Thought Paper

            For my thought paper, I would like to connect two chapters that we read to create a more fluid sense of the topic for writing and healing. I really enjoyed the chapter on Pathographies and the way in which people come to terms with illnesses and would like to connect it to the chapter before it about the brain. I think the chapter on the brain by Alice Brand was very interesting, but it did not fully address the way in which the structure of the brain can also help a person to heal from their trauma. I think connecting this chapter with the pathographies will really help to make that understanding clear.

            While both of these chapters bring up the idea that logic is stronger than emotion, I would like my paper to focus on the opposite. Rather than simply looking at one side, like both of these chapters, I would like to find the balance between logic and emotion and produce a paper that shows the relationship that exists between the logical and emotional aspects of life. I believe that logic and emotion are intertwined with each other and we often make many decisions with both of these factors in mind, whether we know it or not.  Much like self vs. society, logic vs. emotion is very similar, where one side is greatly influenced by the other simply because more pressure exits around it. Decisions about the self are often impacted by the way society would view though decisions. I think logic and emotion act in a similar way. Logical decisions are also impacted by our emotions as vice versa.

I think both Brand and Hawkins’ chapters will be useful towards my argument, but I also want to use my personal experience with coming to terms with an illness as well as blogs created by my classmates. I think their insight will also help to make this distinction between logic and emotion as well as the way our brains help us to cope with trauma much clearer in my essay.

These two chapters are connected strongly by the fact that people are expected to find an outside source of help before turning back to themselves to find a way to heal. The blogs written by my classmates shows this as well, but many responses come from a place of health since they have already turned back towards themselves to discover what it is that they need to heal. Brand’s chapter on the brain shows that the brain is capable of helping us heal, while at the same time is often the reason behind a lot of people’s pain. In order to get better, Brand’s essay argues that we often try to find a cure somewhere else. The same can be said about Hawkins’s essay These people look to doctors to heal their illnesses, of course, but when that doesn’t work the healing process must occur within. The Pathographies come after the medical reports and the science that these patients research in order to find a cure for themselves. The real cure, the one of true healing comes from the pathographies, which allow each patient to come to terms with their illness and take their lives back.

I’d like to combine these ideas to show the way in which the brain influences our idea of ourselves as well as the world around us. I’d also like to look at the relationship between memories and healing, using Brand’s chapter on the brain to convey this. I think that by combining these two chapters, a much clear picture of writing and healing will be revealed, because we will have the science behind the brain as well as the emotion provided by the pathographies and patient stories. 

"Writing About Suicide"

In this chapter, suicide is explored through the work done in Professor Jeffery Berman's class "Literary Suicide". This chapter includes several diaries written by one of his students who responded every week in class with an anonymus letter. These diaries are then explained through the student, Jonathan Schiff and Berman. Both agree that the class was useful when thinking about the relationship between writing and healing but they both also point out something very important.

Jonathan makes it clear that when he told other people that he was taking the class he was almost instantly shunned or looked at strangely. He felt nervous of revealing this information because he knew people would judge him in a way he did not want to be judged and this was because of the stigma that surrounds suicide.

Berman also points out that Jonathan, as well as the other students were able to share some very personal and meaningful work because they were in an environment that allowed them to freely express themselves. They were also in a place that they knew their ideas would be safe and accepted, much like the evidence from previous chapters that shows people heal better when they are involved in a community that accepts them.

I thought this chapter also related well with the chapter on pathographies and illnesses. That chapter expressed the idea that once someone became sick they became an "other". The same can be said about Jonathan weariness to talk about the class and the stigma that surrounds suicide. Jonathan didn't want to talk about his part in the class because he knew that he might be labeled as an unhealthy person. The stories from the other chapter also included this fear. Suicide is also seen as a shameful thing, something that shouldn't be talked about because it is so clearly the opposite of what a healthy person should do, which relates very much to how illnesses affected people in the other chapter. Instead of being healthy and "normal", these people are sick and therefore abnormal. I think chapter brings up a lot of interesting ideas of how we view suicide and all the mixed messages that surround it.

"Teaching Emotional Literacy"

In Jerome Bump's essay he argues that there needs to be some kind of emotional education to go along with what we learn in college. And I have to agree with him. Bump points out that the more education he received the further his emotions got from him, and I think this relates very well to what we have been reading in other chapters where logic always seems to take precedent over emotions. I think this is what we have been taught through social interactions as well as in our education.

Bump argues that students are not taught how to respond to literature in an emotional way, instead they are expected to respond simply to the text and how it relates to life or society. Students are not expected to allow their emotions to be part of a class discussion, and often students are shunned when they do share their personal feelings.

Bump points out that when emotional feelings that are inspired by literature is pushed aside, the opportunity to discuss these emotions is lost. Without the opportunity to explain and explore these feelings that come up, students are often given the short end of the stick and are encouraged to push away their feelings.

I thought this was an interesting chapter and showed a different side of education. I think talking about emotions in the classroom is very important and we definitely don't see enough of it. I think its interesting that when we do, those students are seen as teacher's pets or inferior to the rest of the class because they weren't able to keep their feelings to themselves. I wonder what a classroom would look like it this wasn't the case and students who didn't share their emotions were seen as the ones struggling.

"Voices From the Line"

This essay by Laura Julier talks about the Clothesline Project, which allows women to talk about their trauma by creating a shirt and hanging it on a clothes line. She includes many shirts to illustrate that these women use the experience to confront many different aspects of their lives as well as their trauma. Many women address their attackers, themselves, and their sisters in order to take back their lives and heal in some way.

I think this was an extremely important essay to read, especially right now when Planned Parenthood and women's health care being such an issue. At one point Julier says "The autonomy in making her shirt gives each woman space to wrestle with naming her experience and finding language for it in her own voice and in her own way" (365). This is an issue women struggle with under many circumstances, whether that is not being in control of choosing what to do with her own body or not being able to express herself in a way that can help her heal. I think Julier was able to capture the power of the Clothesline Project while at the same time arguing that the power of the project comes from the connection and strength these women show by telling their stories.

And again, these experiences are accepted through writing and allow each woman to take back her life, because she is in a community that acknowledges her struggle and trauma. And while one woman points out that many might not see a point "because there are still war and AIDs and violence against women," it still serves as an outlet for struggling women.