The Paradox of Life

The truth is that our lives are based on controversies. Chapters O, P, and Q deal with arguments that create doubt between the readers. Such arguments that I personally use on a daily basis are: “pause not,” “lets agree to disagree,” and “perhaps not.” Without even realizing it we are holding two opposite ideas in just one statement. Just as Shields states, “Something can be true and untrue at the same time” (135). We should all have the ability to deal with two contradictory ideas at once. The truth is that we handle this ability everyday. In my opinion the reality is paradoxical. What might seem to be real for me, might not be for others. We all have a different point of view towards reality. Reality cant be created by just one person. In order for something to be real it has to have some contradictions. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be credible.

Another antithetical statement that I found was when Shields states, “We´re only certain (´certain only´?) about what we don’t understand” (138). He has a really good point here. Most of the times we are 100% sure that we don’t know something (like the solution for a math problem) yet, we can be doubt our knowledge about the stuff that we do know.
Lastly, this statement caught my attention: “When we are not sure, we are alive” (139). I completely agree with this statement. As long as we are feeling something, even if its uncertainty, it means that we are still capable to feel and think. Meaning that we are alive. Once we are not aware of feeling lost and doubtful, well, I guess it means that we are dead. 

Controlling Your Life

People are in a constant struggle of expressing themselves to others. Speaking about your feelings is a hard thing to do, but writing them out is not. What better way to tell portions of your life through words? Not only can you talk about yourself, but you can control what to say. You can modify some parts of your life, as well as lie about others. No one is ever going to know whether you lied or were actually telling the truth, as long as your lie is credible. Just as David Shields states, “There´s no longer any such thing as fiction or nonfiction; there´s only narrative (110). The freedom to express ourselves has gone out of hands: we can no longer differ the truth from the lies.

Last semester as I was writing my memoir I kept thinking to my self which details I should include and which ones I should leave out. I could control exactly what I wanted to reveal to the audience. I had the total power. Even though I poured out mostly every part of the accident, I still left some important parts out. But who is going to notice? No one is ever going to know exactly what I felt at the time. Through out memoirs people can express themselves easily and try to be understood by others.
This is also shown on Michael Kimball´s post cards, which shows the lives of others. He hears stories and then puts them into post cards. Yet, the speaker is only going to tell what he wants as well as Michael is only going to draw what he pleases. So, does these post cards really demonstrate a real life event? 

"What do you see?" (117)

Improving My Paper

I completely agree with you. I should have explained more what Downton Abby is because not everyone has heard of it.  At the same time I should have made my thesis clearer and maybe only focus on the anachronisms and not so much on the different dialects. I guess this part might confuse some people. I now realize that transitional phrases can be really useful to connect all of my ideas. Not only will it help me improve the structure of my essay, but it will also become easier to read and understand. I guess my first paragraph on page 4 was a little rushed and I’m sure I could have talked more about the African-American influence. On the other hand my mistakes on the citations were avoidable! Paying closer attention to the correct worked citation might have helped improve my paper.

I really appreciate your feedback, as well as your comments in person! Thank you!!

Lying Through Fragments

As I started reading Chapter G of Reality Hunger, fragment 185 caught my attention. Shields states, “Tell all the truth but tell it slant---“ (63). I don’t know about you, but I see some irony here. If you start telling the truth slanted, it means that you are leaving some important parts out. Therefore, not telling the truth completely. Telling the truth means spilling out all you know and going straight to the point. From my own experience, the more you try to avoid telling the real truth, the more lies you start to make. So does this mean that Shield is lying to us?

To be honest I wasn’t able to understand Chapter H, titled as “now”. Still, fragment 242 caught my attention: “Our culture is obsessed with real events because we experience hardly any” (82).  When I read this fragment I kept thinking about the arrow of Zeno. In order to stop and analyze what we are feeling at a certain event we would have to stop the time, which we all not it´s impossible. In a way I agree with this fragment because we can’t experience any event because our life is like a movie that can’t be paused.

On Chapter I, fragment 254 caught my attention. It states that Obama was able to win the elections because of his “commitment to reality”. How was he able to do so? He appealed to popularity by using his Blackberry and playing basketball. The best way to win an election is by relating to your public. It is proven that you are more likely to like someone that shares your same hobbies and ideas. Teachers and parents have taught us to always tell the truth, but in such events (an election) lying is necessary. So my question for you is: when should we lie?