A Personal Essay By A Personal Essay

Flipping through the collection of essays, one struggles to find a positive essay. Even just the first sentence may disturb some readers so much they put the book away. “A Personal Essay By A Personal Essay” by Christy Vannoy is an intriguing essay that touches on Vannoy’s own struggles while mixing them with the stories she heard at a clinic led by a national women’s magazine.

 As other people, or “essays” as she calls them, at the clinic present, Vannoy judges them harshly. Although the only obvious credibility she has is that McSweeny’s, a famous publishing house, published her work, her life experiences justify her ability to judge the other stories. Throughout her life she has dealt with severe issues: as a child Vannoy was beaten by her mother; later she developed bulimia; and her only developmentally disabled child originated from an affair with a second cousin.

Vannoy authors this piece to explain that sad writing strongly captivates an audience. Her humorous and sarcastic tone makes it much more interesting and less depressing. As Vannoy recounts the essays she heard at the clinic she jokes, “As soon as they let women in the Middle East start talking, you’ll have to hold an editor hostage to get a response. Mark my words” (Vannoy 210). Even though it is a serious issue Vannoy knows from her career how powerful essays from these women will be. Another essay in the room deals with alopecia and Vannoy’s evaluation was that her message was in the right place but her focus was wrong, “Bald is not the story… I think she needed to focus on not having eyelashes or pubic hair. Now that’s interesting” (Vannoy 211). Vannoy knows all of these somber narratives will make great essays because the emotional tug grabs the reader. The stories shared in this essay are heartbreaking but Vannoy uses a balance between sarcasm and sorrow to keep her audience attentive. Now when searching for an essay to write a blog post about it is clear why everything in the book is so solemn.

"I feel depressed. I know I should be happy, but I'm not" - Charlie Brown 

What Broke My Father's Heart

Butler did not write this essay to persuade an audience or to entertain a reader; she wrote it to relieve her guilt. “What Broke My Father’s Heart” by Katy Butler, begins by making the audience think it is a memory of how her father died. The essay develops into medical facts surrounding her father’s conditions. After years of debilitating medical issues, Butler’s mother puts Butler’s father’s life into her hands with instructions to let him go. Even as much as they both loved him they knew it was his time, the pacemaker didn’t

Butler’s sophisticated detailed writing makes the essay neither sad nor depressing. It becomes an upbeat monotone of research and facts, “my father’s electronically managed heart… became part of the $24 billion world wide cardiac device industry” (Butler 17). The composition is filled with statistics about pacemakers and their development in health science and information about strokes, hernias, and dementia, medical issues her father had. Her style made the story feel less personal and more of a defense because, “I felt as if I were signing over as his executioner and that I had no choice” (Butler 21). Although Butler knew her father’s condition was a huge strain on her mother and he was a different person now, she still was unsettled with what she participated in doing to him. She wrote this essay not just to tell a story about her father but also to defend what she did to him. All of the listed facts point to the conclusion that her association with her father’s death does not make her a bad person. Butler has guilt about her father’s death and wrote this piece to prove her innocence, even though no one was questioning it.

Butler has had many other works published including a book of her own. In addition, she has been printed in Best American Science Writing, which is she recounts her father’s conditions in this essay with such astounding detail. 

“Five Cents Please” - Lucy Van Pelt

 

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The Washing

“The Washing” by Reshma Memon Yaqub, describes death in a very peaceful way. The essay is full of rich customs that surround the passing of a loved one in Islamic tradition. Yaqub writes articles about Muslim practices to inform her readers about religious rituals. This essay has a more personal story behind it for Yaqub however.

The serene tone used in this writing explains more of Yaqub’s thoughts and emotions during the washing. The first line of the essay creates suspense, “I hadn’t planned to wash the corpse” (Yaqub 218), but the rest of the piece becomes much more calming. Usually family preforms the washing, but in America not enough people know how to properly preform the ceremony. Yaqub joins the “professionals”, because it is still vital that a family member or close friend partakes in this cleansing. She stepped up to take this role when there was no one else to do it. In the Islamic culture washing the body before its final rest is a very high honor. The six women preforming this ritual give the body utmost respect and finish the tradition by wrapping the body in white cloth, “She looks so small and fragile, like a little girl with a bonnet tied around her hair” (Yaqub 222). Yaqub’s detailed romanticized writing enlightens the reader without making death seem sad or scary. It becomes obvious that this ceremony is as special to the Muslim people as any other right of passage. The last thing the women do before they leave that day is pray. The beautiful prayers speak about god and forgiveness of the deceased’s sins.

This informational essay provides a narrative and an appreciation of the washing ceremony in Islam. Yaqub intrigues her readers with a story, and leaves them understanding a scarcely known tradition about her faith.

It has become a tradition that Lucy will always pull the ball away when Charlie tries to kick it. 

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