A 13 minute read. Communication is a vital part of human culture, and it often goes wrong. Many times, miscommunication can be funny. One of my favorite jokes as a child was about two dumb Norwegian men named Sven and Ole who went hunting for moose in the Alaskan wilderness. Their guide said, “if youContinue reading “Big Ideas Cannot Be Simplified (As Proven by the Columbia Space Shuttle)”
Category Archives: Essays
Children Deserve Good Books
A 9 minute read. Madeleine L’Engle is a well known children’s author who won a Newbery Medal for A Wrinkle in Time. (The Newbery Medal is an award for the most distinguished children’s books in the U.S.) She sometimes teaches fiction writing workshops, and during one, a woman asked if L’Engle was going to teachContinue reading “Children Deserve Good Books”
An Accidental Descension
An 11-minute read. John Milton, an Englishman who seems to have been given more than his fair share of brains, completed Paradise Lost in 1667. The blank verse poem is twelve books long and unbelievably dense. Even Milton’s contemporaries could not understand it; when the second edition was published in 1674, Milton had to includeContinue reading “An Accidental Descension”
My Tooth Saga
I am missing five teeth, and I can’t stop talking about it. Whenever I have to play two truths and a lie: “I’m five foot seven, I’m part dead person, and I’m missing five teeth.” Whenever I have to say an interesting fact about myself: “I’m missing five teeth.” Whenever I’m asked how my weekContinue reading “My Tooth Saga”
Sven and Ole Failed My AP Exam
A 14-minute read. It had begun at 8:15 in the morning–fifteen minutes late, I noted, as I pressed my finger against the tip of my pencil. Heaven forbid the lead fall out and I need to ask the proctor for a replacement. I didn’t want to walk to the front of the room, eighty eleventh-gradeContinue reading “Sven and Ole Failed My AP Exam”
Me Thinketh to Tell You as it Seemed to Me
A 16 minute read. I don’t like telling people that I was homeschooled. It makes me feel like a specimen: they always ask, “What was it like?” as if I was a giraffe recently escaped from the zoo. Did you sew your own clothes? Did you ever wash your hair? Did you speak English? DidContinue reading “Me Thinketh to Tell You as it Seemed to Me”
My Brilliant Essay
I planned to write an essay about loneliness. It was going to be brilliant, of course. I had just gotten my first glimpse of real adult life as I waded alone through my freshman year of college, though I was constantly surrounded by people. I had all these aspirations of making friends that didn’t comeContinue reading “My Brilliant Essay”
Standing Alone
I stood alone in the front entry, staring at the black hole created by the front door. Yellow lamplight made triangles on the walls, but I could hardly see them. Images from the day flashed through my head: my family standing around the piano singing “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” my dad’s favorite EasterContinue reading “Standing Alone”
What is Honor? An Analysis of “In Pharaoh’s Army”
My brother and I are very similar. I am four years older than him, but our birthdays are only three days apart. We both are very skinny and have trouble finding pants that will stay up on their own. We both like to talk. We are practically the same height (for a few weeks, atContinue reading “What is Honor? An Analysis of “In Pharaoh’s Army””
Life Advice from Hamlet?
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is full of life advice: Listen to freaky evil ghosts, they tell the truth. Check behind the curtains before you poke whoever is back there with your sword (you will have fewer people wanting to kill you). If you want to murder someone, pretend to be insane. ListenContinue reading “Life Advice from Hamlet?”
Ellen Sheehy 