Talk of the Town

The essays by Susan Sontag and John Updike are dramatically different from each other. Susan's writes of the cowardice of the media and politicians and the way they "infantilize" the public by talking around the problem, telling us that everything is going to be okay. Susan angrily writes that they are "unworthy of a mature democracy," and that the politics of a democracy "has been replaced by psychotherapy." Throughout the entire essay, Susan boldly voices her negative opinions on the actions of the government and media. The only break from this negativity is in the last few sentences of the paper: "'Our country is strong,' we are told again and again. Who doubts that America is strong? But that's not all America has to be." The hopefulness of her conclusion somewhat softens the harsh words in the rest of the essay while remaining refreshingly honest.

It was also very interesting to read about the horrors of 9/11 from John Updike's unique perspective. There is beauty in the way he describes what he witnessed that day. When he first saw the twin towers, "smoke speckled with bits of paper curled into the cloudless sky." Shortly after, the second tower "burst into ballooning flame." He isn't dismissing the death and sorrow of 9/11, but he isn't completely focusing on them either. At one point, he mentions the "remarkably calm and loving" last-minute cellphone calls and says that television's repeated footage of the tragedy was like a "nightmare ballet." Though both he and Susan conclude their essays with words of strength and hope, John Updike's conclusion (and the rest of his paper) gave the overall impression that he had deep respect for those who had lost their lives and that he truly believed that America would pull through. Susan Sontag wrote her entire essay with words of anger and contempt. Her conclusion sounded sincere, but it wasn't nearly as encouraging and hopeful as John's.

Personal Intro

Hello everyone! There isn't much to say about me, but I'll try to make this as interesting as possible. First off, I'll be a senior this year, which I find exciting mostly because it's one step closer to college (in case you were wondering, I'm not sure what my major will be, but I'm thinking of someday becoming a physical therapist). I was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and moved to McFarland when I was 9 years old. I have two sisters: Sophia, who is 15, and Mia, who is 9. My family adopted Mia from Wuhan, China about 3 years ago.

I guess one of my favorite things in life is art. All forms of it. I love photography, music, dance, paintings, drawings, movies, sculptures, books, and a bunch of other art forms that aren't coming to mind right now. I've attempted painting/drawing, but that hasn't worked out as well as I'd like it to. My attempt at dance about 12 years ago (ballet class) didn't work out either, so now I mostly bounce up and down and wave my arms around. I'm decent at photography and writing, and so far I've just stuck with those. I've learned stand back and appreciate the rest. I also love travel. I love learning about other cultures, but actually being there and experiencing those cultures is entirely different. I love the idea of being in a place where I know absolutely no one else, and not knowing how to speak their language (well) means that I don't have to talk to anyone unless it's absolutely  necessary (not that I hate talking to all of you, but I'm sure it wasn't hard to guess right from the beginning that I prefer to observe away from the spotlight).

I also consider family a big part of my life. The two halves of my family, my mom's side and my dad's side, are almost complete opposites. I mostly take after my mom's side, physically and mentally. The people on her side of the family are all interested in art and travel (though I'm pretty sure my lack of dancing talent came from them), and we all share the same weird sense of humor. The people on my dad's side are much less... loose, I guess. I'm not even sure what their sense of humor is. But both sides have definitely affected my life and my personality in different ways, so I thought they were worth mentioning on here.