To be honest, I struggle with pinpointing what this essay is about. It would be easy to say that it’s a recollection of losing innocence, but I want to know it’s more complicated than that. Gerard uses one-liners at the end of paragraphs, and often before a space break, to lead the reader in that direction.

• “It’s self-made (128).”
• “Just think of all the people I’ll meet (133).”
• “‘Trust me. Do it now (135).'”
• “By the end of class, I’m sober (144).” And the scene leading up to this.
• “It comes back to me, and I know I’ve been set free (147).”
• When asked where she is at a party: “‘I don’t know,’ I say (152).”

The list goes on, and also matches the theme of this essay: teenage angst. Gerard is a strong writer, and the scenes are vivid, but I think something we need to discuss in this essay is cliché, and the purpose of such a detailed recollection of a wild adolescence.

Gerard uses foreshadowing (163), and includes an epilogue. A literary device and structure I don’t feel as though I have seen often in essay, or given much thought to. This is important to mention because the purpose of essay, memoir, and other types of creative nonfiction are to utilize devices used in fiction to form a “true” narrative. This is what separates it from a report or an average news article. Another element of craft to point out is the present-tense. The purpose of this is for the emotionally wrought scenes to be felt actively, as opposed to a more passive approach by using the past tense. This may contribute to the thing I struggled with most in this essay, which is arguably cliché teenage angst and drama that dominates the scenes.

Questions:

What do we think this essay is about?

Is there a pattern or clear purpose in the abundant space breaks?

When a piece is written in present tense, can we assume the writer is looking back with more knowledge? How does this affect the “truth” of a present tense account?

Gerard travels a lot of space and time in this essay, but it seems to remain chronological. How do all of her different scenes contribute to the over all “point” of this essay?

In what way is this essay not a cliché?