"Naked Lunch" Thesis

Portraying an interaction between former lovers in Naked Lunch, Michael Hollinger combines discrete symbolism, stereotypical characterization and subtle vampirism in order to display the duality of human nature.

"Suburban" Thesis

Offering a humorous anecdote in "Suburban", John Ciardi skillfully employs religious allusion, formulated ambiguity and situational irony in order to elucidate the overarching theme of sacrifice and reward.

That Awkward Moment

                That awkward moment when you discuss a personal, traumatic event and people think it’s a joke and laugh at you.

                                “Okay, fine I’ll tell you but you can’t laugh at me.”

                                “What’s the problem? It can’t be that bad.”

                                “I told you I didn’t want to talk about it! God, fine.”

                "Just so you know, this is a true story, and it is not funny. I have videos to prove it. Not funny. I don’t think it is funny now, and 'funny' would have been the last thing I’d have called it then. My family disagrees.

                "So, when I was a mere babe, a fresh and spritely thirteen, my family decided it would be a fabulous idea to go on a cruise. I’m not going to lie, it was a decent idea. I mean, endless soft serve ice cream? Everything is right with the world. They also decided that it would be a fabulous idea to 'swim with the stingrays'. That’s where they were wrong.

                "Well, okay. So we were at this beach on this island listening to this guy who was trying to convince us to eat raw conch. So my brother eats it and the guy summons the stingrays by some strange magic otherwise known as food. The stingrays come and swim around everyone, touching them with their slimy, gross, disgusting bodies. Circling and weaving around everyone’s legs. And then the guy starts touching them and having everyone else touching them. I said no; I refused. Then he starts feeding the stupid stingrays. Guess what else happens. He has everyone else feed those horrible creatures. I said no; I refused. That didn’t matter to that awful man, though.

                "What comes next is the worst part of any story I could tell. Worse than pulling a Steve Irwin and dying from a sting. That would have been better than this; at least I wouldn’t have to live with what happened.

                "That guy told me to feed the stingray, to touch it. I said 'no'. He lifted it part-way out of the water. 'It’s okay,' he said, 'it won’t hurt you, just feed it.' Another 'no'. The guy did not leave, and neither did the stingray. Slow motion.  He lifted the stingray just the tiniest bit more. The stingray looked me straight in the eye, and latched onto my upper thigh with its ugly, nasty mouth. One second passes, and every bit of it hurts. Why do stingrays have such weird mouths? It’s like a freaking tornado in there. Finally, it detaches itself, because I am not food and apparently don’t taste good. Thank goodness. Tears were welling up in my eyes, and my leg was red and swelling. It would be bruised for more than a month. My sister was laughing, taking photos. My brothers were oblivious to my ordeal, as usual. My mother held my arm, comforting me. My dad, too, laughed. The guy looked at me. 'Oops,' he said. And then they expected me to go snorkeling with them.

Cue laughter.