Skip to main content

~how i'm feeling~

Empathy. It's one of the traits that make us distinctly human. It's what makes people like us.

Much like making friends, empathizing is also how writers get their readers to root for the protagonist. Take Nea, for example. Reading "Saving Sourdi," we as readers are intentionally left in the oblivion of Sourdi's true situation--much like Nea is. Unlike the dramatic irony, in which our knowledge goes beyond the protagonist's, Chai uses mystery as an unexpected element to fully understand what characters feel. Or in writing our power paragraphs, our perception of Judd Mulvaney's personality and thoughts was so clear--just from a single page. Because instead of just describing Judd as a mature thinker, we're allowed into his mind to see how he thinks. "ONEtwothree. ONEtwothree." Those aren't typically the things that run through children's' thoughts. We'll only believe the extent of his deep personality until we see it explicitly.

Despite empathy being one of the staple traits of being human, I have to admit that it is one of my greatest weaknesses. The only bit of wisdom I can provide is that most of the time, we don't want solutions; we just want someone to listen. The more I deal with these situations, I've realized that people just want others to know how they feel. We crave to share our thoughts and feel less alone in doing so. And although I know this simple fact, I often still feel helpless when it comes to other people's feelings; so, if you have any suggestions on how you empathize with others, please let me know.

Comments

  1. KatieOctober 7, 2020 at 9:04 AM

    I really enjoyed reading this Sabrina! Your line, "we don't want solutions; we just want someone to listen" is so important. I've had similar thoughts this week about the power of empathy and also how difficult it is to practice it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The War

Despite the countless pieces of legislation passed under Roosevelt, what got America out of the depression was World War II. After World War I, America was actually very Isolationist. So as Roosevelt approached the war, he gradually promoted an Interventionist mindset. I mean, if Germany's going to intervene with everyone, why can't the U.S.?  So Roosevelt started getting involved with revising neutrality acts to allow for a cash-and-carry policy and later the Lend-Lease act so that the U.S. could provide arms and aid to the French and UK. And then, Pearl Harbor happened, so we all know what came next. Actual war. He was pretty much priming the U.S. for war so that when war actually happened, everyone wouldn't be in shock. Although FDR didn't live to see the end of the war he brought his country into, according to my AP Gov breakout rooms, he was deemed the most worthy of all the remaining Presidents to be carved into Mt. Rushmore. Both for the democratic party and demo...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Fiction of Eye Contact

This picture makes me so  uncomfortable.  While it's eye-opening to find reason behind the normalities of point of view in film, the eye-level shot appears far from normal in my eyes. Is it the purple suit? The hands crossed? Or the specific positioning of the viewer on a table that makes me so uneasy? It's probably a combination of my suspicions, but I've decided that to its core, it's the eye contact that creates my discomfort. Most of these types of shots never reach the extent of eye contact. Instead, the similarity in levels creates a feeling of similarity shared by the character and viewer. There is no power disparity, no difference in viewpoint. Look at Forrest Gump and this eye-level shot (note that he's not looking at you). But once eye contact comes into play, the connection is too strong. Of course, any good producer will aim to form a connection for an audience to a film. However, there's comfort in a screen lying between a film and its viewer. It...
Post a Comment
Read more

In Loving Memory of FDR

One of the most influential leaders of the democratic party and democracy as a whole, Franklin Delano Roosevelt left our world seventy-five years ago. Being such a huge part of America's development (and APUSH curriculum), I thought it would only be natural to examine FDR in history and  FDR's history. Now, let me take you along a brief, or not so brief, journey of Roosevelt's life.
Post a Comment
Read more