"The Good Short Life" By: Dudley Clendinen

In, “The Good Short Life”, Dudley Clendinen wrote about the end of his life while suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was an author and editor with various publications who died at the age of sixty-seven. This essay was written to discuss the inevitable death all people face, and to show that it must not be feared or hated, but celebrated for the fulfilled life and liberation death brings. Throughout his life, Clendinen has faced many difficult times such as his divorce caused by his homosexuality up until his shortened life. In the essay, he writes his personal thoughts of his death and uses similes to describe his disease, “it feels like anxious butterflies, trying to get out” (Clendinen 63). This allows readers to understand and visualize his daily life, what he feels everyday so they can connect to his story and understand his purpose of accepting death. The audience this essay focuses on is a mature person that is trying to diminish their fear of death. Often writing in brief, simple sentences, his writing style suggests that the essay was went to be straight forward; with only limited time left he chose not to embellish his point, simply to state and defend it. In order to encourage people to live life to the fullest so when death comes around it can be welcomed and embraced rather than feared, Clendinen connects to the audience and allows them to see into his life and understand his experiences. He then explains why he has chosen to accept death rather than suffer through the ugliness of Lou Gehrig’s disease. The purpose was not to encourage people to avoid painful deaths by coming up with alternative plans, but to understand that death cannot be avoided, and ready or not it will come one day. He wanted people to understand his views of death, and that is exactly what this essay allowed him to do.

Life's Truths
URL: http://writearielle.tumblr.com

"My Father/My Husband" By: David J. Lawless

The essay, “My Father/My Husband” was written about the author’s wife who suffered from Alzheimer’s and dementia to inspire other couples going through difficult times that with effort and understanding, a relationship will thrive. This nonfiction piece has been featured on multiple publications as well as received various awards such as Prism’s 2011 Nonfiction Award. This short story describes multiple, repetitive conversations that David and his wife encountered on a day to day basis concerning her father’s death, where they live, and whether or not he was actually her husband. While some may find this to be a huge strain on a relationship, he found a way to adjust and maintain his love for his wife and fulfilling his promises to never leave her. He was able to convey that with even under the most difficult conditions, love will remain with limitless effort through the constant repetition of conversations. Throughout the essay many conversations between David and his wife occurred more than once, this could begin to bother the audience, only leading them to imagine what it was like to live under those circumstances, yet at the end show their love in a simple kiss. Despite the constant repetition on his life, he unconditionally loved his wife and refused to let her health take away from their happiness. Also, the extensive use of dialogue did not allow for any dramatic irony; therefore, the audience was only able to see and understand as much as David does. This caused the essay to be even more realistic and easy to comprehend. The repetitive conversations expressed throughout the story were often about his wife’s father, Madrid, or their relationship. The content of these conversations represents the importance of family to his wife. Although she suffered from multiple health problems and typically did not know much about the present day, she still maintained the values of her family. This constant value is why David Lawless was able to maintain his unconditional love for his wife, even though her mind was often lost, she still honored and loved him.

Infinite Love
URL: http://heoloveme.blogspot.com

"Objects of Affection" By: Ewa Hryniewicz-Yarbrough

Ewa Hryniewicz-Yarbrough grew up in Poland during a time of shortages and communism. At a young age she learned to value possession of few items and to accept the unavailability of them, these teachings led her to associate inanimate objects with memories and emotions. The essay, “Objects of Affection” describes her life in Poland, adjustment to the US and grandmother’s life after World War II.  The juxtaposition of life in Poland against the US was often used to show how drastic the difference was, describing the US as, “almost obscene” (Hryniewicz-Yarbrough 170).  At the time, American citizens mindlessly filled carts with unnecessary objects and food, meanwhile in Poland, people waited in endless lines for bread, milk, or shoes with the possibility of leaving the store empty handed. She is a well-published author, who in this instance wrote to teach privileged adults to invest in practical and meaningful items that will obtain memories for generations. Personified as, “mute witnesses to human life” (Hryniewicz-Yarbrough 167), objects are more purposeful than to take up space to provide décor, which Ewa learned after her simplistic grandmother passed away leaving only a paperweight for her. Due to everything humans endure in their life, they should have something tangible to contain all of the memories, to represent the journey taken. This is what she hoped to share, that life is not about having the most expensive and beautiful belonging but the most meaningful. I believe that she did accomplish this task through her description of her grandmother’s practical yet fulfilled life as well as her own, with few prized possessions that brought with them a sense of home. She illustrated that objects true purpose is to provide comfort and belonging. Her grandmother did not have that, but Ewa did and she encouraged her audience to do the same, to invest in meaningful items and lead a more practical life.

American Materialism
URL: http://viewallpaper.com/the-corporate-states-of-america-wallpaper.html 

"Killing My Body to Save My Mind" By: Lauren Slater

Since the age of five, Lauren Slater had suffered from depression. In the essay, “Killing My Body to Save My Mind” she writes about her experiences with antidepressant, Zyprexa. This drug caused severe weight loss that led to Slater’s prediabetic state as well as an increased risk of multiple cancers and illnesses. Despite all of the negative affects of Zyprexa, she continues to take it because she has chosen to live life over-weight with health risks rather than thin and suffering constant depression. Slater is a psychologist and writer with various publications who tries to assist others in dealing with depression, a struggle she continues to face and know extremely well. This particular essay describes the imperfections of life and how everyday, people are faced with decision that cannot fix everything but must be made in order to survive. She chose her mind, her sanity, rather than her physical fitness and health; it was not an easy decision but one she had to make in order to better herself. Through this essay, Slater reached to others suffering from depression to show them her story and how she is happy with her decision despite the problems it has caused. Towards the beginning of the essay she juxtaposed the, “blackness” around her in contrast to, “all the beauty everywhere” (Slater 256) to connect to her audience, to in a way describe her depression. This device gave her audience a reason to continue reading allowing her to fulfill her purpose, to encourage them to do what it takes for their depression to be, to any degree, subsided. Through strong imagery she described her new approach to food after beginning to take Zyprexa, which also connected to people with the same disconnect to food that she used to have, to show them that it can improve. She described her body later as the, “carcass [she] had to disown” (Slater 260) to show her body’s suffering, but show the necessity of her choice to take Zyprexa. Through her writing, Slater was able to connect to her audience and achieve her purpose. 

Decisions
URL: http://disabilityinbusiness.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/cruel-trick-of-the-mind/

"You Owe Me" By: Miah Arnold

Accepting the struggles that take place in life is necessary to lead a happy life, but finding light in dark times is what brings true peace and prosper. Both recovering and growing from the unfairness of life was shown through the mindset of the narrator in “You Owe Me” by Miah Arnold. By working at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the narrator, who taught writing to the ill children, witnessed her students’ journey though cancer and majority to death. By growing close to these children, she questioned life’s purpose. Through realizing the honor of spending hours with children who had limited time left, the integrity of these kids and the joy brought to them through writing, the narrator was able to accept the struggles of life and fuel her work to brighten even more ill children’s days. The author used this story to help people in search of an explanation for horrific events understand and improve their lives as well as others around them. Using the intense pathos related to the subject of cancer, the author easily connects to many people and draws great emotional appeal. One particular device that stood out was the use of the anaphora in the beginning of the essay where the author, through the repetition of, “no matter how…” (Arnold 29), described the inevitable fate of her students.  This particular rhetoric strategy emphasized her personal acceptance of tragedy. Through flashbacks, she was able to place readers inside her experiences and provide a full understanding of the people and emotions she endured. Miah Arnold is an experienced writer with a Ph.D. in writing from the University of Houston where she currently works with all ages. She has been an editor at a couple places, received a few awards and has had work displayed in numerous texts. This particular piece is a nonfiction representation of her time working with sick children ay the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Through the emotional connection constructed by Miah and the depth of her writing, she taught her audience to accept and grow from struggle to find peace.

The Journey
Quote: Zion Lee
Image: Anonymous
URL: http://winterlyrics.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/everybody-wants-happiness-nobody-wants-pain-but-you-cant-have-a-rainbow-without-a-little-rain/