Esther's 2018-2019 Playlist

This past week we looked at letters from John and Abigail Adams and while trying to analyze the underlying tone of the letters, there was some dispute. Some people interpreted the relationship of John and Abigail one way while others disagreed. After hearing this, I couldn’t help but think about how limited writing is in terms of communication. Today, millions of people use texting and emails to reach out and send messages. Although this form of communication may be convenient and comfortable, it doesn’t always fully satisfy the conveyance of the information that needs to be delivered. In Abigail’s letter, she first starts out by saying “I wish you would ever write me a Letter half as long as I write you” and to this John replies with “You justly complain of my short Letters”. Some could say “Oh, this sounds like a lighthearted joke” while others could think Wait, I feel like there’s some hostility in this . I guess you could try and decipher what type of relationship they have and ...

Playing the victim. Something that we’ve all probably done, sometimes without even knowing. In Just Walk On By , Brent Staples introduces the essay with an anecdote where he calls a woman his “first victim”. From the woman’s perspective, she is rightfully the victim, for “a broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a bulky military jacket” is inferred to be an obvious suspect of no good. She instinctively victimizes herself and flees the situation to avoid possible conflict. We know that the author had no intention of hurting the woman at all, but she still took action to protect herself. Like the woman, sometimes we like to play the victim even in situations where it isn’t really necessary. The instinctive nature we have to victimize ourselves isn’t necessarily our fault either; it’s just something that happens without much thinking. Although playing the victim may not seem very harmful, the effect on the person who is not ...