Psyhchology

Authors Note:  This is an essay on why I want to become a psychologist and some important Psychologists to know about before you become one.

Sigmund Freud was a Austrian neurologist who became known as the founding father of psychoanalysis.  He came up with the theory called, “oedipal complex”.  Psychology is a hard degree to get because you have to go through many different steps to become a psychologist.  I’ve always wanted to be one and I started to study the field of psychology along with other theories of psychology and Sigmund Freud and his theories.   

Oedipal complex is a term in Sigmund's theory of psychosexual stages of development.  This is when a boy is between the ages of 3 and 5 and he starts to feel jealous of his father.  He wants attention from his mother so he begins to dislike his Father.  The exact opposite for girls is called Electra Complex.  They feel jealous of their mother because they crave attention from their Father.  The term was named after the character in Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex” who accidently killed his father and married his mother.  I think this is kind of a weird theory because when I was young, I didn’t feel this way about my Mom.  I wanted to be by both of my parents.  Maybe because I have 3 older brothers and we all just wanted attention from anyone.

Even though Sigmund’s’ theories are a bit crazy and weird, I still want to become a psychologist.  I think it would be fun and interesting to learn about how and why people think a certain way.  For example, how would you describe the color “blue” to a blind person.  You couldn’t say, “Oh it’s the color of the sky,” because they have never seen the sky before.  My brother has an anatomy class in high school and he always comes home talking about the human brain and how it works.  I started to get fascinated by this because I never really thought about the brain, simply because what teenager really thinks a whole lot about anything?  When I first started researching psychology, I had to read the material over and over again just so I could understand what I was reading.       

Although I want to become a psychologist, I want to know more about how and why you dream.  I found out that when you dream it’s usually about something that craves a lot of your attention.  Also, things in your dream can represent different things, such as a train going into a tunnel can symbolize sexual intercourse.  At least that what Sigmund Freud thought.  On the other hand, Carl Jung had a different opinion. He thought that you dreamt because you were reflecting on your waking self and working through your issues.  When we sleep our brain goes through 5 different stages.  Stage 1 is a light sleep and you could wake up.  Stage 2 is moving into kind of a heavier sleep.  Stage 3 and 4 are our deepest sleep hours.  The 5^th stage is rapid eye movement or REM.  Your brain slowly slows down throughout the stages so that in stage 5 you can have REM.

With more studying about why and how we dream I will begin to understand the brain a little bit more.  Sigmund Freud and his theories are really weird and hard to connect to because I’m still young.  I am going to try to become a psychologist when I’m older because working with the brain is actually fun and interesting to me.

Being Overly Nice Isn't Always Nice

I thought that they way the Mom talked to the little boy was very rude and stereotypical.  She was trying to prove that all colored people are poor, big, and know how to sew.  Boyd proved her wrong.  I sometimes feel this way when I'm with one of my friends.  She tries to finish my sentences and it really bothers me.  In Pewaukee, we have vast cultural schools.  We have many different races here so we don't care what you look like or how you dress.  I mean sure there's a few people that will judge you, but that's only because they feel like they are better than everyone else.  Shirley Jackson was trying to teach us that not all people are the same and don't judge a book by it's cover.  Also that if you are a certain color, you should act a certain way.  Which isn't true. 

Response To A Clean Well-Lighted Place

In the story there is two very different waiters and a old man.  One is a young, impatient, selfish, and rude waiter.  The other one is a old, patient, polite, and respectful waiter.  Then there is this old deaf man who is drinking at the cafe.  The young waiter just wants to leave the restaurant and close up.  He doesn't want the old man to keep drinking.  On the other hand, the older waiter can connect to the old deaf man because he is old himself too.  The old waiter connected to the old deaf man because he felt at a time that he couldn't sleep and was depressed as well.  The old waiters personality is sort of happy on the outside, but crush and alone on the inside.  The young waiter's personality is rude and selfish on the outside, but on the inside he is just really tired and wants to go home.  The cafe represents a safe and secure place for the old deaf man because that's where he feels he can be himself and doesn't feel alone there like he does at home.  

When I read the story A Clean Well-Lighted Place, I didn’t feel as sympathetic to the old man because there is no music in the background.  The music plays a big role in the videos because they set a sympathetic and sad tone towards the end.  In the beginning of the video the music sounds sort of scary and suspenseful.  The light in the café resembles comfort for the old man.  He knows he can take a bottle of brandy and go home, but that wouldn’t be the same as sitting in a well-lighted place with company of others.  Although he doesn’t really communicate with the waiters, he still likes their company. 

The bar that the waiter goes to is really loud and not very well light.  He didn’t seem to enjoy the company of other because there were too many people.  This bar sort of represents a dark place for the waiter because he did not like it there.  Personally, I didn’t mind the long screenshots because I could listen to the music in the background and focus on that.  If I were a person who was bothered by the screenshots, I probably wouldn’t of finished the videos in the first place.  The short story was obviously different because you couldn’t see anything, only read.  I liked the videos better because I am more of a visual learner so I like to see things.

Irony

Authors Note: This is a text analysis connection on two different stories.  I was trying to do A-B transitions again with this piece.

Irony is something that happens when an event is suppose to go one way, then it goes the complete opposite.  In The Possession, there's this really sweet, loving, brown nosing girl, that all of a sudden becomes possessed.  It was ironic because the teachers pet turned out to be possessed and scary in the end.  Also in The Ransom Of The Red Chief, by O.Henry, a 10 year old boy got kidnapped.  The irony was that he actually liked being away from home and he said he was having the time of his life.  In both stories there is an ironic plot twist in the end.

In The Ransom Of The Red Chief, there's an important quote that really shows irony in the story.The quote was, "When the kid found out we were going to leave him at home he started up a howl like a calliope and fastened himself as tight as a leech to Bill's leg."  I thought this was an irony because normally when a child is kidnapped they want to go home and be with their parents.  But in this case, he wanted to stay with the men that took him.  I was really confused when I read this part because I thought that the boy would want get the heck out of there.  Obviously  I was wrong.  The overall irony in the end was a great plot twist that I didn't see coming.

Although there is irony in The Ransom Of The Red Chief, there was a also a great ending to The Possession.  A girl teenager out of the blue becomes possessed.  No one expected it because she was always on task, quiet, and overall a teachers pet.  One day she started growling at people and snapping her fingers and twitching.  At the end she killed a classmate of hers.  It's very ironic that a teachers pet would become possessed because normally those type of students end up succeeding in life and not killing one another.  I did not expect this type of ending with someone dying because the story seemed to be having a kind of cheerful tone in the beginning.  I didn't really enjoy reading this piece because of the non solved ending.  There was no solution because the possessed girl just ended up dying and killing someone.  She didn't become her self again and she just went on a rampage of twirling around, hitting things, screaming, and then eventually killing another student.

Even though I read two different stories and one didn't have a resolved ending, they still connected.  The way they connected was because of the obvious irony.  In both stories you would've expected a complete opposite ending to happen.  I was really baffled by how in The Possession, there was such a bad ending.  I wanted there to be a surprise but not that would disappoint me in a way that I wanted to write a whole different ending.  Normally you can predict how a story is going to end, but then when it happens you're sitting in your seat with your mouth open because you could predict it from the beginning.  Another way they connected was because they both had crime in them.  One story a kid gets kidnapped.  In the other, a girl kills another girl.  Now in most movies someone usually dies, but not by a possessed person.  

With both stories having a plot twist ending, they both connected in a way.  I was more shocked by The Possession because there was no solution.  I was kind of upset when I finished it because the girl just died.  I thought she would've became un-possessed and not killed someone.  Overall, both stories had obvious irony in them.

My Bestfriend

Authors Note: This is a poem dedicated to my best friend Dr.  I was trying to create a poem including figurative language in it.

The day I met my best friend.

She was sitting in a beanbag drawing.

I asked to color with her.

We instantly became the best of friends.

She’s the peanut butter to my jelly.

I’m the slim to her shady.

We never get sick of each other,

We never are apart,

We never go a day without talking,

We love each other with all our heart.

When we fight, it’s only for a little while,

Because eventually we miss each other

And come crawling right back.

The way we are sarcastic with each other

Makes people question our friendship.

She’s always there for me,

I’m always there for her.

We have eachtohers back, no matter the situation.

We love to be around eachtoher

because the laughs never stop,

the food never stops being eaten,

the tears always get wipped away,

and the love is unstoppable.

The Ransom Of The Red Chief

In The Ransom Of The Red Chief, a 10 year old boy got kidnapped.  The irony was that he actually liked being away from home and he said he was having the time of his life.  The most important quote was, "When the kid found out we were going to leave him at home he started up a howl like a calliope and fastened himself as tight as a leech to Bill's leg."  I thought this was an important quote because normally when a child is kidnapped they want to go home and be with their parents.  But in this case, he wanted to stay with the men that took him.  It was also important because it's irony.  It's irony because the boy wanted to stay with the men and not to return to his home.  Also that when he got home, the kidnappers paid the Dad $250.  You would think that the Dad would pay any fee to have his child at home. 

Tasty

Authors Note: This is a parody of This is Just To Say.  It's about a pretzel being eaten.

Thank you for eating me

I enjoy your spit

all over my body

smooth and sticky

Your teeth feel like heaven

when you bite so hard

I thank you for the

mingy bite against my salt

Forgive me

for my salt covered body

I will try to work on that

I hope your mouth is happy