"The only thing we have to fear is fear it' self..." - F.D. Roosevelt

       Fear comes in many different forms. It may be as simple as fearing a physical object or person to the most commonly feared forces. Causes of one’s fears are harder to spot. From my experience I would say that most fears are adopted through influence. When our friends are afraid of specific things, we’re drawn in towards their fear as we also try to determine why they’re afraid. During that process, only the inadequate features are brought up which causes us to “learn” that there are many reasons to be scared.

       The most petrifying fear I have is towards dogs. Whether they’re tiny puppies or giant bulldogs, I fear them equally as much. It’s very rare that someone would be afraid of puppies yet that’s where my fear originated from. My friend use to own a newborn puppy and everyday I would be over at his house to play games. His puppy never really bothered me until one day I stood up from the couch and it began to walk around and in between my legs then without a warning, it pounced up to my groin and as any typical male would feel, the sensation of “getting sacked”.  I was then enemies with ‘a man’s best friend’. Since then my friend would have to lock up his puppy in his washroom each time I went over. I cannot recall any specific situations where my fear of dogs held me back but looking forward into the future; it would be quite irritating if my family should decide to own a dog. I don’t think I’ll ever come to peace with dogs ever again in my life time.

          From my experience, I can in the conclusion that not all people fear the same things but a general consensus should show that a lot of people share common fears such as the fear of insects and bugs as well as losing and the engagement of competition. People tag onto these fears as society generally sees them as if they’re created to scare. 

Running with Scissors: A Parallel Universe

Many quotes and excerpts from this memoir, Running with Scissors, suggests a very abnormal lifestyle. There is quite a bit of anger in this memoir, but the anger used here creates irony. Psychiatrist, Dr. Finch, is in some ways provoking the anger and allowing it to continue rather than trying to help Augusten's mother fix her relationship problems with her husband.

The reader receives a very different point of view on young people in this memoir. It would be considered shameful if such acts were presented in our community:  "[In] kindergarten....the kids hated me, calling me names like freak and faggot"(pg.54). Such quotes contaminates our view of their society. When there are kindergarten aged children calling each other names in an offensive manner, then it's not hard to imagine how the adults must be acting as well. Most of the adults are self-centered within their group of adults. They allow their children to do whatever they desire such as having sex as well as smoking at a very young age.

Most of the characters have the same personality. They all think in the same way and even the professionals are not doing their job in correcting the misguided persons' thoughts. "'Doctor, if being a bitch is healthy, then I am the healthiest damn woman on the face of the earth'"(pg.31), this quote shows how Dr. Finch is allowing Deirdre to continue to think that her ways of life are appropriate. But as the reader, I know for a fact that those ways are extremely incorrect and will only worsen any given situation.

Lastly, scenarios occur abruptly and without reason: "I couldn't help but think, This car is taking me to a mental hospital and my mother is treating it like open-mic night at a Greenwich Village cafe"(pg.127). There isn't much reasoning for why Augusten is taking to a mental hospital and it's ironic because it's obvious from the start that her mother is the insane one who needs treatment. But instead, Augusten is being taken there by Dr. Finch.

Overall, this memoir creates a realistic parallel universe to ours. Commonsense in our community is in major contrast compared to their ideals. All of these quotes ties together a very vivid picture of how our society of common people are different from their's.

CH-CH-CH3K M3 0UT

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          Now that I've made my point, I have to admit that sometimes I do express myself that way on MSN and it's much easier to do so. Fortunately most people can still follow along, it's not that bad of a habit of mine. But the main difference between MSN and a formal or even just a standard text is that social online speech can be viewed as "thought dropping" where you can continuously type what's on your mind without having to think about structure. At any given time that one cannot think of what to say they can easily input "umm..." or "uhh...".

          I personally take both point of views, that it should be something that's monitored and that it's just a natural evolution of language. To determine whether or not someone should be monitored or not is relatively simple. If one is able to control their language use to formal for all formal matter, then that person will be able to walk into a better future. On the other hand, those who struggle include the necessities of a formal text should be given guidance. Language is an extremely powerful system used throughout life for jobs and education, it does not "come and go" like slang which changes every decade. Ultimately it's one's choice to decide whether or not he/she yearns for a brighter future. They will come back to regret their decision of not taking a simple language seriously which could possibly land them in Grade 13, online-school or even night-school.

          In support of my natural evolution of language point of view, I believe this type of shift can possibly mark a state of human advancement. No one nor group can prevent a change in the English language. (Sorry Mr. President Obama. "No, we can't"). The evolution of language in general does positively affect some groups of human whom are not as popular, such as sign language for the mute. An upcoming evolution can probably provide a better means of communication for the muted and visually impaired. Furthermore, as we've discussed in class that improper language changes by generation. As a class we we're reminded that slang from the early 1900s does not exist today. When our generation controls the world, there will be new form of computer language revolutionized by our children, most-likely in ways we never thought would exist.