ll h e ar w r i te rs' v o i ces - p l ayful,
serious, sad, whimsical. Playful in a spicy chemistry
essay about yeast, fermentation and the baking of
b read . Serious in an essay that uses the writer's own
experiences to report on math anxiety. These exam­
p les and all the other writin g in this is sue of The
Harper Anthology arc tribute t o the itTiaginativ·:
understanding of the s t udent writers l i s ted on the
front cover- and to the creative teaching of the
faculty listed on the b:1ck cover.
Incl uded in the p ages that follow is writin�
d o ne in the c o u r s e s of n i n e d ep art ments:
C h e m i s t ry, E a r l y Ch i l d h o o d De v elop ment,
Foreward
E n gl i s h , I n te r i o r D es i g n , Jo u r n al i s m , S i g n
Lan guage, Philosophy, Phys i cal Educati on, and
Psycholo gy. As always, the Anthology Selection
C o mm i t te e has t r i e d to c h o o s e w r i t i n g t h a t
expresses learning - but also writing that, through
observati o n , exp loration, or reflecti on, actually
stimulates learning. Writing to stimulate thinking is
as important and worthy of inclusion here as writ­
ing to demonstrate learnin g or communicate.
We believe you' l l find much to admire in the
writing that follows. If you ' re a student, you'll find
models for your own writing. Jo i n with us in con­
gratulating these writers. And look forward to the
seventh issue of the anthology in 1 995.
Prece d i n g each selection is the i n s truc tor ' s
descrip t i o n o f t h e ass i gnment. Following is the
instructor's evaluation. At the end of the antholo­
gy, the judges for this issue describe their standards
for good writing, selected students reflect o n their
writing, and an instructor, Professor Rex Burwell,
shares his thoughts on writing.
T h a n k s to t h e facu l t y mem b e r s o f t h e
Anthology Selection Committee for all their efforts
i n produc i n g this issue: D e n n is B renne n, Annie
D av i d o v i c z , B ar b a r a H i c key, Ju d y Kap l ow,
Barbara Njus, Peter Sherer, Wally Sloat, and Molly
Waite. Special than ks to Michael Knudsen from the
Harper Grap hics Department, to the ed i torial and
typ esett i n g staff i n Harper Publ ications, and to
Peter Gart and the entire Print Shop for all their
production assistance. And greatest thanks to the
Harper faculty and to their stud ent contributors.
jack Dodds
Anthology Selection Comm ittee
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The Young Housewife
William Carlos
Williams'
"The Young
Housewife"
by jennifer Barati
Course: Literature 105: Poetry
Instructor: Rex Burwell
Assignment: In about 600 words, explicate a poem
we have studied.
At ten A.M . the young housewife
moves about i n negl igee behind
the wooden walls of her h usband ' s house.
I p ass solitary in my car.
Then again she comes to the curb
to call the ice-man, fish-man, and stands
shy, uncorseted, tucking in
stray ends of hair, and I comp are her
to a fallen leaf.
The noiseless wheels of my car
rush with a crackling sound over
d ried leaves as I bow and pass smiling.
-Wil liam Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams is a poet who can convey
a great deal of depth while using very few words.
His poem " The Young Housewife " con tains only
th ree stanzas, yet it p a i n ts a v i v i d picture. This
poem describes one p articular housewife and one
man, and uses them as metaphors for the roles of
women a n d men i n the t i me frame i n which
Williams wrote his poem.
Men have been very d o minant in Ameri can
culture. We live in a patriarchal society, even today.
At the time th is poem was written, women were
much less visible that they are today. Women, most
li kely, were housewives, or if employed , employed
i n " fe m ale-ori e n ted " p rofess i o n s ( i . e . , teacher,
nurse, etc.). Willi ams describes the young house­
wife as a woman who would be appealing to a man
of h is time.
There are some very d istinct sensual references
a b o u t the yo u n g h o usewife. In l i ne two she is
weari ng a negligee. In lines six and seven, we d is­
cover that she is " shy, uncorseted, tucking in stray
William Carlos Wi lliams' " The Young Ho usewife"
ends of hair. " Men tend to l i ke women who are shy
and d em ure. Also, the chi l dl ike q uality of some
women can cause them to be easily manipulated or
controlled, which can feed the male ego. The action
of " tucking in stray ends of hai r " can be attractive
to men, somewhat akin to fluttering eyelashes, shy
smi les and other d istinctly female quirks. We also
know that this woman is y o u ng. Men are often
attracted to youn g or younger women, no matter
what the man' s age is.
The y o u n g h o u s ew i fe i s a wo man w i t h o u t
much responsibility, empowerment o r ambi tion of
her own. In line one we see that i t is ten o ' clock in
the morning, yet i n line two we see that the young
housewife h as n o t yet d ressed for the d ay. The
highlight of this day is to wai t at the curb for the
" ice-m an, fish-man. " In l ine th ree, the house the
youn g housew ife abides in is referred to as " her
husban d ' s house; " not her house, not their house,
but his house. The implicati o n is that she has no
real power i n her household. Perhaps she is owned
by her husband just as the house is, l ike another
fixture o r piece of furniture. Also, at this time in
our history, women i n the suburbs were often the
sector of s o ci ety which experi enced the h i ghest
rates of d ep res s i o n . Th i s i s b e c a u s e they fel t
" marooned " in their neighborhoods, wi th no mode
of transportation. The you ng housewife seems to
have no mode of transportation either.
Williams compares the young housewife to " a
fal len l eaf. " Perhaps h e sees a woman wh o has
potential that will never come to frui tion. He may
find the young housewife to be attractive, but real­
izes that a woman is more than j ust her l ooks, a
view that may not have been popular at this time.
" The w o o d e n walls " he d es cribes in the h ouse
magnify the feeling of desolation, which the youn g
housewife m a y n o t feel , b u t we feel for h er. It
brings to mind the expression, " No one to talk to
but the four wal ls. " The ungiving, unmoving, and
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permanent feeling of the word " wooden " could be
a metaphor fo r the young housewife ' s exis tence.
She has committed to a l ife which most likely will
be permanent (as marriages, h appy or otherwise,
tended to be at th is time) and static as it relates to
her development as a person.
Finally, Williams' reaction to the youn g house­
wife sh ows us that even the most progressive of
men were constrained by society's beliefs about the
p roper ro les of men an d women at this time i n
h istory. The persona, who i s male, i s driving b y the
y o u n g h o u s ew i fe . He h as a c a r, a m o d e of
transportation, a vehicle of freedom. This already
p u ts h im in a position of p ro m i nence, n o t o n ly
over women, but over less prosperous men who
cannot afford a vehicle. The man probably knows
the youn g housewife, as he smiles and b ows upon
s ee i n g h e r. S o c i ety w o u l d p r o h i b i t t h es e two
people from forming a friendship, however. Men
and women were only allowed to be either lovers
or acquaintances. Therefore, this man cannot reach
out to this woman to assist her in lead i n g a more
meanin gful and satisfying life.
The last stanza refers to the man d riving over
" d ried leaves " as he passes the housewife. Earlier,
the housewife was compared with a leaf. The act of
the car, a male possession, d riving over many d ry
leaves may represe n t men q uash in g the d reams,
h o p es, d es i r es and pate n t i a l of m a n y w o m e n .
These women are now " d ried leaves " . They once
h ad e n t h u s i as m a n d v i g o r, b u t n o w they h ave
resi gned to l ive mediocre lives. The man bows and
smiles as he passes by, roll ing over the d ried leaves,
as if to say " I ' m s o r r y I can n o t d o m o re, b u t
society will not allow it. "
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Eval uation: jennifer Barati finds, ben eath the overt
sensuality of Williams ' poem, the boredom and
constraint of " the young housewife," and examines
her plight with unusual sensitivity. For me, this is
the sort of reading that makes poetry meaningful.
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Reaction to
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by Cathy Bayer
Course: Sign Language
Instructor: Amy M. Dixon-Kolar
Assignment: Write a paper in reaction to the
movie11An Introduction of the Deaf Community. II
Students were to discuss how the information in the
movie affected their understanding of the Deaf
Commun ity.
After v iewi n g the vi deo A n In troduction to the
Deaf Community. I had some opinions altered and
some confirmed . Altered opinions included the d if­
ference between the medical and cultural d efinition
of deaf, " misunderstandings between hearing and
the Deaf, ASL as a lan gu a ge, awareness of d eaf
people's opportunities for exp ression, the i mpor­
tance of the resiaemial deaf schools, and ways to
improve communication with the Deaf. The video
confi rmed my op i n i o n regar d i n g the Ga l l audet
presidency in 1 988.
I was very grateful for the discussion of the d if­
ference between medically deaf and culturally deaf.
The med ical definition and treatment were limiting
and showed l ittle respect for the individual and his
a b i l i t i e s . T h i s v i ew p e r p e t u a ted t h e i d e a t h a t
because the ear d i d n ' t work the mind didn't work
either. It has long seemed unfair to me that a per­
son should be considered " b roken " or i ncapable of
making personal l ife decisions j ust because one of
h is senses doesn't work. There are, of course, times
when special care is necessary even when all senses
are working perfectly. I like the cultural defi nition
because it sees the Deaf as complete peopl e who
h appen to be unable to hear. It opens the door to
viewing them as a cultural minori ty, not a handi­
capped few.
I found learning the misunderstood terms that
are offensive to the Deaf very helpful. When I have
used the term " deaf and d umb I meant someone
who could not hear. It was no reference to i n telli­
gence. I am glad to be learning the terms that are
offens ive, i . e. " d eaf a n d d u m b , " " d eaf m u te, "
" h earing impaired , " and the terms that are not
offensive, i.e. " Deaf" and " hard-of-hearing.
I was really surprised to learn that some people
thought that the Deaf were unable to function in
the real world j ust because they were deaf. Many
people with all their faculties have trouble. I also
thought that being deaf auto matically q ualified a
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person to b e a member of the Deaf Community. It
had never occurred to me that a person needed to
know the lang uage, cu l tu re, values, etc. of this
community i n order to be part of it. What a sign of
progress for the hearing community, that so many
are willing to read and learn about Deaf culture. I
am greatly encouraged to see that the hearing
community is learning to identify the Deaf com­
munity as a culture with i ts own language, values,
and forms of expression.
The i nformation o n American Sign Language
was very helpful . At first glance, the language did
seem to me to i nvolve pan tomime. However, when
I looked at it as a language, this mistaken impres­
sion broke down. While a language has syntax and
grammar, pantomime does not. Having talked with
a friend who had taken sign language at Harper, I
was aware that m any signs could not be translated
word for word. The few sentences we have learned
in class also point out the fact that American Sign
Language is a language in and of i tself.
The section in the video on publications, orga­
nizations, and artistic outlets for the Deaf was very
eye ope n i n g . I h ad n o i d e a these exi s t e d . As I
t h o u g h t a b o u t i t, t h e i r existence m a de p e rfect
sense. The needs of the Deaf would best be met by
an o rganization founded and run by the Deaf such
as the National Associatio n of the Deaf. The mem­
bers all h av e very s imilar concerns. The hearin g
public does need to be i nformed about the possi­
bilities and abilities of the Deaf. The publications
Silent News and Deaf Life are necessary to d iscuss
the happenings in the Deaf commun ity. It is good
that deaf athletes and artists have thei r own groups
such as the Deaf O lympics and Deaf Theater. I
must ad mit that my ideal is that hearin g and deaf
athletes and artists perform together. More educa­
tion is needed before this beco mes a reality.
I d id n o t exp ect s tate res i d e n ti al schools to
be so i m p o r ta n t. Wi t h the emp h as i s t o d ay o n
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i n tegratin g all stud e n ts, regard l ess of abi l i ty and
physical capacity i nto the regular classroom, I very
much expected the Deaf to want this also. Going
back again to the view of the Deaf being a cultural
m i n o r i ty, t h e n eed f o r t h e re s i d e n t i al s c h o o l s
becomes very clear. Every minority wants to pre­
serve i ts cultural heritage. The residential schools
are a proven place to do this.
Many of the ways to i mp rove communication
with a deaf person were new to me. Some of these
included maintaini n g eye contact, not covering the
face when talking to a deaf person, n ot assuming
that all deaf people are good lip readers, not assum­
ing that a person wearing a hearing aid can under­
stand speech, and learni n g to use a TTY and other
communications devices. Using paper and pencil to
communicate, ad mittin g when I don ' t understand,
using appropriate ways to get attention, not shout­
i n g, not allowin g others to interrupt, correctin g the
deaf person 's English, and treating deaf people as I
would treat others were not n ew i deas to me.
One idea in the video I agreed with very much
was that the president of Gallaudet should be a deaf
person. A deaf president would understand all the
trials and tribulations as well as the joys and tri­
umphants of the deaf students. I was cheering for
them all the way when the d emo nstratio ns were
takin g place in 1 98 8 .
I was raised in a family where I was taught to
respect a person j ust because he/she was a person.
As I v i ew e d t h i s v i d e o , the feel i n g t h a t c a me
through to me loud and cl ear was th a t t h e Deaf
community wanted to be accepted as a culture that
is whole and co mplete. The Deaf desire and deserve
to be treated as i ndividuals of value. To me this is
the desire of all people - hearing and deaf.
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Reaction to "An Introd uction to the Deaf Co mmunity"
Evaluation: The studen t doesn 't just reiterate what
happened in the movie, she states what she has
learned. She also gives opinions regarding issues
presented in the movie and backs those opinions up
with supporting evidence. She put time and thought
into this movie 's effect upon her instead of giving
short, pat answers.
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Chemical
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by Michael]. Burke
Course: Chemistry 122
Instructor: C. Jayne Wilcox
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From the soul of a person,
Into the soul of an atom,
We are but one,
And we are trillions.
L ife is but a titration
Of molecules
And memories,
With no rules of sanity.
We are governed by entropy,
A comedy of randomness
That b rings a semblance of order
To an impossible universe.
Life is a perpetual catalyst of . . . itself!
Stages of matter coalesce:
Solid is liquid is gas.
The universe is but a single crystal Its lattice points, our l ives.
Assi gnment: Write a short poem which has some
kind of chemical theme.
Evaluation: Mike's poem is a beautiful mix of
chemical terms and philosophical commentary. The
poems I received from this writing assignment
ranged from the ridiculous to the sublime. Mike's
poem is sublime.
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Remembering
Rememberin g
by Bob Catlin
Course: English 1 0 1
Instructor: Jack Dodds
Assignment: Write a personal experience essay in
the participant's role. In a series of vignettes
describe a significant process of self-discovery and
change.
M arch of 1 97 1 . It's before Lamaze and I ' m alone i n
a room filled with a tobacco fo g, chain-s mokin g
Camel regulars. Up and d own th e waiting room I
pace like a character from a tv sitcom. How fathers
endured this anxiety befo re c igarettes i s beyond
me. Final ly, the door to the waiting room opens
and the doctor walks in still untying his mask.
" Congratulations, it's a boy. "
I clasp his outstretched hand out of reflex, but
there is only one q uestion on my mind.
" Please, can I see them n ow ? "
I n the claustroph ob ic delivery roo m , M ary's
feet are still i n the stirrups for lack of a better p lace
to put them. Her face is almost as pale as her gown
and I curse the rules and regulations that kept me
from her when she needed me most and from see­
i n g my child born. M ichael is wheeled past us in a
glass-walled cart, still bloody from his entrance to
the world, o r so i t seems to me. All I get is a quick
glimpse as he's trundled by.
" Is n ' t he beautifu l ? " signs Mary.
" Dear, I'm afraid Bill Cosby was right: you 've
given b irth to a lizard. "
That earns me a feeble punch from my wife and
a heftier o ne from the nurse. Already I ' m thinki n g
about what cigars I ' m going t o b uy. I a m happier
than I have ever been.
My parents drive us home because M ary is in
no shape to d rive and I will not relinquish my hold
on my son. The hospital woul d n ' t let me touch him
the entire time they were there o r even stay i n the
room when Mary fed h i m. I t ' s n o t l ike I had n ' t
seen m y wife 's b reasts before, for cryin ' out loud !
Now I won ' t let him go. Even when he wets a d ia­
per, I won ' t let anyone else change him. I only turn
him over to Mary when he needs to be fed . Sorry,
Mike, Daddy's j ust not equipped that way.
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June of 1 97 1 and we have our own place and
jobs at Kemper Insurance. I ' m a computer operator
and she ' s a keypunch operator. Mary is in white
sandals, pink m i ni-skirt, and a tight, white sweater.
Her figu re i s back (sh e ' s o nl y ni neteen) and her
bare legs h ave dancers' to ne.
Break time and we are the center of attention
because of her. The men gather to see her and hear
her lilti n g voice. Someti mes she purrs like a cat, but
that's reserved for me. The women gather in a vain
hope of attracting so me of Mary ' s ad mirers away.
I ' m twenty going o n twelve and I can ' t help but
strut and preen like a fighting cock. What you all
can only dream of is my actual life. She goes home
w i t h ME at n i g h t and s l i d es h er b o d y n ext to
MINE between our sheets. At home with a sitter is
our beautiful, golden-haired baby. His eyes arc as
blue as either of ours, and he is big for his age, just
like his father was. I show his picture to the few
who have n ' t seen i t and the many who have.
" ''m go i n g to do all the thi ngs with h i m my
father never did with me, " I claim with pride.
In my m i n d I t h i n k o f how much b e tter a
father I ' m going to be than mine was. My son will
love me and be proud of me.
I notice that so mething is making Mary pensive
tonight but she says we' ll talk about it at home.
We ' re r i d i n g home in our 1 970 Fo rd To rino
and listening to WDAI-FM . Caro l King is singing
a song from Tapestry. Mary is singing along, and
her face. seems so frighten ingly serious to me:
But i t ' s too late, Baby
Now i t ' s too late
Though we really did try to make it
Something inside has died
And I can ' t hide
And I just can ' t fake it
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" I don't love you anymore, Bob, " she tells me.
My world begins to crumble like a house of cards.
I sleep on the sofa that n ight so I d on ' t clutch
at her l i ke a d rowni n g man and beg. Could any­
th ing be worse that this? I l ove her with my whole
soul .
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At sev e n a . m . , I w a k e up a s s h e s c r e a m s ,
" Michael! Michael ! " I rush t o our bedroom where
h is crib l ies. My three-month o l d son is stil l, so
still. I touch him and he's cold and stiff with rigor­
mortis.
" No, wake up, M ike! My son ! "
We are stayin g a t h er parents' h ouse t o get
away from that heart-rend ingly empty crib and the
toys he will never play with. In the fold-out bed
we share, I pull her close to me seeking co mfort
and need ing to give it.
" Nothing has changed b etween us, " she says
with a coldness that reaches into the very core of
me. My tears d ry and an empty pit forms i n my
soul. I decide to hide there and never love again.
M arch of 1 9 93 . I wake up in a h o sp i tal bed
with my right leg immobilized and a b l oody lump
on the b ac k of my h ead . The b l o o d is d r y a n d
crusted because I've been there five days. Through
the haze of d rugs and pain, I'm being told that I
was d runk, got into a wreck, totalled my truck and
a Pontiac, almost lost my leg, cost the other d river
his leg, and al most kil led my busi ness partner. I
begin to realize that I can no longer con trol my life
z,nd that I have a problem with al cohol.
It' s June of '93 and I'm out of my wheelchair
and cast. Three months of hospi tals, bed rest, and
s i x operati o n s h a ve left me weak, s k i n n y, a n d
BORED! I toddle off down tree-shaded lanes to an
A.A. meeting I've heard about at the local church.
9
Remembering
It's h igh summer. The leaves on the (mostly) maple
trees are verdant and shining. Carefully manicured
sun-dappled l awns a nd gardens h ave a sooth i n g
effec t o n the n o - l o n ger- anestheti zed empti ness
rag i n g i n s i d e me. T h i s i s h o m e s t i l l a nd I am
not u nloved.
I begin the first of many struggling descents to
t h e b a s e m e n t of t h i s c h u r c h to m ee t t h e n ew
friends I w i l l find there. Me n a nd wo men with
ach ing, empty voids that they, too, tried to fill by
pouring alcohol and d ope into them.
I find a sponsor to help guide me on the twelve
steps. He is i n his late thirties, with salt-and-pepper
hair, a lean and muscular build and a no-b .s. atti­
tude. This is an atti tud e I need h i m to h ave as I
u n c o n s c i o u s l y evad e my e m o ti o na l b l ack h o l e .
F i n a l l y, t h e fo u r t h a n d f i f t h s t e p s b ec o m e
unavoidable.
Fourth: M ake a l i s t of all the wrongs I h ave
done, all my resentments, fears and frustrations.
Fifth: Tel l them to my sponsor o r clergyman.
Brin g them o u t i n to the open and purge myself
of them.
It's early Sep temb er when I final ly sn 1n the
conversat i o n pit of my sponsor ' s home. All my
excuses about a heavy homework load having been
d ef l e c t e d b y a " W h o d o y o u t h i n k Y O U ' RE
stroking ? " look from him, I sit and spill all. Slowly
and painfully my transgressions and crimes are laid
bare. To face myself and the wrongs I have done is
the most d ifficult task I have ever taken on.
It ' s March of '93 agai n. I am back at the night
of the accident in the l ast bar I have ever been in,
drinking the last beer I have taken si nce.
It is now September of 1 986. I am reluctantly
m ovi n g i n t o a fri en d ' s back bed r o o m fro m my
beautiful two-bed roo m apartment. I am realizing
as I do so that I will never work as a field engineer
10
again and that m y upper-middle-class l ifestyle is at
an end .
Back before 1 982 I go and relive six d rug- and
alcohol-soaked years of a naval enlistment. I see all
the l ies I have been telling myself about my Navy
time and am forced to concede that the service is
well rid of me.
It's 1974. I ;ee myself again as a twenty-three­
year-old computer operator. I am even recovering
some of those feeli ngs of invincibility and cocki­
ness. Then I realize what that cockiness has been
d oing to my l ife and, worst of all, to those who
love me. Also I realize what a hollow foundation
that cocki ness is built on.
All through my confession runs the thread of
t h e p e o p l e I ' m h u rti n g - fam i l y, fri e n d s a n d
lovers. I feel humiliated at the results o f m y drunk­
en self-ce n tered n ess an d i n d i fference. F ee l i n gs
come out of me that I thought long buried and for­
go tten . . . buried and forgo tten.
Mid September of '93 finds me struggling over
b roken ground at the St. Michael of the Archangel
cemetery across Algonquin Road from Harper. I
need help to find the grave I h aven ' t seen i n twen­
ty-two years. He l ies un der his matern a l grand­
mother ' s headstone and I flop about on the tus­
socky ground with my crutches trying to find the
spot. It is overgrown with turf and forgotten, this
grave. I couldn ' t have found it without help from
the secretary here. She leaves me alone, s itting on
th e uneven grass and cuttin g th e turf back from
Mary's mother's headstone with my pocket knife.
Mary had said she would put a b rass plaque on the
headsto ne to mark Mike's grave, but all that is here
i s t h e c o l d m a r b l e a n d s t ray p i eces of t h a tc h .
Desolate and forgotten all this time.
T
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gy
For graveyard amends, my sponsor has told me
to speak out loud:
" M i ke, I ' m sorry. I ' m s o rry fo r not c o m i n g
sooner. I thought I could just carry your memory
with me, b u t gravesites really are fo r the l ivi ng,
a r e n ' t t h e y ? M a y b e I b l am e d myself for y o u r
death, b u t that's n o t really so, i s i t? I ' m sorry, b u t I
loved her more than you and losing her was harder
for me to take. Now I fin d that, of the two of you,
m y l o v e for y o u w as more rea l because it s t i l l
hurts. "
I say n o t h i n g more out loud, but I th i n k of
what I h ave l et myself become and imagine how
Mike would look at his daddy. After twenty-two
years of dryness, tears explode from my eyes i n a
torren t and d eep sobs rack my bo dy. This time,
though, they' re cleansing. The black pit in my soul
is bein g filled, becom i n g a clear lake suitable for
reflectio n. Despair and bitterness are bei n g washed
away at last.
I regai n c o n trol a n d , with tears s t i l l ro l l i n g
unashamedly down m y cheeks, I promise him:
" M i ke , I ' m g o i n g to m ake it. I ' m go i n g to
straighten out my l i fe once and f o r al l. So meday
s o o n y o u' l l see a father you can be proud of. I
swear it. "
As I slowly make my way back to the now
closed office, I resolve to put that plaq ue on his
gran d m o t h e r ' s head s to n e as soon as I can earn
enough money. He should n ' t lie there forgotten.
His name is Michael James Catli n and he's my
son.
Evaluation: Bob writes with detail and feeling
about a years-long process ofpain, denial, discovery,
and growth. His style is rich and mature.
11
So Yo u Say Yo u Don't Need Desi g
n ...
So You Say You
Don't Need
Design ...
by Laurene Cermak
Course: Interior Design 1 05:
Interio r Design Theory
Instructor: Jacque Mott
Assignment: It has been said that people don't need
design. Write a short paper on wha,t life would be
like without design.
12
When asked i f design is an essential part o f life I
would expect most people to say no. The correct
answer is that is is one of the most i mportant ele­
ments of any society. Design permeates everything
we d o . Des i gn is a l l around us in one form o r
ano t h e r. A t r i p t o t h e g r o c e r y s t o r e i s t a ken
through the streets designed b y an urban planner.
The automobile you ride in was designed mechani­
cally, aerodynamically, and aesthetically for you by
a team of d es i gn p rofessi onal s . Design is much
m o re than d eciding what p illow goes with what
couch.
Design provides society with a way to accom­
modate population growth through planned hous­
ing communities, c reative answers to the public
h ousing dilemma. Infrastructure d oesn't j ust hap­
pen, systems are designed to make the components
w o r k to g e t h e r s o t h a t o u r c i t i es w o r k f o r us.
Landscape design makes our scenery attractive to
give us visual beauty, something more t h an the
mund ane. Architectural design creates treasures for
our enjoyment and use. Fashion design takes our
basic need to wear clo thes and th rows in a good
amount of p izzazz to enable us to show our indi­
viduality through d ress. Interior designers trans­
fo rm wal ls, floors, furniture, fabric, paint and more
into a place that is functional, comfo rtable, and aes­
thetically p leasing.
Imagine what it would be like. You wake up in
the morning in a room with a bed, a d resse r and
closet. They do not interest you since all furniture
is the same in every house. It serves a need to store
clothing. Speaking of your clothes . . . they don't
interest y ou e i th er. All of your b louses are the
same, and your p ants arc id entical too. Fashion
d esign does not exist to differentiate one piece of
clothing fro m another. Your hai r has loo ked the
same for the longest time since you really don' t
have design trends in hair. It is long or short, clean
or dirty. But continuing on to your day, you drive
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to work in your standard car #4563 7. The number
is your only way to distinguish it in the lot. You
work in a cubby hole that is not even big enough
to turn your chair around in and wonder why life
is s u c h a ha s s l e . N o th ing seems l i ke i t s h ou l d .
Someth ing i s just not right. You are thinking that
s o m e o n e s h o u l d be t h i nk i n g a b o u t how to d o
s o m et h i ng instead o f j u s t d o ing, d o ing, d o ing.
Then you stop th inking because you ' r e th inkin g
l i k e a d es i gner a n d t h a t can ' t b e r i g h t because
design d oesn' t exist.
Des i gn i s t r u l y a l l aro und u s . To the q ue s t i on
" could we survive without design? " , of course the
answer is yes. But the next q uestion would have to
be how would we l ive?
Evaluation: This essay illustrates the significant
impact of design upon society. The approach was
creative while the point came across very clearly.
13
Master o f t he House
Master of
the House
by Maria Cliffe
Course: Honors English 1 0 1
I nstructor: Martha Simonsen
Assignment: Write an essay about a remarkable
animal you have known. Use as your model
james Thurber's humorous essay, "The Dog
That Bit People."
14
" M e o w ! " -Get up ! " M e o w ! " -F e e d m e !
" Meowwww! " �Thank Good ness you ' re f i nally
home. He loves and adores us. He pleads with h is
huge green eyes. He rubs his glorious silken coat
against our legs, anything to get what h e wants.
Then h e thanks us b y p r omp tly sauntering off,
arro gant as can... be, sneakily devising another plan
to i mpose his presence upon us. Alex is the name
of this bundle of ginger fur and whiskers. As I read
James Thurb e r ' s n;:trrative, " Th e D o g That B i t
P e o p l e, " I was r e m i n d e d o f m y c a t . T h u r b e r
described h i s d o g M uggs a s " . . . the worst of all
my dogs " (298). However, I would be incl ined to
describe Alex as the most interesting cat I have ever
had . Although he is only two-and-a-half years old,
he has become master of our house.
This fanatical feli ne has a b ui l t-in clock with a
mechanism so p recise that i t m iraculously triggers
an alarm each day exactly thirty minutes before the
household rises. It seems i mpo�sible to believe that
a no ise so multipitched could emanate from the
small head of this tone-deaf animal. Nei ther yells
nor hurled sl ippers will d eter h i m . When every­
one 's sleep is b roken, his howls change to throaty
chuckles of mews and purrs, To assure h imself that
our day has begun, he accompanies one of us to the
bathroo m to supervise every action, i ncluding test­
ing the temperature of the water delicately with h is
p aw. Then h e makes t h e r o u n d s , c h e c k i n g that
every person is out of bed.
Weekend mornings j us t haven ' t been the same
with Alex around. I prefer to wake up peacefully
o n a S a tu rday, w i t h o u t a b l a r i n g a l a r m , w h i c h
always reminds me of early mornings . However,
there is a certain feline who won ' t allow sleeping
past nine o ' clock.
Without fail, if I ' m not awake by that time, he
runs in to my room and begins a lengthy series of
high-pi tched , ear-piercing meows to awaken me. If
T
h is attempts fail, he then pounces on my bed and
tickles me w i th hi s s harp whis kers. There is no
possibl e way to i gnore this tactic, so I have to get
up . And, of co u rse, Alex p r o mptly flops d own
right where I was sleeping and dozes off.
Alex always ensures that household chores are
done regularly. He selects cupboards of his choice,
opens catches that m y father meticulously tigh t­
ened, and empties the contents across the floor.
Then he issues verbal commands to our other, very
timid cat, Lucy. They both proceed to tear around
the house like cannonballs, up and d own the stairs,
knocking d own anything that lies in their p ath .
After a while, bored om sets in and activity ceases.
Alex arrogantly reposes on his section of the sofa
and s leep i l y o b serves as we, " the fools, " spend
hours cleaning up after him.
Sometimes Alex d oes a little " cleaning up " for
himself. If there happens to be a pen or pencil lying
around on our kitchen counter, he gently slides i t
across the top with his paw and d rops it into the
sink. Then, he spins it around until it drops into
the was te d is p o s a l . S o b efo re we ever f l i p t h e
switch t o turn i t on, w e always inspect for writing
u tensils, or anything else he may have inadvertent­
ly deposited while we weren't looking.
E v e r y d ay, at exac t l y f o u r- t h i r ty, t h i s f a t ,
overfed cat arrives i n the kitchen and fei gns starva­
tion. He stares at whoever passes the pantry with
h alf-closed, imploring eyes, and begins licking his
lips. If my Mom doesn ' t feed him right away, he
then ch ases her and b i tes her leg until she d oes.
And so goes this pattern every single day. When he
does receive his dish, he hastily inhales every last
morsel in the hopes that he will get some more. If
no one is watching, he moves over to Lucy 's dish
and begins devouring her food, too. So there has to
be someone on guard when he eats to make sure
that he doesn ' t deprive poor Lucy of her nutrition.
B u t it d oesn ' t matter if he can ' t eat Lucy ' s fo od
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because he knows that about an hour later, we eat
our dinner. One day he stole a left-over sausage
lying in the sink. We knew something was wrong
when we saw him d ash p ast with the piece of meat
dangling from his mouth. My mom had a tug-of­
war contest w i th h i m to see wh o could win the
s a u s a g e : A l ex d i d n ' t w in , and he w h ined and
moaned for a long t i me. The fo llowing week he
stole a left-over po tato.
A couple of weeks ago, Alex began a new s tunt
. . . at one o ' clock in the morning. While we were
sleep ing, he went into my bathro o m and b e gan
banging on my s h ower d o o rs . T h e c l a m o r g o t
louder and louder until my M o m woke u p . All I
could hear was " Shut up, Alex! Stop I t! " Then my
Father c h i med in w i th the warnings . I j us t l ay
there, snickering. Finally, my Mom got up, went to
my bathroom, and reprimanded h im. I was laugh­
ing hysterical ly by now. Alex had succeeded in get­
ting one of us out of bed to pay attention to him.
One o f A l e x ' s f av o r i t e p as t i m es is f l ower
arranging. He selects a vase of artificial flowers and
commences to carefully remove all flowe rs with
long stems. Then he d etaches the tops fro m the
stalks with his teeth. Finally, he travels around the
house depos iting the b l o o m s wherever he feels
some decoration is needed . One day last summer, I
came home to find my bed surro unded b y l i ttle
blue flowers. It turned out that Alex had removed
them from my bathroom, transported them to my
room and done a careful arrangement.
Each n i g h t , there is a l w ays a fi g h t f o r b e d
space. Alex almost always gets t o m y bed before I
do. It takes immense physical exertion to move this
large, sleeping fel ine. Some nights I ' m so tired, I
d on ' t even b o t h e r trying to m o ve h i m : I s leep
" aro und " h i m, in whatever ro o m is l eft. In the
mo rning he is there, sp rawled out with legs in
every possible direction. Often, he switches beds in
the middle of the nigh t and sleeps with my parents.
15
Mast er of t he Hous e
One morning, m y Mom found herself practically
falling out of bed because he had grad ually pushed
her to the edge with his paws, provid ing the most
room for himself.
Although Alex is mischievous and an annoy­
ance at times, we all still love him. It's his amazing
personality that makes him so interesting. He often
m i s b e h av e s b u t a l w a y s s e e m s to g e t h i s w a y
because h i s verbal retorts j u s t aren ' t worth the
punishment. At times he is so co mical, it would be
awful t o break his spirit by p u n i s h i n g h i m too
much or too harshly. Consequently, he knows that
he can d o whatever he desires. Our ho use is the
castle: he is the king.
Works Cited
Thurber, James. " The Dog That Bit People. " Eight
Modern Essayists. Fifth E d i ti o n . New Yo rk:
St. Martin 's, 1 990.298-302.
Evaluation: This essay's sprightly language, the
author's indulgent and whimsical view of her cat;,
and the overall fine sense of control would earn
chuckles of approval from James Thurber himself
16
/
T
r
YoungMan
on the
Move
by Frederick L. Coombs
Course: Journalism 1 3 3 (Feature Writing)
Instructor: Rhea Dawson
Assignment: Write a profile about a person, place or
thing that uses quotations, observation, and back­
ground material obtained from other sources, etc.
h
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" Sure I was drifting. No doubt about i t. My friends
knew i t. My parents knew i t. My girlfriend-soon­
to-be-fiancee knew it. Even I knew it, " said Jim, a
short, stocky 24-year-old, extremely articulate and
unfailingly polite.
" B ut, try as I mi ght, I just couldn't find any­
t h ing that cl i c ked fo r me, whether i t was m o re
schooling or some job that had any kind of future.
And that hurt ' cause I could see all my pals pulling
away from me; Vince, the best man at my wedd ing,
went to computer school and was traveling all over
the world with his job; Ch ristian went to college,
d idn't finish, but got in on the ground floor as a
sales man w i th a new company; R o b went to art
school and got a good job with a graphics outfit;
C o l l een, now my w ife, grad u ated fro m col lege
w i th an h onors d egree in F i nance. Ev eryone I
knew was doing something interesting or exciting
in the five years since high school . "
" And here was Jimmy, working securi ty at K­
M a r t fo r f i v e b uc k s an h o u r, b u s t i ng two-b i t
shopl ifters. "
While Jim was part of the gang, he was not of it
except on a casual basis. Everyone h ung out with
each o t h e r, b u t J i m d i d n ' t graduate f r o m h i gh
school with his pals and wasn ' t sharing their expe­
riences. He chose to d rop out in his junior year.
And, while all the rest of the group wo rked
menial jobs only on school weekends and during
the summer b reaks, they became Jim ' s way of life.
A job pumping gas drifted into one d elivering auto
p a r t s f o r a l o cal s to re . T h i s l e d i n t o ano t h e r
i nstal ling ti res for a now-defunct membership club.
Al l th ese job s were b o r ing and hard and fil thy
labor, paying not much more than minimum wage.
Still, a pattern started emerging. Whatever the
j obs J i m p icked up on, they all i nv o lved being
aro und cars in one form o r another and he soon
17
Yo ung M ano n the Mo ve
began to think the key to his future might lie i n
this direction. He want back t o school, o b tained
his GED and enrolled in an auto mechanics course
at Lincoln Tech.
He quit before the first semester finished. " This
just was n ' t for me, " he says now. " I can ' t really
exp lain why excep t to say I was n ' t comfortable
with it. I did make another try and enrolled in a
d i esel mechanics course at Triton Co llege. Same
t h i n g, j u s t not for me. The o n l y t h i n g I rea l l y
learned was that I did n ' t want t o spend the rest of
my life wrenching. "
Jim then switched directions and enrolled in a
p rofessional bartend i n g course, grad uating at the
end of six weeks. He started working as an appren­
tice b artender but left after several weeks. "The pay
was good and I 've always liked being with people, "
he said. " Bu t we have some alco h o l problems in
my own family a nd I d i dn ' t feel right working i n
this area. "
Still searching, Jim applied at local and county
police departments but they turned him down flat.
His lack of education and experience stopped him
fro m even taking the p re l i m i nary tests. This is
when he took the K-Man job, hoping to get some
experience so he wou ld be accepted by at least one
of the d epartments. After worki ng retai l security
eight months, he reapp lied and, once agai n , was
tu rned d o w n . D u r i n g o n e of the i n terviews, a
friendly face told him to stop wasting his own and
everyone else' s t ime; Jim j ust was not cut out to be
a cop.
Meanwhile some pressure began bui l d i ng, i n
part because h e had p o pped the q uestion to
Col l een; the wed d i n g was l ess than a year away,
and he not only d idn ' t have a career or banka b l e
future, he d i d n ' t even have a decent ful l-time job.
For one reason or another, everything he tried j ust
had n ' t panned out.
18
His mother pointed out to h i m that, while cars
were okay and such, he had always seemed much
happ ier d riving them than workin g on them, and
Jim latched onto that co n cept. True, he thought,
whenever we go someplace, I always end up d oing
the driving, and maybe that's a clue to what I really
wan t to become.
He appl ied to Cedar Rap ids Steel Trans i t, an
Iowa-based company specializing in training s teel
truck d rivers, but a scruti ny of h is driving record
revealed j ust enough past tickets and minor acci­
de nts to d isqual ify him. They told h i m it would
take a year for the record to purge itself, so please
come back then, sir.
Knowing o f J i m ' s frus tration and in creasi n g
interest i n trucking, a fri end o f a friend in troduced
him to Doug McBride, an over- the-road d river for
Allied Van L i nes. M c B ri d e ' s propos i ti o n to J i m
w a s s i m p l e a n d s trai g h tfo rward, " I n eed b a s i c
labor. You ' ll b e gone for weeks at a time and won ' t
get paid a n y more than yo u ' re making now, but I ' ll
teach you the b usi ness. Believe me, there 's a l o t
more t o it than just driving a truck. "
In truth, McBride was looking for more than a
loader. He'd been doing the long hauls going on 1 1
y ears; his third child was coming due, and both he
and his wife were weary of the freq uen t and long
separations. He was looking for someone he could
trust to lease h is tractor to so he could come in off
th e road . H e wan ted to s tay w i th t h e m o v i n g
agency as a salesman and, maybe, d o just local jobs
to keep his hand i n . So far he had been thro ugh
t h ree he lpers, none of w h o rT\ worked out the way
he w a n t ed t h e m to.
" Al l these guys wanted to do, " McBride said,
"w:-ts to drive the truck. None of t h em wan ted to
l c:-t rn the fine points of being a m o v e r. I cons i d e r
m y s e l f a pro, a n d t h e o n l y people I w:-t nt w wo rk
with :-trc p ros l i ke m y s elf, e v e n if I have to take the
ti n1c to teach them my way of d o i n g t h i n gs. Wh i l e
T
,..
...
....
we have a lot of independence we also have a lot of
responsibility, both to the company and to the cus­
tomer and that part of it just seemed to go in one
ear and out the other. "
Maybe Jim was looking for an out (nothing like
disappeari n g for a few weeks a t a time to av o i d
answering embarrassing questions) o r maybe he
heard fain t opening s tanzas of the song of opportu­
nity. No matter, he jumped at the chance. At least
he ' d get to see some of the country at someo n e
els e ' s exp e n s e a n d c o u l d c l i mb o ff a n y t i m e h e
wanted, a p ast pattern h e knew only too well and
now a major cause of his fears and frustrations.
It turned out the willing mentor had a more
than apt pupil i n Jim. " He drove me nuts the first
m o n th, " M c B r i d e said . " Noth i n g b u t q ue s t i o n
after q uestion after question. N o nonsense stuff,
though. He wanted to know how and why about
everythin g.
" I began to think maybe I ' m finally finding the
guy I ' ve been looking for. Jim liked the truck, sure;
everyone does. But he also listened to what I said
about the business, what to watch out for, what to
do and what not to do, and learned from his mis­
takes. I think he really wanted to become a mover.
" Naturally, I d id n ' t let him d rive, not fo r over
six months. For one thing, he did n ' t have his CDL
(Commercial Driving License) and legally was n ' t
supposed t o be driving the truck, and, for ano ther,
I 've got a lot of money tied up in this, and I ' m not
goi n g to turn i t over to just anyone until I fully
trust him. I own the tractor. That cost me close to
$40,000. And Allied owns the trailer, worth maybe
a not her $ 2 5 , 000. T h e n , there ' s wh atever l o a d s
w e ' re c a r ry i n g . T h e y ' r e i n s u r e d , b u t w e ' re
s t i l l res p o n s i b l e . We ' re tal k i n g about some b i g
bucks here.
J i m m y w as n ' t d ri v i n g , b u t he was l e arn i n g
about m o v i n g goods, and h is admi rati on for
McBride was growing. " I was trai ned b y one o f the
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best i n the business, " he says now. " He taught me
everything. "
" He showed me how to pack fragile i tems and
how to pad and diaper furniture. I learned how to
l ift and carry, h ow to make i t easier and how to
avoid muscle strai n. He told me, " You ' re young
and strong n ow, and if you learn the right way,
you 'll be able to do it for a long, long time without
getting hurt. "
Jim learned how to ioad a trailer, 48 feet long
by 1 02 inches wide by 1 1 feet h i gh, 3800 cubic feet
in all with every square foo t having to earn its keep,
to best advantage. He says now that' s like working
mul tiple j i gsaw puzzles simultaneously because of
the varied pickups and d rops on the road; you have
to make the best use of the trailer's space yet con­
sider the c o m i n g o r d e r of l o a d s a n d u n loads as
you ' re going from place to place.
" Doug taugh t me h ow to inventory and how to
w o r k w i t h t h e fu r n i t u r e s u rface c o d e s we a l l
use. The condition o f every p iece has t o be noted
on the i nventory sheets; what 's a b lemish to you is
a sc ratch to us and wh at's a sc ratch to you is a
gouge to us, and we write it all down, using code
numbers. "
" He sh owed me muc h more th an you ' d ever
learn in a formal school: how to do the company
and ICC paperwork, what the various state regula­
tions are, h ow to handle money on the road, what
truckstops to go for and which ones to avoid, how
to h a n d l e t h e s h a d y c h a r a c t e r s a n d n e r v o u s
customers you run m to.
" Finally, he taught me h ow to d rive the big guy,
gave m e t h e r o a d exp e r i e n c e a n d c o a c h e d m e
through the C D L test. That' s when I knew I ' d b e
staying with this fo r a long time. "
Although it took a year, the meld ing of mentor
and pupil prod uced a wi n-win c o m b i n ation.
McBride's off the road now, in the office as a sales­
man and trainer, going out occasionally for a short
II
19
Young Man on the Move
run b u t st ill home every n i ght. H e ' s leas i n g his
tractor to Jim and taking 15 percent of Jim ' s l i ne
haul earnings, the base rate the moving agency pays
to the d rive r, in return.
Jim 's on the road constantly, home only a cou­
ple of days before head ing out on another two or
three week run, the only part of the jo b he con­
cedes as a negative. Colleen, his wife of six months,
agrees b u t a l s o s ay s , " We b o th c o n s i d e r i t an
i nvestmen t. I'm worki n g two j obs because we ' re
saving up for our first ho use, so I ' m not at home
that much either. Maybe someday Jim can do what
Doug's d o i n g and can have his own tractors and
two or three men working for him. "
Jim 's changed. His past hang-dog aura has been
replaced by a certain jauntiness when you see him,
however i nfrequently. He pul ls up in front of your
house and sounds a gentle woof on the ai r horns to
let you know HE's over to visit, as if the arrival of
a 60-foot o range behemoth covered with hundreds
of b l i n k i n g l i g h ts is an everyday neighborhood
occurrence.
You can catch a glow of pride in his eyes as he
swings down from his eight-foot perch in the cab,
then i mmed iately i n v i tes you to cl i m b back up
with him so he can explain all the d ials and switch­
es, show you his sleeping area behind the scats, the
1V set, stereo system, CB rad io and cellular phone
and tells you, once again, if you ever want to move,
I ' m gonna be your man.
No, Jimmy's not d rifti n g an ymore. He' s fi nally
found his niche.
E valuati o n : Fred effectively uses jim 's words to tell
the story. His effective use of quotations, coHpled
with tightly written transitions m a conversational
tone, makes this one article with an outcome
I really cared about.
20
T
Point of View
in Faulkner ' s
The So und
an d The Fury
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by Mary Ann Crosby-Anderson
---­
Course: English 1 02
Instructor: Barbara Hickey
Assignment: Write a scholarly, critical analysis of a
literary work. Substantiate your interpretation with
abundant citations of the primary source, and supplement your insight with references to at least
eight secondary sources.
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No amount of l iterary experience can quite prepare
a reader for his first reading of William Faulkner's
The Sound and The Fury. A p rofound sense of
confusion envelopes the u nsuspectin g reader as he
gropes and stumbles h is way through the novel 's
first section. The con fusio n begins to abate some­
what as the_reader plows through the second sec­
tion, the fog l ifts a little more in the third section,
and finally section four rewards the reader with a
fu ll i ntegratio n of the d etails from p revious sec­
tions. It is a stunning revelation to the reader that
each section of the novel tells the same story of the
d ecay and fall from prominence of a Sou thern fam­
ily. Faulkner has allowed his story to be told from
four different and powerful points of view, three of
which are not totally reliable and e ach revealing
only its version of the same story. Each section of
the novel adds new d etails to the story and ad ds
s h ap e a n d co l o r to t h o s e e l e m e n t s o f the tale
already revealed. Piecing together the bits of i nfor­
mation Faulkner allows his narrators to s hare is
like assembling the clues to an immense mystery. It
is like randomly puttin g in place the p ieces of a j ig­
saw p uzzle - at first the puzzle seems a jumbled
mess, but l ittle by l i tt le an i mage begins to take
shape. Faulkner ' s puzzle pieces are c reative gems
that mesh together into a sweeping portrait, d eliv­
ered by his narrators ' poi nts of view.
While Faulkner offers four different points of
view to tell his story, his narrators do not have the
good graces to reveal the tale in a n eat, o rderly
fas h i o n ! I n s tead times an d p l ac e s seem o u t o f
sequence, characters seem to change sex from one
page to another, and wild mental states can inter­
rupt the narrato r's daily livin g. For all of the first
section and a good portion of the seco nd section
Faulkner's usc of point of view causes the sto ry to
be wildly befud dling. An d yet, the persistent read­
er is struck by the overwhelming feeling that some­
th ing big is developing. Th is sensation led the critic
21
Point of View in Faulkner's The Sound and The Fury
Walter Everett to conclude, " No matter h ow con­
fused one might become i n read ing the i nitial sec­
tion for the first time, one cannot escape the real­
ization that this n ovel is a work of sheer creative
gen ius " ( 1 0 1 ). Faul kner al lows each n arration to
overlap and interact with the other sections. Using
" s trokes of p rose - a dab of one scene against the
dab of a n o t he r, s las hes of d iffe r e n t t i m e l ev e l s
overlapping i nto each other, " Faulkner's narrators
give the reader an i mpression that goes beyond the
sum total of the details revealed (Cowan 9). While
each n arratio n tells the same basic story, it is the
combination and i ntegration of the details shared
from the fou r points of view that gives the novel its
power and i n tensity. The story being told in The
Sound and The Fury transce n d s th e s u m of the
book's fou r parts (Reed 3 53 ).
As c r i t i c M i c h a e l M i l l gate n o tes, F a u l k n e r
described t h e p o i n t o f view in the first section of
the novel by saying, " th e idiot was born and then I
became i nterested i n the relationship of the idiot to
the world that he was i n but would never be able
to cope with . . . . " Benjy, the first section 's narra­
tor, speaks from the remoteness of his idiocy. The
n arration of Benjy 's section is a first-person interi­
or m o n o l o g ue. Benj y i n n ocen tly repo rts every­
thing he sees and feels, but he lacks the intellectual
capacity fully to assess people or events except in a
physically rudimentary fashion (89-99). He views
the world through his senses. He uses his sense of
smell to evaluate the people in his life - when his
sister Caddy is in his favor " she smells like trees, "
but when he dislikes h er p erfu me he no tes his dis­
pleasure (E verett 1 0 1 -02). When death occurs in
his fam ily, he can smell it like the dog Dan . When
h e is allowed to sleep i n Dilsey's cabin, he observes
" t h e b e d s m e l l e d l i k e d T. P. I l i k e d i t " ( 3 4 ) .
Ultimately, when Caddy is married h e understands
she " co ul d n ' t sm eil l i ke trees a n ym ore, " and he
begins to cry (48).
22
Beyond his rel ian ce on his sense of smell, Benjy
p e r c e i v es and r e m e m b e rs p h y s i ca l p h en o me n a
thro u gh h is sense of sight i n a n o d d , d is located
fashion. When his caretaker Versh is feeding h im,
Benjy notes, " Vers h ' s hand came with the spoon,
i nto the bowl. The spoon came up to my mouth "
(29), as if Versh, his hand, and the spoon all acted
independently. 'As Ben watches for Caddy to enter
a room, he notes, " She went away. There was n ' t
anything i n the door. Then Caddy was i n i t " (53).
Benjy 's mind wanders from the present to d ifferent
p o i n ts in t h e past, as d escribed b y critic Walter
Everett when he observed, " Th e p rese n t is thus
Time Cumulative: all that h as go ne before is a p art
of the Now " ( 1 05). I talics are used to i nd icate a
c h r o n o l o gi c a l s h ift i n Benj y ' s n a rrati ve, as h i s
t h o u g h ts q u i te often meander through d iffere n t
p l aces a n d ti mes. M a n y n ame s a n d terms h ave
u nclear or double meanings, such as " cadd ie " an d
" Cad dy, " and the double use of the name Q uentin
for both a male and a female character (Reed 3 53-
54).
While Benjy's secti on initially gives the reader
the most trouble, it is i n teresting to note that his
narrative is full of observations that fo reshadow
upco ming events. Benj y ' s " fly on the wall " type of
first-person n arratio n gives the read er insight into
key elements of his b ro thers ' and sister' s personali­
ties that will i mpact their futures. He records the
episode when Cad d y ' s d rawers are m u d d ied and
Dilsey notes, " I t done soaked clean thro ugh onto
you . . " (9 1 ) , foreshadowing the future staining of
h e r h o n o r. H e o b s e r v e s k e y e l e m e n t s of h i s
siblin gs ' personalities while they interact as small
chi l d re n , s uch as Q u e n tin ' s sensiti v i ty, Cad d y ' s
independ e nce, self-co nfi dence, a n d d efiance, and
Jaso n ' s vindictiveness and alien ation . While Benjy
is unable to tal k, his soliloquy is understandable to
the reader, and he co m m un icates his actions and
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fee l i n gs to h i s fam i l y and servants through h is
cries, whimpers, and moans (Lester 1 52).
Altho ugh Benj y ' s narrative i s co nfusin g and
difficul t to read, it is broad and inclusive in details
and p e rc ep ti o n s . It is i ro n i c to note that while
Benjy is termed the idiot, he is able to communi­
cate in his narrative more of the facts of his family
life than the narrators i n the o ther three sections.
He p e r h ap s m o s t a c c u r a t e l y t e l l s t h e s t o r y,
although most readers would never know that on
thei r firs t read i n g of The Sound and The Fury.
Benjy's secti on subjects the reader to an entirely
new experience, and compels h im to reconstruct
pieces of the story from Benjy's disj ointed percep­
tions a n d descrip t i o ns of p h ys ical d e tails. This
reconstruction is nearly impossible, however, with­
out the meshing of Benjy's narrative with the sub­
sequent three sections.
While Benjy' s narrative is complete in details
and perceptions to the point that he leaves nothing
out, Quenti n ' s narrative as told from a first-person
point of view in the novel 's second section is nar­
row, self-absorbed, and obsessed with the past. His
section gives the read er a deep sense of despair not
found i n the confusion of Benjy's section. Critic
Walter Everett notes this fact in Faulkner 's Art and
Characters when he states, " because he is depicting
a sensi tive, sophisticated mind in the process of
d isintegration, Faul kner has emp loyed a complex
style filled with parataxis, interrup tions, and interi ­
or monologues " ( 1 07). The section is dated June 2,
1 9 1 0 , two m o n t h s and a d ay a ft e r his s i s te r
C ad d y ' s we d d i n g, a n d t h e d ay o f h i s s u i c i d e .
Quenti n's sectio n plays a crucial role in the course
of the novel - it is the longest and most neurotic
of the four sec tions, and it fully depicts the alien­
ation Quentin feels from his family members and
from life (Backman 1 6).
Quentin is tormen ted b y the past, and frag­
ments of confus ion and pain ful memo ries keep
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i n t r u d i n g i n to h i s d a y ( R e e d 3 5 5 ) . I n a v e r y
methodical, p recise manner h e prepares for his pre­
med itated death - he lays out his cl o thes, packs
h is b elon g i n gs in his t r u n k , bathes and s h aves,
d resses in a new suit, writes two notes, and mails
his trunk key to his father. After readying himself
and his belongings fo r his suicide, he sp ends an
eve n tfu l day of a l m o s t p u rposeless wand erin g,
p as s i n g t i m e u n t i l h e can free h i m s elf through
death. His narratio n is conti nually interrupted with
memories of the past. W hile Benj y ' s mind freely
travels from p resent to past in a meandering man­
ner, Quen t i n ' s psychotic in terruptions burst i nto
his thoughts uncontrollably in mid- sentence. He
repeatedly obsesses about his sister Caddy and his
encounters with the men in her life, Herbert Head
and Dal t o n A m es. T h e p a s t is t o o p a i n f u l for
Quentin to allow himself to live in the present, as
exemplified by " less dialogue, more internal con­
struction, as Quentin is eager to put even the most
i mmediate moment beh ind him . . . " ( Reed 3 54).
As Q u e n t i n ' s l a s t d a y passes, h i s n arrative
becomes m o re i n ten se and less men tal l y s table.
Critic Michael Millgate no tes,
throughout a whole day of quite extraordi­
nary incidents - with two fights, an arrest,
a court hearing, much movement and many
encoun ters - Quenti n ' s mind remains pre­
o c c u p i e d w i t h t h e p a s t . I t is a l m o s t as
though Faulkner were p layi n g on the idea
that a d rown i n g man sees h i s whole l ife
pass befo re h im, and we come to realize
that this last day of Quenti n ' s is a kind of
suspended moment before death. (96)
The primary source of his despai r is his inab ility to
escape his family life with Caddy. He regrets that
he and Caddy could n ' t return to the simplicity of
thei r childhood relationship, and he manufactures a
s tory of in ces t to attemp t to create a world with
" nobody else there but her an d me. If we could just
23
Po n
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i Fa u
l kne r's
The Sound and The Fury
have done something so d readful that they would
have fled hell except us . . . " (97). But the unthink­
abl e happens - he can not escape with Caddy, and
her promiscuity is so heinous that she is lost to him
forever.
As Quentin nears the time of his suicide, mem­
o ries keep i ntru d i n g more and m o re freq uen tly
into his conscious ness, and he fully recounts his
conversation with Herbert Head, the man Caddy
marri es because she is p re.:;nant. This seems to
allow the flow of past memories to accelerate, and
finally Quentin co mpletely loses touch with the
present for an extended period of time as he relives
his confrontation with Dalton Ames, the father of
Caddy's c hild. At the end of this psychotic state
Q u e n t i n r e t u r n s to real i ty to d i s c o v e r he has
fou g h t w i t h s c h o o l m ate G e rald B l an d because
Bland 's treatment of women is s imilar to that of
Dalton Ames ' . This pai nful memory is the fi nal
maj o r recollection Quentin will have to endu re,
however, as he returns to his dormito ry room to tie
up the loose ends in h is plan for suicide. He lets go
of life - he no longer hopes he can escape with
Caddy. He becomes more and more peaceful in his
final steps towards d eath - he brushes his teeth,
cl ean s the b l o o d from the figh t o ff h i s c l o thes
as best he can, and brushes his hat. He is now free
to die.
Jason 's narrative, contained in the novel 's third
section, bursts upon the page with the stunning
proclamation, " Once a bitch always a bitch, is what
I say " (223 ). While it is evident that Jason is not
intel le c tually i mpa i r ed l i ke Benjy, n o r sad and
psychotic l i ke Quentin, his narrative pours over
with hate, resentment, and vengefulness. Jason has
a keen intellect but is emotionally impaired by his
mean s p i r i t . He is excess i vely v i c i o us in w o rd
and deed, and he plays end less cruel mental games
w i t h a l l t h o s e a r o u n d h i m . W h i l e B e n j y is an
i n n o ce n t i d i o t, an d Q u e n t i n is l o s t i n h is own
24
self-destructiveness, Jason ' s section is p articularly
h arsh b ecause he h as full understanding of all his
a c t i o n s . He i s " w h o l l y in t h e w o r l d , a c u t e l y
s e n s i t i v e to s o c i a l v a l ues, swi m m i n g w i t h t h e
contemporary commercial current " (Mi l l gate 99).
And he is completely convinced that h e is right and
the rest of the world is wrong.
Jas o n ' s narrative is ful l of crisp, clear assess­
ments of the present and the past. He fully revels in
h is b rutality a n d w i l l i ngly b rags about his
t o r turous ac t i o n s toward s o t h e r s . C r i ti c R e e d
notes that
Detailed evidence of Jason's cruelty comes
late, although evidence of petty ch icanery is
spread throughout. His cruelty to Luster
with the tickets and to Quenti n with th e
th reats is much worse than any of the lying,
cheating, or physical violence earl ier . . . he
b ec o m es J a s o n t h e s a d i s t, t h e p a t h e t i c
investor, the hopeless employee. (358)
When he argues with Miss Quen tin, h e preven ts
D i l sey f r o m i n terced i n g w h e n h e " tu r n e d a n d
kicked t h e door s h u t in h e r face . . . " (228). His
i n s e n s i ti v i ty to B e nj y is e v i d e n t r e p e a t e d l y
th rough o u t h i s narrative, a s ex empl ified b y his
statement that " . . . it don ' t take much pride to not
like to see a thi rty year old man playi ng around the
yard with a nigger b oy, run ning up and d own the
fence and lowing like a cow whenever they play
g o l f o v e r t h e re . . . " ( 2 7 6 ) . U n d e r l y i n g all h i s
vici ous behav i o r i s Jaso n ' s burning hatred of all
women, caused by his obsessive resen tment toward
Caddy and that which he feels she robbed from
him - the position in Herbert Head 's bank which
he was promised .
Jason 's resentment toward Caddy can be seen
carrying over to his everyday, casual relationships.
Because he feels he was wronged, Jason's narrative
shows that h e is not cap a b l e of a l l ow i n g o th e r
people to succeed. While this can b e seen in many
T
of his interactions, i t is particularly evident in his
d iscussion of baseball with Mac at the d rugstore.
As c r i t i c T h o rn Seymour o b s e rves, Mac makes
the sen s i b le s t atemen t t hat the Yan kees wou ld
proba bly win t h e pe nna nt based o n t h e i r p ast
perfo rmance. Seymour further no tes th at Jason ' s
reaction t o Mac's comments i s a p rime example o f
the " petty, self-destructive willful ness so typical of
him . . . we see that Jason is not only a small, mean
man (an evil man, even, Faulkner once said), he is
also a man so furious in his own failure that he will
not permit of another man ' s success " (24 ).
In o rder to ful l y show Jaso n ' s i n tense emo­
tions, Faulkner structures Jason 's narrative in such
a way as to give it an up-close, conversational feel.
Faulkner's repeated use of the ph rase " I says " cre­
ates the i mp ression that Jason is actually telling his
story i n person, as seen in his struggle with M iss
Quentin when he tells the reader, " 'You will, will
you ? ' I says 'You will will you ? ' she slapped at me.
I caught that hand too and held her like a wildcat.
'You will, will you ? ' I says 'You think you will ? ' "
(228). Jason ' s pride in sharing his opinions causes
him to get caught in contradictions, however. As
c r i t i c M i chael Cowan no tes, "Jason can i n o n e
b reath d efend and i n t h e next b reath d amn the
' redneck' farmers around Jefferson, or can chase
wildly after his niece at the same time that he pro­
claims his indifference to what she does " (8). While
Jaso n ' s narrative is more lucid than Benj y ' s and
Quentin 's, his ability to communicate his feelings
shows that he is perhaps more handicapped than
his brothers, and a less reliable narrator due to his
blinding hate and inability to forgive.
Cri tic O lga Vickery no tes the i mpo rtance of
Cad d y ' s sexual s urren d e r to Dalton Ames as a
focal point for the novel ' s narrators. Each of the
narrators tells the story of his reaction to her sexual
activity from his perspective (29). Michael Mill gate
observes that Caddy was viewed only through her
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b rothers' eyes, " . . . each with his own self-centered
demands to make upon her, each with his . own lim­
itations and o bsess i o ns. " He makes the further
observation that Jason is the only family member
who fin d s the means to accep t C ad d y ' s b an ish­
ment. " Where M rs. C o mp son can o n l y moistly
complain, Benjy bellow his incomprehending grief,
Quenti n commit suicide, Jason can adjust h i mself
to the situatio n and turn it to his advantage and
profit" (98).
In contrast to the first-person narration of the
first three sections, section four offers " The resolu­
tion given in the stately prose of an o mniscient nar­
rato r " (Everett 1 02). Set against the b ackdrop of
details given in th e p revious sections, t h is omni­
s c i e n t p o i n t of view p u l ls the reader o ut more
objectively to look upo n the characters. The reader
is allowed to become less wrapped-up in the self­
centered storytelling of Benj y, Quentin, Jason, and
more able to view the characters i n an analytical
light. The lan guage used from this omniscient point
of view is more elegan t, intelligent, coherent, and
sensitive than that of the previous sections. With
this richer, more humanistic language the reader is
finally all owed to " see " the novel's characters in
detail as opposed to the character sketches found in
the previous sections.
Through the omniscient narrator's all-knowing
eyes can be fo und the descrip t i o n o f D ilsey as
" . . . a big woman once but now her skeleton rose,
d raped l o osely in unpadded s k i n that t i gh tened
agai n upon a paunch almost d ropsical . . " (33 1 ).
Benjy is described in moving terms as
. . . a big man who appeared to have been
shaped of some substance whose particles
would not or d id not cohere to one another
or to the frame wh ic h suppo rted it. His
skin was dead looking and hai rless . . . he
moved with a shambling gait like a trained
bear. His hair was pale and fine . . . . His
.
25
Point of View in Faulkner's
The Sound and The Fury
eyes were clear, of the pale sweet b lue of
cornflowers, his thick mouth hung open,
drooling a l ittle. (342)
Beyond giving more detailed physical descriptions
of the characters, the o mn iscient view point also
allows the reader to see the i nterpersonal dynamics
found between fami ly members, servants, and the
o u ts i d e w o r l d . M rs . C o mp s o n ' s n e u r o t i c
hypochond ria i s more clearly exposed, a s i s the
j agged e d ge o f Jaso n ' s h a t r e d toward wo m e n .
Dilsey's patience and gentleness are fully focused
·
upon, as exemplified in her comforting of Ben as
she " led Ben to the bed and d rew hi m down beside
her and she held hi m, rocking back and forth, wip­
ing his d rooling mouth upon the hem of her skirt.
' Hush n ow, ' she said, stroking h is h ead, ' Hush.
Dilsey got you ' " (395).
Asi d e from the wealth of p hys i cal and emo­
tional details given by the omniscient point of view,
various other i mages are offered which symbolize
elements of the story that rise above this earthly
world. As M ichael Cowan notes, Dilsey's relation­
ship with God is m o re s incere and i nnocent than
the o ther ch aracter s ' relatio nships w i th a h i gher
power. D i ls e y ' s faith i n G o d sym b o l i zes h ope,
humility, and dignity rather than simple resistance
against a harsh, punishing God (8). The omniscient
point of view allows the reader to see the rottin g
exterior of t h e C o mpson house, a symbol of the
decay and crumbling of the family's p ro minence.
As critic H al McDonald p o i n ts o ut, Benjy, t h e
po or idiot brother, i s finally given a n all-powerful
role by being made analogous to the Christ figure
on Calvary. McDonald observes
F au l k n e r s e ts B e n j y u p as a k i n d o f
s al v a t i o n b a r o me t e r, w h i c h i s a t w o r k
throu ghout the novel . . . . Thus, a character
like Caddy, who appears to be spiritually
d o o m e d , f i n d s r e d e mp t i o n t h r o u g h h er
k i n d t r ea t m e n t o f B e n j y, a nd a self-
26
righteous character such as Mrs. Compson
falls into G o d ' s d isfavor, as she d oes the
read e r ' s, by her al m o s t t o tal n eglect of
Benjy's needs. (53)
What begins as a voyage through t h e mi n d of
an i diot, and continues through the in creas ingly
more lucid minds of his brothers, finally reaches
'
full culmination in the freedo m of the omniscient
point of view. It is as if the camera lens had been
pointed inward and then suddenly turned outward.
Each narrator is capable of telling his own s tory,
but the ind ividuals' narrations d o not stand alone
with as much power and i mpetus as that of the four
sections combined . I t is the mingling and meshing
of images and events, the variations and layering of
points of view, that make this novel four times as
deep i n mystery and meaning. The random place­
ment of Fau lkner' s gems, of his puzzle p ieces, is
not so rand o m after all. Faulkner's portrait com­
p lete, h is n arrato rs ' jobs d one, Benjy can finally
enjoy his carriage ride in peace.
Works Cited
Backman, M e l v i n . Fa ulk n er: The Major Years.
Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1 966.
Cowan, M ich ael H . " Introd ucti o n . " Twentieth
Century Interpretations of the The Sound and
The Fury. Ed. Michael H. Cowan. E nglewood
C liffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1 968. 1 - 1 3 .
Everett, Walter K . Faulkner 's A rt and Characters.
Woodbury, NY: Barro n ' s E ducatio nal Series,
1 969.
Faulkner, William. The Sound and The Fury. New
York: Random, 1 956.
Lester, Cheryl. " From Place to Place in The Sound
and The Fury: The Syntax of Interro gati on. "
Modern Fiction Studies 34 (Summer 1 988): 1 4 1-
55.
T
h e
H
a r
p e
r
A
n
t
h o l
o
gy
McDonald, Hal. "Faulkner's The Sound and The
Fury. " Explicator 48 (Fall 1 989): 5 1 -5 3 .
M i l lgate, M i chael. The A chievement of William
Fa ulk n er. New Yo rk: Ran d o m House, 1 96 3 ,
1 964, 1 966.
Reed, Joseph W., Jr. " [Narrative Technique in] The
Sou n d a n d Th e Fury . " Th e So und and The
Fury. E d . D av i d M i n te r. New York: Norton,
1 987. 3 52-60.
Seymour, Thorn. " Faulkner' s The Sound and The
Fury. " Explicator 3 9 (Fall 1 9 80): 24-25.
Vickery, Olga W. The Novels of William Faulkner.
Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana S tate UP, 1 964.
Evaluation: Like William Faulkner's The Sound
and The Fury, Mary Ann 's analysis is substantially
and stylistically sophisticated. Her polished prose
elucidates the novel's complexity.
r
27
Ma t h Anxie y
t
Math
Anxiety
by Mary Lou Crost
Course: Physical Education 203 :
Health
Instructor: Martha Lynn Bolt
Assign ment: Choose a controversial topic in the
area of Health, current within the last 3 years or
write a "personal" story.
28
T h e rectangular- s h ap e d , fluorescent l i ghts that
h an g overhead i l l u m i nate this p e rfectly s q uare
room that is devoid of any aesthetic qualities in
which to calm my nervousness. Fluo rescent lights
h ave never b efriended me. Their vicious assaul t
upon m y ego creeps u p on me i n dep artment store
d ressi ng rooms and public washrooms, exposing
all my physical' flaws. Here they hang overhead,
i nterrogating me emotionally and physically.
The austere b e i ge c o l ored walls a n d b rown
chalk boards p rovide no soothing colors in which
to bathe my restless, d arti n g eyes . T h ere i s n o
pleasant mirage to escape to for a moment i n order
to ground my emotions. All the comforting famil­
iar sights, smells, tastes, and touches of home are
gone, along w i t h the sense of p eacefulness they
bring to my psyche.
I occupy on e of the 48 chairs that l i ne t h is
room in perfect rows of six across and eigh t down.
The hard, plastic, metal framed chair, molded to fit
the rounded contour of my back and b uttocks,
d oesn ' t provide any comfort for my tense muscles.
I feel so emotionally exposed . I wish I could escape
or barricad e myself so I would feel less threatened
by my s u rr ou n d i n gs . I w o u l d seek refuge i n a
special place where I could be free of the anxiety
and fear that are wreaking havoc upon my body.
The only defense I have against this untamed,
emotional beast that harbors within me is a pencil.
It is strategically p laced upon the small, laminated,
wood- grain armrest. Its sharpened point reminds
me of a hunter's spear. If only i t possessed some
magical power that could penetrate deep inside me
to slay the beast which entraps my i n tel lect and
paralyzes my ability to think as a rational human
being.
My mouth begins to feel as though I have been
stalki ng my p rey for hours, although actually I
have only entered the room five minutes ago. The
professor smiles a wide, toothy grin, exposing all
T
r
r
his teeth l i ke a wild animal intimidating his p rey.
He sadistically i nsures us that the test is easy. If
you h ave studied you should have no p ro b lem.
This only adds to my feelings of inadequacy. Why
then, I ask myself, d o I have such problems with
math ? I must be stupid. I have studied the material
for hours and rehearsed the formulas over and over
again in my mind. If study was the only prerequi­
site, why has it not worked for me?
The professor paces back and forth with a stack
of neatly stapled papers in his hand, as though he is
Moses holding the Ten Commandments. He gives
us l a s t m i nu te w o r d s of w i s d o m a n d p e r s o n a l
testimonials on how t o enter the kingdom o f math­
ematics. In my mind th is is l i ke a camel passing
through the eye of a need le. "Just give me that
t e s t , " a v o i c e i n s i d e me s c r e a ms , " and d o n ' t
prolong this agony any longer. "
My h eart is beatin g rapidly as the test papers
are p assed out. I p l ace the test upon my armrest
neatly, a n d m e t h o d i c a l l y I p ri n t m y name and
course number in the upper right hand corner. I am
careful not to j ump ahead and look at the p rob­
lems. I then begin to slowly focus my eyes on the
first problem, and a q uivering feeling settles in the
gut of my stomach. I am unable to recall how to do
the problem. The mimeographed numbers on the
page provide no mean i ng as my b rain frantically
scans its memory bank. There is no response. I
look at the next problem. Maybe that will open the
flood gates to release the flow of knowled ge that is
swi r l i n g around d eep within the crevices of m y
b r a i n . Pan i c sets i n a n d I s truggle t o compose
myself. Then, like a leaky faucet, drip by drip the
i nfo rmatio n trickles out. I finish the test with a
tremend ous hand icap, as though putting together a
jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces. I am the last one
to hand i n my paper. I feel humiliated and defeated .
I have worked so hard, only to have earned barely
a passing grade.
h
e
H
a
r
p
e
r
A
n
t
h
o
l
o
g
y
I suffer from " Math Anxiety. " " Anxiety i n
general is a characteristic that dominates cognitive
functioning and i mposes d ramatic p hysi o l o gical
disrup tion i n the h u m an o rganism " (Sime et al.
43 1 ) . Every o n e exp eriences m i l d p s y c h o l o gi cal
anxiety when taking a test. Often, students feel that
the results of the test are somehow a reflection of
their intelligence or level of achievement. They per­
ceive tests as an " ego threatening situation, " and
this is often a great motivator i n i mproving perfor­
mance. O n t h e o t h e r h an d , the i ntense anxiety
which I described has a detrimental effect o n per­
formance. This type of anxiety is u nrealis tic and
o u t o f p ro p o r t i o n , h avi n g d e b i l i ta t i n g c o nse­
quences and should be dealt with p rogrammatically
(Sime et a!. 432). " Math anxiety i n p articular is a
nonrational distaste for and avoidance of math and
math related subjects. Some people report physical
distress " (Donad y 1 ). Harper College ' s philosophy
is
that most students can learn mathematics. To
insure success, it is i mportant to start at the p roper
level, to get s u p p o rt a n d to receive specialized
.
.
mstruct10n.
When I d ec i d e d t o go b ac k to s c h o o l after
being away from the academic arena for 16 years, I
started out slowl y, choosing courses that not only
interested me but I could handle. I was not a good
student in high school, but I always felt deep inside
that I was an i n te l l i gent, c reative pers o n . I just
need ed a chance to prove myself. I never felt that
peop le too k me seriously. So I returned to college
to rediscover that intelligent, capable person i nside
of me. The one area in which I had experienced the
most d ifficulty during my high school years was
Algebra, so I was careful to avoid anything having
to do with math . I knew my fragile ego could n ' t
handle that kind of defeat at that particular time.
I gradually began to build my co nfidence by
mastering each course : What a wonderful feeling of
29
Math Anx iety
elation to know inside that I was always capable of
this type of success. Finally, I was faced with the
inevitable task of taking a math course. I knew in
order to gra duate, this was a requi rement. Last
Christmas b reak, I studied my s o n ' s elemen tary
math b o o k to p repare myself fo r the placemen t
test. The thought of being placed in basic math was
humiliating to my fragile ego. My studying payed
off, and I placed in basic algebra, but truthfully I
had just memorized the basic skills.
I know now that I was lacking what I believe
the necessary ingredient for mastering mathemat�
ics, truly u n d erstan d i n g the co ncepts. I worked
very hard in p re�al gebra; often in class I was lost. I
would review audio/video tapes after class i n the
library. I would go over the material carefully and
slowly until I could grasp the concepts. There was
so much to cover i n such a short period. I felt as if
everyone else was catching on much faster than I. I
struggled through the math tests, and because of
the patience and n o n � threate n i n g environ ment
which my professo r provided, I was able to achieve
success. I mentioned to my p rofessor the anxiety I
was experiencing, and she told me that Harper had
a group for math anxiety. I laughed to myself and
thought, " Oh, i t hasn ' t come to that. " I believed, as
long as I was ach ievi n g A' s on the exams, I was
handling my problem, despite the emotional and
physical stress I was placing upon my body.
I t wasn ' t u n t i l this semester when I entered
Algebra 1 02 that I fel t the total desperation and
defeat I described in the beginning of this essay.
After that exp erience, I contacted my professor
and told him how hard I had s tud ied, and I didn ' t
understand what had happened t o me. H e told me
that I needed to relax and not worry so much. This
was easier said than done. The next d ay I called the
Math Lab at Harper and told 4n instructor of my
frustrations. She was very understanding and told
me she also had experienced math anxiety during
30
test situations. This was very reassuring to think
that a math in structor could also h ave h ad this
p roblem, too.
They connected me with a Phil Troyer, a coun�
selor who special i zes i n math anxiety at H arper
C ollege. He facil itates a math anxiety group that
meets at Harper twice a month. He was also very
u nderstand i n g and in fo rmed me that there were
strategies for overcoming math anxiety.
I anxiously looked forward to the first session
of the math anxiety group . There I had the oppor�
tunity to openly s hare the feelings of frustration,
an ger and d efeat that I had experience d . At that
first session, Phil taught us some relaxation tech�
n iques that would lessen the phys ical discomfort
resulting from test anxiety. He exp lained that this
anxiety can cause d ifficulty in concentration. There
were two methods that he suggested ; relaxation,
w h i c h i nvo lves m us c l e ten si n g, b r eat h i n g, and
i m agery, and also argu i n g agai n s t n e gative s elf�
statements.
The relaxation method invo lved d eep muscle
relaxation through a tensing exercise. An example
of this technique using the muscles i n your hands
w o u l d be to extend arms i n fro n t of y o u , t h e n
c lench y o u r fists tightly f o r five secon ds. Relax ,
an d feel the warmth an d cal m ness i n your hands.
The breathing relaxation exercise i nvolves focusing
on b reathing in and out while simu ltaneously recit�
ing those words.
The imagery form of relaxation should be used
after the muscle tension and b reat h i n g exercises
have been completed . This exercise asks the partici�
p an ts to focus in on one object in the distance so
that visual stimulation is reduced to a minimum.
Then they should begin to imagine a p lace where
they feel comfortable and secure. It d oes n ' t have to
be a real p lace, i t could b e a total fantasy. They
should be able to vividly p icture this place in their
min ds, i nvolvi n g all the senses. Throughout the
T
exerc i s e t h e y s h o u l d b e a b l e t o exp e r i e n c e a n
emot i o nal sense of i n ner calmness, security an d
c o n t e n t m e n t, a l l o wi n g t h em to retu rn to t h e i r
surroundings in a tranquil state o f mind.
Ph i l also made us aware of the negative self­
statements or the 11 I told me so syndrome, which
sets yourself up for failure. He believes people tend
to live up to their negative expectations, concen­
trating more on the possible negative consequences
than o n the test. To counteract this self-defeating
behavior, he suggested p racticing identifying, ver­
balizing and chal lenging these negative statements.
Jim Fryx e l l , in hi s arti c l e " Math Anxiety, "
believes i t is never too late to overcome math anxi­
ety, t hat one bad experience d oesn ' t make you a
bad student. Even good students sometimes experi­
ence d ifficulty in mathematics. Adults can often
learn b e t ter because they see the i mp o rtance of
what they are doing (Fryxell).
Harper Co l lege offers a math placement test,
and counseling is available to help meet your indi­
vidual needs. The college's math department uses a
total app r o ac h to i n s ure a p o s i tive exp erience.
There are many options available from th e tradi­
tional classroom to individual instruction i n a math
lab, where you work at your own pace. There is
also free tutoring available in the math lab.
You are probably wondering why overco ming
math anxiety is so important. " In an ever-expan d­
i n g te c h n o l o gy m a t h ab i l i ty w i l l i n c reas i n g l y
beco m e t h e critical fi l ter i n the jo b market, and
understanding and coping with math anxiety may
hold the key to success " (Levitch). I, too, believe
that confro n t i n g y o u r math anxi e ty can i ns u re
future success, improve your confidence, and raise
your self-esteem. As an education major, it would
bring me great joy and satisfaction to be able to
share my success of conq uering math anxiety with
students and to provide the assistance n eeded to
promote posi tive attitudes toward math. I plan o n
h e
H a
r p e
r
A n t
h o l
o
gy
c o n t i n u i n g m y goal of masteri n g m at h e matics
through the services offered at Harper College. I
believe a strong background i n mathematics on my
resume will be a real asset in seekin g a job i n the
field of education.
II
Works Cited
D o n ad y, B o n n i e , a n d S h e i l a To b i a s . " M a t h
Anxiety. "
Fryx e l l , J i m , a n d R e b ecca S p i e l b au er. " M at h
Anxiety. "
Levitch, Joel A., and Susan F. Vlock. " How Not To
Be Afraid Of Math. "
Sime, E. Wesley, et al. " Coping with Mathematics
Anxiety: S tress M an agem e n t a n d Acad e mic
P e rfo r m a n ce . " jo urnal of College Studen t
Personnel Sept. 1 987: 43 1 -437.
Evaluation: Mary Lou expressed herself in a
truthful manner as well as her "surroundings " to
make this an outstanding paper and most
enjoyable to read.
31
A Daya t t he La k
e
A D ay
at the
Lake
by R enee Daly
Course: English 1 0 1
Instructor: Peter Sherer
Assignment: Write an essay in which you tell of a
personal experience which helped you grow or
mature in some way. Use plenty of concrete detail.
32
My father comes from the old school, the o ne that
believes in throwing a child into the lake i nstead of
easing h i m in with swi m lessons. He was always
doing things like that in o rder to p repare me for
the future. I remember thinking on my high school
graduation day that I was fully prepared to go into
the " real " world. I had lived what I considered to
be a " rough " lif�. After having survived my par­
ents ' divorce, their remarriages, several moves, and
with more than a few scandals under my belt, I
thought I was a mature, i ndependent adult. I could
h and le anything. NOT!
The summer of my eighteenth year, my Zen
f a t h e r t o o k me o n a t r i p to E u ro p e . He is an
E n glish teacher, and he was there on sabbatical.
This was n o o rd inary vacation; we were there to
work and learn. A good part of the trip was spent
studying the upper Paleolithic symbol systems of
ancient cave pai ntings in the Dordogne Valley i n
the south o f France. The French refer t o this area
where four rivers join together as Eden. One cave
in particular sti ll holds my fascination. I t ' s called
Font du Gaume and is located in the little town of
Les Eyzies du Tayac. The d ay we visited this cave
was cold and rainy, so the cool 50 d egrees inside
was no shock. We huddled near a cluster of torches
for warmth. As we were led d own into the col d ,
d ark, labyri nth of the cave, I c ould n ' t help b u t
w o n d e r a b o u t the countless generations of foo t
p rints embedded i n the limestone rock beneath my
feet. Women and men my age or younger used this
cave for their rite of p assage. This was the place
where Theseus m e t h is m i n o taur. Here the
initiation into a higher cognitive o rder took place.
I could sti l l smell the fear lingering in the dank air.
The day that I was to fly back to the U.S. was
July 1 st, France's busiest travel day of the year. I
was flying back alone, as my father and step mother
were conti nuing their vacation. After we arrived at
O rly Sud in Paris, we found that my fl i g h t had
T
been d e l aye d . M y father had to b e back i n the
s o u th of France b y the end of the d ay, and h e
decided that h e coul d n ' t stay. H e left m e there with
five dollars, a credit card, and only a quick call over
his shoulder, " Do n ' t worry! Have a glass of wine
on the plane! " Typical Frenchman . I stood in shock
and d isbelief. I had just been thrown i nto the lake.
I wandered around aimlessly for a few minutes
trying to read signs and listen to announcements,
but I spoke not a word of French. I gave up and
changed my five dol lars i nto francs. Next to the
currency counter there was a sandwich stand. The
angry gurgle co ming from my stomach told me it
was a good idea to eat something. The only thing I
recognized on the menu was jambon, or ham. I
hate ham, but at least I knew what it was and how
to say it, so I ordered some. After my appetizing
lunch, I wandered into a gift store. Still en raged
with my dad, I bought a pack of cigarettes with my
remaining francs. I sat outside the gift store puffin g
m y cigarettes and wishing he was there so I could
blow the s moke in his face. He detests that habit.
W h i l e I was en gaged i n t h i s l i tt l e fantasy, I
noticed a sign that said " Passport Control. " I knew
I had to pass through that zone to get to the gates.
I figured this was as good a time as any. I walked
for what seemed an eternity down several sets of
stairs and thro ugh wi nding d ark hallways. Once
my passport was checked, I thought I had en tered
the twilight zone. No, I decided; I was really in the
Arabic section of the airp o r t. The men in their
whi te gelybia s tared at my bare legs u nder my
m i n i s ki rt with a n gry yet l us t-fi l l e d eyes. The
women, d ressed in their trad itional b lack chad or
would m ake n o eye c o n tact at all. They turned
their heads in s hame, as i f they d i d n ' t want to
acknowledge that we were of the same gender. My
t h o u gh t s r e t u r n e d t o F o n t d u G au m e . I h a d
descended into the labyrinth of the cave, and this
h
e
H a
r
p
e
r
A
n
t
h
o
l
o
g
y
was my rite of passage. I could smell the fear again.
This time it was my own .
M y eyes fo u n d t h o s e o f a s m a l l , f a t Arab
woman. She did not turn away. Instead she studied
me with curious eyes, sizing me up. I saw li ttle else
around me, only her eyes. The sounds of the angry
Arabs were somehow fading. What was it in her
eyes ? Was it hatred, fear, p ity? Could it possibly be
k i nd ness ? I wip ed t h e sweat o ff my b row a n d
swall owed h a r d b efore p ro c ee d i ng toward the
woman. I could feel my heart race as I got nearer.
Swal lowing h ard o nce agai n I said, " Excuse me,
but do you speak Englis h ? " The woman ' s hands
flew up in the air and started flailing about like a
f i s h o u t o f w a t e r w h i l e s h e s c r e a m e d Arab i c
obscenities at me. She finished w i th " pi g
American! " M y heart beat as i f i t were i n a horse
t h a t had j us t w o n t h e Ke n tu c ky d e r b y. Tears
welled up in my eyes and my breathing quickened .
My whole body shook as I looked around at the
angry Arabs pointing at my legs. Moreover, I felt
sick from the foul smell of the woman ' s breath.
Just when I though I was surely d oomed, I felt
a gentle yet strong hand on my should er. I whirled
about to find a tall, handsome gendarme standing
beside me. He said s o meth i n g in French, and I
shrugged my shoulders i n response. Between sobs
I m a n aged to s t a m m e r " D e t ro i t ? T h e gate t o
Detroit? " He h ad no idea what I was saying, but
he continued to pat my shoulder reassuringly. He
was a knight, rescuing a fair maiden an he led me
through the chaotic was zone I had created. After a
few minutes, we arrived at the gate to Miam i ! I was
j ust happy to see fellow American s ! I gazed up
adorin gly at my savior and thanked h im p rofusely.
He wiped the last tear from my eye and waved as
he retreated back down the dark hallway.
I found the gate to Detro i t two gates d own
from the one to Miami. The plane b oarded an hour
33
A Day at the Lake
later and I did indeed have that glass of wine. As I
sipped, I thought about my father. When he and I
step near a lake, I damn well know what to expect.
Evaluation: Renee 's composition is forceful, honest,
and engaging. Her speaker is bold, witty, and
smart. A nalogy, varied sentences, and lots of detail
contribute to a mature style.
34
T
Rising
Memories
by Christine E. Haddad
Course: Chem istry 1 00
Instructor: Barbi Bakel
r
Assignment:
Relate chemistry to a famous s<,:ientist or current
public concern, write an original li terary work, or
explore a personal i nterest in chemis�ry,
h
e
H
a
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One of my favorite things i n the world is a p iece of
my Grandma's cin namon b read (no raisins, please)
fresh out of the oven with gobs of butter on it. I
onl y get to see her twice a year, so she always bakes
it when I ' m there in Escanaba, M ichigan. Sin ce it's
kind of a long process (because you have to let the
d o ugh rise twi ce, once in the bowl, o nce in the
bread pan) 'we have a l o n g t i me to spend in the
k i tc h e n gos s i p i n g a b o u t the fam i l y. Now, I ' v e
a l w a y s k n o w n i t t a k e s s o l o n g t o b a k e b re ad
because you have to stop to let i t rise, and I know
that the reason the bread was rising was because i t
had to get fluffy t o taste good, a n d I know that the
yeast made it rise. But HOW the y east mad e it rise
I reall y had never thought too much about, so I
thought this m i ght b e a fun, edible p roject to d o
for class.
To leaven means to make s o m e th i n g rise. A
leavening agent does this b y produci n g and d istrib­
uting gas within a mixture. Yeast, baking soda, bak­
i n g powder, and egg w h i tes can all be leaveni n g
agents, b u t t o narrow it d own for this paper (and
for eating purposes, specifically the b read that I ' ll
be baking) I ' ll be writing about yeast, with a short
side-note about baki ng soda.
Yeas t is a l i v i n g substance that you p ut i nto
dough to make it rise. Yeast is also used in the pro­
duction of beer and wine, but I ' m certain Harper
has a " no alcohol on campus " rule, so no alcoholic
beverages will accompany m y bread " experiment. "
" The yeasts used commercially consist of masses of
microscopi c, single-celled yeast organ isms. There
arc more species of yeast, bur only a few arc used
comn1crcially. " 1 Yeasts belong to the " fungi " group
of o rgani sms. F ungi ex i s t al m o s t everyw h e re i n
nature, including the air. Yeasts reproduce rapidly
and grow very well in substan ces containing sugar.
" The yeast cells reprod uce by fission (sp litting i n
two) o r b y budding. I n buddi ng, p ar t of t h e cell
35
Rising Memories
wall of the yeast swells and forms a new growth
c a l l e d a ' b u d . ' T h e b u d t h e n b r e a k s o ff a n d
becom es an i n d ependent cell. " 2 The yeast fungi
d o n ' t h ave chlorophyll, so they h ave to rely on
other sources for food. " They feed o n sugar from a
variety of natural sources, including fruit, grain,
and nectar, and also from molasses. Yeast cells p ro­
duce chemicals called enzymes, or ferments, that
b reak d ow n t h e i r f o o d . " > D i fferent species o f
yeas ts p r o d u ce d ifferent k i n d s of e nzymes. " I n
1 8 3 7 i t w a s i n d ep e n d e n tl y p r o p o s e d b y t h e
G e r m an p h ys i o l o gi s t T h e o d o r S c h w a n n , t h e
G e r m a n b o ta n i s t F r i e d r i c h K u t z i n g, a n d t h e
French p hysicist Charles Cagniard de I a Tour that
alcoholic fermentation is dependent on yeast cells
a n d i s a p h y s i o l o g i c a l f u n c t i o n of t h e s e
organisms. " • This view was stro ngly opposed b y
many chemi s ts . O ne chemist, a German n amed
Justus von Liebig, believed that " fermentation was
a completely chemical process brought about by
ferments, which were thought to consist of decom­
posing organic molecules that imparted their insta­
bility to sugars and resulted in the b reakdown of
the sugars to alcohol and carbon dioxide. The yeast
cells found in the fermenting fluid were considered
to act as ' ferment ' when they d ied and b egan to
decompose. " 5
In 1 857, Louis Pasteur began a series o f experi­
m e n ts w h i c h s e t t l e d t h i s a r g u m e n t . " P as t e u r
s h owed t h a t a l l fermentati o n w a s t h e res u l t o f
m i cro b i a l m e t ab o l i c a c t i v i ty. " 6 He fo u n d t h a t
d i fferent k i n d s o f fe rmentati o n s a r e c aused by
different kinds of microorganisms, and that " both
fermentation and microbial growth can proceed in
the absence o f a i r. This l ed to his defi n i tion of
fermentati on as ' l ife without air. "' 7 Some species
break d own sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide
gas, a p rocess called " fermentatio n . " " Th e e n d
product of fermentation may b e a n alcohol, such as
ethyl alco h o l , o r an o rgan i c ac i d such as lactic
36
acid. " 8 The leavening of bread depends o n the alco­
h o l i c ferm e n t a t i o n of su gars . I n b read m a k i n g,
" bakers yeast" is used as a leaven. Bread d ou gh is
made by mixing flour, water, milk, salt and yeast.
Since the flour only p rovides a small amount of the
sugar needed to cause fermentatio n , you usually
add sugar to the mix.
The yeast then breaks d o wn the s u gar i nto
alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. " In fermentation,
carbon d ioxide is formed, and the gas makes bub­
bles in the dough. The bubbles are trapped because
wheat flour h as in it somethi ng called ' gluten' that
causes the dough to stretch instead of break when
the bubb les expand . " ' The bubbles can ' t escape,
and as more and more of them are fo rmed, the
do ugh rises. When you knead the d ough, you ' re
basically seeing to i t that the bubbles are evenly
d istributed throughout the dough. When the bread
is baked the gas d isappears, but the " shape " of the
bubbles stays in the bread. The alcohol p roduced
by the fermentation evaporates during the baking
p rocess. Baking also destroys the yeast.
As I stated earlier, other things can be used as a
leaven in the baking process. Irish soda b read uses
baking soda. Banana-nut bread and carrot bread
also use baking soda. I make these breads five or
six times a mon th because they ' re so q u ick and
easy to make, which is why they ' re called " quick
bread . " " The speed is due to a d ifferen t chemical
p rocess. In making yeast bread, the yeast changes
the wheat flour into other subs tances, i n c lu d i n g
carbon d i ox i d e, which causes the d ough t o rise.
This process takes time. But when baking soda or
baki ng powder, which contains baking soda along
with starch and cream of tartar, is m ixed with a
l i q u i d , i t rel eases carb o n d i ox i d e, an d n o t h i n g
h appens t o the flour. C h e mically i t remains the
same, " 10 but the two processes produce two differ­
ent types of bread . Bread made with yeast is light
T
a nd sp o ngy a n d q u i c k b reads are d e nse, m o re
moist, and pretty crumbly.
Where d o they get the yeas t you buy at the
s tore ? No, they d o n ' t have " yeast catchers " but
that idea isn ' t exactly crazy. " Before commercial
productio n of yeast i n the 1 880's, yeast fungi from
t h e air l eave n e d t h e b re a d t h a t pe o ple baked .
Homemakers prepared a dough and left i t uncov­
ered, and yeasts l anded on it and began the fermen­
tation p rocess. " 11 Today, bakers ' yeast is produced
on molasses, which is mostly sugar. Bakers ' yeast
comes i n two forms: o ne is a m o i s t compressed
cake, and the other is a small packet of dried grains.
The cakes contain l ive active yeast cells. The yeast
cells in the dried grains are still alive but they' re
not active, which is why you have to mix them
with warm water and let them sit for awhile before
you add t hem to your bread dough.
Yeast is a complex little organism. It makes for
fine baking, but it also is the source of the dreaded
yeast i nfect i o n . Al l they need is a warm, m o i s t
place a n d a l ittle sugar, b u t that is a d ifferent paper
altogether. O h, if only they would use their power
for only good and not evil!
h
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C a r o l y n Meyer, Th e B read Book: A ll A b out
B rea d and How to Mak e It, N e w Yo rk,
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1 97 1 , p age 1 3 .
9
10
11
Ibid.
World Book Encyclopedi4, 1 98 8 Edition, Volume
2 1 , page 557.
Evaluation: I selected Chris ' paper because it was
an exceptional demonstration of what the exercise
was to prove. Chemistry is a part of everyone's life
every day, and multiple examples can be found.
Chris combined humorous and heartwarming
memories with Chemistry information to show the
true balance of science and life.
References
1
World Book Encyclopedia, 1 98 8 Edition, Volume
2 1 , p age 556.
Ibid. , p age 557.
3 Ibid., p age 557.
4 Encyclopedia Americana, 1 99 1 Edition, Volume
2
1 1 , page 1 1 0.
Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
s
37
De sper ae
t f
o r S la vait o n
D es p erate
for
Salvation
by joseph L. Hazelton
Course: L iterature 105: Poetry
Instructor: Anne M. Davidovicz
Assignment: Carefully analyze a poem. In your
analysis, include the necessary evidence - quota­
tion and summary from the poem, a discussion of
relevant elements, what you know to be true about
human nature, and/or logical reasoning - to sup­
port your interpretations. Also, pay special attention
to opening paragraphs - entice your audience.
38
Spiritual ity may b e confounding for many youths.
I k n o w i t p u zz l e d me as a y o u n g t e e n a ge r. I
r e m e m b e r i t b a f f l e d m e e a c h S u n d ay d u r i n g
sermons at the church m y mother and I attended.
I recall watching many people approach the altar
seeking God 's redemption. I also remember l is ten­
i n g to th ese s ame p e o p l e o ffer tes t i m o n i e s o n
subsequent Sundays. Invariably, thei r words and
tone indicated the great comfort they enjoyed upon
receiv i n g God ' s salvation. However, I remained
p erp l exed . From my p erspective, the time t h ey
spent at the altar affected nothing; the struggles of
their l ives remained unchanged. Consequently, the
reason for their relief eluded me.
T h o u gh ts of p u r s u i n g t h e r e as o n s o o n
d isappeared, though. The summer after I finished
eighth grade my mother and I m oved to another
state. When we arrived at our new home, I chose to
stop attending church. As might be expected, reli ­
gion retreated in to th e d ark recesses of my mind.
T h e cause o f t h o s e p eo p l e ' s comfor t r e ma i n e d
und iscovered.
Nine years later, though, I happened upon the
cause. In John Donne's sonnet " Batter my heart,
three-personed God . . . , " I d iscovered a p owerful
d e p i c t i o n of a p e r s o n d es p erate f o r s a l v at i o n .
Remembering those churchgoers, I q uickly grasped
the reason. Those people felt great relief after being
redeemed because th ey, l i ke the poem ' s speaker,
were desperate for salvation.
H o w e v e r, I c o u l d n o t h av e r e a c h e d t h i s
conclusion without seeing the d ep i ction. For me,
un d erstand i n g the rep resentation necess itated a
line-by-line paraphrasing of the p oem. Afterwards,
t h o u gh, I learned these l i nes c o u l d be grouped
to gether to form four distinct parts. These p arts
consist of l ines 1 -4, 5-8, 9- 1 2, and 1 3 - 1 4. In each of
these p arts, the speaker acco mplishes o n e m aj o r
thing. In the first part, he asks G o d f o r redemption.
In lines 5-8, he laments his failure to receive God 's
T
salvation. L in es 9- 1 2, the th i rd part, contain the
speaker' s request that God deliver hi m from evi l .
In l ines 1 3 - 1 4, t h e speaker s tates t h e reasons h e
d e s i res s alvat i o n . H owever, to u n d erstand t h a t
these parts convey these acts reg uires the l ine-by­
line p arap hrasin g I o riginally performed.
As j u s t s t a t e d , t h e s o n n e t b e g i n s w i t h t h e
speaker's appeal to God for redemption. I n line 1 ,
h e requests God " batter" his " heart. " Although the
plea seems odd initially, it makes sense within the
context of the metaphor which becomes clear i n
l i n e 2 . I n t h i s m etap h o r, the poet co mpares the
process by which God reforms a person with the
p rocess by w h i c h a b l acks m i t h r epai rs a metal
o bj ect. In repairing a horseshoe, fo r i nstance, a
b l a c k s m i t h w i l l " k n oc k " o n the s h o e w i t h h i s
hammer, attemp ting t o reshape the shoe. As the
metal cools, beco m i n g less mall eable, the black­
smith returns i t to his forge. Using the bellows, he
will " b reathe " air i n to the fi re, resto king it. The
h o r s e s h o e , as the fi re r e h e a ts it, w i l l " s h i n e "
b r i g h t er a n d b r i g h te r. Wi t h t h e m e t a l o b j e c t
malleable once m ore, the blacksmith will return to
his real task; he will " seek to mend " the horseshoe.
In this l ight, the use of the word " batter" in line 1
becomes clear. The speaker asks God to take h i s
heart, h is essence, and reform it. Continuing t o line
3, the speaker reiterates his request, asking God to
" o'erthrow " hi m, to take control of him. The fact
that he repeats his request and uses strong words
like " batter " and " o ' erthrow " indicates the sense of
urgency i n h is plea for salvation. Also in line 3 , the
speaker states the reason he desires deliverance, so
he " may rise and stand. " Apparently, the speaker
believes receiving red emption will provide him th e
spiritual strength to withstand what brings him to
his knees, figuratively speaki ng. To finish the first
part of the poem, the poet returns to the so-called
blacks m i t h metap h o r. D o n ne acco mpli shes t h i s
task in l i n e 4 b y paralleling line 2. The order and
h
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connotation of the words i n the p h rase " br eak,
b low, b u r n , and make me n ew " c o rrespo n d to
those in the p hrase " kn ock, b reathe, s h i ne, and
seek to mend. "
In the second part of the sonnet, consisting of
lines 5-8, the speaker bemoans his failure thus far
i n receivin g G o d ' s grace. In l i n e 5 , the speaker
compares h imself to a " usurped town, to another
due, " intimatin g he belongs to someone else. In the
next l in e, he continues d iscussin g h is failure. He
states his " labor to ad m i t " God i n to his l ife has
come " to no end. " The use of the word " 0 h " and
the exclamation mark in line 6 ind icate the speak­
er's d istress at this fail ing. The speaker concludes
h is lamentations in lines 7 and 8. Those lines con­
vey his frustration that even his i ntel ligence fails to
p ro tect h i m . The speaker states his " Reason . . .
s h o u l d d efe n d " h i m . H owever, i t fai l s h i m ; i t
" p roves weak o r u n t r u e . " I n t h i s m a n ne r, t h e
speaker relates the inability of even his mightiest
shield to p rotect him from temptation. Thus, the
second p art of the poem ends.
In the next section of the sonnet, li nes 9- 1 2, the
speaker i m p l o res G o d to d e l iver h i m fro m evil .
L i n e 9 b e g i ns t h i s t h i rd p ar t w i t h the s p ea ker
expressing love for God . Continuing, the speaker
states the joy recip rocation would bring him. In
line 1 0, though, the speaker repeats an earlier asser­
t i o n ; he b e l o n gs n o t t o G o d , b u t r e m a i n s
" b e t ro t h e d " t o H i s " e n e m y. " T h e n e x t l i n e
contains the speaker's appeal to God that H e end
the speaker's susceptibility to evil. In writing this
line, the poet continues using langu age associated
wi th marriage, wh i ch began with Donne's use of
the word " betrothed " i n line 1 0 . The words
" d ivo rce " a n d " k n o t " i n l i n e 1 1 c o n t i n u e that
theme. Then, in line 12, having asked God to end
evil ' s influence over him, the speaker implores God
to seize h i m, to take control of h i m . Fro m these
39
Desperate for Salvation
lines, the third part of the poem re-communicates
the speaker's urgent desire for deliverance.
The final part, l ines 1 3- 1 4, p rovides the reasons
for this desire. Although l i ne 3 provided a reason,
lines 13 and 14 offer a far more powerful presenta­
tion of the speaker's reasons. Donne achieves this
power through the use of words which d i ametri­
cally oppose each other. In line 1 3, for example, the
poet uses the words " enthrall " and " free. " In this
manner, the speaker s tates a reas o n for seeking
redemption. He believes he " never shall be free " of
evi l ' s i nfluence u n t i l God cho oses to " enthral l "
him, to m ake h i m a servant of His will. The pattern
continues with line 1 4. In i t, the words " chaste "
and " ravish " relate the speake r ' s second reason.
Desp i te the s h arp c o n tr a s t b etween the s e two
words, Donne welds them together to convey one
i d ea. In that final l i ne, the speaker expresses the
belief that only by God ' s seizing contro l of h im
wil l h e ever be morally pure. Thus, the fourth part
ends, concluding the poem.
In understanding the poem, I came to ad mire
the skill requ i red i n writing it. The constraints of
t h i s p o e t i c fo r m , t h e E n g l i s h so n n e t , d e m a n d
remarkable succinctness. To emphasize this point,
my explanation of the poem 's content consists of
86 lines and 1 3 7 1 syllables to convey what Donne 's
poem i mparts i n 1 4 l ines and 148 syllables. Thus,
" Batter my heart, three-personed God . . . " com­
p lies w i t h o n e convention and vi o l a tes another
convention of the English sonnet. Ideally, this type
of sonnet contains 14 lines and 1 40 syllables (Fuller
1 5). Donne's poem contains l ines of 1 0- 1 2 syllables
i n len gth . Co nsequen tly, the actual meter strays
from the i deal meter of the English sonnet, iambic
pentameter.
Beyond succinctness, this poetic form requires
a rhyme scheme. This add itional limitation makes
mean i n gful expres s i o n m u c h m o r e d iffi cu l t to
ach ieve, requiring that much more skill. Whereas
40
Donne's earlier violations seem u n avoidable, the
v a r i a t i o n from t h e i d ea l r h y m e s c h e m e seems
deliberate. The ideal rhyme scheme of the English
s o nnet p resents a l tern ati n g e n d - rhymes for the
f irst e i gh t l i nes ( Ful ler 1 4 ). However, D o n n e ' s
rhyme scheme tends t o p resent the end-rhymes i n
p airs for those ej ght lines . In the first fou r l ines,
Donne rhymes the last words in lines 1 and 4 and
the last words in lines 2 and 3. Donne repeats this
p attern in the second set of four l ines. Because he
uses only two sounds for rhyming in these eight
lines, the last words in lines 4 and 5 form a pair of
end-rhymes, like l ines 2 and 3 and lines 6 and 7.
However, the rhyme scheme of the last six li nes
conforms to the ideal rhyme scheme of the English
s o nnet (Fuller 14). L ines 9- 1 2 p resent two new
sounds in alternating end-rhymes . Lines 1 3 and 14
then end the poem, introducing the fifth sound in a
pair of end-rhymes. Given the constrain ts of this
poetic form, I am frankly amazed that such power­
ful, meanin gful exp ression could be conveyed i n
such a brief, standardized manner.
Nonetheless, Donne accomp lishes this exploit
of econo my. He communicates a number of com­
p lex thoughts. Among these thoughts he expresses
is the theme: Through salvation, a person may be
delivered from evil and sin, being purged by God
of his or her weaknesses . I t was from this state­
ment that I finally understood the reason for the
great relief of those churchgoers I o b served as a
young teenager. As an adolescent attend ing church,
I felt no u r ge n t n eed to r e c e ive G o d ' s gr a c e .
Foolishly believing that everyone else felt a s I felt,
I n aturally remained u n aware of the reason for
their relief. Only later could I grasp the ridiculous­
ness of such an assumption and the complexities of
s p i r i tu a l i ty an d salvatio n . Thus capable, I o n l y
n eeded something t o bring the q uestion charging
out of the dark recesses of my mind. " Batter my
" became that
h ea r t , t h re e - p e r s o n e d G o. d
T
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s ometh ing. As s tated earli er, I real i zed those
churchgoers took great comfort from God 's grace
because they, l ike Donne's speaker, felt desperate
for salvatio n . The p oem ' s part in answeri n g this
long-standing q uestion leads me to believe that this
occurrence rep resents the best experience poetry
offers: the right poem at the right time.
II
11
Works Cited
Fuller, John. The Sonnet. London: Methuen, 1 972.
Evaluation: In his literary analysis on john Donne,
joe Hazelton invites the reader into the paper by
linking his own world to the world ofliterature.
This revelation of relationship between essayist and
material is only one of many high points here.
Hazelton maintains the natural writing voice of his
first paragraphs throughout the entire essay. He
transforms a topic that could be dry in to one that is
stimulating even for the reader who isn 't
familiar with Donne 's poetry!
41
Superficial Versus Profound: Romantic Love and True Love
in Much A do About Nothing
Superficial
Versus Profound:
Rotnantic Love
and True Love in
Much Ado About
Nothing
by joseph L. Hazelton
Course: English 1 02
Instructor: Barbara Hickey
Assignment: Write a scholarly, critical analysis of a
literary work. Substantiate your interpretation with
abundant citations of the primary source, and
supplement your insight with references to at least
eight secondary sources.
42
A l t h o u g h d iffi c u l t to b e l i eve, i t is p o s s i b le to
experience a revelation about d ictionaries. Having
h ave never considered how d ictionaries acquired
the meani ngs of words, I was surp rised to learn
that e d i to rs , reviewi n g texts, n o te on cards the
s e n s e i n w h i c h v a r i o u s words are used by t h e
autho rs . C o mp i l i n g t h e s e c a r d s , ed ito rial s taffs
retain the cards th at contain the more frequently­
o cc u r r i n g senses, o l d or new. These rema i n i n g
c a r d s p ro v i d e t h e d efi n i ti o n s t h at w i l l l ater b e
included i n a publish ed d ictionary. Thus, as S. I .
and Alan R . Hayakawa state, " The task o f writing
a dictionary . . . is . . . a task of recording . . . what
various words have meant to authors i n the d istant
and immediate p as t " (34-3 5). Aware of this idea, I
began viewing literature i n a new light. M ore than
telling stories, literature i tself is a dictionary, offer­
ing the meanings of various terms. Such a s ituation
apparently exists in William Shakespeare ' s Much
A do A bout Nothing. Beyon d relati ng a n arrative,
Much Ado About Nothing not only defines terms,
b u t a l s o c h ar a c t e r i zes a n d c o n tr as ts t h e m .
Consequently, fro m reading the play, I reached this
c onclusion: Much Ado About Nothing co n trasts
the superficiality of romantic love, as represented
by Claudio and Hero, with the profundity of true
love, as represented by Benedick and Beatrice.
The play provides the meanings of " romantic
love, " through Claud io ' s relationship with Hero,
a n d of " t r u e l o v e , " t h r o u g h B e n e d i c k a n d
B eatrice ' s relationship. O bserving b o th relation­
sh ips, the audience will recognize " love " as being
a n a t t r a c t i o n f o r a p e r s o n ( We b s ter ' s 1 3 4 0 ) .
However, the reader will also recognize the differ­
ences i n the very nature of love itself. Watching
C laudio, the aud ience will decide his " love " for
Hero may be defined as an attraction for a person
w h o evo kes ad m i ra t i o n ( Webster's 1 3 4 0 ) . F o r
Claud io, admiration o f Hero seems b ased o n her
b e a u ty. E a r l y i n t h e p l a y, C l a u d i o p r iv a t e l y
T
comments to Bened ick about Hero: " In mine eye
she is the sweetest lady that ever I looked o n "
( 1 . 1 . 1 8 1 -82). For Benedick and Beatrice, though,
their " love " refers to a n attracti o n for a person
who evo kes delight (Webster's 1 340). Benedick and
Beatrice delight i n each other. David L . Stevenson
hints at their mutual delight when he remarks that
they enjoy the role the other person plays (xxvii).
(Alth o u g h S teven s o n s tates that B e n e d i c k a n d
Beatrice play a " ro l e " with each other, n o reader
should think that either character feigns his or her
d e li ght; the " ro les " are l ess roles than they are
aspects of Benedick and Beatrice's personalities.)
However, b eyond these fundamental d iffer­
ences, there exist addi tional d ifferences in the love
Claudio feels for Hero and the love Benedick and
B ea t r i c e f e e l f o r e a c h o t h e r. F r o m r e g a r d i n g
Claudio's relationship with Hero, the reader will
realize that " romantic love " means love character­
i zed by the idealization of the beloved ( Webster 's
1 970). Scrutiny of Benedick and Beatrice' s relation­
ship leads the audience to determine the mean in g
of " true l ove " : l ove m arked by trust (Webster 's
24 5 5 ) . D e t e rm i n i n g these d efi n i ti o n s, t h ough ,
requires examining the evidence provided through
the p lay.
Beyond the merely physical attraction Claudio
feels for Hero, Clau d i o ' s relationship with Hero
constitu tes romantic love by Claudio's conception
of love and marriage. As Stevenson states, Claudio
can e as i l y conj u re l o v e from sexual a ttracti o n
(xxv). This fact becomes obvious fro m the play's
o u t s e t . S p e a k i n g p r iv a t e l y t o Don P e d ro a n d
Benedick, Claudio says, " That I love her, I feel "
( 1 . 1 .2 1 9) . C l a u d i o ' s s t a te m e n t c o m es w i t h o u t
having exchanged a word with Hero while in her
p resence earlier in the scene. Though the l ack of
conversation i n this scene may seem insignificant,
its location makes it significant. The s ilence and i ts
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locatio n su gges t that Clau d i o ' s attractio n arises
largely from sexual attraction.
As p reviously mentioned, Claudi o ' s romantic
love for Hero also depends on Claud i o' s concep­
t i o n of m ar r i a g e . Wal t e r R. Dav i s , d es c r i b i n g
Claudio's view, s tates the character " co nceives of
love not as 9- grand p assion . . . or even a wayward
fancy . . . but as a social arrangement linked with
l i k i n g " (4). (Wh i l e D av i s ' c o m m e n t exp l i c i t l y
regards Clau di o ' s concepti o n o f l ove, i t i s more
accurate to say that the " social arrangement " of
which Davis speaks refers to m arriage, not love.)
E v i d e n c e t h a t C l a u d i o v i ew s m a r r i a g e as a n
" arrangement" comes from Act 1 , Scene 1 . Alone,
C l au d i o as k s B e n e d i c k , " Is s h e [ H e ro ] n o t a
modest young lad y ? " ( 1 . 1 . 1 59). Davis notes that
Claudio asks Benedick h is opinion of Hero, hoping
for confirmatio n of Hero ' s beauty. Davis also notes
that Claudio d etermines Hero 's " fin ancial expecta­
tions " before decid i n g to m arry her (4). Claudi o
asks Don Pedro, " Hath Leonato [Hero 's father]
any son, my lord ? " ( 1 . 1 .284). Don Pedro answers,
" No child but Hero; she's h is only heir" (1 . 1 .285).
Thus, b y marrying Hero, Clau d i o stands to gain
m aterially when Hero i n h er i ts Leo n ato ' s estate
upon his death. So Stevenson summarizes, Claudio
" regard s l ove and mar r ia ge as the m a ki n g of a
sensible match with a virtuous and attractive young
girl who b ri n gs a good d owry and the approval of
her father and of his friends " (xxv ).
In contrast, Bened ick and Beatrice' s relation­
ship consti tutes true love by their mutual attraction
and mutual trust. Thomas M. Parrott reco gnized
their mutual attraction, commenting that despite
their verbal volleys, Benedick and Beatrice ' s love
becomes apparent a l m o s t i mm e d i at e l y, t h ough
both remain reluctant t o confess i t (1 59). Barbara
Njus supported the idea of their mutual attraction
b y n o ti n g that B eatrice ' s f i rst l i n es ( 1 . 1 .29-30)
indicate who occupies her thoughts; the lines are a
43
Superficial Versus Profound: Romantic Love and True Love
in Much
Ado About Nothing
question i n w h ic h she asks if Benedick, a soldier of
Do n Pedro, surv ived the recent war. Njus also
noted that much the same holds true for Benedick;
as i d e f r o m a s m a l l j e s t at L e o n a to ' s exp e n s e ,
Benedick's first sustained d ialogue ( 1 . 1 . 1 02-4 1 ) i s
w i t h B ea t r i c e . R . A . F o a k e s a l s o a l lu d e s t o
B e n e d i c k a n d B e a t r i ce ' s m u t u a l a t t ra c ti o n .
Commen tin g o n Foakes' edition of the play, Gavin
Edwards remarks: " In the Introduction to his . . .
edition . . , R. A. Foakes argues that ' the tricks
practiced on [Benedick and Beatrice] to make them
fall in love merely b r i n g i n to the open what i s
already i mp licit i n their attention to each other' "
(285).
As for the trust i n their relationship, i t is estab­
l i sh ed in d ramatic f as h i o n fo l l ow i n g C l au d io ' s
d e n u n c i a ti o n o f H e ro i n A c t 4 , S c e n e 1 . I n
denouncing Hero, Claudio greatly angers Beatrice.
Alone with Benedick in the now-deserted church,
D o n a l d A. Stauffer n o tes that s h e rai l s aga i n s t
Claudio not o n l y for h i s " blindness, " but for the
" u nnecessary c ruel ty of his proced u re " ( 1 48). In
the m i d s t of her r ai l l e ry, B e n e d i c k attempts to
i nterrupt Beatrice, but to no avail. Finally able to
speak, Benedick says, " By this hand, I love thee ''
(4. 1 .322-23). Beatrice responds, " Use it for my love
some other way than swearing by i t " (4. 1 .324-25),
implying that Benedick should chal lenge Claudio
for his slandering of Hero. With the play reaching
the heights of tension, Benedick asks one question:
" Think you in your soul the Count Claudio hath
wron ged Hero ? " ( 4. 1 .326-27). Beatrice answers,
" Ye a , as s u r e as I h av e a t h o u g h t or a s o u l "
( 4 . 1 . 3 2 8 ) . B e n e d i c k respo n d s , " E n o u g h , I a m
engaged. I will challenge him " (4.1 .329). In accept­
i n g B e a tr i c e ' s v i ew t h a t C l a u d i o h as wron ged
Hero, Benedick " acts contrary to the p resen ted
evidence, on the strength of his trust in Beatrice' s
l o y a l l o v e , " c h o o s i n g " lo v e of B e a t r i c e " over
" loyalty to Claudi o " (Stauffer 1 48). Beyond flimsy,
.
44
d ub ious accep tance, Benedick acts o n B eatrice's
conviction. Bened ick best demonstrates the gen­
uineness of his feelings (his acceptance, his trust,
his love) when, with his usual glibness put aside, he
challenges Claudio in " deadly earnest " unaffected
b y C l au d i o a n d D o n P e d ro ' s " j e s ti n g " of h im
(Stauffer 1 53).
AI though these events seem only to establish
Benedick's trust of Beatrice, they also establish her
trust in him. Stauffer's preceding remark h ints at as
much. As Stauffer stated, Benedick's c h allenge of
C l au d i o b es t d e m o ns t rates t h e g e nu i n eness of
Bened i c k ' s fee l i n gs ( 1 5 3 ). F o ll ow i n g C lau d i o ' s
denunciation o f Hero, the truth supposedly sup­
porting vows of love cannot be accepted without
question. Despite h aving said he loved her, Claudio
viciously denounces Hero from the a ltar before
which they are to be wed. Beatrice's words, which
imply that Benedick challenge Claudio, reflect the
n ew value of vows of l ov e . A s C a r o l Th oma s
Neely remarked, Beatrice' s demand that B enedick
demonstrate the commitment of his love by action
comes because " romantic vows h ave p roved empty
and must now be validated through d eed s " ( 1 67).
By a c c ep t i n g h e r j u d g m e n t a n d c h a l l e n g i n g
Claudio, Benedick demonstrates the commitment
of his love, the genuineness of his feeli ngs. Thus,
she may trust h i m, knowin g that when he swears
he loves her, he means he loves her.
Whereas Benedick' s actions after the denuncia­
tion un d erscore h is trust i n B eatrice, C l au d io ' s
acti ons during t h e denunciation empha s izes h is
m is t ru s t in H e r o . Dec eived b y D o n Jo h n i n to
believing Hero is unchaste, Claudio interrupts the
wedding ceremony to ask Hero, " What man was
he talked with you yesternight out at your window
b e tw i x t tw e l v e a n d o n e ? " (4 . 1 . 8 2 - 8 3 ) . H e ro
answers, " I talked with no man at that hour, my
lord '' (4.1 .85). Claudio disbelieves Hero ' s declara­
t i o n , h i s i n c re d u l i ty ev i d e n t w h e n h e rep l ies,
T
" What a Hero hadst thou been if half thy outward
graces h a d b een p laced about thy though ts and
counsels of thy heart! But fare thee well, most foul,
m o s t fai r, farewe l l " (4. 1 .99- 1 02). Thus, j ust as
Benedick ' s actions after the d enunciation p rove
that his l ove is genuine, Claudio ' s actions during
the denunciation establish that his love is not gen­
uine. From Claudio's lack of genuine love, Much
A do A b o u t Nothing i n d i c a tes r o m a n t i c l ove ' s
superficiality, a term that actual! y means " the . . .
q uality of being . . . not genuine . . . " (Webster's
2293).
r
H o w ev e r, w i t h i n the con t e x t o f t h e p l ay,
" superficiality " means more than not genuine; the
term also refers to " the . . . quality of being . . .
concerned only with the . . . apparent" (Webster's
2293). In either sense, though, the superficiality of
r o m a n t i c love results fro m C l au d i o ' s c o n d uct.
Contrasted against the superficiali ty of romantic
love, Much A do About Nothing provides evidence
of t h e p r ofu n d i t y of t r u e l o v e , as p r e s e n ted
through the relationship b e tween Benedick an d
B e a t r i c e . H o w e v e r, f r o m t h e i r r e l a t i o n s h i p ,
" profund i ty " has only one sense: " the . . . q uality
of being very deep " ( Webster's 1 8 12).
As stated earlier, Claudio 's actions establish the
s u p e rfi c i a l i ty of r o m a n t i c l o v e . S p e c i f i c a l ly,
Claudio ' s suspicion of Hero, his denunciation of
her, and his lack of remorse at hearing of her sup­
posed death p rove the superficiality of romantic
l ov e . Tr y i n g to t h w a r t C l au d i o a n d H e r o ' s
marriage, apparently from spite against Claudio,
D on J o h n lies to C l audi o about Hero: "I come
h i t h e r to t e l l you, . . . the l a d y i s d i s l o ya l
[unchaste] " (3.2.98-1 00). When Don John offers to
p r o v i d e p roof that n i ght, ac tually fal se p ro o f,
C laud io states, " If I see anything tonight why I
should not marry her tomorrow, in the congrega­
tion where I should wed, there will I s hame her"
(3 .2. 1 1 9-2 1 ). As W. H. Auden noted, Don John ' s
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slander, even p rior to p rovid i n g the false proof,
m akes C laud io i nstantly susp icious of Hero; if
Claudio truly loved her, then he would trust in her
innocence, as Beatrice d o es ( 1 56). G. K. Hunter
also hints at the lack of genui neness in Claudio ' s
l o v e w h e n h e s ta t e s , " T h e r o m a n t i c l o v e of
C laud io anc} Hero, f or all i ts b attery of 'words,
v o w s , gifts, t e a r s ' , c o l l a p s e s a t t h e b re a t h o f
scandal . . . " (25).
C laudio 's denunciation of Hero also serves as
evidence of the lack of genuineness i n C laudi o 's
l ove b y t h e v i c i o u s n e s s of h i s c o n d e m n at i o n .
Charles Gildon agrees with this assessment, s tating
t h a t C l a u d i o ' s d e n u n c ia t i o n of H e r o d i rectly
contrad icts the n ature of love, the d en unciation
being " in so b arbarous a manner and with so little
concern and struggle " ( 1 36). A lthough n ot com­
menting on the l ack of genuineness in C laudi o ' s
love, Gavin Edwards confirms t h e denunciation ' s
cruel ty, c h aracterizin g C l aud i o as " ru t hless ly "
aborting the wed d i n g (2 80) and com mi t ti n g an
" act of great psycholo gical violence against Hero "
(28 8). Njus also attests to the unusual cruelty of
the condemnation, stating that Claudio could have
cancelled the m arriage by meeting p rivately with
Leonato, but chooses instead to denounce Hero
publicly. From these characterizations, one realizes
t h e l ack of ge n u i n e l ove, fo r w h a t m a n c o u l d
s o publicly, so violently humiliate t h e woman he
supposedly loves ?
F i n a l ly, C l au d i o ' s reac t i o n to l e a r n i n g of
Hero ' s supposed death i n d icates the absence of
genuine fee l i n g in C l aud i o ' s r o m a n t i c love fo r
H e r o . C l aud i o reacts n o t at a l l . A s C l aud i o ' s
d en u n c i a ti o n e n d s , Hero swo o n s , s h ocked b y
Claudio's charges (4. 1 . 108 s.d.). After Claudio and
D o n s P e d r o a n d J o h n e x i t t h e c h u r c h , F ri ar
Francis concludes that Hero is innocent of these
charges (4. 1 . 1 54-69) and seizes upon a p lan that
w i l l m ake C l au d i o regret h is d e n u n c i at i o n of
45
Superficial Versus Profound: Romantic Love and True Love
in Much
Ado About Nothing
Hero, makin g h i m " wish he had not so accused
her, . . . t hough he thought his accusation true"
(4. 1 .23 1 -32). The friar hopes to cause this regret b y
having i t published that Hero died that day, " upon
the instant that she was accused " (4 . 1 .2 1 4). Friar
Francis anticipates that Claudio, when he learns
" she died upon his words " (4. 1 .222), will re-ideal­
ize her (4. 1 .223-29) and thereby " shall he mourn "
(4. 1 .229). However, as Edwards observes, contrary
to what Friar Francis anticipated, Clau di o ' s feel­
ings for Hero did not change when he learned of
her supposed death; C laudio did not feel remorse,
did not idealize Hero " ' though he [still] thought
his accusatio n true ' " (282). Carol Thomas Neely
concurs, stati ng that C laud i o remains unaffected
b y H e ro ' s s up p o s e d d e a t h ( 1 6 7 ) . A l t h o u g h
Edwards (282) and Neely ( 1 67) note that C laudio
becomes affected after l earning of Hero ' s i n no ­
cence, his l ac k of a reaction to news o f Hero ' s
death still reinforces the lack of genuineness in, the
superficiality of, romantic love.
Regard ing superficiality in the sense of " being
. . . c o n c e r n e d o n l y w i t h t h e . . . a p p a r en t "
( Webster's 2293), the romantic l ove Claudio feels
fo r Hero reflects this trait in the lie that b ri ngs
C l au d i o to c a n c e l t h e w e d d i n g a n d d e n o u n c e
Hero. The d eceptio n perpetrated b y D o n John and
Borachio, with Margaret' s di m-witted assistance,
convi nces C l audio that Hero has been u nchaste,
t h a t s h e " knows t h e h e a t of a l ux u r i o u s b e d "
(4. 1 .40). O n this ground, Claudio refuses to marry
her. In understanding why the question of Hero ' s
virginity weighs so heavily o n decision, it must be
n oted, as Davis d oes, that C l au d i o is "a purely
social man: polite, little more than a polished sur­
face himself, he shows tender concern for appear­
ances . . . " (4). C laud io must not allow it to be
rumored among his peers that he married anyone
less than a true maiden: attractive, virtuous, and
chaste. Thus, the m arriage of C laud i o to Hero
46
depend s on whether o r not she still retai ns her
virginity, upon whether or not she is " socially and
therefore personal l y accep table to C l au d i o in his
a r i s to c ra t i c w o r l d of a r r a n g e d m ar r i a ge s "
(Stevenson xxix). Claudio ' s concern that Hero be
socially acceptable before being p ersonal l y accept­
able belies Claudio ' s concern for appearances. For
Claudio, the realm beneath the apparent does not
exist, which m ay p artly exp lain w h y he fails to
trust Hero; h is gaze never penetrates her exterior.
Auden perhap s i mp l ies as muc h when h e s tates
that, for Claudio, " Hero is . . . more an i mage i n
h i s own mind than a real person . . . " ( 1 56). Davis
reiterates this idea when he comments that Claudio
loves an i mage of Hero rather than Hero herself
(8).
S h ar p l y c o n t r as t i n g t h e s u p e r fi c i a l i t y o f
romantic love, Benedick and Beatrice's relationship
demonstrates the profundity of true love. As previ­
o u s l y s tated, S ta uffe r n o tes t hat, i n accep t i n g
Beatrice ' s view that Claud i o h as wronged Hero,
Benedick " acts contrary to the p resented evidence,
on the strength of his trust in Beatrice ' s loyal love "
( 1 48). That statement h i n ts at the p rofund i ty of
true l o ve. A l t h o u gh c o n ced i n g t h e c r u e l t y of
Claudio's condemnation requires only a small step
towards sensitivity, accepting Beatrice 's assertion
of Hero 's innocence requires a great leap of faith.
Yet B e n ed i c k m a kes t h a t leap. W h e n B ea t r i c e
answers t h a t sh e believes " as s u re a s [s h e h as] a
t h o u g h t o r a s o u l " ( 4 . 1 . 3 2 8 ) t h a t C la u d i o has
wronged Hero, Benedick replies, " E nou gh, I am
en gaged " (4.2 .329). As s tated earlier, Beatri c e ' s
w o rd a l o n e i s s uffi c i e n t, d e s p i te t h e evi d e n c e
against Hero. F o r Benedick to take arms against
his comrade, Claudio, and to contrad ict h is patron,
Don Ped ro, requires a d eep, a p rofound, trust i n
Beatrice's conviction in Claudio's viciousness and
in Hero ' s innocence. The depth of Benedick's trust
-,
T
in Beatrice, the profundity of true love, can hardly
be exaggerated in such circumstances.
Thus, Shakespeare's Much Ado A bout Nothing
p resents, i n C l au d i o ' s relatio n s h i p w i th Hero,
the superficiali ty of romantic love against the p ro­
fun d i ty of true l ove, in Bened i c k and Beatrice's
relationship. In reachi ng this conclusi on and p re­
s e n t i n g i ts s up p o r t , I m a d e exten s ive use of a
d icti o nary. By referring to a d ictionary, I could find
the app rop riate m e a ni n gs of these terms: l ove,
romantic, true love, superficiality, and profundity.
However, I cannot help imagining this scene: Some
long time ago, an editor, sitting at his desk in the
offices of G. & C. Merriam Company, sets down a
copy of Much Ado About Nothing and, based on
the phenomena the p lay p resented, attributes t o the
aforemen tioned terms meanings i mp lied through
the text. And, i n visualizing this scene, I cannot
help thi n k i n g of that old q uesti o n: Which came
first, the chicken or the egg ?
Works Cited
Auden W. H. " from The Dyer's Hand. " The Dyer's
Hand and O ther Essays. New York: Random
H o u s e , 1 9 6 2 . R p t . i n Much A do A b o u t
Nothing. By William Shakespeare. E d. David
L. Stevenson. The Signet Classic Shakespeare
Series. New York: Penguin, 1 989. 1 54.
Davis, Walter R. I ntroduction. Twentieth Century
Interpretations of Much Ad o About Nothing.
E d . D av i s . E n glewo o d C l iffs, NJ: Pren tice­
Hall, 1 969. 1 - 1 7.
E dwards, Gavin. " Anticipation and Retrospect in
Much Ado About Nothing. " Essays in Criticism
4 1 (Oct. 1 99 1 ): 277-90.
G i l d o n , C harles . " Th e Argument of Much A do
h
e
}I
a
r
p
e
r
A
n
t
h
o
l
o
g
y
S tevens o n . T h e S i gn e t C l assic S hakespeare
Series. New York: Penguin, 1 989. 1 35-37
Hayakawa, S. I., and Alan R. Hayakawa. Language
in Thought and Action. 5th ed. San D iego, CA:
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1 990.
Hunter, G. K. Shakespeare: The Later Comedies.
London:.. -Longman 's, Green, 1 964.
Neely, Carol Thomas. " Broken Nuptials in Much
A do A b ou t Nothing. " Brok e n Nup tia ls in
Shak espeare 's Plays. New H aven : Yale U P,
1 985. 3 8-57. Rpt. i n Much Ado A bout Nothing.
B y W i l l i a m S h a ke s p e a r e . E d . D av i d L .
S tevens o n . A b r i d ged b y auth o r. The S ignet
C l a s s i c S h a k e s p e a r e S e r i e s . New Yo r k :
Penguin, 1989. 1 57.
Nj u s , B ar b a r a . A s s i s t a n t P r o f es s o r, E n gl i s h .
C l as s ro o m D is c u s s i o n a t W i l l i a m R a i n e y
Harper College. Palatine, IL. 0 4 Oct. 1 993.
Parrott, Tho mas Marc. Shakespearean Comedy .
New York: Russell & Russell, 1 962.
Shakespeare, Wil liam. Much A do A bout Nothing.
E d . David L . Steven s o n . The Si gnet Classic
Shakespeare Series. New York: Penguin, 1 989.
S tauffe r, D o n al d A . " S h a ke s p e ar e ' s Wo r l d of
I m a g e s . " Much A do A b o u t Nothing. By
William Shakespeare. E d . David L. Stevenson.
The Si gnet C l as s ic S hakespeare Series . New
York: Pengui n, 1 989. 146-53 .
Stevens o n , David L. I n tr o d u c ti o n . Much A do
A bout Nothing. E d . Steve n s o n . By Wi l l i am
Shakespeare. The Si gnet C lassic S hakespeare
Series. New York: Penguin, 1 989. xxi-xxx
Webster 's Third New International Dictionary of
the English Language, Unabridged. Ed. Philip
B a b c o c k G o v c a n d t h e M e r r i a m -Web s t e r
E d i t o r i a l S t aff. Sp r i n gf i e l d , M A : G & C
Merriam, 1 966.
A bout Nothing. " Much A do A bout Nothing.
By W i l l i am S h a k e s p e a r e . E d . D av i d L .
47
Superficial Versus Profound: Romantic Love and True Love
in Much Ado About Nothing
Evaluation: Supplementing his own insights with
those of the critics, joseph off�rs a discriminating
comparison/contrast that embodies " the excitement
of discovery " characteristic of excellent writing.
48
T
Against the
D arkness :
Light and the
Reconciliation of
Opposites in
Clear Light
Of Day .
by Dan john
Course: Non-western Literature 208
Instructor: Martha Simonsen
Assign ment: Analyze imagery, theme, or
characterization in the novel you select. Support
your thesis with specific references to the text.
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In this intri cate, closely-written novel, Anita Desai
has almost two hundred references to l ight. Light is
as fundamental, varied and ubiquitous in this novel
as it is in everyday life. And, as i n l ife, i t is seen
only against the contrast of its opposite, d arkness.
Light i magery is wielded with incredible complexi­
ty, often d esc ri b i n g even ts i n v iv i d , emotionally
charged lang�age, yet always deftly p roviding criti­
cal information by its use. We come to assess per­
sonal ity b y the quality of the l ight in which we see
Desai ' s characters. And, in the end, the opposites
of light and darkness are reconciled .
Most of the action of the novel can be said to
unfold in the events set between these absolutes of
l i gh t and d arkness, the references rei nforc i n g a
sense of being i n a shadow world; often p laying
against images of greyness and monochromicity.
In Sectio n I, we learn to associate l i gh t with
fear, a fear as yet unnamed. In the very first scene,
the character Tara, the younger sister, emerges onto
the verandah to " the blank white glare of the sum­
mer sun " ( 1 ) . She winces, the sun " slicing" at the
back of her neck like " blades of steel " ( 1 ). Later, as
Tara stares out of her room, " the blank white glare
of afternoon slanted in and slashed at her with its
flas h i n g knives " ( 1 8). Recal l i n g the memories of
h e r c h i l d h o o d p r o m p t s t h i s f e a r i n Ta r a .
Repeatedly i n this section, she shies away from rec­
ollecting the past, feeling, when she d oes, the pull
of a " deep, shadowy vortex " (22).
Tara and Bim tentatively skirt the edges of their
checkered p asts on the roof of the h ouse: the gar­
den below is " p atterned with the ligh t and shade of
early evening " (23 ). As Tara ponders a letter their
older bro ther, Raja, had sent to Bim years ago - a
letter that deeply offended B i m - a " series of pic­
tures of the Hyder Ali family flickered in the half­
dark of the roo m " (27). F o rmer n ei g h b o rs, the
Hyder Ali family, Mus lims in the predominantly
49
Against the D arkness: Light and the Reconciliation of
Opposites in Clear Light of Day.
Hindu city of Delhi, fled their home as riots broke
out during the s u m mer of Indian i ndependence.
Contemp l ating the memories of that abandoned
house, Tara goes b ack out i nto the fading l i ght and
sees Bimla in the " dark shadows " (34) of the Misra
porch, s i tt i n g w i t h the o l d father of the fami ly.
When the s i s ters return h o me, Tara ' s h usb an d ,
Baku!, is s itting i n the dark, barely illuminated by a
light o n their own porch (35).
Section II begins with: "The city was i n flames "
(44). We n ow enter di rectly into the mystery of the
" dark d istances " ( 43) of that d isturbi ng p ast, b y
way of a most frightening image: light a s destruc­
tion. It is the summer of Indian i ndependence
1 947, when terrorists scurry i n the dark (57) and
the torches of rioters i l l u m i nate the n i gh t (45 ).
When Raj a, a Hindu, expresses to his father the
wish to attend a Muslim school under the sponsor­
ship of Hyder Ali, Raj a ' s father's face is said to
darken with d isapproval (5 1 ). Raj a' s i n d i gnation
b u rs ts " w i th great exp l o s iveness " (5 1 ) and the
father retreats into the shadows (5 1 ), conced ing the
first round of this ongoing d ispute. Aunt Mira, a
marginal relative brought into the house to care for
the children, retreats i nto alcoholism, sparked by
the fai lu re of her one attempt to i mprove the family
situation. Her retreat is symbolized by the " shining
bottle " (89) " emergi ng from the dark recesses of
the glo o my sideboard " (56). Her l ife now, as she
comes to see it, is being overwhelmed by a spread­
ing " pool of flames " (77). " At first they had been
only little flames, so pretty in the dark. So many
candles at a celebration, a festival " (78). " But then
they had shot up i n to such tall, towering flames,
crackli n g and spitting, making her shut her eyes
and cower " (78).
As fears o m e as l i gh t i n t h i s s e c t i o n i s ,
darkness holds its own terrors. This is most graphi­
cally symbo l i zed by the d arkness of Hyder Ali ' s
newly-abando ned res idence, which the children
-
50
cautiously explore one d ay, discovering an " empty,
d ark h o us e " that i s " a warn i ng, a t h re at " (62).
There is, too, the shadowy, u nknown world of the
(nameless) parents ' life outside the house, at their
club, where they spend their lives p layin g cards.
Mother falls i l l at n igh t (53). Father d i es at n i gh t
(64). And t h e family drawing room is l i kened t o a
" burial vaul t " (65). R aj a, sick with tuberculosis,
p resides at the cremation of h is father; Desai com­
b ines his feverish s tate with the glare of d aylight
and the flames of the funeral p yre (65). That nigh t,
they watch Delhi burning i n the twili gh t (66).
There are also curious c omb inations of l i gh t
and dark i magery in this section: Baba, the autistic
youngest child, sits " i n the d ark with a k i n d o f
l u n a r l u m i n o s i ty " ( 6 2 ) . B i m s e es M i r a-masi 's
appari tion as a " noon time ghos t " (96). Bim also
begins to see her aunt as " th at small shad ow " ( 1 00)
mentioned i n Eliot's " The Waste Land, " an extra
person who is not really there - an image which
could well portend her own future.
The scenes dep icting B i m ' s relationship wi th
Dr. Biswas, the fami ly physician and B i m ' s poten­
tial s u i tor, a re rep l ete w i t h i mages of l i g h t and
darkness. On what could be said to be their only
d ate, " Vi olet globes " of s treetl amps s hed " harsh
l ight" on the darkened street where she sees people
living in " a kind of crippled, subterranean life: (86).
Stand ing in a " green light, " Dr. B iswas attempts to
woo Bi mla, who p anics and " grows d arkly red "
(87). Later, at tea with the docto r ' s mother, B i m
n otes the woman 's hair gleaming (90). She excuses
herself, saying " I must get home before dark" (92).
As she d oes, the street l o o ks " menac i n g " in the
early dusk (92).
In Section III, in the aftermath of that turbu­
lent, p ivotal summer of independence, the nature
of the i magery shifts again. No one becomes a child
of light, but the fearsomeness is d i m inishing. Light
once more seems to be the stuff of life, of under-
T
stan d i ng : " Su n n y w i n ter m o r n i n gs had the . . .
qual i t y of perfection " ( 1 1 0). I t is not totally so;
sometimes light is still an aspect of the " luminous
world of fever " ( 1 1 2).
Darkness, clustered around the imagery of the
family well, continues to exert its presence. And we
encounter i mages of greyness, as in the way the
c h i ld re n b eg i n to view the stifl i n g l ife at home
( 1 30). Their l ives seem "a great grey mass" (1 20).
F o r Tara, t h i n gs b e g i n to e m e r ge from t h e
" grey m i l d ew " ( 1 28 ) of mission s c h o o l l ife i n to
" ep isodes of color" ( 1 2 8). Events shed some of the
monotony of her being a younger child. They take
on a fullness of their own as she enters puberty.
Raj a, h eal i n g fro m h i s protracted b o u t w i t h
T.B., wins a poetry p rize: " A little crack seemed to
open in the stony shell that enclosed them at home,
letting i n a l i ttle tantalizing li ght " ( 1 3 1 ). Playing
grown-ups with Tara, Bim tries on a pair of Raja's
trousers o n the veran da. She is " slightly unnerved
by the brilliant glare of the afternoon ligh t " ( 1 33 ) .
Bim a n d Tara are n o t yet ready t o b e adults: " . . .
the b l a n k white glare and the b razen heat m ade
them blink and falter " ( 1 33).
In another p ivotal episode, one which Tara has
" so mehow b u nd led out of s i gh t " ( 1 36), she and
B i m are out w i t h the M isra fam i l y on a p i c n i c .
Inside " the inviting darkness " ( 1 34) o f a tomb, the
sisters are attacked by bees. Tara runs to escape,
urged on by B i m, who suffers numerous stings.
Tara, forgetting Bim 's ad monition to flee, begins to
blame herself for deserting her sister. The guilt she
feels, u nresolved all these years, is what p rompts
her feeli n gs of inadequacy.
In the l as t section, Section IV, the characters
resolve their differences. The q uality of the imagery
becomes increasin gly positive as each of the charac­
ters gropes for resolution of their own pasts. Sitting
in the dark, B im la asks herself " What d o we really
see ? " ( 1 48).
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Tara, u rgently needing a resolution to her own
nagging doubts about herself, senses the possibility
i t may happen: " The light of the ful l moon was so
clear, surely it could illuminate everything tonight"
( 1 58).
O ne by o ne, their d ifficulties are resolved. Tara
learns no one has held her to b lame for fleeing the
bee attack; Baku! and B imla agree it was the only
sensible thing to do. Bim goes further, reminding
Tara she was " sent - to fetch help " ( 1 50).
Bim's grudge against Raja is resolved in antici­
pation of the marriage of Raja's daughter, Moyna.
B i m has at least agreed to meet with h i m .
Fi nal ly, B i m ' s fear she h as bec o me no m o re
than a likeness of Mira-masi, wasting away in the
family home, d oomed to the dessication of a spin­
s ter ' s l i fe, is d i spelled by Tara, w h o i n s ists the
house is not the same as the one that d rove her out,
d rove her to marriage. " But I thin k the atmosphere
h as c h an ged - ever s i nce you t o o k over, B i m "
( 1 56 ) .
In the moving scene o f B i m ' s coming t o terms
with her own past actions, light and shadow min­
gle - opposites are reconc i l e d . Tho u gh at that
moment i n shadow herself, she sees, as if " in the
clear l i g h t of d ay " ( 1 65 ) t h a t the l o v e s h e h as
always felt fo r h e r family h as heretofore been
" i mperfect " because she is not perfect; th ere is
much she can still do to improve what is basically a
correctable situation.
A light Bim sees as " brassy and remorseless as
the heat " ( 1 60) finally settles into a sunset like " a
serene glass bubble " ( 1 66). From a bright light that
" cut i n t o her temples, leav i n g a wake of pain "
( 1 72 ) , s h e i s r e c o n c i l e d t o t h e p o s s i b i l i t y of
renewed family accord in the moving passage on
page 1 77:
T h e re was n o t h i n g left in t h e way of a
barrier o r a shad ow, o n ly the clear l i g h t
pouring d own from the sun. They might be
51
Against the Darkness: Light and the Reconciliation of
Opposites in
Clear Light of Day.
floating i n the light - it was as vast as the
ocean, but clear without color or substance
or form. It was lightest and most pervasive
of all elements and they floated in it. They
fou n d the courage, after all, to float in i t
and b athe in i t a n d allow it t o pour onto
them, i l lu m i nati n g them wh o l l y, without
allowing them a single shadow to shelter in.
Works Cited
D e s a i , A n i t a . Clear L ig h t of Day . L o n d o n :
Penguin, 1 980.
Evaluation: Dan unlocks doors for the reader of
Anita Desai's rich and complex novel. His paper is a
focused, insightful, deftly composed critical essay.
52
T
History
by Christian ]. Klugstedt
Course: English 1 0 1
Instructor: Nancy L. Davis
Assignment: Students were asked to write a
descriptive/narrative essay detailing an event that
was significant enough to have a lasting impact on
their lives.
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I never thought I would c ry in public, but I could
not hold back the tears . Most s urprising of all, I
was n ' t ev en ashamed. I couldn ' t tell why I was cry­
ing. It just happened .
It was about 7:30 p.m. and I was o n my way to
the hotel. The traffic on the Autobahn was still ter­
r i b l e a n d I turned up the v o l u m e o n the rad i o .
Music and coffee were the o n l y things that enabled
me to stay awake. I had had a terrible day. I had to
fire two managers in one of our branches in Berlin­
Rein ickendorf. I had been working now for over
h a l f a y e a r i n B e r l i n . T h e r o u t i n e i nv o lv e d a
M o n d a y m o rn i n g e a r l y f l i g h t to B er l i n w i t h a
return flight to Muenster late i n the afternoon on
Friday. M y weekends were short, typically d ivided
between m y friends, fam i l y a n d g i r lfriend, then
b ack to the B e r l i n gri n d . M y h o m e away from
home was my hotel room in West Berlin, and my
suitcase was m y only companion.
I was in m y fourteenth hour of work and my
thermos with coffee was emp ty. The news started
on the radio and I got mad because I had heard the
s a m e n ews a b o u t t e n t i m e s a l r e a d y t h a t d ay.
However, this time it caught my attention: " The
East German govern ment just opened the border at
Checkpoint Charlie to West Berlin. At first onl y a
few and now hundreds of people are crossing over
the bridge fro m East Berlin to West Berl in. The
East German government has not given a statement
yet. More in our extra news in five minutes, " said
the radio announcer.
I thought, " That would be a miracle, history . . .
Am I d reaming ? " I could not believe what the news
anchorman had j u s t s a i d . I i ns ti n ctively left the
Autobahn at the next exit, even though I was anx­
ious to get to my hotel room. The thought of a long
bath, some TV and then shut-eye reall y appealed to
me, but I had to see what was h appening at the
Berlin Wall.
53
History
As I was d riving through the busy streets of
d owntown Berl i n I began to remember my first
visit to that city five years ago. At that time I had
stood up on one of those observation towers for
tourists and looked over the fence to see the dead
zone and the Berl i n Wall. I saw the East-German
p a t r o l s w i t h t h e i r m ac h i n e g u n s a n d G e r m a n
Shepherds a n d thought about the people over there
- locked up in thei r own country, unable to do
and to say what they want.
I began to think about my Germany. For me,
G e r m a n y w a s o n t h e " r i g h t " s i d e , t h e Wes t
German side. I had nothing in common with our
communist " brothers and sisters " on the other side
of the Wall. I did not have any family over there,
and I really never cared about the country and the
people until a few months ago. It bothered me that
East G e r m a n athletes won m o re m e d a l s at the
Olympic Games than our athletes d i d . Bes ides, I
was m o re fam i l i a r w i t h Paris, L o n d o n , Ro me,
Brussels and Amsterdam than Dresden, Leibzig,
Weimar and Halle.
My friend Thomas and I had been in Leibzig i n
August for the annual trade show. I remember how
we stood at the border for three hours in the car at
90 degrees and h ow badly the East German cus­
toms officers treated us. To top it off, they forced
us to exchange 25 West German marks into 25 East
German marks every day, know i n g ful l well the
actual value of an East German mark was only five
percent of o ur West German m ark. M o re anger
built up inside me over the Ossis.::·
App ro ac h i n g the d iv i d ed sector, I found a
parking space pretty easily. The police in Berlin are
not that strict, so I felt I could risk my sidewalk
parking space. There was a dead end roughly two
and a half mi les before reaching the no-man 's -land
between the border lines.
::· slang for East German
54
The d istance to the Wall seemed very short that
n i ght. I h ad no i d ea what I should expect and I
c o u l d n ' t v i s u a l i ze t h e o p e n b o r d e r. A s I was
approachi n g the end of the street, I only saw the
crowd of people, but I coul d n ' t figure out what was
g o i n g on. Standi n g o n m y tiptoes, I t ried to see
what all the commotion was about.
As I stepped closer, I could hear the crowd
cheering and app lau d in g. All the spotlights were
o n, and I had never seen so m any people in front of
the crossover. There were usually o n l y a couple
E ast German sold iers patro l l i n g along the o ther
side of the border and checking the very few pedes­
trians passing the checkpoint. How many peopl e
h a d d reamed about walking over this bridge into
freed o m ? Those gates, borders, barbed w i re and
booby traps featuring automatic weapons were the
o b v i o u s s i gn s of t h e b a r b a r o u s s y s t e m of t h e
German Democratic Republic. And suddenly this
depressing p lace, this p lace of so much pain, terror,
and inhumani ty turned into a place of joy, happi­
n ess and . . . freed om. Nob ody was topp i n g the
p eople and cars; the East German s o l d i ers j u s t
stood on the side. It seemed a s though they were
ashamed of themselves and were hiding.
I did not realize that I was crying until a total
stranger hugged me, and I saw that she was crying
t o o . " W hat a w o n d erful d ay. I d i d n o t t h i n k I
w o u l d see this b efore I d i e d , " t h e o l d w o m an
sobbed as she kissed me on my cheeks, hugging me
very tight. I felt her naked joy and warmth, and I
f o r g o t a l l my r e s e n t m e n t s t o w a r d s t h e E as t
Germans. I just felt happy for all the people who
finally were able to go wherever they wanted. I
realized how lucky I was to be born in one of the
richest countries of the world, and that I should be
grateful for this. The East Germans my age could
not choose where they wanted to live. Who would
I be if I had b een born o n the o ther s i d e of the
Berlin Wall ?
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One Trabbix· after the other was crossing over
the border, the border which seemed to have been
closed forever. People were cheering and greeting
the E as t G e rma ns by g i v i n g them flowers an d
presents. Some even put 1 0-mark bills behind the
windshield wipers of the Trab bis. The people were
b o t h e re d b y t h e an n o y i n g c a m e r a t e a m s a n d
reporte rs try i n g to get t h e closest s h o ts o f the
arriving East Germans.
The reporters were pulling the arms of the East
Germans to get them to do an interview exclusively
with thei r s tati o n . The p eople in the cars were
blowing their horns, which sounded more like a
wheeze than a horn. People of all ages were danc­
ing around, not knowing if they were living reality
or a d ream. When I looked i n their eyes, I saw not
only unbounded joy, but also a little bit of fear, as
if the opening of the border would be only a tem­
p o rary thing, as if they could only celebrate for
awhile but afterwards they would have to return to
East Germany.
I have never seen happier people than in those
few history-making hours, standing in the shadow
of the imposing watchtowers and the Berlin Wall.
Evaluation: Christian brings to life this historic
event most of us only read about or watched unfold
on the television news. Combining the public with
the private, Christian writes in a voice at once vivid
and unsentimental.
X· Tr a b a n t, E a s t G e r m a n - b u i l t , 2 - cy l i n d e r,
plastic car.
55
y
Okay, Big Brother, Watch This
Okay,
Big B rother,
Watch This
by Maryan Koehler
Course: Honors English 1 0 1
Instructor: Jack Dodds
Assignment: Write a 3-5 page explanatory essay in
the teacher 's role in which you make and support a
point that readers need to understand.
56
Go forward in your mind's eye an d see th e turn of
the century. On the first day of her life, a silky-soft
infant makes baby noises with her lips as she waves
her arms and legs randomly. She is not yet ready to
und erstand or even see her world; still, the medical
people have seen her, right through to her final
birthday. That may be the, picture if researchers like
Isaac Asimov are correct. He forecasts technology
allowing doctors to scan infants at birth, h arvesting
an awe-insp irin g amount of detail about a life story
before it unfolds.
Robert Oppenheimer sai d , " Ou r p ro blem is
not only to face the somber and grim elements of
the future, but to keep them from obscuring it. "
Certainly, sci-fi has reported robots running amok,
marauding through Tokyo, murdering humans and
takin g over our p lanet, allowing s l i my aliens to
turn human ity into part of the Martian food chain.
Approaching the age of robotics with concern and
trep i d at i o n i s n ' t u n reaso n a b l e , b u t refu s i n g t o
exp l o re t h e benefits of and ro i d techn o l o gy and
other future projections would be em barrassi n g
even to a very timid ostrich.
Futurists p red ict that after the century turns,
our health care will be computer and robot d riven,
much improved by h igh tech p rocedures.
Tech nology exists for genetic analysis that can,
at birth, forecast bald ness, sensitivity to d iseases
(cancer, heart, and lung ailments), body type, and
hered itary life exp ectancy. Machines that we use
n o w to s c a n a n d c o l l e c t d a t a w i l l be t e r m e d
" p rimi tive " b y twen ty-first century scien ce. We
have our alphabet soup of d iagnostic tools: CAT
scan, computerized axiol tomography, used to ana­
lyze cross section views of organs and ti ssues;
NMR, nuclear magnetic resonance, reading signals
f r o m h u m a n a t o m s as t h e y m o ve; PET s c a n ,
p os i t r o n emiss i o n , d etecti n g a b n o r m a l i ties b y
resp o n d i n g to mo lecular particles; and BEAM,
brain electrical activity mapping, allowing doctors
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to follow brain signals in order to detect strokes,
ep i l ep s y, a n d maybe even d ys l ex i a . These are
actually only the parent technology of futuristic
science-fact equipment that, using m i cr o chips,
lasers and computers, will make an infant's life an
open book from her first day.
As h as happened i n the past with consumer
electronics, these tools will become smaller, more
rel i a b l e , m o re s e n s i t i v e, and l ess exp e n s i v e as
researchers develop, refine and perfect them. By
the turn of our century, man 's medical repertoire,
once consisting merely of crude tools wrapped in
animal skins, will allow a patient to be passed pain­
lessly through a chrome and steel machine capable
of finding the tiniest physical abnormality.
Accord i n g to Arthur C. Clarke, i n his book
july 20, 2019, " Though superscanners wi ll ferret
out malfunctions in a four-color flash, eli minating
tedious and painful exams, the emphasis will be on
p reventative processes. " Clarke and Asimov both
pred ict an age of home diagnostics and care. You
will be able to p u rchase, perform and accurately
read home tests for early recognition of infections
(bladd er, ear, and thro at), diabetes, venereal d is­
eases, o r viruses. The safe, painless, total reliability
of these tests will save time and money, provid ing
compl ete p rivacy of results that you rep o rt, by
electronic mail, to your physician. For cond itions
that can ' t be self-treated, you 'll have to visit your
nearest medical mall.
What in the future world is a med ical mal l ?
Our cities and towns, according to futurists, may
be dotted with medical facilities like shopping cen­
ters. These one-stop facili ties, perhaps constructed
of chrome and glass domes, may offer a relaxing
environ ment fi lled wi th towering plants, and the
plash of desi gner fountains nestled among ceramic
woodland creatures.
Wan t to q u i t s m o k i n g ? Q u i t d ru g s ? C u r e
eati n g d i so r d ers ? Wal k i n , drop i n , p l u g i n . A
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computer at the behavior mod ification shop spits
out a p rogram created j ust for your personal needs.
Hungry? The nourishment center offers condensed
food tabs for nutrition or real food j ust for taste
sensation.
Expectant mothers get earlier care at the p rena­
tal cen ter without wai t i n g fo r an app o i ntment.
Infertil ity will be ban ished by genetic medi cine.
M o ms can be fi tted with t i ny fetal m o n i to rs to
track baby 's heartbeat, or they can discover the sex,
hair and eye color of their unborn baby. Harmless
1 00% effective birth control will be available with­
out prescriptio n . Drugs, syn thesi zed fro m body
chemistry, will alleviate pain o r morning sickness
with no side effects, no possibility of addiction.
In ped i atrics, children m ight find a miniature
train to ride through various stati ons wi th atten­
dants d ispensing inoculations that don't h urt, or be
treated by a friendly robot taking vital signs.
Can you p icture yourself stopping by the men­
tal health boutique on your l unch break ? Chat
with a psychiatrist about the stress of dealing with
y o u r b o s s t h a t m o r n i n g . H o w a b o u t t ak i n g
advan tage o f group t h erapy ses s i o n s ? A r t h u r
Clarke suggests, in the book already cited, " Health
is a balance of m i n d and b o d y and can best be
achieved i n an envi ronment carefully attuned to
both. "
This miraculous mall, with a whole-person phi­
losop hy, becko n i n g you to d rop in, plug in, or
walk through to attain your heal th balance, may
well be govern ment paid, too. The p rogram will
allow hospi tals to maintain fewer beds, smaller
staffs, more high-intensive therapeutic treatment,
and less expensive concentration on research.
If the new med icine offers no cure for chronic
pain, it will at least be able to p rovide u nfailing
relief through electronics or chemicals. In the past
decade, the d i scovery of endorp h i ns, chemi cals
occurring naturally in the brain to control pain, has
57
Okay, Big Brother, Watch This
l e d to n ew g e n e r at i o n s of s afe, effective p ai n
medication to be honed and refined for our future.
Plants as yet u n d iscovered will p rovide twenty­
first century resources for research. The children of
today, yours and mine, may be able as adults to use
harmless chemical learning-stimulators or memory
regulators. They may benefit from d rugs to control
h o rmones or brain chemis try, re gulate d iab etes
long term, make menopause comfortable, eliminate
the effects of Alzheimer' s syndrome, and even con­
trol s leep and appetite for space travel applications.
Ultra-modern techn iques will permit d octors to
inject or " tube " smaller doses to precise body sites
rather than making random systemic irrigations. Is
the thought of a robot ass isting your doctor too
much for you to assimilate ?
If scanners are to d iagnose us and if computers
are to d e s i gn o u r treatment program, we must
undoubtedly face the probability that robots will
get i nto the p icture, too. Jerrold Maxmen, author
of The Post-Physician Era: Medicin e in the 21st
Cen tury, t h in ks, " Th e p hysician wi l l d is appear
sometime in the first half of the twenty-first centu­
ry for a variety of reasons . . . one of which is that
he will be too expensive to maintai n . " Hopefully,
doctors will not become an endangered species, but
i t isn ' t unlikely that life-like robots will populate
the med ical facilities of the coming era. Some will
be d rones, j us t p e rfo r m i n g repeated tasks l i ke
serving meal trays; others will be capable of limited
reasoning like, " if water spills, it must be mopped
up. " Some, reminding us of R2D2 and C3PO, will
be sophisticated enough to speak. Don ' t scoff prototypes exist.
As early as 1 985, Ole, the worl d ' s first robot
surgeon, ass i s ted a b r a i n s u r geo n at Memorial
Medical Center in Long Beach, California. Robots
wou l d be i nvaluable i n q uaran tine areas wh ere
human workers would be at risk or as lab assistants
in nuclear m e d i c i ne environments. They m i gh t
58
hand le untested chemicals. Robots could partici­
pate in micro-surgery without slippery or nervous
fingers to cause i rreparable harm to patients.
Medical futurists don 't see computers, robotics,
and future med icine as another way to promo te
inhuman heal ing p ractices. Compare today's cold,
gray-pai nted, half-heartedly decorated, impersonal
medical centers to Clarke 's p rojection of the future
hospital. He sees a warmly human environmen t
w i t h s u n l i g h t stream i n g t h r o u g h glass-wal l ed
spaces where fu r n i s h i n gs are c o mfortab l e a n d
p l ea s a n t rem i n d er s o f h o me. He b e l i eves t h a t
computer i zati on w i l l e l i m i n ate the p ressure o f
o v e r- w o r k a n d u n d e r- p ay f o r n u rs i n g a n d
peripheral staff, encouraging emphasis on humane,
comfortable treatment to reduce patient stress and
promote recovery.
Wi l l i a m B e au m o n t H o s p i tal, i n M i c h i ga n ,
already has a card-activated p atient control system.
An admittin g clerk generates a card that will follow
a patient from admission to d ischarge and even
follow-up . The card, i nserted into a terminal i n
each dep artment, identifies the patient and trans­
mits detail of treatment, med ication, comments o r
chart update from t h e keyboard d i rectly to the
mainframe computer, eliminating paperwork.
Tomo rrow ' s h ospitals will be the venues for
perfecti ng transplant procedures that give truth to
bionic themes common in today's science fiction.
The University of Utah recently replaced a severed
h u m an a r m w i th a p r o s th es i s , d u b b e d t h e
" Th i n k i n g A rm, " t h a t c o u l d be activate d a n d
moved b y the recipient's thought-generated nerve
impulses. Do you see the picture? Micro-receptors
moved the arm, hand, fi ngers when the patient
thou ght about movi ng. A mi racle? Sure. Wou l d
your grandparen t have believed that a machine-arm
could read thoughts ?
Do you believe that there are tiny cameras that
can be transplanted into a blind eye, allowing the
T
brain to receive video pictures that simulate sight ?
We can already implant electronic receptors into a
deaf person 's ear to mimic hearing. Plastic surgery
research is o n the verge of p r o d u c i n g rea l i s t i c
artificial skin t o graft over burns or scars. We can
tran s p l a n t hearts, l i ver, k i d n ey, veins, arteries,
bones, joints, genitals, eyes, limbs . . . . But think,
tomorrow ' s d octors, i n your lifetime, will make
tod ay 's transplants look like a warm-up exercise.
P r o g ress w i l l c h a n g e m e d i c i n e i n t h e n ew
m i l l e n n i u m , s o w i l l i t e s c a l at e t h e r i s k s w e
encounter i n our lives. Super-speed ground trans­
port, high-speed air travel, small nuclear accidents,
fusion power casual ties - all will create trau ma
req u i r i n g h i gh l y special i zed d o ctors s k i l l e d in
determining whether a patient has artificial body­
p arts, or needs them. It is projected that med ical
schools will create computer controlled d o l ls as
teaching aids. Life-size, these dolls will actually be
able to simulate a reaction to d ru gs or trauma; eyes
will d il ate, resp i ration will i ncrease o r d ecrease,
h e a r t rate w i l l fluctuate, a l l o w i n g s t u d e n t s to
experience patient response in the classroom.
D e c a d e s a g o , s c i - f i w ri t e r s p r e d i c te d
o u t l a n d i s h , s o m e t i m e s fri g h t e n i n g fu t u r i s t i c
changes for mankind . I t was fun t o tent the covers
over your head at night and read this stuff by flash­
light. Now, we approach the real ity of many of
those scary old concep ts. Soon, a newborn baby 's
pare nt s w i l l recei ve a b i rth certificate showi n g
n ame, genetic p rofile, parents , su rrogate, sex at
b i rth, p roj ected adult body type, and maybe a
su ggestion to avoid l u n g i r ri tants b ecause of a
detected genetic respiratory weakness. The certifi­
cate, accompanied by a heat-senso ry photo grap h
mapping hot and cold body areas, will be a lifetime
health reference. The forecast of health concerns,
d et e c t i n g p r o b l e m s l o n g b ef o r e t h e y b e c o m e
threatening, will increase life expectancy. The chal­
l e n g e may b e c o m e o n e of food p ro d u c t i o n , o r
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q uality of life versus quantity. Rene Dubos, French
futurist, said, " The earth is not a resting p lace. Man
has elected to fight, not necessarily for himself, but
for a process of emotional, intellectual, and ethical
growth that goes on forever. " It seems that, ready
or not, we are about to witness that p rocess.
Works Cited
Asi mov, Isaac. Fu ture Days. New Yo rk: Holt,
1 986.
C e t r o n , M a rv i n a n d O w e n D av i e s . A merica n
Renaissance. New York: St. M artin 's, 1 989.
C l a r k e , A r t h u r C. ju ly 2 0, 2 0 1 9 . New Yo r k :
MacMillan, 1 987.
Evaluation: Maryan argues reasonably and in detail
that the future holds as much to hope for as to fear.
She presents her projections in a style which is clear,
precise, fluent, and graceful. The confidence with
which she writes helps readers feel confidence in the
soundness of her predictions.
59
Play Is a Child 's Work
Play Is a
Child ' s
Work
by Sue Lee
Course: Introduction to Child
Development 1 0 1
Instructor: Meenakshi Mohan
Assignment: Play is important for children. The
new concept in Early Childhood teaching
emphasizes the importance ofplay in Early
Childhood Education. Students were asked to
write an essay on "Play is a Child's Work, "
emphasizing this concept.
60
M r. M u rp h y w a k es up a t t h e s o u n d of M rs .
Murphy's voice. H e reluctantly gets out o f bed and
washes up in the bathroom. After he gets dressed,
he heads d own for breakfas t. As he eats his eggs
and toast, he has a warm conversation with Mrs.
M urphy about h is p lans fo r the d ay. Then they
head out j ust in time to beat the m o r n i n g rush
hour. Mrs. Murphy always d rops M r. Murphy off
at 9 AM and this particular morning is n o excep­
t i o n . She gives h i m a fin al kiss and goes off to
work. As M r. Murphy settles down, he remembers
the project that he had not finished from the day
before. He gets to it right away and gets a few of
his co-wo rkers to help h im. He tackles various
other p rojects throughout the day and by the end
of t h e d ay h as p u t in a fu l l d a y ' s w o r k . M r s .
Murp hy comes t o p ick h i m up at about 5 : 1 5 PM
and Mr. Murphy goes home, carryin g the bundle of
p apers t h a t his superv i s o r h a n d ed h i m . In the
evening, Mr. Murphy eats a little d in ner, watches
some television, and finally goes to bed, in antici­
pation of another productive day at work.
You may p icture Mr. Joshua Murphy as a 32year-old man who lives in a suburban house with
h i s wife and works in an office. Howeve r, M r.
Murphy or Josh, as his friends call him, is a three­
year-old boy who lives with his mother and attends
preschool everyday. Contrary to popular belief, a
p rescho ole r ' s d ay i s filled with l o ts and l o ts of
work. In fact, play, which takes up most of his day,
is considered the child ' s work. I n p lay, a l o t of
atten tion, concentration, effort, and skills are nec­
essary. Moreover, new s k i l l s and id eas develop
through play. Play integrates activity, thinki ng, and
language in a natural setting. It is not only sponta­
neous and v o l u n ta ry, b u t very enjoyable. Play
enhances other aspects of development, including
c reativity, p ro b l e m so lvi n g, l angu age l ea r n i n g,
m o t o r activi ty, a n d s o c i al d evel o p m e n t . Play
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involves active i nv o lvement o n t he part of the
child, whether alone o r i n a group setting.
E d u c ators, s u c h a F ried r i c h F r o e b e l , J o h n
Dewey, a n d Jean Piaget, believed strongly in p lay.
They knew how essential it was to i nclude it in the
child ' s environment and curriculum. They believed
that i t i n creased learning, relieved stress, allowed
for inner and outer peace, and relieved frustration.
By o bserving a child i n a preschool o r home set­
ting, it is obvious that play is indeed a chil d ' s work.
It demands a lot of energy and effort. Therefore, i t
is crucial that a child 's environment, o r work p lace,
is planned for optimal play experience.
I truly believe in children ' s play. As a caregiver,
I try to prepare the environment so that the chil­
dren h ave m a n y o p p o r tu n i ties t o use p u zzles,
blocks, table toys, etc. After I prepare the environ­
ment and make myself available for guidance and
direction, I stand back and let the children do their
work.
Evaluation: I selected Sue Lee 's paper because
I found her beginning very absorbing. After she
discusses Mr. Murphy 's activities, the readers find
out that Mr. Murphy is actually a three-year-old
boy. Then Sue goes on to explain the philosophy
regarding the importance ofplay in Early
Childhood Education.
61
y
The Stranger: Epilogue
The
Stranger:
Epilogue
by Bill Mihalik
Course: Honors English 1 02
Instructor: Jack Dodds
Assignment: Dramatize your understanding of a
literary work by writing an imaginative recreation
of all or part of it. You become the artist and
" extend" a work by adding to it in some way that
reflects your feelings about your subject. (Bill
Mihalik has chosen to dramatize an episode that
takes place immediately after the end ofAlbert
Camus ' novel The Stranger. In his epilogue, Bill
reveals the hero M eursault 's final thoughts and
experiences as he is led out to his execution.)
62
The sky turned red and the stars faded away. The
red was the red of the rusty hinges on my cell door.
I thought I heard foo tsteps. But maybe that was
my heart pounding. I s topped breathing. Yes, those
were footsteps echoing down the cold s tone corri­
dor. I listened as hard as I could, as if my body was
one giant ear and the footsteps were the pounding
of a stone heart. I pressed my body to the wooden
d o o r. There were many heavy fo o t s teps . They
sounded like a company of guard s . Perhaps the
footsteps would s top before they came to my cell.
The footsteps became louder. Perhaps the footsteps
would go past my cel l. But the footsteps stopped i n
front of m y door. Maybe I had been pardoned.
" Meursault ? " It was Edmund, the Sergeant of
the Guard . I wanted to an swer, b u t I c o u l d n ' t
breathe. "Meursault, we're going to open the d oor.
Are you ready ? "
I croaked " Yes " i n a voice s o hoarse I d i d n ' t
recognize it as m y own. The wooden door creaked
open on rusty hinges that had n ' t been oiled since I
had been there. I saw Edmun d ' s face. Next to him
was the commandant of the p rison. Behind them I
saw more guards s tan ding at attention. They held
t h e i r r i f l e s m o t i o n l e s s . I t w a s as if t i m e h a d
stopped.
The commandant's head was entirely bald. The
morning sun glinted off the top of his head . His
eyes were light gray, like the light gray of fine dust.
He had small wrinkles around the corners of both
eyes. He neither smiled nor frowned. A thin b lack
m o u s tache curled above each end of h i s s m a l l
mouth. H e was taller than I , but not b y much. He
was heavier than E d mu n d . He could h ave been
forty or sixty. Six medals hung limply on his dress
uniform. In a toneless bass that echoed down the
corri d o r l i k e a c h u rc h b e l l he be gan , " Patrice
Meursault, your appeal has been denied. It is my
responsibility to carry out the sentence ordered by
the high court of the French people. You will be
T
taken to the courtyard and executed by guillotine
for the murder of Ali ben Hassan. That is all . "
The head guard spoke. " Meursault, you will be
esco rted t o t he c o u r t y a r d . Come w i t h us. " Of
course, what else could I d o ? I d id not wq.nt to
'
cause trouble for Edmund. He had been my pn}y
friend these p as t few months. Two guards came
into the cell. They crouched under the low arch of
the doorway and faced me. They looked at me with
a curious stare of p ity and hardn<:Jss as if I v,;ere
already a headless corpse. I walked out of f he �ell.
My legs fel t like rubber. The two guards followed
me. More guards were ahead of me. Our footsteps
echoed down the stone corridor. As we turned the
corner and entered another corridor, I saw an open
door at the end. The l ight was getting brighter and
brighter as we approached the door.
I was almost blinded by the morning ,sun as I
walked out into a prison yard. I felt d izzy, �haded
my eyes, and looked around. Onward we marched
until we passed outside the p rison gates and into a
courtyard. I was surrounde;d by many faces. The
priest held his book by his chest. A string of b eads
dangled in his left hand . The ma � istrate r).lbbed his
cross i n t he fingers of h i s r i g h t h an d . The o l d
rep orter with the l ittle mou�h wro te furiously i n
h i s no tebook. And then there was the mob. The
French stared quietly at me. Their eyes accused me.
The Arabs shouted curses at me. What had I done
to ;:J.ny of them ? I knew none of them. And none of
them knew me. I was the stranger. I turned around
and saw t he ins trumen t of my death. The sun
gleamed off the blade. I closed my eyes.
The co mmandant asked, " Meursault, do yo l..).
want the priest to say a prayer ? " The priest started
to move forward.
I shot a ho t angry look at the commandant.
" No. I see no use for it! " The priest flinched and
moved back next to the magistrate. The magistrate
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b l inked and his tongue licked his dry, s trai g h t,
thin lips.
" Meursault, do you have a last request? "
I thO\lght for a moment. I thought of Marie
s wi rn m i n g i n t h e o cean and h av in g l unc h at
Celeste's. I thol,Jght about the Sundays when I sat
and watched p eo p l e w a l k i ng up and d own the
street. " I 'd like to smoke. " Edmund came up to me
and offered me one of his cigarettes. They were
American, Lucky Strikes. I put the cigarette in my
mouth, He ,strucrk a match. The acrid p hosphorus
smelled like a woman's p erh:tme to me. The flame
flickered toward me as I inhaled. He waved the
match twice and threw it on the dirt. The little blue
and yel l ow flame flickered and d ied . A wisp of
smok� rose from the matchsti<;:k and curled up into
th e <;ool summer morning air. There was no wind. I
took a long puff. What could be better than n;lax­
!ng o n the balcony w i t h a c i garette and s ee i ng
Marie walking up the street to my apartment? The
m a t c h s t o pp e q � m o k i n g . The l ;:ts t w i s p s r o se
skyward . The ci garette ta$ ted stronger than my
regular brand.
The commandant's voice rang out, " Meursault,
are you ready ? "
Ready ? Who is ever ready ( Was he ready? Was
the magistrate ready ? Was the p ries t ready ? No,
none of them were ready. I may have no choice,
b u t I w as n o t re a d y. I to o k one l ast p uff and
�>avored the taste. I blew out the smoke through my
nose and mouth and watched the smoke rise up in
small wisps. I threw the cigarette on the gro und
and stamped it out.
" We will put a cloth around your head, " said
Edmund .
" I don't need it, and I don 't want it. I want to
watch every last moment. " The guard holding the
cloth stopped. The cloth hung limply in midair like
the tricolors on the prison towers.
63
The Stranger: Epilogue
Edmund hesitated . Then in a lowered voice he
continued, " It is more convenient for us. It will be
easier for the guards to collect your head after the
execution. "
I thought about that for a moment. I had to
agree that i t was a perfectly reasonable request. I
nodded. The guard pulled the cloth like a sack over
my head and darkness descended on my eyes.
The guard touched my arms gently and led me.
" Please bow down . "
I had n ' t bowed to anyone o r anything since I
had been a little boy� I d i d n ' t want to bow down
now. I knew I would never again stand up straight.
I would never again see the sea or s ky. I would
never again know a woman. A hand gently pushed
my head d own on the wood. My neck brushed the
s mo o t h wo o d . I l i stened for the b l a d e to rush
d ow n the arms o f the gu i l l o t i n e . M y m u s c l e s
relaxed . I fel t at o n e with the uncaring universe. I
was alone no more.
Evaluation: Bill has written with insight,
imagination, and skill to dramatize the last
moments of a man whose open indifference to all of
reality enables him to experience life clearly and
fully. His recreation dramatizes how well he has
understood the character Meursault and
Albert Camus ' novel.
64
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INTRODUCTION
Principles of
Justice in
Health Care
Allocation
by john
W.
Morris
Course: Philosophy 1 80:
Biomedical Ethics
Instructor: Herbert I. Hartman
Assignment: Write an expository essay based on
readings and research materials supplementary to
the class assignments. Include an evaluation of the
arguments used by the authors of the materials, and
then include your own views.
H i s to r i c a l l y, t h e d i scussions w h i c h h ave taken
p lace wit h in the d i scipline of b i o medical ethics
have been concerned with what might be described
as micro issues. The p rimary emphasis h as been
p laced on the appl ication, and in many cases the
interaction, of moral p rinciples to medical events in
t h e c l i n i c a l s e t t i n g . As a r e s u l t, m u c h of t h e
literature has been devoted t o top ics such a s respect
f or au t o n o m y, b e n ef i c e n c e , p a te r n a l i s m, a n d
euthanasia, which involve the relationship between
the patient and the health care professional.
Recently, i n creased atten tion in bi o me d i cal
ethics is being given to macro issues, which include
the allocation of health care resources in a time of
rap i d ly e s c a l at i n g med i ca l c o s ts . The m ed i cal
sociologist David J. Rothman, in a recent article i n
The New York R eview of Books\ recognizes three
issues in the d iscussions of health care allocation or
rationing, as follows:
1 . The allocation of scarce resources, such
as beds in an intensive care unit.
2. T h e l a r ge r q u e s ti o n o f h o w m u c h
national spend ing should b e allocated
to heal th care, as opposed to d efense
and education.
3. The problem of allocatin g health care
m o re e q u i ta b l y, a c co r d i n g to n e e d
rather than the ability to pay.
In this p aper, I shall concentrate on the third
issue, that is, the application of the p rinciples of
d istributive j ustice as a means of distributing med­
ical care and treatment to society 's members. To
accomplish this, I shall give detailed explanations
of the views expressed by Larry Churchill in his
book Rationing Health Care in America and by
Nancy S. Jecker and Robert A. Pearlman in their
arti c l e A n E t h i cal Framework fo r Rati o n i n g
Health Care, 11 which appears in The journal of
11
65
Principles of Justice in Health Care Allocation
Medicin e and Philosophy. These d iscussions will
be desi gnated as Part I and Part II of this paper,
and my own conclusions will be briefly stated i n
Part III.
PART I
Larry Churchill begins b y making an assess­
m e n t of the c u r r e n t h e a l t h care system i n the
United S tates and the resulting rationing practices.
Health care costs have risen to an estimated 1 2 % of
the country 's Gross National Product; contribut­
ing factors h ave been the high cost of medical tech­
nology, the need to care for an aging population,
and the p revalence of chro ni c d i seases req u i rin g
l o n g t e r m m e d i ca l t r e a t m e n t . Th e re i s also a
prevailing attitude that everything possible must be
done to prolong life. The author expresses this feel­
ing as follows: " We are a society which is uneasy
about death. " 2
These cost-increasing factors have resulted in
limited access to health care by large segments of
society. The poor and the uninsured are forced to
settle for l ittle or no medical care. Since access to
adequate health care is dependent upon the ability
to pay for i t, allocation by p rice has beco me an
implicit form of rationing.
An important aspect of Churchill 's book is his
appeal for a social ethics as opposed to an individ­
ual ethics in developing a just health care system.
He exp resses the idea of ethical ind ividualism as
follows:
I n d ep e n d e nce, p r i v acy, i n ge nu i ty, self­
reliance, sovereignty over needs and wants,
and lack of social obligations to other all fit
n e a t l y t o g e t h e r h e re i n to a p o r tr ai t of
American individualism in the extreme/
This view migh t be compared with the current dis­
cussions going on in political philosophy between
communitarians and the defenders of liberalism. In
66
his search fo r an adeq uate theo ry of j ustice fo r
health care allocation, Churchill performs a unique
synthesis of several p hilosophical views with the
bi blical story of the Good Samaritan. The author
points out that what is usually missed in the story
of the rescue by the Samaritan is that he acted from
compassion, which means literally " to feel with, "
thereby denoting a sense of community.
In his i nvestigation of the question whether the
current method of rationing is equitable, Churchill
examines two current theories of justice, beginning
with the views of John Rawls. The contractarian
theo ry of j ustice as developed in his i nfluen tial
book A Theory ofjustice is based on the concept
of fairness. Rawls asks us to imagine a group of
rational contractors in what he calls the " original
p osition, " choosing the princip les of j ustice that
w o u l d gov e r n t h e i r d e a l i n gs i n s o c i e ty. T h e
choosers are also construed t o be behind a " veil of
ignorance, " unaware of their interests; they do not
know their position in society, their natural assets
and abilities, the generation to which they belong,
etc. Raw ls c laims that rat i o n a l persons i n t h i s
position would choose two p ri nciples o f justice,
as follows:
FIRST PRINCIPLE:
Each person is to have an equ al right to
the most extensive system of equal basic
liberties compatible with a si milar system
of liberty for all.
SECOND PRINCIPLE:
Social and economic inequalities are to be
arranged so that they are both:
(a) to the g r e a t es t b e n ef i t of the l e a s t
advantaged, consistent with the just savings
principle, and
(b) attached to office and positions open to
a l l u n d e r c o n d i t i o n s of fair equal i ty of
opportunity.4
T
These are known as the Liberty Principle and the
Difference Principle, respectively.
One attraction of the Rawlsian theory is that i t
appears to i n c o r p o rate t h e K a n t i a n v i ew t h a t
principles o f morality are universal, that a l l people
have certain rights and deserve certain opportuni­
ties. Churchill finds faul t with the hyp o t hetical
nature of the contact agreement and with the view
presented that m embers of society are essentially
" disinterested, calculating i ndividuals. " He feels
that Rawls 's approach is too individualistic.
There are two possible applications of Rawls 's
theory to the allocation of h ealth care resources,
which Churchill d oes not investigate; one is con­
cerned with the idea of primary social goods, and
the other concept is fair equality of opportunity.
Accordi n g to R aw l s , p ri mary goods are thi n gs
which any rational man would want. He describes
them as follows: " The primary soci al goods, to give
them in broad categories, are rights and liberties,
opportunities and p owers, income and wealth. " 5 If
i t is assumed t h a t t h e all ocation of health care
resources is similar in nature to the allocation of
other primary social goods, then unequal distribu­
tion of these resources would be justified as long as
the d ifferences redound to the benefit of the least­
well-off class. (Part (a) of the Second Principle.)
The second means of applying the Rawlsian theory
of j ustice is simply to include heal th care institu­
t i o n s a m o n g t h o s e b as i c i n s ti t u t i o n s w h i ch
are i nv o l ved i n p r ov i d i n g for fair e q u al i ty of
opportunity. (Part (b) of the Second Principle.)
Leaving Rawls, Churchill turns to a theory of
libertarian j ustice as developed by Robert Nozick
in his book Anarchy, State, and Utopia. Nozick's
social philosophy may be described as an entitle­
ment theory of j ustice. He promotes the minimal
s ta te, w here government action i s n eeded o n l y
t o p ro tect t h e ri ghts o f citizens, a s t h e o n l y j ust
society. As respects dis tributive j usti ce, Nozick
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claims: "The entitlement theory of justice in distri-­
bution is historical; whether a distribution is just
d ep e n d s u p o n h ow it came a b o u t. " 6 C hurc h i l l
rejects both Rawls and Nozick on the grounds that
they assume the existence of individuals first and
then the formation of society. C hurch ill is more
i nclined to accept Aristotle's view (expressed in his
Politics) that man is by nature a social bein g.
I n w h a t I c o n s i d e r to b e a ra t h e r u n i q u e
approach to the problem o f individualism vs. com­
munity, the author d iscusses in detai l the moral
philosophy of Adam Smith. Prior to the publica­
tion of The Wealth of Nations, Ad am Smith wrote
The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Churchill is con­
cerned w i t h t h e c h ap ter " Of S y m p a t h y, " a n d
makes the following o bservation:
As Smith sees it, sympathy works in the
f o l l o w i n g way: as a s e n t i m e n t arises i n
a n o th er p e rs o n , a n analogous sentiment
springs up in us at the thought of his situa­
tion. We i maginatively put ourselves in the
o ther person ' s place/
The author sees in both Smith and in the story of
the Good Samaritan " a primal recognition of self in
our perception of others . "
Churchill next makes a n extensive investigation
of the principles of justice, and he is primarily con­
cerned with the concepts of rights and needs. He
d iscusses the social aspect of rights and the specific
treatment of rights as applied to health care. After
considering several interpretations of what a right
to health care would entail, Church ill arrives at the
following statement:
" A r i g h t t o h e a l t h care b a s ed o n n ee d
means a right t o equitable access based o n
need alone t o all effective care society can
reasonably afford . " 8 He concludes this sec­
tio n of his book by making the observation
that " a health care system is no better than
the least well-served of its members. " '
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Principles of Justice in Health Care Allocation
Hav i n g es tabl i s h ed h i s thesis t h a t jus tice i n
health care requires the substitution o f a sense of
community for self- i n teres ted i ndividualism, the
author treats the concept of rationing i tself fro m
the standpoints of the physician ' s role and of pub­
l i c p o l icies. In d oi n g so he makes a d i s tinction
between allocation and rationing. For Church ill,
allocation decisions are macrolevel policy determi­
n ati o ns, w hereas rati o n i n g i nvo lves m i c ro l evel
d ec i s i o n s a b o u t d i s t r i b u t i o n to i n d i v i d u a l s . A
somewhat s i m i l a r d i s ti n c t i o n is mad e by Rut h
Mackli n i n her article, " Are We i n the L ifeboat
Ye t ? A l l o c a t i o n and R a t i o n i n g of M e d i c al
Resources , " w h i c h appeared in Social R esearch,
Autumn, 1 98 5 . She says: " The sorts of allocation
decisi o n that must be made in a hospi tal, or in a
unit of a hospi tal, are known as microallocations
( i n c o n tras t to b r o ad , s o cietal d is tr i b u ti o ns of
resources, called macroallocations ). " 10
Although Churchill agrees that the p hysician 's
primary obligation is to his or her patient, he rec­
ognizes a secondary obligation to use the resources
available w isely. He does not go as far as Daniel
Callahan does in his book Setting Limits, where the
question of how much health care the aged should
have is addressed . Churchill docs, however, make
the following observation:
We can n o t p u rsue l o n gev i ty w i t h s u c h
passion as w e now manifest and a t the same
t i m e r e m a i n fa i t h fu l t o t h e sp i r i t a n d
meaning o f o u r l ives in commun ity. 11
He c o m pares B r i t i s h rati o n i n g w i t h American
rati o n i n g and c oncl udes that under the B r i t i s h
h ea l t h c a r e s y s t e m r a t i o n i n g i s p l a n n e d a n d
controlled, whereas in the United States, rationing
is " by default. "
In d iscussing policies of rationing and d istribu­
tion, Churchill p laces emphasis on the need for an
accessible system of primary care. He quotes the
Institute of Med icine's definition of primary care
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in 1 978, as one which fits the requirements of jus­
tice: " accessible, comp rehensive, coordinated, and
continual care p rovided by accountable providers
of health service. " 12 Our health care system rations
at this point of ini tial access, and less frequently
rati o n i n g is done in expensive, h i gh techn ology
m e d i c i n e . (The r a t i o n i n g of h i g h te c h n o l o g y
medicine will b e discussed further in Part II o f th is
paper). Churchill deplores the notion of rationing
on the basis of social worth, where the number of
persons in need exceeds the available resources. In
h i s refe r e n c e t o t h e c u r r e n t i n t e r e s t i n c o s t
c o n tai n me n t , C h u rch i l l feels t h a t s o m e o f t h e
methods (such a s t h e Diagnosis Related Group)
" seem likely to achieve cos t con trol at the expense
of the most vulnerable. "
I believe that the author ' s views on justice and
rationing in health care are summarized best i n the
following statement:
Justice depends on a rationing system that
is as explicit as possible, where the rules are
fairly arrived at a n d ad m i n i s tered, a n d
where rat i o n i n g p ractices a r e n o t out of
accord with sound med ical judgments or
wel l-i nformed social choices.13
PART II
A so mewhat d ifferent approach to the subject
of rat i o n i n g is taken by N a n c y S. Jccker a n d
Robert A. Pearl nu n in t h e i r article " A n Ethical
Framewo rk fo r Rat i o n i n g Heal th C are, " which
appears in the February, 1 992 issue of The journal
of Medicine and Philosophy. The authors state that
the purpose of their paper is to present al ternatives
to the rationing of certain forms of med ical care by
a g e . T h e age c r i te r i o n i s b e c o m i n g a p o p u l a r
approach to rati o n i n g, a n ex ample o f w h i c h i s
Daniel Callahan's Setting Limits. It is also pointed
out that the ration in g practices proposed by them
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apply to p u bl i c ly fi n anced health care and that
many of their arguments will not apply to privately
funded health care. However, the authors make the
claim that public financing is more extensive than
one would think: medicare and Medicaid pro grams,
public subsidy for the trai ni ng of doctors, public
support for major medical research, and tax bene­
fits for employers who provide health insurance.
J ec ker a n d Pear l m an give t h e i r v e rs i o n of
rationing as follows:
Rationing takes place whenever health care
res ources are i nsuff i ci e nt to make them
available to all who would benefit.1•
Following in an outline form is a summary of the
rationing criteria used by the authors on page 8 1 of
the article:
Resource centered criteria
(ignores differences
between persons)
Patient ce ntered cri teria
(identifies morally
relevant q ualities
of individuals)
1 . rationing high
technology services
2. rationing non-basic
services
3.
rationing services
to patients who
receive the least
medi<;al benefit.
4. rationing services
that are not equally
available to all
patients.
In order to p resent the authors ' arguments in a
form which will be easier to follow, I shall use the
divisions of subject matter followed in the article.
Rationing High Technology Services
Critics of high technology medici ne claim that it is
responsible for the current p roblems i n the equi­
t a b l e d i s t r i b u t i o n of h ea l t h care. The au t h o rs
express this form of criticism as follows: there is
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growing consensus among intellectual lead­
ers in the health care field that much tech­
n ically curative med icine costs a great deal
in comparison to alternative uses of money
for other health purposes.tS
Those who would retain publicly-supported high
tec h n o l o gy m ed i c i ne m ake t h e c l a i m t h a t t h e
development o f new technologies i s i mportant i n
the improvement of the general level of health care.
Rationing Non-basic Services
The second method of resource centered rationing
calls for rationing non-basic services " that exceed a
b as i c floor. " Jecker and Pearlman m ai ntain that
basic health care refers to health services that pre­
vent, cure, or comp ensate fo r deficiencies in the
normal opportunities persons enj oy at each s tage
of life. 11 16 This clai m is similar to the position taken
by Nor m an Daniels i n h i s a r t i c l e Justice and
Heal t h Care. 11 Under the general d i scussion of
health care needs, he develops the concept of the
normal opportunity range for a given society, which
he defines as 11 the array of l ife plans reasonable
p erson s in it are l i k ely to c o n s truct for them­
selves. Daniels d raws the following conclusion:
I n general, it will be more i mportant to p re­
vent, cure, o r compensate for those disease
conditions t hat i nvolve a greater curta i l­
ment of normal opportunity range. 17
In contrast, Jecker and Pearlman consider non­
basic care as that which either improves cond itions
not related to normal opportunities (such as non­
restorative plastic surgery), or which is i neffective
in correcting deficiencies in normal opportunities
(for example, maintaining a patient in a persistent
vegetative state on a respirator.)
According to the authors, proposals to ration
non-basic health care may be justified as follows:
1 . B y e s t a b l i s h i n g t h at g o v e r n m e n t I S
responsible t o p rovide basic health care.
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Principles of Justice in Health Care Allocation
2. By arguing that it i s necessary for society to
rat ion n o n- b a s i c h ea l th care to prevent
escalating costs for basic care.
3. There is a c l a i m that i n d iv i d u a l s have a
right to basic heal th care.
4. If the responsibility for basic health care is
not assumed by the public, the alternative
treatment of health care as part of the free
economy is unacceptable.
5 . I f the government assumes the cost o f non­
b as i c as w e l l as b a s i c h e a l t h c a r e , i ts
obligations in other social areas would be
curtailed.
The authors turn next to patient-centered criteria,
w h i c h c o m e i n to p l ay after p o l i c i e s regar d i n g
resource-centered rationing have been enacte d .
Rationing Services to Patients
Who Receive the Least Medical Ben efits
Patient-centered criteria are identified as follows:
" Under this heading fall rationing pplicies
that seek to provide scarce services to indi�
viduals likely to receive the greatest med ical
benefit while denying them to patien ts like­
ly to gain the least." 18
The a uthors d eny t h a t u s i n g a m e d i ca \ benefi t
app roach is analogous with utilitarian approaches
since it is not the case that the benefit is to society
at large.
One strong argument in favor of rationing by
medical benefit is that it avoids making d istinctions
between persons in terms of social worth. I would
like to refer to an example of using the social worth
criteria which occurred in Seattle, Washington, in
the early 1 960's. At that time, a commi ttee of lay
people was formed to decide which patient could
use a kidney d ialysis machine, which was a scarce
resource. The committee favored married men with
ch i l d re n o ve r u n m arried men and women, th e
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employed over the unemployed, and similar crite­
ria, instead of med ical benefit.
The authors consider an objection to rationing
by means of med ical benefit; this objection claims
that persons who choose unhealthy lifes tyles are
less deserving of the medical benefits which health
services provide. They point out that our emphasis
on personal liberty would not sanction efforts to
compel persons to lead he;tlthy lives.
Rationing Services That Are Not Equally Available
lJ11der this patient-cen tered criteria, the p rinciple
of equal ity is focused on similq.rities bet\yeen per­
s ons, Jecker and Pearlman explain how this method
appl ies to health care services:
" The gviding idea of th is approach is that
all indi viduals possess an cq4al worth and
qign ity , . , . In the area of health car<11 such
a perspective lends support to the view t h a t
p e r s o n s arc e q u a l l y e n t i t l e d to r e c e i v e
health services. " 19
One interpretation of this approach is that equal
entitlement implies a principle of cq ufl.l a,ccess fo r
persons who have similar med ical needs.
Srtmmary and Proposal
In the closi n g section of the article, the authors
present their four point proposal, which may be
summarized as follows:
1 . Reso urce-cen tered ratio ning which l i mits
t h e d e v e l o p me n t of h i g h tec h n o l o gy
med i c i n e i s rejecte d . I t is fe l t that t h i s
method o f rationing slows down the pace
of medical progress.
2 . They e n d o rse reso qrce-cen tered pol i c i es
w h i c h p l a c e l i m i ts on n o n - b as i c health
services which are publi cly-fi nanced.
3. Th e y b e l i ev e t h a t " a m e d i c al b e n e f i t
standard should be used to distribute hqlth
care resources between persons . "
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4. E q ua l i ty s h o u l d b e t h e g o al i n t h e
provisions of basic health care.
The authors take the view that the abi l i ty to pay
should not be used as a criterion for refusing to
provide basic health care for a patient. It is their
belief that basic health care should be guaranteed.
Jecker and Pearlman feel that their approach
( b a s i c c a r e a n d p a t i e n t- c e n t er e d s t an d ar d s )
i mproves on the failings o f age rationing in these
ways:
1 . Since medical benefit, rather than age, i s
e m p h as i z e d , t h e i r p r o p o s a l r eco g n i zes
d ifferences between patients at each stage
of life.
2. The i r p roposal " und erscores the i d ea of
equality. "
3 . Th e i r p r o p osal " supports fun d i n g basic
health services for all age groups."
The authors take the view that the ability to p ay
should not be used as a criterion for refusing to
provide basic health care for a patient. I t is their
belief that basic health care should be guaranteed.
PART III
Al though the authors of the book and article
which I have d iscussed do not explicitly mention
the existence of a two-'tiered system of health care
in the U n i ted S ta tes, I b e l i eve that o u r m arket
approach to delivering health care services has p ro­
duced such a system. It p rov i d es a minimum of
heal th care for the very poor, financed by public
programs, while o n the o ther hand allowing those
persons with sufficient resources to purchase as
much health care as they can afford through insur­
ance schemes.
The need to reform our health care system has
been recognized by members of the medical estab­
lishment. The e n tire issue of The Journal of the
American Medical Association, d ated May 1 5, 1 991,
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had as its theme " C aring fo r the Uninsured and
U n d er i n s u r e d . " In a n e d i t o r i a l , G e o r g e D .
L a n d b e r g, M . D . , c l a i m s t h a t : " I t i s n o l o nger
acceptable mo rally, ethically, or economically for
so many of our people to be med ically uninsured
o r s e r i o u s l y u n d e r i n s u red . We c a n s o l v e t h i s
p roblem. " 20
From t h e arguments p resented in the readings I
have done, I conclude that a rational alternative to
our market-oriented system of health care would
be a publicly-financed system in which there is
equal access for all persons. It might be argued that
such a system would result in d el ays in gett i n g
treatment (using Canada as an example, no doubt.)
However, this does not appear to b e as m o rally
wrong as dep riving p ersons of needed health care
by de facto rationing.
Notes
1 " Rationing L ife, " p. 32.
2 Rationing Health Care in America, p. 9
.! Ibid. , p .23
• A Theory ofjustice, p . 302.
5 Ibid. , p . 92
6
Anarchy, State, and Utopia, p. 1 53 .
7
Rationing Health Care in America, p. 63.
8
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10
Ibid. , p. 94.
Ibid. , p . 1 03 .
"Are We in the Lifeboat Yet ? " , p. 608.
Rationing Health Care in America, p. 1 1 2.
2
1 Ibid., p. 1 1 9.
1.1 Ibid. , p. 125.
11
" An Ethical Framework fo r Rationing Health
Care, " p. 80.
15 Ibid. , p. 82.
16
Ibid. , p. 84.
17
"Justice and Health Care, " p. 306.
14
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Principles of Justice in Health Care Allocation
18
" An E th ical Framework for Rati o n i n g Health
Care " , p. 87.
1 9 Ibid. , p. 90.
20
The journal of the American Medical Assoc£ation,
Vol. 265, No. 1 9, p. 2567.
Works Cited
Callahan, Daniel. Setting Limits. New York: Simon
and Schuster, 1 987.
C h u rc h i l l , Larry R. Ration ing Health Care in
America: Perceptions and Principles of justice.
Notre Dame, I n d i ana: University o f Notre
Dame Press, 1 987.
D a n i e l s , N o r m a n . " Ju s ti ce and H e a l t h Care, "
Health Care Ethics - An Introduction, Edited
by D o n a l d Vo n D e Ve e r a n d To m R e g a n .
Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1 987.
Jecker, Nancy S. and Robert A. Pearlman. " An
E t h i ca l F r a m e w o r k for R a t i o n i n g H e a l t h
C a r e , " Th e ]o urnal of Me dici n e a n d
Philosophy, Vol . 1 7, No. 1 , February, 1 992.
L u n d b e rg, G e o r g e D. " Na t i o n al H ea l t h Care
Reform - An Aura of Inevitabil i ty Is Upo n
Us, " The journal of the A merican Medical
Association, Vol. 265, No. 1 9.
M a ck l i n , R u t h . " A re We i n t h e L ife b o a t Ye t ?
Allocation a n d Rati o n i n g o f Med ical
Resources, " Social Research, Vol. 52, No. 3 .
Nozick, Robert. Anarchy, State, and Utopia. New
York: Basic B oo ks, Inc., 1 974.
Rawls, J o h n . A Theory of justice. C a m br i d ge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1 9 7 1 .
Rothman, David J . " Ratio n i n g L ife, " The New
York Review of Books, March 5, 1 992.
72
Evaluation: This paper reflects a superior effort that
makes a real contribution to this timely subject.
The exposition is clear and extensive. The eval­
uations are deeply insightful, and the writer's
v iews well argued (-(,nd supported.
T
Harper College:
Land with a
Shadowy Past
by janet Nichols
Course: Journalism 235
Instructor: Susanne Havlic
Assignment: The student must write a timely article
of interest to the Harper community to be
submitted to the journalism Program magazine,
Write Now, published by students in the journalism
235, Copy R eading and News Editing class.
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Horses roamed here long befo re students social­
ized and scrambled to classes on this campus. An
o l d b a r n s e rv e d as t h e g y m n as i u m b efore M
Building was even a blueprint. Nothing marred the
expanse of lush grass, and grades had to do with
the performance of horses, not people.
But in the midst of the mod ern brick and glass
structures and rushing footsteps of the more than
2 1 ,000 students and staff that walk on its paths, it's
hard to imagine a d ifferent time and setting on the
Harper College campus. The 1 00 acres of land on
which the buildings rest an d footsteps fall can tell
many tales-tales reminiscent of the B i bl ical story
of Cain and Abel.
The l a n d , known as Tri - C o l o r Stables, was
owned by one of two brothers at war, a family feud
that got more and more bitter and finally ended i n
m urd er. T h e b rother s ' l ives were tormented b y
greed and jealousy. Their feud escalated; one i nsult
or sinister action heaped upon another until the
p i l e of anger and hatred col lapsed on itself. On
Oct. 28, 1 970, George Jayne, 47, one of the coun­
try's most p rominent and widely known horse­
men, was shot in his Inverness, Il1inois, home while
playing bridge with h is family during his youngest
child 's birthday celebration. The man convicted of
consp i ri n g to the murder was h i s b rother, Si las
Jayne, 63, a rival in the horse business.
But even more tragedy was i nvo lved in this
decade-lon g, widely publicized q uarrel befo re it
finally ended with Silas's imprisonment and a few
years later, his death. Cheri Rude, 22, an instructor
and trainer at Tri-Color was killed by mistake i n
on e of many attempts on George's life. On June 1 4,
1 9 6 5 , d y n am i te was w i red t o t h e i g n i t i o n of
George 's car. When Cheri an d George arrived a t
Tri-Color around 1 :30 p . m. , they spent about an
hour in the stables; then George handed Cheri the
keys to his late model Cadillac and asked her to
d rive to his office while he fin ished some work.
73
Harper College: Land with a Shadowy Past
When Cheri turned the ignition key, the dynamite
exploded.
I n the Begin n i n g . . . .
by Janet Nichols
For the first few years of Harper College's existence, the
horse stable was used as a business office, said Jessalyn
Nicklas, founding trustee of the college. She and other
b o a rd members cleaned out horse stalls t o be used as
offices. One stall was used for cataloging books for the
new college library. Nicklas remembers having the back
arena blacktopped and used for physical education classes.
Later, showers were installed in the old arena for the P.E.
students.
" Quite a few years later the barn burnt down to the
ground. I remember watching it burn," said Nicklas. She
added that the building was planned for demolition in the
near future anyway. Nicklas found it funny to run their
offices from a horse stable. Originally offices were rented
in Palatine and used for planning and for meetings, meet­
ings, for example, to appoint the college president, Dr.
Robert E. Lahti, and to vote on the board of directors.
The idea for a community college was d eveloped in
Nicklas' living room. The name William Rainey Harper
was chosen for the college because he believed that the
first two years of a college education were the most devel­
opmentally important. Known as the father of the two­
y ea r c o l l e g e, H a r p e r w a s t h e f i r s t p re s id e nt of the
University of Chicago, chosen by John D. Rockefeller. He
was a scholar, teacher, writer and administrator who, it is
said, devoted his life to the pursuit of excellence in educa­
tion.
" We thought William Rainey Harper would be an
appropriate name for the college, " said Nicklas.
After C h er i ' s d e a t h , a n d fo r several years
before h is death, George, fearful of his own l ife,
wrote to his family six letters that were only to be
opened after he d ied . The contents of the letters
indicated that he was reasonably certain he would
meet with a "premature and violent death. "
The two brothers ' battles began even before the
explosio n that killed Cheri. Two years earlier, Silas
had fired a shot at George during a q uarrel. That
74
investigation brought other allegations to light. A
Florida dockworker, Edward Moran, said he and
another man were paid $300 in 1 962 to arrange to
kill George. In ano ther incident, after George for­
got to turn off the lights when he left work, 2 8
shots were fired into h i s office, b u t h e had already
gone home. Reports also ind icated that Silas was
indicted on a charge of offering $ 1 5,000 to Stephen
Grod of Del Mar, Californ ia, for h i s bro ther ' s
death, but Grod suffered a loss o f memory and the
charge was d ropped at the request of the prosecu­
tion.
In 1 967, George Jayne sold his 1 00-acre Tri ­
Color Stables t o Harper College. H e reopened the
stable in Hinsdale, Illinois. Meanwhile, Silas Jayne
operated his own horse farm in Elgin, Illinois. The
feud c o n t i n ued for about ano ther year when a
truce was called. Silas reported ly would agree to
the truce only if George agreed in return never to
enter another j umper or hunter horse in a show,
said Edward L . S. Arkema, a family friend and
attorney for the Jayne family. At that time reports
indicated George continued to buy, sell, train and
show horses throughout Canada and the United
S tates. He was o n e of the l ead i n g h o rse s h ow
jud ges and a life- l o n g member of the American
Horse Show Association.
Neither of his brothers, Silas or George, " ever
did the other any physical harm, " reported Frank
Jayne, 59, in an in terview nine days after the mur­
der. He explained that his family grew up in rural
Barrington in a family of 1 3 children. Th eir father
d ied when George was only three years old, so he
and Silas were like George's fathers. They raised
him and gave him a start in the horse business.
Fran k added that the feud began with minor
things. Silas and George had become two of the
m o s t p ro m i n e n t an d weal th y h o rsemen in the
country and continually tried to irri tate each other
about the horse shows in which they participated .
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The feud c o n ti nu e d even after George ' s d eath.
Reports were that S ilas said he and his brother did
not attend George ' s funeral because the ir n ames
were not i ncluded on a surviving family list printed
in a newspaper obituary.
Three years after the murder, Silas was finally
convicted of conspiring to kill his b ro ther, and was
s e n t e n c e d t o s e r v e s i x to 2 0 y e a rs i n Vi e n n a
Correctional Center. Durin g his 1 973 trial, h e was
defended by flamboyant attorney F. Lee Bailey.
The h itman, Julius Barres, is currently serving a
25 to 35 year prison term for the slaying.
Trouble followed S ilas; suspicion and turmoil
filled his life. Whi le Silas was serving hi s eight-year
p rison term, he allegedly engineered the torching
of a rival h o rs e m a n ' s s t a b l e in O c o n o m owoc,
Wisconsin . Acquitted of the arson charge, he angri­
ly called i t fabricated, spawned by lies from con­
victs given i mmunity to testify against him. In an
interview from his livin g room, he talked about
Nick Guido, a convicted leader of a torture-rob­
bery ring whom he thought was given immunity
for testimony against Silas. Silas claimed the con­
vict accused him of hiring an arsonist to set fire to
Adcock' s Nimrod stable, but the convict did not
testify at Silas ' s arson trial. Silas blamed James R.
Th o m p s o n , the g o v e r n o r a t the t i me, for h i s
extended i mprisonment and federal trial. He hired
George Howard as his attorney and said what a
good job he had d one, and that he was five times
better than F. Lee Bai ley, the lawyer who defended
Silas in the murd er trial.
Silas had to pay a $1 million judgment against
him in favor of George's wife, Marion Jayne. She
a l s o fi l e d a s ev e n m i l l i o n d o l l ar l aws u i t after
Silas' s conviction.
S i l as was released from Vie n n a o n May 24,
1 979, and d ied Jul y 13, 1 987.
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Ironically the followin g dedication appeared i n
the first Harper College yearbook:
" Peace . . . poems are composed praising i t,
s ongs are sung advocating i t, marches are staged
p leading for i t, and prayers are offered in hopes of
finding it. Peace is that in tan gible i deal that we try
to make visible through understand ing. Without i t,
we cannot hope to h ave a future. "
" We of the 1 96 8 HALCYON s taff wish to
dedicate our first. publication just as we should all
dedicate our l ives to the quest for peace through
u n d e r s t a n d i n g . . . u n d e r s t an d i n g of o th e r s
stemmed through the understanding o f ourselves.
Only by first d iscovering who we are can we then
understand who others are. "
" If dedication to understand ing is affirmed, the
serenity of peace can be manifested. "
So, the next time you are walking o n this cam­
p u s, t a ke a m o m e n t t o th i n k a b o u t t h e p a s t .
Remember--often the land we take for granted has
stories to tell. Stories of life and death.
Evaluation: jan et Nichols did extensive researh for
this story about the land on which Harper was
built. She skillfully interweaves the details into a
compelling historical piece bringing out the irony of
the land's not so peaceful pastoral past.
75
My M ost Memorable Educational Experience
Most
Memorable
Educational
My
Exp erienc e
by Darlene C. Oyer
Course: English 098
Instructor: Kurt Neuman n
Assignment: The assignment asked the student to
write a narrative essay in which she recounted her
most memorable educational experience.
76
I fi nd it very d ifficult and painful to wri te about
" My Most Memorable Educational Experience, "
because i t has been more than forty years since I
was a d isplaced student and child. As a d isplaced
student and child, it was terrifying to transfer from
one grammar school to another, and from one resi­
dence to another, and from one group of teachers
and students to another.
I started transferring to different schools at the
age of six. By the time I graduated from the eighth
grade, I was attending my fou rteenth school in the
C h i cago s c h o o l sys tem, w i t h the excep t i o n of
spen d i n g th e fifth grade in B i l l i n gs, Montana. I
stayed in Billings for almost a year with a wonder­
ful aunt and uncle who wanted to adopt me. But
when we talked to my mom on the phone and she
tol d me she was p regnant with another baby and
needed me, I knew what my decision should be.
My ch i l d h ood was i n terrupted at the age of
nine, the age at which I was forced into the role of
an ad ult. I learned to take care of my siblings, clean
ho use, and cook, when there was any food to be
cooked . Then, as I en tered the upper grades of the
elementary school and had homework assignments
and projects, it became very difficu lt to juggle the
responsibilities at home as well with the responsi­
bilities at school.
Of course, there were times we had no home
and lived on a street car travelli ng from the begin­
ning of the line to the end of the line. We did this at
night to sleep in safety and to keep warm by the
heater that was at the front. The cond uctor was
u n d erstan d i n g an d very k i n d , an d he b r o u g h t
blankets and food for u s . M o m would work d uring
the day and we would play in Garfield Park across
the way. At lunch time she would come and check
on us and bri ng u s someth ing to eat. Finally, we
found a place that would take c h i l d ren . It too k
awh ile because d uring World War II the land lords
did not want to rent to tenants with children.
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Then I would attend a new school. But I was
always terrified of leaving my youn ger b ro ther,
who was two years old, at home. We lived in a one
room apartment in a rooming house. So I would
sneak away from the playground at recess to make
sure he was okay, and rush home for lunch and eat
with him, read him stories, and then put him down
for a nap. One day when I sneaked away from the
p l aygrou n d for recess to check on my younger
brother, there came a knock on the door. We were
frightened and did not answer. Since we lived in a
o n e ro o m ap a r t m e n t we ha d no escape, s o we
remained quiet.
F i n a l l y, after m u c h k n o c k i n g, I h e a r d a
woman ' s voice call my name and s he iden tified
herself as my teacher, Miss McCarthy.
" Please o p e n t h e d oo r, " s h e sai d . " I k n o w
you' re in there because I followed you . "
W h a t h o rrible fear ran through m e; a n d m y
brother was trembling, because m y mother always
told us never to let anyone know we were alone
in the apartment because the p o li ce would take
us away.
I, trying to be s trong and not shed any tears,
opened the d o o r so that Miss McCarthy would
bel i eve that I was a mature n i n e- ye ar- o l d who
could handle this responsibility. When I looked up
to her and our eyes met, she gave me a warm smile
and reached out for me, exp laining that she was
concerned about me. She had been told by some of
the c h i l d ren that I was leaving the p l ayground
during recess, and she did not believe them because
I was always in class and on ti me. When this report
continued from the classmates whom I never got to
know very well, she decided to watch, and when
she s aw me leave she knew my classmates were
telling the truth.
She loo ked at m y younger brother who was
hovering in the corner under a blanket. She walked
forward and sat on the floor next to the blanket.
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Pulling me with her, she asked what was under the
blan ket. I called to my brother and slowly pulled
the b lanket off of him and played " peek-a-boo " so
he would not be too frightened. When he saw Miss
M cCarth y 's s m il es and her b eau tifu l blue eyes,
h e r e t u r n e d t h e s m i l e a n d c a m e toward u s . I
introduced him to her.
I explained to Miss McCarthy that my mother
was working three jobs to keep us children togeth­
er, and that it was my responsibility to watch over
my b rother and to clean the house and cook and
wash and iron so that my mother would not be too
tired for work. Little did I realize that this was not
normal. There weren ' t many other nine-year-olds
in charge of a household.
Miss M cCarthy reached out and gave us so
many hugs and cried. She told us that we were to
come back to school-bo th of us-an d that she
would talk to the p ri ncipal and try to work some­
t h i n g o u t . I d id n o t wan t to d o t h a t b ecause I
feared l o s i n g my b ro th e r, because I h a d been
warned constantly by Mom that if people found
out that my brother was left alone during the d ay
we would never see each other again .
After much p rotesting, sh e convinced me t o go
back with her to school. So my brother and I were
feeling very reluctant walking back to school. I can
still feel his hand clinging to mine, then looking up
and asking me to hold him, with his tears falling
against my cheeks. M iss McCarthy walked along­
side of us, and put her arm around me and told me
it was going to be all right.
We arrived back at school and walked d irectly
to the principal 's office. I remember how dark and
gloomy everything was when we were waiting i n
the hall and s itting on the hardwood bench. The
bell rang and people were going in and out of the
p rincipal's office with somber expressions and cold
eyes. I made a plan to run away with my b other
77
My Most Memorable Educational Experience
and h i d e so mewhere u nti l I was o l d enough to
come o u t of h i d i n g . Then every t h i n g would be
all right.
I jumped-up and grabbed by brothe-r when the
principal, Miss McCarthy, and several o ther adults
came out. I thought, this is i t; we are going to be
punished and locked up and never see each other
a gam.
" Darlene, " said the p ri ncipal, " what is your
brother's name ? "
I refused t o resp o n d . I felt that i f I d i d n ot
answer they could not do anything to o severe to
him. I held him and looked defiant, p inching my
arm to h urt myself so that I would not cry, because
grownups do not cry and I was trying very hard to
demonstrate to everyone that I was grownup.
Finally, Miss McCarthy knelt down and spoke
gently to me and my brother, explaining that the
principal had come up with an idea that would help
my b ro th e r a n d m e . S h e exp lai ne d t h a t i t was
important for me to talk to the principal and to the
other p eople who were s tand i ng there, and that
they would try to help.
Again , I was forced to do someth i n g which
Mom always warned me a b o u t: d o not talk to
strangers; i t is not safe. Well, there I was being lead
into a huge room filled with maps, bookcases, fil­
ing cabinets, lots of windows, and a very large and
long table. The room had the smell of fresh books,
and I always loved the smell of a new book as I
flipped through its pages.
To my surprise, we kept walki ng past the desk.
They opened a door which led into a smaller office.
It had a sofa and stuffed chairs, and a little kitchen
in there. I remember admiring the fresh flowers
and their fragrance.
We were invited to sit at the small table by the
window. I was terrified because I thought that this
was going to be the last time I would ever see my
brother again. They were going to feed us, then
78
separate us. We al l sat d own, and food came i n
fro m somewhere. It smel led d elicious, b u t I d i d
not eat it because i f I did, I would lose m y brother
that muc h faster. My brother ate h i s foo d a n d
mi ne. I felt that he became a traito r. L i ttle d id I
know how hungry he was, and that the food he ate
was not what we usually had at home.
T h e p r i n c i p al t u r n e d to me a n d s m i l e d .
Looking over his glasses, h e asked i f I knew Miss
Horner. I shook my head no, and looked at the
lady he pointed to . She had the red dest hair and
greenest eyes I had ever seen, and she was smiling.
" This lady is a kindergarten teacher, and if you
will talk to us and tell us what your bro ther's name
is and why he is alone when you go to school, I
think she might be able to take care of him for you
while you ' re in class, " the principal said.
After much coaxing and conversation, which
seemed like forever, I shared a lot of things about
the way we lived and how M o m fo und the on e
ro om we lived i n an d my responsibilities to the
landlord for letting us live there. They had many
d ifferen t expressions as I talked and I felt fright­
ened when I finished and prayed to God that I did
not do the wrong thing.
I don't remember going back to my classroom.
Miss McCarthy had excused herself earlier and I
felt she had deserted me an d had n o t kep t her
word . I was angry! I would never, ever trust her or
another teacher again, ever!
Then Miss Horner explained that she and Miss
McCarthy would come see Mom when she came
home and talk to her about this. Oh boy, I am
going to get it now, I thought. Just then the door
opened and Miss McCarthy came in and sat next to
me, explaining that they were going to ask Mom to
let my broth er, To m, c o m e to s c h o o l wit h m e
everyd ay. M iss H o r n e r w o u l d keep h i m i n her
class while I was i n mine.
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" But he needs a nap and has to eat, " I cried out
for fear none of this wou ld happen. They smiled
and asked by b o ther to walk wi th them to the
classroom where M iss Horner taught.
The room was so bright and cheerful, with col­
orful pictures everywhere and toys and books and
a beautiful piano in the corner with a large clown
on it. It seemed to be saying, " It's all right. " M iss
Horner led me to the blackboards and raised them
and I saw a lot of coats and sweaters hanging there.
She pointed to a corner that had a window and she
said, " We w i l l get a cot for To m my and that is
where he will nap , and I am sure you can come
down at lunchtime and eat with him. "
Miss McCarthy knelt down on the floor with
Miss Horner i nviting Tommy and me to sit wi th
them and to talk about our pl ans. I remember a
strange fee l i n g rus h i n g through me, one I h ave
never felt before. These teachers are people; they
n ot only teach, but they care and they want to
help us.
That evening, they waited with me and Tommy
for Mom to come home. She was surprised when
she wal ked in a n d saw M i s s Horner and M i ss
McCarthy. She looked at me with fear i n her eyes
as she asked what their p resence was all about.
After they explained the events that happened that
day and what their plans were, Mom cried and fell
into their arms explaining how much she appreciat­
ed their help.
My d ays at school were much better for me
then, knowing that at recess and lunchtime I could
see my b rother and spend time wi th h i m . I am
certain Mom was relieved knowing that I and her
youngest child were being taken care of.
Trying to remember some of the things I have
experienced going to school and not being able to
be in one grammar school too long helped me to
understand how fortunate I was to have met Miss
McCarthy, the principal, and Miss Horner. The
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r i s k s t h e y t o o k , i n t ry i n g t o h e l p u s , w e r e
aggressive in those days. I have great respect and
ad miration fo r them. God B less them wherever
they are. I will always remember this as " My Most
Memorable Educational Experience. "
Evaluation: This essay deserves to be considered
for inclusion in The Harper Anthology for two
reasons. First, it asserts a salutary effect, borne out
by practical experience, of the formal structures of
the instittttion of education upon the chaotic, often
disruptive affairs of everyday life. Second, this
poignant essay affirms that the extraordinary efforts
of a child are ultimately, if unexpectedly, rewarded
in kind by adults. Both of these are important
themes that are too often neglected and that
bear repeating.
79
Depression
I.
II.
III.
D epres sion
by Catherine E. Scott
Course: Psychology 1 0 1
Instructor: Kimberly A . Ostrowski
Assignment: Students will write a research paper on
a topic in Psychology. The paper will be a minimum
of 10 pages, double-spaced, and in American
Psychological Association format. Required
components (listed in the syllabus) are to be
integrated into the paper (i. e., from the definition
of the disorder to preventative efforts).
Definition
Symptoms
Causes
a. Genetic
b. Neurolo gical
c. Emotional
IV. History
V.
Effects
a. On family members
b. In the workplace
c. On society
VI. Methods of treatment
a. Prozac
b. Lithium
c. Trycyclic antidepressants
d. MAO inhibitors
e. Electro<,:: o nvulsive therapy
f. Cogni tive Therapy
g. Exercise
VII. Prevention
VIII. Conclusion
For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon
rne, and that which I was afraid of i� come unto
me. I was not in safety, neither had I rest,
neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.
-Book of Job
The two major d ifferent types of depression are
bipolar, also referred to as manic dep ression, and
unipolar, a clinical depression without the presence
of the mania associated with bipolar d isorder. This
paper will focus on unipolar depression because of
t h e e x t r e m e v a r i a t i o n s i n t h e two d i s o r d e r s .
Unipolar depression is a severe emotional d istur­
bance which may or may not be caused by external
factors such as mourning, financial loss, illness, etc.
( Oxford Companion to the Mind, 1 987). One of
the si gns of maj o r d epression is consistent blue
80
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mood, lowered self-es teem, and red uced men tal
and physical energy. The disorder creates a loss of
interest i n the activities that o nce brought pleas ure
(DePaoulo & Abl ow, 1 989).
S y m p t o m s of d ep r e s s i o n can i n c l u d e t h e
followi ng:
,
•Persistent sad or " empty " mood
• L o s s o f i n te r e s t or p l ea s u r e 1 n o r d i n ary
activities, i nclud ing sex
• Decreased e n e r gy, f a t i g u e , b e i n g " s l owed
down "
•Sleep disturbances (insomnia, early moming
waki ng, o r oversleepi ng)
• E a t i n g d i s t u r b a n ces ( l o s s of app e t i te a n d
weight, or weight gain)
• D i f fi c u l t y c o n c e n t ra t i n g, r e m e m b e r i n g,
making decisions
•Feeli ngs of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness
•Though ts of death or suicide; suicide attempts
• Irri tab i li ty
• Excessive crying
• Chronic aches and pains that don ' t respond to
treatment
(Helpfulfacts about depressive illness,
NIMH, 1 989)
There has been evidence to i nd icate that some
people are genetically pred isposed to dep ression.
S t u d i es o f a d o p tees c o n d u c t e d in New Yo rk,
Brussels, and Denmark found that adopted persons
with depressive illnesses tended to come from birth
p a r e n t s w i th h i ghe r rates of m aj o r d ep ressive
illnesses than did adopted persons with birth par­
ents who d i d n o t have a men tal ill ness (Sargent,
1 9 8 9). S tud i es in i d e n t i cal twi n s , who have the
same genetic m akeup, in d icate that if one twi n
suffers from depressive ill ness the other twi n has a
50 to 9 0 % c h a n c e o f even t u a l l y devel op i n g a
depressive i l l ness too. However, fraternal twi ns,
who share o n ly half of the same genetic material,
h ave o n l y a 1 0 to 2 5 cYo r i s k o f d e vel o p i n g a
depressive i l l n ess if thei r twi n suffers from one.
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Because of the many stud ies cond ucted, genetics is
bel ieved to play an imp ortan t role in determining
which persons arc more likely to become depressed
(Depaoulo & Abl ow, 1 989).
In a d d i t i o n , r e s e a r c h h a s l o c a t e d m a n y
neurological causes for depression. For example, a
lack of neuro transmitters (specifically norepi neph­
rine, serotonin, and dopami ne) at critical synapses
of the cen tral nervous system h as been fou nd i n
m a n y p a ti e n ts wit h d ep res s i o n (Sarge n t, 1 9 89).
Mo reover, pati e n ts w i t h d epression often h ave a
variety of abnormal rhythm disturbances. Among
these are the circad ian rhythms. C ircad ian rhythms
control cyclical chan ges in bod i ly p rocesses and
arousal wh ic h fluctuate on a 24 h our schedu le.
People experiencing depression go i n to REM sleep
more q uickly than non-depressed people; cortisol,
the hormone which readies the body for " fi ght or
f l i g h t " p r o d u c t i o n , is a l t e r e d ; a n d the no rmal
n ighttime i ncrease of melatonin, which SCN of the
hyp o th alamus p rod uces by transfo r m i n g sero­
to nin, was not found i n three out of four depressed
patients. Thus, it is possible that depressive symp­
toms arise from a lack of coord i n ation between
these circadian pacemakers and the rhyth ms they
control (Papolos & Papolos, 1 992).
Al though neurological cond itions con tri bute to
the diso rder, there are many emotional causes for
depression. The feeli ngs associated with the loss of
a loved one, loss of employment, chronic i l ln ess,
d ivorce or a financial setback can con tri bute to the
feelings of hopelessness associated with depression.
Th e t h e o r y of le a r n e d h e l p less n ess may h e l p
explain how difficult it i s t o break the pattern of
depress i o n . " Learned Helplessness is a learned
inabil ity to o vercome obstacles or to avoid punish­
men t " (Co o n , 1 9 9 1 ) . Depressed people seem to
h ave accep ted that n o s trategy will rem ove the
t u m u l t i n the i r l i ves . I n the face of appare n t l y
i n e s c a p a b l e e m o t i o n a l p ai n , t h e y b e c o m e
81
Depression
paralyzed . The decreased energy and withdrawal
which are symptomatic of depression accompany
accepting a loss of control of one's life (DePaoulo
& Ablow, 1 989).
Depression has been around for a long time.
Di scipl es of Hippocrates , the fifth century b . c .
Greek physician, regarded a s the father of medi­
cine, wrote that melancholia was associated with
" avers i o n to foo d , despondency, s l eep l essness,
irritability and restlessness . " For some 2000 years,
from Hippocratic ti mes to the l ate 1 7th century,
the d i agnosis and treatment of disease was based on
the humo ral theory. It was believed that p hysical
an d m e n t a l d i s o rd ers we r e caused by an over
sup p ly of one of the f o u r b o d i ly fluids-b lood,
p hlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. As late as the
1 7th centu ry, the use of blood letti ng and purga­
tives was recommended fo r treati ng melancholy.
(Melancholy i s defined by Websters New World
Dictionary as sad ness and depression of sp i ri ts. )
B u rt o n ' s Th e A n a tomy of Mela n ch o ly , f i r s t
published i n 1 62 1 , included p ractically everything
then known then about the subject. The following
are sentiments that Burton himself expressed which
reveal h ow serious he fel t the d isease melancholy
(or depression) was:
This humor of melancholy is so grievous,
so c o m m o n , I k n ow n o t wherein to d o
more a general service and spend my time
better than to describe a means how to pre­
ven t and cure so un iversal a malady, an
epi d em i c d i sease, that so often, so m uch
crucifies the body and mind (Congressional
Quarterly, Worsnop, Oct. 9, 1 992).
Many famous people have had bouts of depression;
am o n g t h es e a r e A b r a h am L i n c o l n , Wi n s t o n
Churchill, and Sylvia Plath. I n h i s 1 990 autobio­
grap h ical acco unt of a severe depressive episode
(Darkness Visible, p.37), William Styron tells how
it felt to be dep ressed .
82
I h a d n o w r e a c h e d t h a t p h ase of t h e
d isorder where all sense of hope had
vanished, along with the idea o f a futurity,
my brain, in thrall to it's outlaw hormones,
had become less an organ of thought than
an i n s t r u m e n t r e g i s t e r i {l g, m i n u te b y
minute, varying degrees of its own suffer­
ing. The mornings themselves were becom­
ing bad now as I wandered about lethargic,
fol l owi n g my synthetic s leep, b u t after­
n oon s were s t i l l the w o rst, beg i n n i n g at
a b o u t t h ree o ' c l o ck , w h e n I ' d feel t h e
horror, like some p oisonous fogbank, rol l
i n up o n my m i n d , fo rc i n g me i n t o bed .
There I would lie for as long as six hours,
stuporous and virtually p aralyzed, gazing at
the ceiling and waiting for that moment of
evening when, mysteriously, the crucifixion
would ease up just enough to allow me to
force d own some food and then, l i ke an
automation, seek an hour or two of sleep
a gam.
Major dep ression is one of the nation ' s most
serious heal th problems. Th e eco n o m i c cost of
mood d isorders is immense. Loss of job productiv­
i ty, dep ress i o n rel ated alcoh o l and d ru g abuse,
p e r m an e n t d i s ab i l i ty, a n d t h e a c t u a l c o s t of
treatment contribute to the estimated $ 1 6 billion
yearly p rice tag of depression (Depaoulo & Ablow,
1 989). Some experts have estimated that approxi­
mately 12 percent of the population will have or
have had a bout of depressi o n severe enough to
war rant c l i n i ca l treatment ( B eck, R u s h , Sh aw,
Emery, 1 979).
Depression can be destructive on the " home
fron t" as well. Living with a depressed person is
not easy u n d er a n y c o n d i t i o n s , but when the
person is o ne ' s husband o r wife, the problems
escalate. The role of spouse carries with it expecta­
tions of love, companionship, parental partnership,
T
e c o n o m i c s up p o r t , a n d a l l a r o u n d h e l p m a t e .
Depression reduces s exual desire, energy levels,
s o c ia b i l i ty and p ro d u c t i v i ty. It ca n d es t r o y a
relationship. Even if the dep ressed spouse is receiv­
i n g t r e a t m e n t , t h e s i tu a t i o n c a n b e s tressf u l .
Depres s i o n c a n cause pe o pl e to become w i t h ­
d rawn, rejectin g, a n d irritable and t o s ay hurtful
things to those they care about. If non-dep ressed
spouses would reali ze that the i llness causes these
behaviors, they may find it easier not to feel h urt
and to respond in a n o n - rej e c t i n g and reali ty­
orienting m anner (Sargent, 1 990).
Depression can be damaging in the workplace
also. Due to the p revalence of depressive d isorders
and the impact it can pose in the workplace, i t ' s
best for both the employee and h i s or h e r company
that supervisors be trained to effectively deal with
depression-related d iffi cu l ties in the workpl ace.
Depressi o n d isrupts a n employee' s p roductivity,
d e c i s i o n m a ki n g, a n d b as i c j o b p er fo rm a n c e .
Studies have show n that depressed individuals have
higher rates of absenteeism and are more prone to
alcoholism and drug abuse. If an employer notices
a c h an ge i n t h e rate of absenteeism, tardi n ess,
i n c i d e nc e of e r r o r s , h e m ay s u s pe ct hi s o r h e r
employee has a p roblem. I f the employee is willing
to d iscuss the problem with his or her supervisor, i t
should b e kept confidential even i f the employee
elects not to seek recommended counseling. An
employer should try to be flexible and understand­
ing if this person needs to adjust his or her work
s c h ed u l e to m a k e ti m e to faci l i ta te treatm e n t.
However, they should also s tress to the employee
t h a t t h e c o m p a n y r e q u i res a c e r t a i n l ev e l o f
performance b e maintained (NIMH, 1 99 1 ) .
The p rev a l e n c e a n d s ev e r i t y o f d e p ressive
d i s o r d e rs c o n t ra s ts s h arp l y with the ex ten t to
which appropriate care cu rren tly is available to
individuals suffering from these d isorders. Today,
b e tween 8 0 % a n d 9 0 % o f p eo p l e w i t h maj o r
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d ep ressive d isorders can be treated successfully.
Yet, only about one th ird of all persons who suffer
from a dep ressive d isorder ever seek treatment i n
t h e general med ical h e a l t h o r specialty mental
health community. Even when people do seek help,
current evidence suggests that too often d ep ression
is poorly recognized, undertreated, or inappropri­
ately treated by the health care system (Regier,
H i rs c h f i el d , G o o d w i n , B u rke, Lazar, & J u d d ,
1 9 8 8 ) . I t i s e s t i m at e d t h a t 1 5 % of d ep re s s e d
persons may ultimately c ommit suicide (NIMH,
1 989).
The following treatment methods are available
for dep ression: Lithium, Trycyclic antidepressants,
P r o z a c , E l e c t r o - c o n v u l s i v e T h e ra p y ( E C T,
otherwise referred to as shock treatment), and talk
therapy. Controlled studies have demonstrated that
treatment with lithium or antidep ressants can sub­
s t a n t i a l l y p reven t t h e recu r r e n c e of u n i p o l a r
depression. In most p atients, l i thium and trycyclic
a n t i d epressants d ec rease the frequency and/or
intensity of recurrences. Dr. Jan Fawcett wrote that
when he started his p ractice, fami l ies of patients
who required hospitalization anxiously asked him
if they would ever come out of the hospital. In the
1 970's, families of patients began asking him why
they were not out and well in two weeks (Papolos
& Pap olos, 1 992).
Prozac, on the market in 1 988, was though t to
be a wonder d rug. The anti-depressant was thought
to work by blocking the reuptakc of serotonin into
the neurons that have released it. " Prozac is an
excellent d rug whose key consti tuency is persons
who are treatment resistant to trycyclic antidepres­
sants , " says Dr. Alan Romanski, an assistant pro­
fessor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Un iversity
in Boston. Prozac is though t to be a very efficient
d r u g s i n c e i t is s af e r to u s c t h an m o s t o t h e r
an tidep ressants a n d seems to d ecrease the l i keli­
hood of suicidal i mpulse. The drug is also without
83
Depression
the side effects of weight gain and lowered blood
p ressure associated wi th o ther anti - dep ress an ts.
Howev e r, even t h o u g h P ro za c has fewer s i d e
effects than most anti-dep ressant treatments, there
is no " perfect d rug" (Worsnop, 1 992).
Another well known treatment for depression
is l i th i u m . T h e a n t i d ep r e s s a n t l i t h i u m is a n
electrolyte, similar i n its composition to table salt.
Lithium's effects are complicated and not as easily
u n dersto o d as othe r mood en hanc i n g d rugs. It
seems to work by keeping neurotransmitter levels
stab l e and p reventi n g large h ormo nal variances
(Burns, 1 980).
Trycyc l i c a n t i d ep ress a n t s are a n o th e r very
popular d rug treatment. The n ame, trycycl ic, is
derived from the three-ring chain in their chemical
structure. Trycyclics work by preventing the inac­
tivation and reabsorption of norep i nep hrine and
serotonin. Serotonin and norep inephrine are two
of the neurotransmitters believed to be disturbed
in dep ressed individuals. There are many trycyclic
d rugs: i m ip ramine, amitryp t i l i ne, d esap ramine,
doxepin, nortryptiline, protriptyline, trimipramine
(DePaoulo & Ablow, 1 989).
Ye t anot her d ru g therapy fo r d ep ression is
monoami ne oxidase inhibitors, otherwise known
as MAO i n h i b i to r s . M o n o a m i n e oxidase is an
enzyme that is produced by the body to inhibit the
c h e m i c a l m e s s a ge s s e n t b y t h e n e u r o n s . T h e
enzyme is overproduced b y dep ressed individuals
and the n eu rotransmi tters n orep i n e p h r i n e and
sero t o n i n a re not only s l owed down; they are
removed . MAO i n h i b i tors work by limiting the
effects of the enzyme and thereby i ncreasing the
volume of messages to the neurons (DePaoulo &
Ablow, 1 989).
E l ec troconvu l s ive the rap y (ECT) has been
used to treat severe depression since the 1 940's.
ECT is administered by applying an electric cur­
rent to the patien t's head for about 2 mi nutes. The
84
amount of electricity used in tod ay 's treatments is
far less than in the past. This therapy is normally
only given to patients who require hospitalization
and are at h i g h risk fo r suici de. Several s tud ies
suggest that ECT reduces symptoms in severely
d e p re s s e d p at i e n ts w h o p re v i o u s l y h a v e n o t
responded t o adeq uate trials o f anti-depressant
medication. The literature also indicates that ECT,
when compared with anti-depressants, has a more
rap id onset of action (NIMH, Vol. 5 No . 1 1 ).
There are many meth ods of talk therapy; cog­
n itive therapy uses learn in g p rinciples to correct
maladaptive thought processes. In one study, over
forty severely dep ressed patients were randomly
a s s i gn ed to two g r o up s . One g r o u p rec e i ve d
individ ual cogni tive therapy sessions an d no d rugs,
while the other group was treated with Tofranil (a
t ry c y c l i c a n ti d ep ressan t) an d no therap y. T h e
research design was selected because i t presented
t h e m ax i m u m o p p o r t u n i ty to s e e h o w t h e
treatments compared. Up till that time, n o method
of psychotherapy had been shown to be as effective
for depression as treatment with an antidepressant
d rug. B oth groups of patients were treated for a
twelve week period. All patients were systematical­
ly examined with extensive psychological testing
prior to therap y, as well at several month intervals
o n e year after c o mp l e t i o n of tre a t m e n t . T h e
doctors who administered the psychological tests
were not the therapists who dispensed treatment.
The outcome of the study was quite unexpect­
ed and encouragi n g. Cogni tive therapy sh owed
itself to be substantially superior to antidepressant
d rug therapy in all respects. In the study, fifteen of
the ni neteen patients treated with cognitive therapy
showed a substantial red uction of symptoms after
twelve weeks of active treatment. An add itional
two i n d i v i d u a l s h a d i m p roved , but were s t i l l
experiencing borderline to mild depression. Only
one patient had dropped out of treatment, and one
T
had not yet begun to imp rove at the end of this
period . I n contrast, only five of the twenty-five
patients assigned to antidep ressant d rug therapy
had shown comp lete recovery by the end of the
tw e l v e w e e k p e r i o d . E i g h t of t h e s e p at i e n t s
dropped o u t o f therapy as a result o f the adverse
side effects of the medication, and twelve others
showed no i mp rovement or only partial improve­
ment (Burns, 1 980). Cognitive therapy can help the
patient realize the connection between his or her
negativi ty an d d ep ress i o n . T h us, the p at i e n t is
better a b l e to reco g n i ze and co rrect h is or her
impaired perception (Dowling, 1 993).
F i n a l l y, w h i l e s c i e n t i s ts a c k n o w l e d g e t h a t
exercise is n o t a treatment in the league o f mood
altering d rugs and psychotherapy, they co nced e
t h at p e o p l e w h o are m i l d l y to m o d e r a t e l y
depressed m ay benefit from exercise. Thought to
be resp o ns ib l e for this benefit are mood lifting
chemicals excreted by the b rain during ex ercise
(Minken, 1 993 ). Exercise increases the production
of seroton i n , w h i ch is a n atural anti- dep ressant
manufactured by the brain. Endorp hins, another
mood l ifting brain chemical, are also produced by
exercise (Dowli ng, 1 993).
The recen t p rol iferation of support groups is
one of the greatest benefits to people suffering with
depressi o n . These groups include: The National
Depressive Association, National Alliance for the
Mentally Ill (NAMI), Recovery, Inc, They offer
individuals with h abi tual or recurring psychiatric
ill ness and their friends and family i nformation,
assistance, acceptance and a chance to bond with
others to campaign for better research and legisla­
tion. People who have joined support groups speak
enthusias tically about the benefits . One member
said: " Th ere is a great deal of comfort in finding
other people l i ke you with the same experiences
and problems. We learn from one another and are a
great c o mfort to each other during crisis s i tua.,.
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tions. " Many people find i t therapeutic to s hare
what they've learned and to offer encouragement
and supp o r t to oth ers. It raises a perso n ' s self
esteem (�apolos & Papolos, 1 992).
The u n d erstan d i n g of dep ressive i l l ness h as
c o me a l o n g way i n t h e 2 0 0 0 years s i nce
Hippocrates. Less than four h u n d red years ago
blood letting and purgatives were used as treatment
methods. Today, dep ression is managed with talk
t h e r ap y, d ru gs, a n d e l e c t r i c s h o c k t r e a t m e n t .
Perhaps someday a med ication w i l l b e found that
goes beyond treating depressive illness and actually
cu res t h e m . Or better yet, t h r o u g h c o n ti nued
res earch i n to the true causes, perhap s a way to
p revent d ep ressive o rd ers i n the first place will
be found.
P u b l i c a w a r e n e s s ca m p a i g n s l i ke D /ART
(Dep res s i o n , Awa r e n e s s , R ec o g n i t i o n , a n d
Treatme n t) set up by t h e Nat i o n al Insti tute of
M ental Heal th, issue information to ed ucate the
general p op u l a t i o n so t h ey may become m o re
empathetic towards depressed persons. Also, there
has been a great deal of recent media exposure of
d epression. A number of celebrities h ave come for­
ward to d iscuss their struggle against depression. It
can really help dep ressed people to feel less alone
when they see someone that is well respected with
the same d iffi c u l ties they d o . I n a d d i t i o n , t he
increased exposure in the med ia promotes public
s u p p o rt fo r v i c t i m s of t h e d is ease, and h e l p s
eradicate the stigma connected with men tal health
counseling.
Until the time that a cure is found, the key to a
better tomorrow for those suffering fro m depres­
s i o n is awareness. Howeve r, m a ny p eo p l e s t i l l
operate u n d e r t h e m isconcep tion t h a t depressed
peop le can j u s t snap o u t of it. Depres s i o n is a
disease that is no more welcome to its victims than
diabetes is to a diabetic. There are many meth ods
of treating depression. Not all methods work for
85
Depression
all people. However, the key to feel i ng better i s
obtaining help. Someday, hopefully, depression will
be a topic d iscussed i n history texts rather than a
mental d isorder discussed i n psychology texts.
References
Beck, R u s h , Sh aw, & E mery ( 1 979). Cognitive
therapy of depression. New York: The Guilford
Press.
Burns, D. ( 1 980). Feeling good: The n ew mood
therapy. New York: Avon.
Coon, D. ( 1 99 1 ). Introduction to psychology. (6th
edition). Min neapolis: West Publishing Co.
Dowling, C. ( 1 993). You mean I don 't have to feel
this way? New York: Bantam.
DePaoulo & Ab low, Russel l , K . ( 1 989). How to
cope with depression. New York: Fawcett.
Electro-convulsive therapy, Consensus Development
Conference Statement, Volume 5 No� 1 1 .
Helpfu l fa cts a b o u t depress iv e illn ess ( 1 9 8 9 ) .
Maryland : National Institute of Mental Health.
Mink en, T. ( 1 993, June). " Body of Evidence. " The
Walking Magazine.
Th e Oxford compa n i o n to the m ind ( 1 9 8 7 ) .
Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Papolos & Papolos (1 992). Overcoming depression.
New York: Harper Collins, Inc.
Regier, D. A., H i rs h fi e l d , R . , G o o dwi n, F. K . ,
Burke, J. D., Lazar, J . B . , & Judd, L . L . (Nov.
1 9 8 8 ) . Th e NIMH dep ress ion awaren ess
recognition and treatment program: structures,
aims a n d scientific basis. American journal
of Psychiatry.
Sargent, M . (1 989). Depressive illnesses: treatments
bring n ew hope. Maryland: National Institute
of Men tal Health.
86
Sargent, M. ( 1 990) Helping the depressed person get
treatment. M aryl and : Natio n a l I n s ti tute o f
Mental Health.
Styron, W. ( 1 990). Darkness v isible. New Yo rk:
Vintage.
What to do when an employee is depressed ( 1 99 1 ).
Maryland: National Institute of Mental Health.
Wo r s n o p , R. ( 1 9 9 0 ) . " Prozac, w o n d e r d ru g ? "
Congressional Quarterly.
Wo r s n o p , R . ( 1 9 92 ) . " An a n c i e n t m a l a d y, "
Congressional Quarterly.
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[You Fit Into Me]'!"
Jes Simmons
Fishes for an
Interpretation
by George Simon
Course: English 1 02
Instructor: Larry P. Ken t
Assi gnment: R ead an article of interpretation or
criticism from a literary journal; then summarize
and react to the critic's views.
you fit into me
like a hook into an eye
a fish hook
an open eye
-Margaret A twood
In a b rief essay about Margaret Atwo o d ' s brief
poem, " [You Fit Into Me], " Jes Simmons brings to
l i g h t a number of points that not only challen ge
one's percep tions but additionally demonstrate the
p otential power of concise writing with a specific
audience i n mind.
S i mmons ' key point i s that men and women
will, generally, interpret the poem d ifferently based
on d ifferences of perspective that come with sexual
d i fferences. Simmon s reinfo rces t h is n o ti o n b y
u s i n g c l a s s r o o m t e a c h i n g exp e r i en c e a n d t he
reactions of students t o build the case. Statin g that
" female readers interpret the poem quite different­
ly from male readers, " Simmons goes on to assert
that the complexity of the poem lies beyond the
grasp of " m o s t m e n " d u e to exp e r i e n t i al a n d
cultural d ifferences.
According to Simmons, " most women " gain a
" positive and appealing" image from the first two
li nes. Simmons p o i nts out that the h oo k " and
" eye" of the first stanza are understood by women
to be " clothing fasteners that they employ every
day " and refers to such devices as del icate fasten­
ers . " S i m mo n s then p o in ts o u t that s i n ce men
11
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K· F r o m Power Politics, b y M a r g a r e t A tw o o d
1 9 7 1 , T h e H o u s e of A n n a s i P r e s s L i m i te d .
R e p r i n te d w i t h o u t p e r m i s s i o n o f S t o d d ar t
Publishing Co. Li mited, Don M ills, Ont. Canada.
For academic purposes only.
©
87
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Jes Simmons Fishes for an Interpretation
rarely use such a fastening device, " few male read­
ers m a k e t h i s as s u m p ti o n . " To t h e co n trary,
according to Simmons, men tend to immediately
env i s i o n a fish h o o k and h uman eye and i n so
doi ng " find the last l i nes red undant " and, thus,
miss the meaning of the poem.
In the essay, Simmons offers that the devastat­
ing elements of power, shock, and surprise in the
second stanza are " lost on most male readers, " and
follows this assertion with the statement that, " For
women the l ines con trad ict the i nitial, p o s i tive
i mage of sexuality by specifying the type of hook
and eye. "
Simmons concludes that " The best response to
' [You Fit Into Me]' is through a woman 's way of
knowing, " and that to truly understand the poem,
men, " must read and see through women 's eyes. "
I t would appear that the specific audience Jes
S i m m o ns had i n m i nd when w ri t i n g the essay
w h i c h I h ave s u mmarized was that of women,
more p recisely, women as stereotypically sensitive
bei n gs and men as the s tereo typical, i nsensi tive
counterpart. The general mood of the essay paints
a p icture of women as feeling and sensitive and
m e n as i n s e n s i t i v e , c o l d a n d u n aw a r e of th e
" feminine " perspective. Indeed, Simmons' opening
statement, " Women 's ways of knowin g are essen­
tial to understanding Margaret Atwood ' s meaning
and intention . . . " serves to immediately d istance
the male read er. Furthermore, the opening l ine
i mp lies a knowledge that is unique to biologically
defined females. A statement such as, " a feminine
p e rs p e c t iv e , " r a t h e r t h a n " Wo m e n ' s ways of
knowi n g " would certainly be more i nclusive of
both sexes.
It appears that Simmons' col lected reactions
fro m l i teratu re c l asses are repres e n tative of a
segment of the population that has, for the most
part, o n l y recently completed the socialization
p rocess and lacks some d egree of world ly and
·
88
schol arly experience. The " o b l i v i ous " m ales i n
S i m m o n s ' l i terature classes h ave, q uite possibly,
only recently left the world of juvenile, sexual seg­
regation and, thus, have not yet gained k nowledge
of feminine ways that comes of in timacy and life
expenence.
S i m m o n s makes the ass u mp t i o n that males
rarely use such fastening devices as a hook and eye
which overlooks the popular fas teners for d ress
pants, shoes and devices other than the stereotypi­
cal " male " fis h hook. Based on this assump tion,
S i m m o n s c o n c l u d e s that the m aj o ri t y o f male
readers immediately envision a fish hook, overlook
the meaning of the poem, and find the second stan­
za repetitious. To reinforce the bias inherent in this
assump tion, Sim mons contends that the " crucial
elements " of the second stanza are of no value to
" most male readers. "
In closing, Simmons reiterates the concept of a
"woman 's way of knowing " which alludes to the
idea that women, as biologically defined, are p rivy
to some unique knowledge th at men cannot share
except through " women ' s eyes . "
Contrary t o Simmons' opinions, a n informal
random poll of both sexes, with the group ranging
in age from thirteen years to " over sixty " and vary­
ing in both life and academic experience, revealed a
d i v e rs i ty of i n terp r e t a t i o n . R ec o g n i t i o n a n d
acknowl edgmen t of the p a i n and s h o c k of t h e
second stanza were al most universal. While most
feminine readers were quick to identify the " hook "
an d " e ye " of the f i r s t s t a n za as be l o n g i n g t o
garments, the majority of masculine readers d id not
identify the " hook " in both stanzas as a fish hook.
Instead the masculin e readers saw many possibili­
ties for the type of closure. Add i tionally, readers of
b o t h g e n d ers s aw the i n c o m p l e t e n e s s o f o n e
without the other. (The hook without the eye.)
Simmons appears to have worked hard and to
have succeeded, to some extent, to write an essay
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that is as concise as i ts subject and quite aud ience
specific. U n fo rtu nately, the e nd result of suc h
effo rts t o o often rei nforces t h e p e rceived gap
between women and men. Implications of special
abilities and sweeping generalizations based on sex
alone build walls of ignorance and not brid ges of
intellect.
Precis i o n and succinct generali ties can c hal­
lenge perceptions and kindle the fires of intellect.
These same attributes can also be tempting bait for
the naive to take " hook, line and sinker. "
Works Cited
Simmons, Jes. " Atwood ' s ' [You F i t I nto M e] . "'
The Explicator 5 1 .4 ( 1 993): 259-260.
Evaluation: Not only did Mr. Simon do an
excellent, concise job of summarizing critic ]es
Simmons ' v iews, he also added to and extended the
interpretation by doing his own informal survey.
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Valaska and the Goldblatt Kidney
Valaska
and the
Goldblatt
Kidney
by Nancy Sitarz
Course: English 1 0 1
Instructor: Anne M. Davidovicz
Assignment: Write an essay in which you define a
concept, a lesson, an object, etc. Use the techniques
of description and narration to develop your essay.
I ' d only see black people on TV, or m aybe at a
l arge s h o p p i n g a rea, u n t i l I spen t a m o n th i n
M ichael Reese Hospi tal having a kidney removed
in 1 95 8 . The black nurses were ki nder than the
whi tes, they had a readier smile, their touch was
soft and soothing. My Dad always said " Colored
people are just like us. If their skin gets cut, they
bleed the same way. "
Valaska was a tall black girl about ten years old.
I don ' t know what was wrong with her, but she lay
motionless i nside a canvas stretcher bed that the
nurses could swivel around so she'd be face up or
d own . She was an O reo c o o k i e in revers e. We
occupied a children's ward with ten beds. Valaska
suffered through her days directly across from my
bed on the opposite wall. I thought it real fun to
get under her bed on the floor when she was face
d own, avoiding the clear tubing that came from her
to the fl o o r b o ttle for u r i n e . S h e h ad soft, b i g
b rown d o e eyes and s h e cou l d n ' t even sm i le . I
would just grin slowly and wave, barely wiggling
my fi ngers, as if we had a special secret. Somehow I
knew she was glad I came by once in a wh ile.
I t must have been the " real s ick " kids' ward,
because there was no on e with a minor ailmen t
there.
I was the en tertainer/troubl emaker hopping
down the center aisle like a goofy eleven-year-old
rabbit, long brown ponytail fl yin g, oblivious to the
fact that I had extremely high blood pressure (260
over 1 90). The task sergeant floor nurse happened
to spy me doing jumping jacks in front of Valas ka' s
bed ( I was always en tertaining that k i d ) and just
about leaped out of her skin with fri gh t that I ' d
pop a blood vessel in m y head and i t would be her
fault.
When you 're eleven years old you don ' t think
much about dying. Even if the thought occurs to
you, as it did to me when they said I was going to
have an o peration , i t meant something kind of
90
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natural I could deal with. Not the Grand Canyon
abyss of mental anguish and physical pain, tangled
with faces and o u tstretched arms of l oved ones,
b o th d ead and a l i v e - t h a t ' s w h a t d ea th h a s
become over the years.
One n i g h t a clown came i n and we were all
allowed to sit i n wheel chai rs (except Valaska), to
be kidded with and shown magic tricks. Vanilla ice
cream cups, slightly melted, so that the rich warm
cream p u d d le d aroun d the ed ges ( yu m ! ) , were
served to all whi le we finished the night watching a
Jerry Lewis movie. I would have poo-pooed this
goi n gs on i f I were at h om e, but i n this l i m i ted
stimulation environment (except for rotten needles
and scary tests) it p rovided a great treat.
My M o m came to be with me very early the
morning my right kidney was to be removed. The
doctor had been cavalier describing the " li ttle inci­
sion " I would own after this life-saving process. I
had a Goldblatt kidney. Yes, i t would have been
fab u l ou s if t h a t m e a n t I go t i t at G o l d b l a t t ' s
Department Store: a local low-end chain, sim ilar to
Kmart, long since d eparted th rough b ankruptcy.
That means I could decide I didn't like i t, ' cause it
didn ' t work, and j u s t brin g i t back for a new one
(or m y m o ney ba ck ) . It seems m y k i d ney had
shrunken down to the size of a hard, large hazel­
nut, and though i t had been that way since birth, i t
was n o w squeezin g a mai n artery and giving m e
lethal h igh blood p ressure.
Michael Reese had its operating rooms in the
basement, reached by a cold tunnel with tiled walls
and floors. The perfunctory orderly parked my
cart against a beige ti l e wall i n a busy corridor. I
was left there for almost an hour, getting as scared
as you can get after the p re-surgery " relaxation
shot. "
I vividly remember being irri tated that I was
ignored so long. Lyi ng on that narrow, wiggly cart
with a skimpy, short, tied-on cotton gown, and just
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a w h i t e s h e e t to h i d e u n d e r, I es t i m a t e d m y
p redicament. My eyes swept u p and back the tile
tunnel, search in g to make c o n tact w i th anyone
rus h i n g b y. Most of these peop l e hurried along,
g r i m l y s q u i s h i n g i n t h ei r m u ffled s h o es a n d
booties, a s i f they were late for a class with a crab­
by teacher. They had loose bleached - ou t cotton
b aggy clothes on. Most wore a square cloth face
mask, some untied at one end. None bothered to
acknowled ge the seven ty-n ine-pound girl, curled
in a fetal p osition on the cart. My eyes swiveled
wild ly, sweeping back and forth, looking for just a
nod or for someone to claim me. Th e air flow i n
the tun nel was starting to burn an d d ry my eyes,
(a feelin g I get when shopping at a c rowded mall
these days).
Preoccup atio n wi th myself w as i n te rrup ted
w h e n , a b o u t twe n ty feet away f rom m e, fou r
o rd erly baggy clothes people wrestled to get a cart
(just l i ke m i n e ! ) out of an operating room. The
woman on the cart had very messy blond hair and
slowly twisted in agony, moaning deep a crescendo
that came faster and more high pi tched as i t ended,
only to s tart again. Sud denly I thought, what if
they do fin d me here?
A no-nonsense young man strode up to me and
said " Blah blah kid ney ? " I nodded yes and away
we went, two doors down to the operating room.
With effortless fluid motion, I was swun g onto
another bed - and realized I was in the center of
the room. I t was a large room with twelve-foot
cei l i n gs (same bei ge tile). Two huge lights h un g
above me, b i g en ough for a l i ghthouse. Several
p eo p l e c l an ked around b u s i l y p repa r i n g metal
things I really didn't wan t to acknowledge. A nurse
approached me with a stainless steel pan full of
red d i s h - b rown l i q u i d a n d began p a i n t i n g m y
stomach and side with quick strokes.
A F i l i p i n o d o ctor w i th k i n d uptu rned eyes
inserted a needle in my inside elbow before I could
91
Valaska and the Goldblatt Kidney
muster up the usual fear of being punctured. He
said softly " Okay, Honey, can you s tart counting
b ac k w a r d s f r o m o n e h u n d re d ? " I c o u n te d
obediently: " 99, 98 . . . 9 . . . "
The ride to a new semi-private room was foggy
until the guys h i t the s i de of the elevator d o o r.
Gargantuan alligators chomped me i n half, tearing
my r i b s and o rg a n s away f r o m my b o d y. M y
mouth was frozen open i n a shriek b u t no thing
came out, not even air. What KIND of PAIN is
this ? I ' d never felt anythi n g l i ke i t. The waves of
vicious ripping teeth began to subside when I was
lowered into my bed by the two now very careful
orderlies.
I must have been near death and guess how I
knew ? I ' d been i n the hospital almost a month and
had very few visito rs o ther than my parents; Mom
came every d ay. Right after my operation my enti re
fam i ly appeared, e v e n t h e " n ever s hows " l i ke
Uncle E rnie. They all l ooked kind of watery-eyed,
s m i l i n g flatly w it ho u t s how i n g the i r teeth, and
didn ' t say muc h. Once Dad said he could almost
see t h r o u gh my s k i n n y pale fin gers as they lay
against the sheet.
Mom and a favorite black nurse, Mary, got me
to start eating again by searching the main kitchen
for boiled new red potatoes, d rowned in butter. I t
was the f i r s t t i m e I h ad a n y salt for over t hree
months and I could have cried with delight as I
devoured them, skins and all.
A week later I was g o i n g h o m e - I WAS
GOING HOM E ! Goodbye all, you 've been very
good to me, b u t I can walk n ow and I ' m going
home! I shuffled d own the hall, giddy with relief
and joy. Down to the kid s ' ward .
Valaska's bed was gone. Darnit, I wanted to get
out of here and now I could n ' t find my first and
only black friend to say goodbye. Mary noticed me
standing there and asked what I wanted . I crowed
" Al l I h a v e to d o i s f i n d Valaska s o I ca n say
92
goodbye! " Mary shook her head slowly, eyes cast
d ownward, and whispered reverently, " She's gone,
baby d oll, she's gone. "
This essay i s dedicated to my friend Valaska,
d ied M ay 1 958 . Black people die like us, too . . .
they're just people.
Memo on Essay #2:
Valaska and the Goldblatt Kid ney
I 'm almost afraid to say that this writing of essays
is gratifying, O.K., even enjoyable! Why would I
b e afraid t o i nf o r m t h e l eader of my j o u rn ey ?
Picture Lucille Ball as Lucy. She has a job at a large
bakery putting cakes in boxes as they pass slowly
on a conveyor belt. All of a sudden someone turns
the speed of the bel t to fassssst! She starts slamming
them i n crookedly, even missing every other one
. . . and the missed ones plop on the dirty factory
floor.
It is a manageable challenge to grind out essays
at the current rate. Slow enough to make a couple
of false starts (stalse farts ?). Yet the time allowed
for creativity isn ' t enough to stall my engine into
p rocrastmatton.
As a psychology student, it fascinates me when
my b rainstormi n g goes fro m s i n gle words and
phrases to paragraphs. The subject always goes off
the initial path intended. I t reminds me of when my
cousin Judy and I spent hours lying in the summer
grass seekin g four-leaf clovers, while affirming our
teenage existence. What we learned was i f you
found one, generally it belonged to a large family of
over-producers. Finding one meant a treasure trove
of five-, six- and seven-leafers. We just had to keep
following the trail for more than could be handled.
My twenty-eight year old daugh ter Michele sat
at the kitchen tabl e with tears in her eyes as she
read some of my brai nstorming. She as ked for a
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copy of " Ma " and said i t seemed more like a p oem
than random words. It touched my son Bob too. I
know s o m e of t h e t h i ngs I ' m wri ti n g are d ea r
rememb rances that somehow are h e r love sprin­
kled like cinnamon and sugar on paper apple slices.
We are so hungry for her presence that any little
memory i s cherished, d ivided up carefully like an
exorbitantly expensive French d essert with four
spoons hovering over it.
It's funny how one memory can be expanded
to many. I was shocked to find how much infor­
mation lay waiting in my long ago hospital experi­
ence. I had to edit out several branches, important
ones that could have become essays on their own
so I didn ' t begin a novel. Yet.
The rose that the chubby black girl p resented
to Mom on Mother's Day. It was the second morn­
ing I awoke to find my mother had slept all night
in the hard chair next to my bed. Cocker Span iel
pup p ies, e i g h t of them, born to my red furred
Lady within a week of my return home. My out of
body experience when I was i n critical condition
after the operation. More later.
Evaluation: The odd and provocative title of this
essay, alone, merits applause. Nancy Sitarz ' writing
voice truly captures the perceptions of an eleven
year old. Her details are vivid enough to take the
reader into the hospital with her. Her memo to me
on writing the essay is also a rare treat as her voice,
her humor, and her use of detail continue to
surprise and delight the reader.
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Olds' Destruction of Spirit
Fate
Olds '
Destruction
of Spirit
by Timothy P. Thompson
Course: Literature 1 05 : Poetry
Instructor: Anne M. Davidovicz
Assignment: Carefully analyze a poem. In your
analysis, include the necessary evidence-quotation
and summary from the poem, a discussion of
relevant elements, what you know to be true about
human nature, and/or logical reasoning-to support
your interpretations.
Finally I just gave up and became my father,
his greased, defeated face shining toward
anyone I looked at, his mud-brown eyes
in my face, glistening like wet ground that
things you love have fallen onto
and been lost for good. I stopped trying
not to have his bad breath,
his slumped posture offailure, his sad
sex dangling on his thigh, his stomach
swollen and empty. I gave in
to my true self, I faced the world
through his sour mash, his stained acrid
vision, I floated out on his tears.
· 1 saw the whole world shining
with the ecstasy of his grief, and I
myself, he, I, shined,
my oiled porous checks glaucous
as tulips, the rich smear of the petal,
the bulb hidden in the dark soil,
stuck, impacted, sure of its rightful place.
S h aron O l d s ' p oem " Fate " is d emons trative of
brutal truth. She has developed a style throughout
her career d ed icated to the p resentation of t h is
brutal truth. Yet, somehow this poem contains a
truth both uncharacteristic and seemingly counter­
p ro d uctive. Several o f h e r o t h e r poems ( " That
Year, " " The Guild, " " The Victims, " and " Why My
Mother Made Me " ) contain a message or reflection
of the idea of " fath e r " as a cruel, brutal, angry,
destruc tive, and d istu rbing force always fighting
ag a i n s t or op p ress i n g the s p e a k e r : a f i g u r e of
unsurpassed regret, pain, and suffering. The line
"Finally I gave up and became my father " (line 1 )
creates a n enigmatic cathars i s : a feel i n g of both
d e f i l e m e n t and p u r i f i c a t i o n . T h ese e m o t i o n s
manifest a s t r o n g s e n s e o f b o t h cyn i c i s m an d
betrayal at the most vital level: fro m wi thin. Olds
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reflects this strong realization while creati ng an
agonizing puzzle in the reader' s mind. Why would
a p erson so hurt both emotionally and physically
by her father reach the point where she needs to
become h im ?
The grotesque description of the father, equat­
ing h i m throughout with the speaker, is the first of
many complex issues. Several ideas may come to
mind when reading this description: " his greased,
defeated face shining toward/ anyone I looked at"
( l i n e s 2 - 3 ) . By b o t h d ef i l i n g, w i t h w o rd s l i k e
" greased " and " defeated, " and ad miring, with the
w ord " s h i n i n g, " the father in t h i s p o e m , 0 I d s
u t i l i zes t h e i nconsistencies wi th i n these l i nes t o
project t he d ou b t i n the speak e r ' s m i n d to t h e
reader. Through t h is, w e get a closer l o o k a t the
doubt the speaker still feels, even after such a self­
assured beginning.
However, b y fo llowi n g this description with
the line " . . . toward! anyone I looked at" (line 3)
the speaker is equated with the father. This equali­
ty, at least at this point, is only physical. The speak­
er is seeing the resemblance between him/herself,
now, as an adult, and the father, then, as a man.
This p hys ical connection is carried o n with the
lines " his mud-brown eyes/ in my face " (lines 3-4).
Olds then goes on to describe these " mud-brown
eyes " even further: "glisten ing lik e wet ground
that/ things you love have fallen onto! and been
lost for good" (lines 4-6). This gets more into the
memories the speaker still carries, heavy laden, in
her heart. The fat h e r ' s eyes, th e sp eake r ' s own
eyes, arc forbi d d ing, dark, rank, and unforgiving,
just like that ground. The speaker 's relationship to
the father has now been taken beyond the physical
into the soul. The eyes arc wind ows to the soul,
and this speaker fears what she may see in those
dark p anes.
O l d s go es o n to give m o re of the repu lsive
memo ries the speaker has of her father, but this
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time they are prefaced with the simple phrase " I
stopped trying n o t t o . . . " (lines 6-7). Wi th this
s h o rt p h rase, further personality i s given to the
speaker. It was an effort at one point to be as unlike
the father as possible, as if a duty. At this point, the
speaker's motivation for such a complete surrender,
from bad b reath to empty, swollen stomach, is still
heavily mysterious. The speaker' s d isgust is shown
everywhere in this poem, yet this person no longer
fights the d isgust but beco mes its complete slave.
Succum bing to the vivid extreme of bad b reath,
sl umped posture of fai lure, sad sex dangling, and
stomach, swollen and empty seems very different
from the peace this speaker was and is denied .
" I gave in/ to my true self' (lines 1 0- 1 1 ). This
short line is the best representation of the maze in
which the speaker is now entwined. The first three
words appear at the end of a line: " I gave in . . "
T h e l i n e b reak i n t h i s s t a te m e n t g i v e s t h e
unabashed expression o f complete abandon. There
is no hope now. However, even if there was, the
speaker no longer can confront it. The struggle is
over and the man in the black hat, the bad guy, the
father comes out on top. With the three words I
gave in, reas on is made obsolete. The speaker
does not care. That point is made perfectly clear in
the last half of the phrase: to my true self The
speaker has no will left to fight. Instead of taking
the punishment, p roud to have fought at all, the
speaker negates the victo ry the father h as won.
There was no battle between the speaker and the
father. It was between the speaker and the speaker's
tru e self To ad m i t the speaker ' s true s e l f i s
greased, defeated, and possesses mud-brown eyes is
a sad step in the wrong direction. The speaker has
come to the real ization that he/she is no better than
the terrible excuse for a man her father was.
The action has not yet taken place. The speaker
knows what to do but still needs to do it. "I faced
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the world! through his sour mash, his stained acrid/
95
Olds' Destruction of Spirit
vision, I floated out on his tears " (lines 1 1 - 1 3). The
memories of him as a d runk, wandering home late,
fal l ing o n the kitchen floor and crying i n to the
silence for help, permeate the speaker' s new found
existence. The speaker faces the world alone and
afraid, vision blurred by mas h and tears. Her new
found character is not original but it will do quite
n i cely for the end of the speake r ' s self and the
beginning of the speaker ' s " true self. " Th is is why
the speaker fought to escape his h ands, fought to
conceal the black and blue i mplosions on the chest
and arms and legs and face fro m the conten t class­
mates in the school yard, fought to survive.
There remains the impenetrable force the father
created : h i s v i ew of l ife and of h i s world . The
speaker goes beyond simply accepting the physical
and spiritual attributes, or lack thereof. The speak­
er also cops to the father's lowly view, without care
o r comp ass i o n i n any way, s h ape, or form, but
wallowing i n self-pity and crus hing brutality. He
refused to see light in any situation, except when he
wi tnesses h i s own horrid l i fe. " I saw the whole
world shining/ with the ecstasy of his grief" (lines
1 4- 1 5). The ironic twist in this line is word "shine. "
His grief is his existence. It is the only light he can
accept into his dark soul. He wallows i n his own
self- made h e l l and del ivers i t pai nfu lly to those
around him. The speaker accepts this genetic gift
by accepting his apathy.
The speaker is now him. They are inseparable,
one from the other. " and II myself, he, I, shined "
(lines 1 5- 1 6) makes i t all too clear where the speak­
er's heart now lies, wallowing in the father's self­
made hell; a gift; an inheritance. The speaker has
merged with the enemy to form a horrible union of
dank mo rtality.
The obvious conclusion to a transition of this
magni tude is to create a ray of twisted, strangled
hope. " my oiled porous cheeks glaucous/ as tulips,
the rich smear of the petal,/ the bulb hidden in the
96
dark soil,/ stuck, impacted, sure of its rightful
place " (lines 1 7-20). The sick joke is this painted
p icture; a self portrait through rose-colored glass­
es. This is not the essence of life in father' s shoes
given up by the speaker. This is the most inexpress­
ible delusion a person could d ream to accomplish.
If this tulip were to bloom, maybe an understand­
i n g w o u l d b e avai l a b l e . However, i t r e m a i n s
impacted and stubborn. No t only sure o f itself, but
ignorant of what has happened . The speaker has
not escaped a life of fai lu re but h as impriso ned
herself in fai lure and self-righ teous opposition to
the soul.
A man becomes a father. A father becomes an
allusion to what l ife was, is, and may become.
From this, a child has become an adult. This adult
becomes a failure. The fat her ' s strident enfo rce­
ment of down-trodden righteousness becomes the
legacy a child lives up to. This is a story of pain
and awakening. The end of the world has come to
one person ' s life and that person smi les in indigna­
tion, not knowing the injustice of what she is and
will become. The child, the adult, the legacy has
been created. But the father can not claim cred i t for
this p i ece of d i sfigured art. T h i s person ki lled
his/her own soul, not with tulip petals but with the
thorns of an unforgiving bulb impacted with i n .
Evaluation: Though I did n o t entirely agree with
Tim Th ompson s analysis of "Fate, " his clrJims for
interpretcttion are well -supported from beginning
to en d. His conten t zs not the only thing to praisehis writing style is also excellent. Thompson 's
varied sentence length, provocati'IJe (though n ot
overly elevated) vocabulary, and his downright
selr confident voice are rare finds in the
L itera tu r e l 05 class.
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Yeah, Sure.
It Was a
Great Story.
by Timothy P. Thompson
Course: Honors English 1 02
Instructor: Jack Dodds
Assignment: Tim combines two assignments:
(1) Interview members of your English 102 class to
discover their responses to Charlotte Perkins
Gilman 's " The Yellow Wall-Paper. " Use their
opinions and observations to help you develop,
refine, and explain your opinion of the story.
(2) Write an impressionistic literary essay in which
you describe your responses to a literary work.
Explore what in the text prompted your response
and what from your life explains that response.
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I suppose I shall have to get
back behind the pattern when
it comes night, and that is hard?
It is so pleasant to be out in
this great room and creep around
as I please! (37 1 )
And s o ends the life o f Jane and s o begins the life
of an escaped mind. Now, I ' m not one to judge-­
scratch that-I 'm definitely one to judge, and I see
the chain of events i n this story in an i mmensely
cynical way. Of course, you understand that my
view may be cynical, but it is always right. Well,
t h a t i s , u n t i l s o m e o n e p ro v e s me w r o n g .
Throughout my first readi n g o f Charlotte Perkins
G i l m a n ' s " Th e Yel low Wal l-Pap e r, " my m i n d
screamed "Why ? " What could possess a person to
write such drivel about a hypochon driac woman
stepping across the th i n l i n e i nto mental b reak­
down; a woman, quite literally, climbing the walls?
What d um bfounded m e i s why anyone would
choose to read it. More specifically, and less slant­
ed : d o es this p l o t, regard i n g o n e woman ' s l ife,
fol low any logical o rder? I asked three students
this same questi o n , p rayin g to God that one of
them would justify the time I wasted read ing this
story.
Accord i n g to my ori gin al evaluatio n , i t has
absolutely no point or logic. Granted , my knowl­
ed ge of m e n tal i nc ap a c i ty i s lacki n g, b u t who
cares ? I wouldn ' t know schizoph renia from herpes,
b u t w h o cares ? J a n e s tarts t h e s to ry w h i n i n g
emphatically, and annoyingly, about how she needs
rest and peace, blah, blah, blah. Who cares ? Take a
nap, for Christ's sake, and stop your bitching. She
gets interested in a stupi d design on some stupid
wall-paper in some stupi d room. And, gosh, this
little woman starts running all over the place, and
g e t t h i s , s h e ' s ac t u a l l y trap p e d inside t h e
wall-paper. Her husband , then, becomes i ntrigued
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Yeah, Sure. It Was a Great Story.
by t h e p ap e r . . . t h e n t h e m ai d . M a y b e h e ' s
i ntrigued because his wife spends all day every day
staring at the damned paper and he wants to know
whatever she knows. Then, like an idiot's slap on
the head, she becomes the woman in the wall-paper.
Luck i l y s h e escap e d fro m the c l u tches of th at
paper, never to b e trapped again. She, this poor
woman, is the psycho to end all psychos; hers is the
Taj Mahal of nervous b reakdowns.
I had to re-read the last page a second time. I
laughed out loud i n frustrati o n. I had spent ten
minutes of my ever-so-valuable time read ing the
d iary of a woman going i nsane and I d i d n ' t even
see i t coming. Was it my j o b to see it comin g? I
didn ' t think so. L ittle Ms. Gilman had a duty, I felt,
to present these ramblings in a somewhat logical, if
not wholly b elievable, manner. She trampled down
my fourth wall. She u tterly destroyed my suspen­
sion of disbelief. I felt like a kid in a movie theater
m u m b l i n g to h i s cute, freckle-faced l ittle date,
" That couldn't happen . "
But, i t seems, I was completely alone i n m y apt.
albeit cynical, critique. And now I must admit that
after talking to the members of the class about this
story (and I mean that in the loosest sense of the
term), my view took a turn.
M ike C hernoff ' s c r i t i q u e, although not the
most emphatic, was enlightening enough to cause
me to reth i n k my s tance. H i s mos t compel l i n g
response to the q uestion I posed was simply, " The
author progressed logically, the character d id not. "
Very well put, I think. How, though, can I separate
the character from the author, especially when, as
this story is a first person narrative, the character is
supposed to be the author? " She was just fulfilling
the role, " answered Mike. The character, according
to M ike, had been b u i l d i n g to this climax. And,
although the ending was not completely logical, the
idea of a woman going insane due to a wallpaper
fixation isn ' t very logical either. That makes sense,
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I thought. However, I wanted desperately to blow
him sky-high with a witty and grossly intellectual­
ized argument against his theory. To my d ismay, I
tended to agree. How could an author p resent an
illogical act, i.e. Jane losing it, in a logical way ? I ' m
sure that i f Gilman wrote i t logically, I would have
hated it even more.
J e s s i c a K n i g h t gave me t h e b ul l e t I rea l l y
needed t o shoot m y pride down. Again, I asked if
the plot followed any logical order. She gave me
t h e a n sw e r I d r e a m t of at n i gh t w h e n I f i r s t
thought o f this question. " I ' m not sure, " she said.
" It got really confusing. " Ha Ha! ! I'm right! She
c o u l d n ' t grasp i t e i th e r. I fel t my b l o o d race
through my veins. I had found the legendary Lost
Ark of the Covenant in the lost city of Atlantis,
and the entire world knows my name and worships
the ground I walk o n ! I am RIGHT! ! " I knew she
was going to flip out, but, at that point, it shocked
me. But, I guess that was the p o i nt. " My heart
stopped. O kay. Fair enough. You guys can s top
stenciling my name on the next Nobel prize now.
I was wrong. I ' m the only idiot who didn ' t get it.
So, I was neutral. Mike's answer caused me to
rethink my stance and Jessica just shot me in the
head . I was in no position to argue anything I used
to believe. I just wan ted a hug.
Kim Fuzessy was the one who pushed me to
see the light. Brilliance glared at me from behind
her eyes as she s o aked in my sad attempt at a
question. " Yes, I saw the logic. John was driving
her c razy. She was alone in that room all d ay. I
t h i n k sh e was the o n l y sane one around . " The
angels sang. I knew exactly what she was saying
and the logic of the whole story solidified i n my
mind. Of course poor Jane was going crazy. She
was cooped up all day and ignored . So much for
rest and relaxation on this vacation. She was bored.
Hell, I feel like I ' m going to climb the walls when
I ' m cramped up for a few hours. Give me weeks
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l i ke Jane h ad and I ' d end up a few s andwic hes
short of a pic ni c. " I thought it was great, " Kim
concluded. Well, I ' m not quite so sure about that
one.
I l e a r n e d s o m e t h i n g f r o m t h i s c a t h a rt i c
experience. There i s a God and her name i s Kim.
She gave me a reason to live! She gave me hope for
a bright tomorrow! She gave me faith that we can
a c h i eve peace o n E ar th and make the world a
better p lace for our c h i l d ren and our children 's
child ren!
E asy, boy! Hold o n a secon d . You ' re really
starting to lose i t man. You can ' t fly off the hand le
on every little idea that jumps into your little head.
Okay?
Sure. I got it.
Now, let's set the record straight. Sure, I just
presented arguments that refute my original point
o f v i ew. B u t, l e t ' s be s e r i o u s . T h i s s to ry i s a
d e s p e ra te c a l l f o r h e l p t h a t f e l l o n d eaf ears .
Gilman i s attemp ti n g to bring awareness to the
problem of severe mental depression in women.
And the cause of this depression, boys and girls,
is n o t the wallpaper. It is her husband and her
b rother and, if I may be so bold, the entire male
population. Yes, yes, men are scum. We could not
possibly care less about the plight of the martyred
woman. Jane' s husband sure does n ' t. It was his
ignorance and insensitivity that pushed Jane over
the edge, just as Kim explained it. But, speaking as
a male, I say that the whining of women about
how tired they are or how sad they are is not going
to cause much of a change i n me.
Gilman deserves credit for going out on a limb
and writing an extremely enlightening story that
was well before i ts time. My problem is not with
her message, it is with her voice. This drivel only
pushes me further in the " I am man " role. I feel
like grabbing the nearest woman and dragging her
to my cave by her hair. Who are you to call us
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insensitive to the plight of the female mind ? Who
are you to come out and say a l l men suck just
because some idiot doctor is too blind to see what
his wife's real problem i s ? But, you ' re forgetting
something. Men d o suck. Men are insensitive. And
any man who tells you otherwise is trying to get a
l ittle more from you than enlightened conversa­
tion. But can 't we just feel a little pride in ourselves
for being men ? Just a little?
The moral of the story, boys and girls, is quite
simple. You have to think. I realize that you all
want to jump to some sort of outrageous conclu­
sion without thinking twice, but you see what that
can do. It can make you look like a complete ass.
Now, I want you to go home, give your mother a
kiss goodnight, and fall asleep with the idea secure
in your mind that Uncle Timmy made an ass out of
himself so you won ' t have to. But, whatever you
do, remember, men suck.
Evaluation: Using hyperbole and a mock-hysterical
persona, Tim writes vividly an d entertainingly
about his confrontation with " The Yellow
Wall-Paper, " his confrontation with his fellow
students' opinions, and his growth in
self-awareness and understanding.
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Chapman Interview
Chapman
Interview
by Linda Urman
Course: Journalism 1 30
I nstructor: Rhea Dawson
Assignment: Develop a news story with attribution
to a public official, examine both sides of an issue
and use inverted pyramid style with facts
introduced in descending order of importance.
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Class size will increase and programs will be cut as
t h e a d m i n i s tr a t i o n of Town s h i p H i g h S c h o o l
District 2 1 1 copes with a bud get crunch.
" We are caught between growing enrollment
and d ec l i n i n g s ta t e fu n d i n g, " e x p l ai n e d
Superintendent Gerald Chapman.
Enrollment in the district 's five high schools is
increas i n g. In th ree schoo ls-Palatine, Hoffman
E s t a t e s a n d S c h au m b u r g H i gh S c h o o l s- t h e
enterin g fres hmen classes are the largest i n eight
years, Chapman said . " We expected to hire 15 or 1 6
n ew teachers i n t h e d i s trict t o take care o f the
increased enrollment. Now we plan to raise class
size to keep a balanced budget. "
The b iggest cause of declining revenue is the
d rastically reduced amount of state aid received by
the district. In 1 980, 25 percent of the budget came
from state taxes. In 1 993, less than six p ercent of
the district's money came from the state.
" If you d o n ' t have s tate aid, the o n ly other
choice you have is p roperty taxes , " said Chapman.
" This year, the state put a one-year freeze on prop­
erty taxes for the education fund . " The education
fund is that part of the budget that pays teachers '
salaries.
To make things even more interestin g, the state
l e g i s l a t u r e is n o w c o n s i d e r i n g a tax c a p o n
suburban Cook county, Chapman said. The tax cap
would limi t any increase in property taxes to the
prior year ' s equalized valuation ti mes either five
per cent or the consumer's price index, whichever
is lower. The collar counties already have th is cap,
:v h i ch last year l i mi ted taxes to a 3 . 5 p e r cent
mcrease.
" We wo n ' t even be able to get more m oney
fro m new c o n str uc tio n , " exp l a i n e d C ha p m a n .
" Th e n e w p roperty i s tax e d, b u t t h e r a t e goes
down, so the total amount of money is the same. If
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the tax cap i s passed, we w i l l n o t have e n ough
money to maintain the programs we have had i n
the past. "
The legislature is expected to pass the tax cap
by the June recess. State Rep. Terry Parke 's office
said local vo ters support l i m i t i n g p r op e rty tax
i ncrease s . The office m e n t i oned that Governor
James Ed gar has proposed devoting the temporary
t ax s u r c h a r g e to e d u c a t i o n to h e l p d ea l w i t h
financing problems.
Because of the way the state distributes money
to schools, Chap man sees no help from tax sur­
charge money. " The overwhelming majority of the
state money goes to the city of Chicago. Much of
the rest goes downstate. We would n ' t see enough
to make a d ifference. "
The s up e r i n t e n d e n t d o es n o t s ee a n y h e l p
coming t o t h e district. " Theoretically, w e could try
t o p ass a referen d u m . B u t o n ly 2 0 p erce n t of
households are families with children i n school, so
the chance of a referendum passing in these times is
almost nil. "
" Of cou rse, we hope the tax cap will not go
through , " said C hapman, " bu t we must plan next
year' s budge t to do what we can do with what we
have. "
The d is trict plans several phases to balance the
budget for the 1 993 - 1 994 school year.
The b i gg e s t i t em i n the bud get i s teach ers '
salaries, which account for two-thirds of the total
b u d g e t . C hap man hopes to save $ 1 m i l l i o n by
using fewer teachers to teach more students, which
means larger class sizes. "We will be concentrating
on classes with low enrollments, " Chapman said.
S o m e c l a s s e s or e n t i re p r o g ra m s m a y b e
dropped, particularly in the allied technology and
life and family s tudies d epartmen ts, which often
have class enrollments under 20 students. Teachers
r e t i r i n g f r o m t h e s e d ep a r t m e n t s w i l l n o t
b e replaced.
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The state has offered teachers at the upper end
of t h e p ay scale in c e n tives to retire early. New
teachers, h i re d at t h e b o tt o m of t h e pay scale,
would also save the district money.
W h i l e t h e d i s t r i c t h as n o p l a n s t o l ay o ff
teachers, many teachers are co ncerned that they
may be asked to take a pay cut. " The contract does
not spell out class s ize, but i t does define the pay
s c a l e, " s a i d F l o r e n c e L e D u c , te ac h e r ' s u n i o n
repres entative. " We are i n t h e second year o f a
three-year contract, and we will start negotiations
next year. "
Neither the a d m i n i stration n or the union is
willing to d iscuss the salary issue now, but both
groups clearly expect negotiations to be d ifficult.
Chapman expects to save $500,000 out of the
equipment bud get by cutting plans for purchase of
new or replacement computer equipment in half.
Another $200,000 to $300,000 can be saved by
extending the life of textbooks from five years to
seven years. The determinations must be made by
the i n d ividual departments, Chapman explained,
because a biology text becomes obso lete faster than
a novel. All books will have more wear before they
are replaced.
If the administration can save the anticipated
$ 1 .7 million, next year' s budget will be balanced .
But if the tax cap passes, no h elp is i n sight for
district finances. " Down the line, we may not be
able to provide the p ro grams the co mmunity is
accustomed to receiving, " said Chapman.
C l u b s a n d activ i ties w i l l be ev aluated, and
fu nding for smaller clubs may be dropped. Athletic
programs will also be reviewed for efficiency.
" If the s tate eco nomy p i cks up, t h i n gs may
i m p rove, " s a i d C h ap m a n . Th e s tate e d ucati on
dol lars ar e d riven by the amoun t of in c ome tax
received . If employment goes up, more taxes will
be received, and fewer tax dollars will be spent for
unemployment compensation and welfare.
101
Chapman I nterview
In the meantime, C hapman said the ad ministra­
tio n plans to send out a d istrict-wide newsletter
this May. " We need to explain where we are, how
we got there, and what to expect, " Sqid Chapman.
Evaluation: Linda captures the inverted pyramid
style and uses quotations effectively.
1 02
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Corps
Coping
by Frances Vizek
Course: English 1 0 1
Instructor: Peter Sherer
Assignment: Build a classification in which you
teach your audience about a subject. Group a
r�stricted system by way of a focused ruling
principle. Provide a concrete example member
of each category.
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Adjusting to life in the Peace Corps was filled with
moments of exci tement, frustration, worry, and
great humor. Since indoor plumbing and electrici ty
were luxuries, Peace Corps volunteers learned to
live without, daily tasks became a new challenge.
Vo l u n t eers u n d e r g o d ra s t i c c h an ges in t h e i r
lifestyles - rangi·ng from diet to climate to culture.
After enduring the first year of life in a third world
country (in this case, Sierra, Leone - West Africa),
volunteers seem to develop one of the three basic
coping strategies. They either im merse themselves
totally into the culture, totally reject the culture, or
balance a heal thy respect for the new cul ture while
maintaining thei r basic identity.
The immersers begin to d ress like the Sierra
Leoneans. They shop for cloth in the markets and
have a tai lor make their clothes . They limit their
diets strictly to the local foo d . They d iscontinue
their malaria medicine because they want to experi­
ence every thi n g that the Si erra Leoneans do including malaria. The 11 immersers 11 tend to d iscon­
tinue writing to their families back in the United
States. They usually begin a romantic relationship
with a Sierra Leo nean. They begin to speak the
language, Krio, even to other volunteers. Craig was
a classic 11 immerser. " He bathed with the men i n
the s t ream, d is c o n t i n ued u s i n g s i l v er ware ( t h e
Sierra Leo neans a t e with their r i g h t hand), and
th rew his malaria med icine and iodine tablets into
the latrine. He even began to study the Koran,
which is the " b ible " of the Islamic rel igion. He
loved his village, the people, and the cul ture. But,
l i ke many " i mmersers, " he became ex tremely ill
an d was rushed back to t h e U n i ted S t ates fo r
medical treatment. His d isregard for his own health
caused h im to comract a horrible d isease called
schistosomiasis. Though the " immersers " have the
p o t e n t i al to be o u t s ta n d i n g v o l u n te e r s , t h e i r
haphazard approach t o their own health eventually
in terferes wi th their volunteer duties.
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Corps Coping
O t h e r v o l u n te e rs c o p e wi t h l ife i n a t h i r d
world country by rejecting their new environment.
The " rejecters " become very unpleasant people to
be around. They continue to d ress the same way
they d i d i n the United S tates. The woman
" rejecter " wears shorts i n public even though it is
taboo to do so in Sierra Leone. The rejecters could
care less about being " cu l turally sensitive. " They
feel they are sacrifi c i n g their own l ives to help
these people and aren ' t going to worry about being
offensive. They hate the local cuisine and will take
long bus trips into town so they can s tock up on
"American " food (such as oatmeal, canned soups,
peanut butter, etc.). They never become adep t at
the language and seem irritated when the villagers
don ' t understand them. They are so paran oid of
getting sick that they seldom let the vil lagers i n
their homes. A " rejecter " spends most of h i s time
writing letters to his " civilized " friends back home.
They aren ' t very g o o d volunteers because they
never d evelop good rel atio n s with the villagers.
The " rejecters " tend not to finish the full two years
of their service. They can ' t s tand the people, the
foo d, the culture, or their work. They are bitter
and never look back when they leave. Tammy was
a c l a s s i c " re j e c t e r. " W h e n a f e l l ow v o l u n te e r
suggested that Tam my stop wearing shorts because
it was offensive to the villagers, Tammy proclaimed
that she would n o t wear pants because pants are
for boys. One can guess that a person with such
inflexible views would no t be a good volunteer.
Rather than feeling humored or honored when a
Sierra Leonean would suggest having a relationship
with Tammy, Tammy fel t repulsed. Not only did
Tammy cheat herself out of a great life experience,
she cheated the villagers who lived with her. Part
of a volunteer 's duty is to s hare his culture with
the v i l l agers. Tam m y was too selfi s h to s h are;
therefore, her fellow villagers also missed out on a
l e ar n i n g e x p e r i e n c e . N o t m u c h to a n yo n e ' s
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s u rp ri s e, Tam m y d i d n o t fi n i s h h er fu l l Peace
Corps assignment.
F o r t u n a t e l y, m o s t v o l u n t e e r s fal l i n to t h e
" balancer " group. They embrace their new culture,
but also maintain some of their own basic habits
and attitudes. " Balancers " will occasionally wear
the native cloth, " gara. " They do so because they
know the villagers will be pleased to see them d ress
this way. A " balance r " makes the effort and adjusts
to the local foo d . Though rice w i th sauce is the
" balancer ' s " staple diet, they occasionally splurge
on American food, such as cheese or popcorn.
The " balancers " take reasonable care of their
health, but avo i d beco m i n g o bsessive about it .
Th e y enjoy learnin g the language, but aren ' t too
p roud to use an i n terp reter, if the need arises.
" B alancers " d o keep i n touch with friends back
h o me, but d o n ' t cen ter t h e i r week arou n d the
incoming mail. Joel was an example of a healthy
" balancer. " Though Joel usually dressed i n his jeans
and tee shirt, he would always wear native cloth for
the festivals. Although Joel ini tiall y d i s l iked the
local food, he p ersevered and eventually accepted
his new cuisine. He felt it would be too offensive
to the vil lagers if he did not adapt to their food. He
compromised by eating a typical American break­
fast (coffee and oatmeal), but a native dinner. Joel
enjoyed conversing with the vi llagers in Krio. He
also tried to teach some eager vil lagers how to
speak English. A lthough Joel enjoyed try i n g to
learn the local language, he always spoke through a
translator when working with the men. Joel
enj oyed h is ful l two y ears i n t h e Peach Corps .
Though he encountered moments of great frustra­
tion, they were balanced by the moments of joy.
Needless to say, Tammy was the least effective
volunteer. And al though I truly ad mired C raig's
zest fo r l ife, I was m o s t i m p ressed w i th Joe l ' s
heal thy approach t o coping w i th l ife in a third
world country.
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Evaluation: This logical classification informs,
evaluates, and entertains. The speaker, with
thoughtfulness and an observing eye, tells of the
Peace Corps experience as only a volunteer would
know it.
105
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Tales From The Crib
Tales From
The Crib
by Carmella Wolfgang
Course: English 1 0 1
Instructor: Martha Simonsen
Assignment: Write an essay about a person you
know who orders his or her life around a powerful
commitment or passion. Use vivid language to
bring the person to life. Explain what the passion is,
how the person exhibits it, and how it influences
that person 's or other persons ' lives.
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P l a c i n g a r o c k o n t h e k i tc h en t a b l e d u r i n g a
thunderstorm to p revent lightning from striking
the h ouse, wearing a red ribbon to repel the " evil
eye " - these a re s i l l y superstitions. To o thers,
these rituals are valid traditions handed down from
o n e g e n e ra t i o n to a n o t h e r. B u t f o r m e, m y
mother's superstitions were a very confusing and
sometimes fri ghtening part of my childhood.
My mother introduced me to the " evil eye " at a
very early age. I remember M o m tel l i n g me the
s t o r y of how s h e o u tw i t t ed the ev i l eye. M y
paternal grandmother had a friend, Angelina, who
p o s s e s s e d t h e ev i l e y e . D u r i n g my m o t h e r ' s
p regnancy with me, she stayed away from this evi l
woman, An geli n a, wh o cou ld hurt h er u n b orn
b a b y. Th erefo re, I entered t h e w o r l d safe and
healthy, thanks to my mom 's keen awareness and
knowled ge of the evi l eye.
As a ch ild, I remem ber g o i n g to my gran d ­
mother's house hoping never t o see this Angelina,
whom I pictured as having one eye in the middle of
h er fo rehead. I was always t old never to l o o k
d i rectly a t Angelina. To me, she would have been
worse than Medusa. Bu t one d ay, I d i d sn eak a
peek and I didn't turn into stone. Nor did I see a
one-eyed monster. I just saw an old woman with
really bad teeth l ike the Wicked Witch of the West
from The Wizard of Oz.
Since Angelina didn ' t possess one eye, I asked
my mom what the evil eye meant. In her explana­
tion, the evi l eye could mean " anything. " Anything
that was too good in your l ife the evi l eye could
take away, or if you had anything that resembled
misfortune, that again was the evil eye.
Much later i n l ife, I realized that my mother
and her mother-in-law, my grandmother, never got
along. In fact, they really d isliked each other. The
ev i l eye was t h e means fo r a great t u g of war
b etween t h e m . W h e n my gran d m o t h e r w o u l d
spend the night a t o u r house, s h e would outline the
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b ed b y p o u r i n g s a l t o n t h e f l o o r. T h i s w as to
p r o tect her from d yi n g in s o m e o n e else ' s bed.
Gran d ma n ever died d u ri n g the n i gh t when she
stayed at o u r house, but she n ever real ized how
close she came to death. My mom felt that all that
salt on her meticulous, clean floor was justification
for my grandmother's demise.
F o r as l o n g as I can r e m e m b e r, a t i n y red
ribbon was always pinned to my undershirt. My
mother i nformed me that wearing red was a sure
fire way to b e pro tected fro m the evi l eye. To
further convince me, my mom told me she read a
magazine article about Sophia Loren. In this arti­
cle, Ms. Loren said she wore or carried something
red eve ry day of her l ife for luck. But my mom
knew she did i t for protection against the evil eye.
M y d re s s e r d rawer c o n t a i n e d u n d erpants,
u n d e r s h irts, and red r i b b o n s . E a c h m o rn i n g I
would change my underwear and pin my little red
r i b b o n o n my l eft s h o u l d e r much l i k e General
Patton d isplaying his medals on his d ress uniform.
I was proud to be fighting the never ending battle
against the evi l eye.
At age seven, I just assumed that all people
wore red ribbons and knew how to protect them­
selves against the evil eye. But one day during gym
class, I had a rude awakening. None of the other
g i r l s w e r e w e a r i n g red r i b b o n s , a n d to m ake
matters worse, they s ta rted teasi ng me. When I
returned home that day, I told my mother what
had happened . I also to l d her I wasn ' t going to
wear my red ribbons anymore because I d idn ' t
want the o ther girls to tease me. M y mom assured
me that both Sophia Loren and she knew what was
r i g h t and the other c h i l d ren were at great risk.
T h erefo re, I s h o u l d c o n t i n ue to wear my red
ribbons.
This evi l eye was getti ng confusing. I d i d n ' t
want to risk some m isfo rtune. B u t a t the age of
seven, I was more concerned with peer p ressure.
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This evi l eye was creating a d i lemma i n my life.
Then it dawned on me. If my mom could outwit
the evi l eye, so could I. And from that d ay for­
ward, my red r i b b o n s were no lo n ger proudly
worn. They were concealed. I p inned them on the
inside of my undershirt.
Being first generati o n Americans, we would
be vis i ted freq uen tly by relatives fro m the o l d
country. During o n e o f these visits, m y great aunt
p resented my mo ther and her th ree sisters each
with the same gift. It was a rock, but not just any
old rock. It was a rock brought down from a holy
mountain in Sicily that supposedly had the power
to protect us from storms. This made me wonder if
there was a huge gaping hole i n the si d e of this
mountain from which my relatives had each carved
a chunk.
S i nc e m y m o ther was terrified of thund er­
storms, she was extremely pleased with this gift.
Whenever there was a thunderstorm, the rock was
placed on the kitchen table to protect our house
from being struck by lightning.
These supersti tions were beginning to confuse
me. I was attending CCD classes in order to make
my First Holy Communion, and the nuns strictly
forbade any false idols includ ing rocks. The nu:1s
also didn ' t believe in the evil eye. They called evil
the devil. The nuns told us the only protection we
needed was God. In o rder to please both my mom
and the nuns, I played both sides of the fence for
several years. D u r i n g a thunderstorm; I wou ld
place the rock on the table, which was now a form
of idolatry, and secretly say a little prayer that God
wouldn't zap our house. When I finally confronted
my mother and told her I was trading in my red
ribbons for a cross necklace, she d i d n ' t protest,
much to my amazement. She came to reali ze that
these superstitions were not only confusing to me,
b u t also c o mp ro m i s i n g. However, my mo ther
1 07
Tales From The Crib
never really gave up the rituals. She just performed
them a little more subtly.
Superstitions were just a part of my mother' s
life that were passed down t o her from p revious
generations. The r i tuals were never i ntended to
harm, only to p rotect those my mother loved. Even
though these superstitions were fri gh tening and
confusing to me as a child, when I would tell my
d au g h ters 11 G r a n d m a s to r ies, the r i tuals a l s o
became a humorous side of m y mother. M y daugh­
ters still find i t h ard to imagine that any rational
p e r s o n c o u l d b e l i eve i n a l l t h i s h o c u s - p o c u s .
However, several years a g o a rational friend o f
m i n e gave m e s o u n d advice o n how t o sel l my
house w i th i n 3 0 d ays; s h e to l d me to b u ry an
upside-down statue of St. Joseph i n t he front yard.
I thought I had grown up knowi n g j u s t about
every supers tition there was; however, this was a
new one for me. But St. Joseph, the Patron Saint of
Real Estate, d oes have a nice ring to it. I wonder if
it really works.
11
Evaluation: Carmel/a engages the reader from start
to finish. The writing sparkles with drama and
energy and impresses with its wonderful honesty
and wit.
1 08
T
What Is
Good Writing ?
The
Anthology Judges
Give Their
Standards
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Dennis Brennen
Good wri tin g makes me want to read o n, to
find out what the writer wil l say next. Sometimes
the ideas d raw me on, sometimes the style. When
I ' m really lucky, the writer ropes me with both.
Annie Davidovicz
In my opinion, good writing is tight writing.
Every word ch osen by the author enhances the
work in some way. I l ike to get the feeling that the
writer cares about his/her writing-that there is an
in timate relationship between the composer and
the composed. A writin g voice humming with con­
fidence and genuineness always catches my eye. I
l i k e a v o i ce t h at t e mp t s m e to r e a d f u r t h e r.
Depen d i ng on the type of the assignment, vivid,
fresh detail and/or accurate reasoning are two more
o f my p refe r e n c e s . U l t i m a t e l y, g o o d w r i t i n g
accomplishes the writer' s goal.
Jack Dodds
Whenever I read I l o o k for d etails, d etails ,
details app ropriate to th e writer's purpose or the
occasion : d escriptive details, fresh facts or figures,
supp o r t i n g i n s tances, i n s i ghtful o bservati o n o r
explanation. Good writing is dense with informa­
tion. Good wri ting is also al ive with voices: the
writer 's voice (persona), d ialogue, quotation, and
allusion. Good writing always talks to me.
1 09
What Is Good Writing?
The Anthology Judges Give Their Standards
Barbara Hickey
Peter Sherer
In Mark Twain ' s words,
"E schew surplusage. "
Writing that focuses and boldly goes where it
p romises to go alerts and engages me. I like writing
that is intelligent, consistent in its logic, and con­
crete in its detail. I like examples and I want to hear
an honest voice which speaks to me in sentences
which are fresh, crafted , varied, eco nomical, and
musical.
Judy S. Kaplow
F o r me, g o o d w r i t i n g i s composed of four
interwoven threads: the writer's voice, the writer's
sense of the reader, the lan guage, and the idea. The
" voice " gives the sense that there is a human being
behind the words; the words-otherwise d isem­
bodied verbal p rotop l as m-ac q uire life, weight,
and identity. The writer should recogn ize the pres­
ence of a l istener and partner who can imagine,
question, wonder, and think. The language should
be clear and gracefu l, exp lo i ti n g o u r lan guage ' s
capacity for p recision, i ts sounds and rhythms, and
its emotional and image- making power. But it's the
idea that must be at the center, and that idea must
be alive and i mportant. It should crack open our
old ways of looking at t hings, both whisper and
shout. Surprise me.
Barbara Njus
In an authent ic VOICE, u s i ng effective and
figurative language, to an established purpose and
a u d i e nc e , fro m a c l e a r l y o r gan i zed THESIS,
G O O D W R ITE R S D EVE L O P ID E A S i n a
coherent, concise, unified essay using SPECIFIC
evidence from readings and from personal experi­
ence to analyze oppos i n g positions about topics
h av i n g S T R O N G S I G N I F I C ANCE fo r t h a t
writer, that m a y involve the writer in taking RISKS
and that the writer will resolve and evaluate from a
CONSISTENT point of view.
110
Wally Sloat
Go Greyhound, and leave the d riving to us.
These words from the old tv commercial came to
mind as I thou g ht about the qualities of good writ­
i n g. L i ke Greyho u nd d rivers , good wri ters are
always in charge. Their ideas and language are so
clear and logical that I can relax and enjoy myself
without getting l o s t in c o nfus i n g sentence structure
or disjointed thoughts. Good writing takes m e on a
well-planned trip with efficiency and great atten­
tio n ro interesting detai ls along the way.
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Molly Waite
What works fo r one p iece of writing is not
always obvious. It could be the tone, topic, style,
o r sentiment. A great deal has to deal with my
mood or mindset at the time, in terms of h ow I
personally react on a given day to the written work
lfl qUeStiOn.
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Cathy l:3ayer
Harp er Students
on Writing
My motive for wridng is to d iscipline, clarify,
and order my thought p rocess. I n conversation I
often start talki n g where I am thinking. Writing
forces me to organ i ze m y thoughts, s tart at the
beginning, and con ti nue in a logical manner. I jot
down and o rganize my i deas before I begi n .
Michael Joseph Burke
In looking at myself, I am not the one to be too
serious ab ou t anyth i n g i n l ife. Th i s i s why my
poem was very d ifficult for me to write. It forced
me to stop, take a deep breath, and then look at the
world around me. The whole process was extreme­
ly uncomfortable, and yet I feel like I have grown
somehow. Because of this experience, I think I will
attempt to write another poem . . . someday.
Bob Catli n
I s tart a n essay about a p ersonal experience,
work on i t for several days and realize that i t' s
going nowhere. The problem seems to be that the
s u b j e c t i s t o o s afe. W h e n y o u w r i te a b o u t
something you d o n ' t really care a�out, nobody else
does either.
Two d ays until the ass i gn ment is due! I look
inside myself and find a heartach e only recently
put to rest. In two grinding ten-hour sessions i t
pours from me, re-opening barely-healed wounds
along the way.
I hand in the essay and receive a " B 11 for my
efforts. What could be worse than a " B 11 on the
contents of your soul ? . . . When the criticisms are
entirely justified.
" Re -writ e t h e p i ec e , B o b , we ' ll s e e i f the
Anthology wil l publish it, " says Dr. Dodds.
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Harper Students on Writing
The wounds are rubbed raw again and agai n
through each e d i t, re-write, and ad d i tion. After
working long hours on the essay, I hand it in just at
the deadline. Almost I convince myself that I don ' t
care i f it's published o r not. I have n o emotion to
spare the p iece anymore.
Thank y o u for accep ti ng my essay. I d i d n ' t
know that I cared this much.
Maria Cliffe
Writing has always been a difficult skill for me.
But I learned d uring my semester i n English 1 0 1
that the best way t o write a n essay i s to j ust begin
with as m any ideas as you can think of on paper.
Then use these ideas to shape your topic. Always
write on something that interests you. Most of the
essay assign ments I 've ever gotten, I've been able
to manipulate the topics and incorporate my . ideas,
the ones that interest me the most. Being interested
in the essay you ' re about to write sure makes the
writing p ro cess easier!
Frederick L. Coombs
I i mposed the self-discipline upon myself to
write every day, and now it is becoming, as I hoped
it would, p retty near automatic.
I believe this " Page-A-Day" ritual wil l be one
of the keystones of any future success i n getting
consistently published and I am willing to pursue
it for a couple of years until I feel I have wholly
internalized the ability to sit d own and " write on
demand, " whatever the topic.
Realize, one page is only 250 words or so and,
l i ke j o g g i n g, i f y o u keep at i t , w i t h g r ad u a l
increments, the easier i t becomes; a dumb jogger is
going to try the four minute mile the first time out,
obviously fail, get discouraged and quit. A realistic
1 12
j o gger will try fo r the end of the block the first
time then keep increasing d istance until he's found
a comfortable range. A really smart jogger will save
his ankles, knees and kidneys by forgetting all that
n onsense an d takin g up wal k i n g; same p hysical
benefits, less strain. It allows you to snoop on the
neighbors, and one has plenty of time to d ream up
subjects to write about.
The d a n ger i n d o i n g " Page-A-Day " i s t h e
potential degeneration into " Dear Diary " and, i n
t h at sense, anyone d o i n g this s h ould a lways b e
addressing o bjects and topics other than self. One
useful t h o u g h t- s tarter is to l o o k a r o u n d y o u r
r o o m , o r p u l l s o m e t h i n g from y o u r p o cket o r
p u rse, an d w r i t e a p age a b o u t i t . Yo u c a n get
wonderful variations by pulling a d o llar bill out
and exploring its beginnings, journeys, and futures;
there are possibly dozens of stories in that tired old
piece of paper we all take for granted . Th e same
w i th any th in g in this wo n d erful world arou n d
u s . S t o r i e s a r e everyw h e re , j u s t w a i t i n g fo r
recognition.
If I were a teacher of this writi n g c raft, on e
m o r n i n g I would say, " Students , p u l l the m o s t
mundane t h i n g out of your pockets a n d gtve me
200 words about it, due in one hour. "
Mary Lou Crost
Wri tin g opens my heart and soul to o thers,
c reatively expressing my though ts and feeling. I
would l i ke to than k the Harper College Wri ting
C e n ter staff for h e l p i n g m e to red i scover a n d
develop my writin g talents. A special thanks t o
Barbara Hardy and Joyce Jones. I would also like
to thank Ms. Bolt. This health class assignment
gave me the opportunity to share my experiences.
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Chris Haddad
Darlene C. Oyer
I ' m fortunate to h av e b een s u r r o u n d e d by
family and teachers who encouraged me at a very
young age to read and write, not j ust inside of the
classroom, or for homework, but for enjoyment.
Every child should be so lucky.
Writing is taking a journey into my past and
ven turing in to my future. It helps me to under­
stand what I h ave experienced in my life and what
I am experiencing now. It's becoming acquainted
with my inn ermost thoughts, feelings and ideas.
Perhaps my writing is a way to let people know
that I h ave experienced sad and painful things in
my life, and sharing them will help others under­
stand that negative things in their lives can become
fruitful later on.
It's important to be honest with the events that
have happened to m e, some pai nful events and
some h appy. Wri ti n g i s a way of handing down
family stories of humor, sadness and happiness that
have been experienced. My writing can become a
positive tool for my children and extended family
to learn from and to become a positive piece of
history for them.
Writing is an excellent tool and very easy to
take with me wherever I go, and very easy to pack.
Joseph L. Hazelton
The excitement of d iscovery led me to write
" Desperate for Salvation " and " Superficial versus
Profound. " The revelation of John Donne's poem
and the d rama in Wil liam Shakespeare's play drove
m e to wri te a b o u t t h e i r w o r k s . Altho u gh
they were t i m e c o n s u m i n g and difficult, relief
accompanied completion, having satisfied the need
to express my learning.
-
John W. Morris
Writing, for me, is a form of self-discipline: a
means for bringing order to my thoughts.
Thinking about a particular issue, for example, i s a
necessary first step in arriving at an understanding.
However, this p rocess becomes comp lete for me
only when I transfer these thoughts to carefully­
chosen written words.
Janet Nichols
I'm really an artist, but writing has given me a
new creative outlet. Writing this story was very
interesting. It b ecame more involved as I delved
deeper into the history of the relationship of these
two men.
Catherine E. Scott
F o r me, w r i t i n g i s a r e l e a s e . I r e l i s h t h e
opportunity t o share my op i n ions and fee l ings
with o ther p eople in any format. Whether I am
writing a letter to a friend, an essay, or a research
p aper, it feels so satisfying when all my ideas come
together. There is n o t h i n g that gives me mor e
p leasure.
1 13
Harper Students on Writing
Nancy Sitarz
Frances Vizek
W h a t a r e we b u t o u r t h o u g h ts a n d o u r
fee l i n gs ? Seems l i k e w o r d s s p o k e n a r e b r i g h t
sparks, mostly i nconsequential, falling on flame­
p roof, i nfertile ears. B u t wri te it d own and the
thought has its own life . . . .
Writing provides me with a personal emotional
outlet, clarify i n g m y t h o u gh t$ without j u d g i n g
them and stunting them i n the p rocess.
I laugh when I think how apprehensive I was
about taking a writi n g course. I was very intimi­
dated by the task of actually getting my thoughts
down on paper. B11t much to my surp rise, I thor­
oughly enjoyed my writing assignments. Increased
confidence in my writing ability will be a tool I
will use throughout my lifetime.
Carmella Wolfgang
Linda Urman
Journal ism is a very different type of writing
from what I have been trained to do. Its special
requirements -..,.. organization in inverted pyramid,
emphasis on readers ' needs, and evaluation of each
element for relative importance
have imp roved
my ability to write in o ther formats.
�
1 14
I love telling stories. Writing allows me to d o
this. I can express all o f m y feelings t o a captive
audience, my computer. But most of all , I enjoy
writing because my computer never complains that
my stories are either boring or too long.
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Towards
the
Word
by Rex Burwell
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" The death of one person is a tragedy; the death of
a million people is a statis tic, " wrote someone, a
man whose name I cannot tell you now because­
since you are literate, since you know history, and
since you don 't know me-I ' m afraid mentioning
it would queer this essay before it starts. Such is
the power of p roper nouns.
But what this quotation means to me is that life
is most meaningful in the particular. I have to feel
something about myself, other human beings, the
world I live in, d irectly, sensually, first, before I can
care for statistics.
F o r t h e d e a t h s of a m i l l i o n p e o p l e to b e
meaningful, I first have to b e able t o feel d eeply the
death of one person . I have to be human. And the
w r i t e r ' s h u m a n p r o b l e m i s s i m i l a r. B ef o r e
" writing " in the abstract can have real meaning for
the writer, the individual words, letters, syllables
must first have real meaning. That is, the writer
must feel towards even the letters of the alphabet a
certain awe and h u m i l i ty and joy. Writing must
become a living process and not a means to an end .
More precisely, I feel I must learn to approach
the wri tten word the way an old man might last
approach the Word-as if it is a magical and holy
thing, as it is, and yet not really serious at all. In his
later years, when he was nearly blind, James Joyce
could see well enough only to read his manuscripts
wi th a g i gantic m agnifying glass one letter at a
time. Thin k abo u t read i n g Finn egans Wake one
letter at a time. How delicious and exhausting the
process ! Now think about writing Finnegans Wake
one letter at a time-which is, of course, exactly
how it was written.
When the process of writing becomes a striving
towards an end, becomes the process of pushing
dead language around, I try to feel h ow i t must
have been to write Finnegans Wake one letter at
a t1me.
1 15
T awards The Word
Someti mes I b e l i eve I know how that must
have f e l t-ex t re m e a n d m u n d a n e, careful and
careless all a t o n ce . That fee l i n g i s what I c all
creativity, t he feeling that writing lives, first, i n an
attitude towards the material-towards the single
syll able, the single d roplet of water o n a field of
grass blades, the s i n gle tragi c (or comic) person
among the millions of the statistics-and second,
that it lives in an attitude towards the human being
who p laces his h an d s o n language-magic i tself,
either as writer or reader.
Being creative, then, as far as I know, is culti­
vating, welcoming certain " holy " attitudes towards
whatever is i nvolved in the process-towards the
Word, toward s the writer himself or herself, and
towards the reader.
Towards the material, passio n is all. Somehow I
must find a q uick, a l iving, relationship to the Idea,
no matter how abstract, mechanical, or otherwise
dreary it may first appear. I must believe that there
i s a s o u l s o m ew h e r e i n s e e m i n g l y s o u l - l es s
material-something o f i nterest t o humans i n i t.
Teddy Roosevelt, a man whose name I migh t safely
mention, s aid, " There are no boring topics, only
bored people. " Boredom, I find, is self-loathing
d is g u i s e d and p roj e cte d . W h at I d o n ' t l i k e i n
myself, I p roject onto the material at hand, so as to
condemn i t. Thus, c o nfro n t i n g di fficult topics,
so metim es I fi n d i t ' s b e tter to a na l yze myself
first-my ambivalence, d isgust, boredom-before
I analyze the material.
In any case, writing is a living activity. If the
subject matter is of little note, I may still immerse
myself in the style, the language, with which I treat
that subject. My relationship to the language is a
living one eve n if the subj ect i tself seems dead. And
much more often than not, taking this atti tud e
breathes some l ife into me, gives me some new way
to look at the material.
11 6
Towards the reader, compassion is all. Rather
than writing, I want to try to speak on the page as
though to a dozen people gathered in a room. I try
to remember that language is, above all, oral, and
that writing is just a latter-day convenience, and a
treacherous one at that. As a final p roof of any
piece, I read it aloud; if it sounds right, generally
it's right. If i t sounds wrong, it's always wrong.
I try to treat my reader as I would like to be
treated, as a h uman bei n g for whom the writer
shows some thoughtfulness and even love. I want
to speak as simply, clearly and i n telligently as I
can, with some humor, if that 's fitting, and without
insolence or arrogance. I want to engage the reader
i n a d i al o g u e , i n s o far as t h a t ' s p o s s i b l e i n a
monologue.
I want to try to tell the truth, but more than
anythi ng, I w a n t n o t to app ear to h ave all the
answers, even though, van ity on vanity, I too often
think I d o . C ontrary to most current evi d e nce,
h u m i l i t y is no v i c e . An e x c e rp t f r o m W. S .
Merwin's p iece about advice given him by an older
John Berryman suggests an attitude to take:
I had hardly begun to read
I asked how can you ever be sure
that what you write is really
any good at all and he said you can 't
you can 't you can n ever be sure
you die without knowing
whether anything you wrote was any good
ifyou have to be sure don 't write
Towards yourself as writer, honesty is all. I think
that even the best writing fails in some way, at least
for some readers. To avoid paralysis, I try to keep
this in mind. Caught up in the current of the line,
the sentence, the paragraph, I float or swim as the
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spirit urges. If I become frightened or if the effort
is too much, I can always come ashore.
B u t m o m e n t to m o m e n t w h i l e I ' m i n t h a t
stream o f words, I want t o make a n honest effort
to be graceful, s trong, clear, efficient. I feel be � t
when I ' m in that water of language-there '$ a kind
of j o y in i mmers i n g myself in i t, a j o y in se lf�
sufficiency and mys tery a nd even awe. Getting
somew here is not necessari ly the poi nt. I always
get somewhere, not necessarlly where I thought I
wanted to be, put somewhere. The joy of getting
there is the point.
That being the case then, i t doesn ' t matter who
wrote that the death of million people is a statistic,
at least to m e. B u t maybe it d oe$ to you. Both
conscious and careless o f the i mplications of the
twelve letters I place behind the colon then, I'll tell
you: Joseph Stalin.
Swim on !
11 7
y
Alternate Table of Contents
Alternate Table of Contents
Chemistry
Michael J. Burke 7
Christine E. Haddad 35
Interior Design
Laurene Cermak 1 2
Journalism
Early Childhood Development
Sue Lee 60
English Composition
Bob Catlin (Narrative) 8
Maria Cliffe (Humorous Description) 1 4
Mary A n n C rosby-Anderson
(Research Project) 2 1
Renee Daly (Personal Experience
Narrative) 32
Joseph L. Hazelton (Research Project) 42
Christian J. Klugstedt (Descriptive
Narrative) 5 3
Maryan Koehler (Informative Essay) 56
Bill Mihalik (Creative Literary Response) 62
Darlene C. Oyer (Personal Experience
Narrative) 76
George Simon (Literary Analysis) 87
Nancy Sitarz (Description and Narration) 90
Timothy P. Thompson (Literary Response
and Analysis) 97
Frances Vizek (Classification Essay) 1 03
Carmella Wolfgang (Personality Profile) 1 06
828U8ART94 •:)
11 8
Frederick L. Coombs (Profile) 1 7
Janet Nichols (Feature Article) 73
Linda Urman (News Story) 1 00
Literature
Jennifer Barati (Poetry) 1
Joseph L . Hazelton (Poetry) 3 8
Dan John (Non-Western Literature) 49
Timothy P. Thompson (Poetry) 94
Philosophy
John W. Morris 65
Physical Education
M ary Lou Crost 28
Psychology
Catherine E. Scott 80
Sign Language
Cathy Bayer 4
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