Posted on Behalf of Merissa

The author in Caroline/Tennessee faced her dragon by realizing that she was making all the wrong decisions in her relationship and she was continuing the endless cycle of heartache in her relationship. She then made the decision not go back there again and she would rather die instead. Jenny Boully in “I remained very sorry for what I did to the black kitten” faced her dragon by being open and honest with her feelings. She talked about her wrongdoing which is very hard to write about as a writer Lisa Nikolidakis in Landlines talked about the confusion that most teenagers go through in their young years. I believe she faced her dragon by being raw and open in her emotions. This was a very sensitive topic and she was able to talk about that without revealing anything about herself.

I remain sorry for what I did to the little black kitten faces a dragon by confronting guilt in this story. Guilt for getting rid of a kitten that she is always reminded of. She basically has to live with what she did wrong knowing that it is nothing she can do to take it back. Talking about her guilt her help her move forward in life and not looking back at what she had done wrong. The guilt was eating her alive in this story.
Carolina/ Tennessee was probably my favorite one out of the three. She faces the dragon by talking about being in an affair with a married man. Although Ive personally never been in this situation you can tell that it was hard for her to stop. Being the mistress isn't easy at all and it seems like the guy had some type of control over her as if she had to, like answering his calls "I watched the small black letters of your name thrash against my cell phone screen. I watched my finger, in acceptance, slide across the slick glass. How far I was willing to go—back over the Blue Ridge, almost the entire way home." this shows that although she knew it was wrong she just had to accept the call. She needs to learn people only do what you allow them to. This story seems the most relatable, ive heard many stories about this.
Landlines faced the dragons also, too, about guilt about a little girl leading a man on when she knows it isn't right. It seems like she calls him a stalker yet she entertains him and a part of me feels like he turns her on in a weird way towards the ending of this story it seems like she wanted the call to be from Stevie (private call). She played with his mind and although she seems like the victim I think she plays a part in this game as well. She was guilty yet just an innocent little girl.

Extra Credit

All three stories are examples of the author "facing the dragon."  All the stories subject matter are tough subjects for the authors to speak out about without directly saying what they were feeling.  The running theme in these choices of writing is guilt;  in each story the authors write about a great sense of guilt for their actions.

In "Landlines" the author writes about a creep pedophile who stalked and preyed on teenage girls at the mall however the author takes responsibility for the interaction between Stevie the pedophile because the game she would play with her clique of girl friends.  When Stevie then contacts her at her home land-line she overwhelmed with fear and guilt.  I think the topic might have been hard for the author to face but I think the story is more then just her guilt of interacting with Stevie.  I also think the story is the naivety of teenage girls and the pressures adolescents place on each other to be cool.  I think this was expressed a lot in the line, "We didn't want to be virgins, so we feigned a loose coolness about sex, and in those moments when we listened to Stevie describe his always-hard penis, we also looked at one another closely, a who'll-flinch-first test teen girls are terrifyingly good at."

"I remain very sorry for what I did to the little black cat" is very straight forward about the guilt expressed in the story.  The delicate word choices used to describe the innocence of the kitten made the guilt felt by the author so much more powerful.  However, the story is so much more then the unethically thing this girl did to the kitten.  A quickly developing  preteen mimicking what she once saw, but was not supposed to remember, her mother do to the family cat.  The dragon faced here is a flash back of woman recalling unresolved emotions of being a young girl dealing with her once present but now absent mother.

"Carolina/ Tennessee" is the classic remorse, guilt, shame and emptiness felt by being the "other woman" in a married man's affair.  She never writes straight forward that she saddened and ashamed but the details in her actions described reveals the dragon she is really facing by carrying on this affair and I think the last line of the story sums it but very well, " I'm not going to Newport. Instead, I'll sit here until my cigarette ash sinks through my skit, smolders and lights, burns me up under this tree in South Carolina, until I am nothing but char on the bark."

Extra Credit

I feel that all three pieces from Brevity are great examples of "facing their dragons". My favorite was "I Remain Very Sorry For What I Did to the Little Black Cat". I feel like she is confronting what she did to the cat as a child but not trying to make excuses or asking for simpathy. Her use of details is great. The way she describes the cat as something innocent after brung to light what she had done to it as something dark. The last line had me. I love how she brings us to the present and shows us how that cat still haunts her.

"Landlines" was my second favorite because it was something that I Luke some what relate to. I love the use of words. Like when she says "I stared at the single word on the caller ID, private, and I let it ring and ring as I choked on that word, private,". I felt what she was feeling. I pulled me in just like many other of her words did. She definitely faced her "dragons" in this piece. 

"Carolina/ Tennessee" was great also. I love the power pull between knowing she was doing something wrong but not wanting to give up the pleasure she received. I love the images she describe. Like the black bumblebee on the windshield and the auburn hair woven into the pillowcase. I feel she faces her "dragons" in the end by sitting there letting the cigarette burn out. 

Extra Credit

Chrissy Dente

CNF extra credit

Carolina/Tennessee by Anna B. Sutton is a great example on how authors “face their dragon.” In this piece, the author writes about her love affair with a married man. When you are the “other woman” it’s hard to open up and admit that you are possibly ruining a marriage. The author makes it clear that she feels guilty about the man that she has been sleeping with is married; it’s hard in general to point out the things we are guilty about. This situation can also be shaming and embarrassing for the author, knowing she is used for sexual attention, since the man goes home to his wife instead of her. It’s a lust relationship, which is often frowned upon in society. The author addresses all of these dragons: the lust, the wife, and the guilt. She does so sorrowfully and regretfully. Another dragon she faces is the places they meet up, thanks to their lustful relationship. It’s any place and any time, as long as she has it. To truly face her dragons, she moves away. Distance should cure all. She admits diving into his temptation when he calls her two months later, but she defeats her dragon by not continuing her journey to meet him.

            I really liked this piece because I feel like it can be relatable to some people. It’s a real life situation; people often get caught up in lust and don’t always deal with the consequences, but this author does. I admire that she faced her dragons. By her facing her dragons, all of the aspects of this relationship that are completely wrong, she is able to say goodbye. Facing her dragons allowed her to stop all the problems she avoided. She freed herself from the dragons.

            I Remain Very Sorry for What I Did to That Little Black Kitten also shows the dragon of guilt. The author brings up throwing away the kitten, which seems crude and cruel, and how she feels guilty. She remembers this when her daughter brings it up. By her facing this dragon, she has to face that what she did was wrong, and she cannot change it. She was at a tough age, where image mattered. If only she didn’t care about what others thought and she would not have to live with the guilt. Speaking up about an embarrassing moment of immature guilt can hopefully help her move past this event and not be struck by guilt anymore. 

            Landlines also deals with guilt. I feel like each of this pieces that we read deal with the authors facing an embarrassing moment in their life that they feel guilty about. The author in this piece felt wrong for leading a man on like that at such a young age. Yes, her and her friend knew it was wrong and gross, but continued to lead the man on because it was fun and interesting. The guilt arises when Stevie actually finds the author. How do you tell your parents your stalker is a creepy man you would talk to on the phone at the mall? She felt guilty about her actions and this piece of writing makes her face her dragons. She has to face the fact that she was young and naïve, and made a bad decision. She was also very scared. The author faces the guilt because she feels stupid about the decisions she made as a young girl. 

Extra Credit Blog

I think all three selections from Brevity face their authors' dragons of guilt.  "Landlines" contains other themes as well, and the guilt is more subtle, but I do believe it is there.  Each one is, however, different.

"I Remain Very Sorry For What I Did to the Little Black Kitten" explores themes of responsibility and power, and the guilt associated with a misuse of such.  The speaker is fearless in confronting this dragon.  She does not try to justify what she did, or paper over unpleasant details.  What particularly moved me was the section where she describes the kitten's delicate, vulnerable features.  Because this section is placed after we know that she abandoned the kitten, it takes on extra poignancy.  It was a helpless beautiful thing to whom she did a terrible thing, and she's not afraid to let her readers know that excruciating fact.  I also think she may have used the kitten as a symbol for the way she felt in relation to her parents, but I could be reading too far into it.

"Landlines" seemed a little less coherent to me, but still very powerful.  It explores the themes of budding sexuality and violation, and the subtle feelings of guilt both can awaken.  Although it is not explicitly stated, I do get the sense that the speaker feels as if her indulgence of Stevie's prank calls led to her harassment.  Yes, Stevie is the one in the wrong, the one sexually harassing a young girl, but the speaker feels as if she has invited it.  From what I have seen on TV programs and read, that is often a common reaction to such a violation.  The author of "Landlines" also faces a dragon of fear and trauma.  It is obvious to the reader that these events terrified her and left a scar on her adolescence, but the author rips open those old wounds for her readers with stunning bravery.

"Carolina/Tennessee" is different from the other stories because it deals with the guilt related to decisions and actions taken as an adult, when society tends to think people should know better.  The other stories deal with childhood and adolescence, and for that reason readers may be more lenient with their judgment.  Everyone did stupid or regrettable things as a child.  The author of "Carolina/Tennessee" faces not only her own dragon of guilt over the affair, but the dragon of public rejection and embarrassment.  To boldly put such a story on display to the whole reading community is an action worthy of respect.        

essay 3 workshop

You don’t appreciate your home until you go somewhere completely foreign. Literally, foreign. Italy was one of the best trips of my life; I’d go back in a heartbeat, but a difficult language, a different culture, can be extremely overwhelming. Staying with my aunt in the northern town known as Trieste, was a great experience. I got to learn what it’s like living in an Italian household and learned about where my family came from. Of course the food was one for the books.

Everyday we did something different, whether we went to the beach, which was man made and concrete, or a castle of park.I surprisingly fit right in with my blonde hair and green eyes. Since my family lives so up north, the fairer complexion and light hair was common. Until I spoke, I was just another person. Once I spoke though, I was treated completely different. They either tried to scam me because I was American or they were rude. When shopping one day I actually had a sales lady roll her eyes at me trying to speak italian. I understand it was more difficult for me to fit in because we weren't in a tourist area. But with a grandmother who spoke both English and Italian at the same time and an aunt who didn't speak English at all, it was lonely at some points.

One a beautiful day we went to go visit the local castle, Castello Miramare.Yeah, you heard me right, the local castle. I’ve always seen pictures growing up and now i was actually going. I couldn't contain my excitement and next to the castle was an old and beautiful church where the pictures do not do it justice. As we dressed for the hot summer day, I didn’t think twice that wearing shorts would be an issue. I wanted to be comfortable in the 85 degree weather.

The castle was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. It was pearl white and had the old rustic look and feel. The gardens were my favorite. I've never seen such vibrant colors, even the trees and grass were the most perfect colors. The castle was also along the crystal blue ocean. It started out a great day. The communication barriers did not matter between me and my aunt and no one cared that I was American. The church was our next stop and I was even more excited.

The church was done past the castle, still along the ocean. The Trieste Cathedral was something I grew dreaming about going too. This was my grandparent’s church, and despite being built in the 6th century, it was still breathtaking. It had high ceils covered in paintings and large ancient chandeliers. large pillars lined the aisles and you could just stare for hours looking at each tiny detail it took to make this church as beautiful as it was.