Blogging is not such a bad thing after all!

I too would like to close out the blog for the semester by sharing my thoughts on blogging and how my thoughts have changed from the first class period until now. When I learned that this class was going to center around a blog that we were required to contribute to as members of smaller cohorts, my first thought was to drop the class. I did not feel comfortable sharing my thoughts with potentially anyone who had access to the Internet, which is a much larger audience than I was hoping to have. I was especially nervous that I didn’t know exactly what we would be asked to write about and post to our blogs. I was nervous that we would be asked to write about politics or other topics that fall under the arena of things that I like to keep to myself. I didn’t want people that I did not know reading and judging the work that I posted. I had also never followed any blogs or much less read any posts to blogs. I assumed blogs were just a fad that would pass, just like networking sites seem to do in their time. I was not interested in either reading others’ blogs or creating a blog of my own. However, the class time fit so nicely into my school and work schedule and I needed the communication credits, so ultimately I decided to stick with what I had signed up for. I decided that stepping out of my comfort zone would likely be a valuable exercise that I would learn from. I also realized that if I was to truly become a professional I would need to learn to be comfortable with others reading my writing. And I also realized that I should be comfortable with others reading my work as long as I posted quality work to the blog. And in the end, for those reasons, I decided that this would be a worthwhile exercise and I would give it a chance.

Now, at the end of the semester, I can look back and say that I was glad that I made the decision to stick with the class. I learned to be more comfortable sharing my writing with others. One place where I saw this positive change was during a writing workshop that we had just a week or two ago. In the past I also dreaded having writing workshops, in the same way that I dreaded posting to a blog at the beginning of this class. I always preferred that the professor was the only person to read my papers. Writing workshops meant that my peers also had to read my papers. Although I oftentimes receive valuable feedback through writing workshops, I was just uncomfortable participating in them. However, in my most recent writing workshop I was more than happy to read my paper aloud to my group and ask for any feedback that I could get, and I truly appreciated the feedback. This class, in a big part through blogging, has helped me to realize that engaging in public argument doesn’t have to be a scary thing, and the experience that I had with the blog was extremely positive.

-Jaclyn E

So Long and Adios!!

I am extremely thrilled that summer is finally here! I finished my last exam this morning, and work starts tomorrow. Despite my excitement, graduation looms at the end of next year, and there is so much I still have to do. I have to decide what I want to do after graduation, find another summer job, and finally close this blog. In the first week of this class, I would have been able to do this with no reservations. I was worried about having my opinions out there for everyone, and wanted to delete the blog upon completion. However, through the course of the semester, this has changed, and I now have a new appreciation for blogging. Overall, my experiences have varied, but I would like to take this time to share with you my likes/dislikes from this blog, and what I have taken away from this experience.

I might as well start off with the positives, since it is a beautiful day outside, and I am finally free from school for the summer. So, the aspect I liked the most is being able to read other people’s work. Class time is very limited, and it is nice to see the opinions of other classmates on the topics discussed. On top of that, I feel that some students are afraid to speak up in class, but when they write in their blogs, it is a whole different arena. The small sense of anonymity, allows students to open up and share their opinions. Also, it is nice that I know all of the people writing these blogs due to the small class size. It is more interesting to read when I am at least somewhat familiar with the person writing, which helps to gain a deeper understanding of where he/she is coming from. At the same time, the blogs allow us to become more aware of their experiences. Another aspect that I really liked is that it is a shared blog. In the beginning, it seemed like all of us just had really random experiences and there would be no way to create one blog to encompass all of our personalities. However, it is interesting that within the first few prompts, it was easy to see that we really are four college girls with a unique view of the world. Aside from these positives there are some negative aspects of my blogging experience.

The first thing I dislike is extremely hypocritical. I really hate having other people read my work. I rarely feel truly confident in my work, and the prospect of having people read and judge my statements kind of freaks me out. It is funny that my favorite part is to read other people’s blogs, but I do not want them to read mine. I know that this is a silly fear, and that I should have more confidence in myself, but it is not something that I am used to. Although I have adjusted through the semester this part of blogging is still not my favorite. I also dislike the requirements and deadlines for the blog. Although my group did a good job organizing who was going to write and who was going to respond, there were many times where I wouldn’t realize it was my week. In this case, I had to quickly scrounge together an outline and write a coherent blog/response. I guess this mainly bothers me because blogs are kind of like an opinionated journal, and there should just be a general requirement for how many times in the semester a student has to blog. I understand that in a structured class it is difficult to accommodate this style of writing, but I think it would create a more established ethos.

Aside from the bad aspects of this project, I would say that overall it was a good experience. I was not familiar with the many facets of blogging, and I now have a new sense of the public argument it can create. Although the writer may not know who is reading the blog, it can be assumed that someone, somewhere will read it, and possibly be affected by it. Also, it has helped me be able to share my writing with other people, and through the process I think I have become a better writer. I am able to formulate my thoughts more coherently, and I do not spend as much time looking at a blank screen. Even though I had a good experience with this project, I am happy and relieved to close this blog. Who knows maybe there will be a future blog by MS. (Time pending). But for now, so long and adios.

What I've taken from this...

It took me a little while to decide how I would close out this blog. I came up with random ideas of writing about the class, or that our cohort could pick one theme and write about it with four different perspectives, but it was too challenging to come up with one idea, so I finally settled on what blogging did for me.

I was a little apprehensive to the idea because I had no prior experience and I did not know how it would turn out. I had not really followed many blogs on the web except one, Nicholas Kristof’s “On the Ground”, so I was unaware of the rules of blogging, how to format it, how detailed it should be, among other concerns. After blogging for the first time, I started to realize that there are no set rules for a blog. It truly is your own creation and you can make of it what you want. Aside from the weekly topics to blog about, I was in control of the direction my post should go. After the first couple of blogs, I realized the most efficient way to blog is to chose one theme and stick with it. It makes the post more coherent, but I feel it is distracting to try to make too many points about multiple issues rather than looking at one.

By sticking to one theme for a post, it was a way for me to reflect and connect the theme to other issues and random little tidbits. Not only was a reflective blog nice, but it really helped me to practice formulating my ideas and keeping theme compact between 500 and 700 words. Someone once mentioned in class that it was almost as if we had an essay due weekly because of the amount and frequency of our writing. I am almost thankful we had to blog weekly, because on top of all of the other writing assignments I have had this semester for my other classes, writing consistently improves your writing. I noticed a change in my writing and saw that it improved.

Blogging seems to be everywhere these days, and I am pleased I have been able to participate in it. Even this semester I was applying for something and it asked if I had relevant experience blogging. I have not decided if I want to create my own blog or if I did what the overall general theme would be. But I am intrigued by the experience and what it has done for me. The medium itself is advancing our society in so many ways, with knowledgeable people putting up their ideas on life left and right, that it has been a way to stay informed on anything you could think of, including current events. It is something that I can certainly put on my resume and tell people I have had experience blogging, because you never know when it will come in handy.

I must conclude with a thanks to all of you who have participated in the blog process of a Girl’s Eye View, whether posting yourself or responding, and to the people who just read it. I hope it did a little something for you as it did for me.

LG signing out. Summer is around the corner. 

I have quirky little things about writing… I can only use certain black pens, occasionally something else if I cannot find my pens, I write in all caps (like my mom and Obama!), and I am particular about the type of paper I write on. I know, I know, it sounds like I have OCD when it comes to writing…well I do a little bit. Writing is something I have always enjoyed, for pleasure or for school. I originally was going to school for journalism and Spanish and I worked at the Star Tribune newspaper for 2 years realizing that was not the field I wanted to go into. I’ve started to second-guess myself because it is something I have a passion for and would love to go abroad and write columns, but that is just not the case. Instead, for the time being, I am enjoying writing, writing, writing my last final assignments for my undergraduate college career. (It feels strange to actually acknowledge that publicly.)

 Depending on what I am writing, whether a take-home exam, blog, or email, I like to get a feel of what it is I am being asked to write about or respond to, and then I have to sit and ponder it for a little while. I will come up with ideas and I need to write them down the second I think of them to prevent them from escaping. I do this with simple to do lists too; I have lists about everything. I formulate and gather my ideas for the assignment and then, strangely I like to handwrite papers or at least handwrite a detailed outline before I sit down and type away. I have been doing this for a long time and have been criticized many times for being inefficient. I can see more clearly the content I am working with more easily than if it were on a computer screen. It helps me to get a better feel of what is there and it is easier for me to move paragraphs or edit. Speaking of editing…I have always enjoyed editing. I feel that I have an eye for it, not only when I am looking at my own work, but I am constantly editing other forms of people expressing their words, whether a friend says something grammatically incorrect, or I am looking at a friends paper. I get it from my mom. I grew up with her constantly looking over my shoulder and correcting my speech and papers. She worked at the Star Tribune newspaper for 30 years and has that “Editorial Eye”. She is a rather harsh critic, but I could not ask for anything less. Her high standards have passed on to me.

 When I sit down to actually type my paper, I am continuously editing. I will type a sentence realizing I do not like it and press the delete key until it has disappeared. I am constantly typing and erasing my thoughts until something that is somewhat decent appears in front of me. When I have finished typing up a paper, I generally send it to my mom to be edited. I think it is one of the best things, if not the best, to improve your writing, by having another person take a look at it. Editing as I go has become my natural way of writing. When it is all said and done, I take a last glance at it to see if it actually makes sense. 

Write First, Revise Later

There are two rules that guide my writing, and I utilize these rules whether I am writing a paragraph or writing a twenty page research paper. My first rule is to open a Word document and make a listing of all the major points that I want to touch on throughout my writing. As I am drafting my paper and touch on one of these points I erase that point from my list. I do this until my entire list of bullet points is gone and I am left with nothing but paragraphs. Depending on the length of the paper, oftentimes I try to complete my first draft in one sitting. This way I don’t have to come back to a half-completed paper and refresh my mind on the bullet points that I have already written about and the bullet points that I have yet to write about. Of course, as students we have other classes that demand our time, and it is not always possible to complete a piece of writing during one sitting. When this is the case it is very helpful to have that listing of the bullet points that you wanted to touch on. You will still need to refresh yourself on where you left off at with your paper, but it will be easier to jump back into your paper if you have that list of “to dos” or “to writes.”
My second rule is to always write first and revise second. When I start out, my goal is to get all of my ideas down on the paper, keeping in mind that I will go back and revise it later. This can lead to a bit of mess. Oftentimes I find myself repeating my main points and writing run on sentences. Once I get all of my ideas down on paper I usually end up with a product that is twice as long as I would desire. But, I believe that it is easier to cut things out of a paper than to add things to a paper. When I go back to revise I make sure that everything is written in a logical order and that I have transitions between ideas. The corrections that I make most often include deleting entire sentences, splitting run-ons into multiple sentences, and correcting basic grammatical errors. I cut out all of the extra wording that I don’t need in order to effectively make the point that I am trying to make. There are many people that use this strategy and others who insist upon correcting as they go. I have always had trouble with writer’s block and have found that this is the best way to combat my writer’s block. Part of writer’s block is constantly being unhappy with the words that you are putting on the page. When this happens it makes it very difficult to get past the first sentence if you don’t feel like it is perfect. Once you get past the first sentence you will usually have the same problems with the second sentence, and so on throughout your paper.
I have found that it is easier to implement this second strategy when I am typing on the computer instead of writing it on paper with a pen or pencil. My brain moves much more quickly than my hand is able to write. It is much easier to keep up with my thoughts while I type on the computer. Also, as a busy student, this cuts out one step in the drafting process. Instead of writing by hand and then having to transfer the paper to a word processor, it starts out on the word processor.
However, there is one thing that I like to see on paper. When I have the paper corrected and almost ready to turn in, I print it out for one last correction. Oftentimes I am able to pick up on formatting errors or other simple errors when I see it on paper. The last thing that I do before handing in an assignment is to read it out loud to myself. Sometimes I skip this step if I am drafting in the library because there are several other students around. However, if I am by myself I consider this a must do.

-Jaclyn E.

Writer's Block

Oh no!! This is a terrible question! What do I do, what do I specifically do? First answer, I have no clue at all! Then again, I am writing this essay, and I have been thinking about it for a few minutes I must have some kind of process. So in the end, there are a few things, depending on the type of paper, that I like to do before starting, while writing and finally while revising a paper.
First off, in preparation I like to read something that has the same feel for what I am going to be writing about. For example, if I am trying to write something witty, I will read something brilliantly droll. If I want to write something serious, I will read something that is more academic or possibly sad. Just reading the different types of writing gets me in the right mood. Although reading always helps me before writing a paper it is not always feasible due to time constraints or honestly…laziness. If this is the case, I like to start by making an outline for my paper. I never used to do this; I used to think that it was tedious and unnecessary. However, my outlines help me get the paper started. I have a better focus for my paper, and my outline will usually just write itself, because as I am writing, I tend to just make sentences, which leads to a written out paper. This start makes it easier to sit down at a computer and start to do the work for writing.
When I have reached this stage of writing, I already feel a little relieved. I first put on a little background noise that matches the paper’s subject. For example, if it something I feel adamantly about and it is supposed to be serious I’ll listen to something like Rage Against the Machine, but if I am about to start a more relaxed paper I’ll turn on something more mellow. Next, I give myself a target hour and just combine all of the points I started on my outline. By giving myself a deadline, I am able to push through instead of just watching the minutes go by in the corner of my screen. Now at this point, my paper does not have to be that good, and it usually isn’t. However, it starts my next process: revision.
This stage of writing is by far my least favorite. My main problem is that I cannot just read the paper off the screen, so I have to keep printing the paper over and over. Despite this, I know it will be worth it in the long run. So, I print my paper and just start by reading it. During this first revision, I have to mark down whether or not I have transitions in my paper. This has always been my biggest problem with writing. Transitions never come easy, so I usually have to talk it over with a friend. Although I do not take exactly what he/she says it is helpful to get my mind started in the right direction. After my transitions and basic sentence structures are fixed, I have to go make the changes and start the next stage of revision; backward reading. I print the paper again, and read it sentence by sentence backwards. I have found this to be the most helpful part of the paper writing process. When I continuously have to read the same paper I just get bored. By reading it backwards I am able to catch small things that I would normally ignore. Again I go back on the computer and make the changes. This is usually my last step before I am about to turn it in. Then again, I will usually read it just before turning it in and it never fails that there will be some kind of mistake that I want to change. Unfortunately, at that point I can’t do anything about it. So I have to turn it in, and hope the teacher doesn’t find the same mistake.
Thus even though I did not think I have a process; I do. I am now over the limit for words required for this post, and I started this not thinking I had anything to say. Although these are not tips per say, these are the different steps I have to take in order to write a good paper. This does vary based on the type of paper I am writing but this general format can be followed for most papers, except papers about myself, which I hate writing. After all that being said I would say the most important tip for writing is not to wait until the last moment. All of these processes take time and patience, and a person can’t wait until the last second.

Badger Sports Access

We began as a group of students who were upset with the athletic ticketing policies at the University of Wisconsin. A couple of us were unsure as to whether or not we would be able to get football student tickets as seniors. This emotion towards the issue is what fueled our project. However, throughout the course of our research our position focus began to shift. In comparing the University of Wisconsin’s policies to those of other schools in the Big Ten Conference we have found that UW’s policies are fairly comparable. Neither ticket prices nor the size of the student sections appear to be out of line. We also conducted a survey and found that in general students are unhappy with the ticketing process and size of the student section at UW athletic events. Our purpose is to make sure that students are informed when seeking change in UW’s policies. In this project we are also exploring other options that students have for access to Badger athletics if they are not able to attend games, such as the Big Ten Network. We invite and appreciate your feedback. Our project can be viewed at http://badgersportsaccess.wetpaint.com/

Jaclyn E

Engagement

I found this week's blog prompt extremely interesting and it intrigued me. I like to observe the behaviors of people around me, especially those I am interacting with. So to sit and think about what engages me was rather fun. Not only did I consider what about other people engage me, I also considered what I do personally.

 There are many times and various situations where I have been actively engaged in something. A versatile example, where I can exam someone I am communicating with or look at myself, is a conversation. There are various forms to which a conversation can take: In person, on the phone, or over the Internet. I am going to mainly refer to a conversation in person, but I would like to mention the other two first. A conversation over the phone is challenging because one is not able to see the other person. However, this makes the listener more in tune because they have to figure out the reactions of the other person without being able to see facial expressions. This leaves the interpretation up to the tone and pitch of the voice, as well as silences. I am more engaged in a conversation when I can tell by someone’s voice that they are interested in the conversation. Their voice indicates whether or not they are invested in the topic or whether they are bored. A pause can indicate two things, comfortableness or a loss of interest. In addition to the phone conversation, the form a conversation can take is also through the Internet, whether email or chat. This can consist of either your emotional and personal thoughts or intellectual thoughts. How someone expresses themselves really can capture my attention. If I can tell that they have deeper thoughts expressed in the email, I am more engaged in what they have to say, rather then something superficial. It also makes a difference how timely they are at responding back to me. If I am waiting for a reply and it takes many days, I can tell they are not as interested in talking with me, which triggers a disinterest on my part.

 Moving on to what actually engages me about a conversation in person. There are so many things on my list, but to name a few: body language, eye contact, content of conversation, laughter, style people speak in, the other person’s investment in subject, and many more things. I find it very important to keep myself engaged with another person is how they seem to respond to me. What is important in a conversation is the rapport that two people have going on. If I can tell the other person is engaged in what I am talking about, then I am more willing to put more effort into the conversation, and everyone benefits from a more dynamic and interesting conversation.

 Some things that really turn me off are certain behavioral patterns. If this is a person you are interacting with frequently and you pick up on certain repeated habits, they tend to bother me. A good example is if you are having a conversation with two or three other people and you ask only one of them a question, and the other person responds for them. I am really bothered by people answering questions for other people. I asked them the question; otherwise I would have asked the person for their opinion. I am also disengaged in a conversation when other people do not seem to be responsive to things I have said, and they only seem interested in getting what they have to say out. Another major thing about a conversation that can be challenging to continue being engaged, is if a person is very monotone, and has no feeling coming out in what they are expressing.

 I personally think that I do a good job of expressing myself on a matter, my voice, I have been told, indicates exactly how I feel. It is very obvious when I am not interested in a conversation, my responses become short and simple. I also believe that I have great body language during conversations. If we are sitting down, my body is leaned more over the table towards the other person and I am actively listening. My arms are usually not folded, which sometimes can indicate that a person is bored. I also am able to communicate what I am trying to say well, which can help with clarity of a conversation. And on top of that, you can tell I am engaged when I ask lots of questions. But a few things that I do, that might discourage people from engaging in a conversation with me, could be that when they are talking about something so foreign to me, I do not really ask questions trying to understand what they are talking about. 

Public Speaking tips

When you are giving an oral presentation there are several ways to go about engaging an audience. The best place to start is to know your audience. For example, you should use a different approach if you are presenting to a group of elementary school children than you would if you were presenting to a group of professionals. If you were giving a presentation to elementary school students you would likely want to keep the presentation brief and show a lot of visuals and even demonstrations. If you were giving a presentation to a group of professionals you would probably prepare for a longer and more in-depth presentation. You would probably use more technical language and rely less on visuals. However, no matter who you are presenting to, there are a few tips to giving presentations that can apply to all situations.

The first tip is to engage your audience with eye contact. This is a tip that we have all heard time and time again, but it is a skill that most presenters have not mastered. Strong eye contact can be especially difficult if the presenter is using note cards. Many presenters will rely too heavily on their prepared note cards and only briefly glance up at the audience between sentences. If you want to most effectively engage your audience with eye contact you need to hold eye contact with your audience. The best way to do this is to make eye contact with one member of the audience, hold that eye contact for a second or two, and then move on to make eye contact with other members of the audience. It is not always effective to scan the back wall behind the audience, as it can be very obvious to the audience that you are not making true eye contact.

Another technique that engages me as a member of the audience is displaying confidence. Many people become nervous at the thought of public speaking, and become even more nervous as they step up on the stage or behind the podium. Nervousness is usually obvious to members of the audience. Shaky legs and hands are obvious to the audience. Nervous movements such as these can be very distracting to the audience. The best way to avoid nervousness is to be completely prepared. If you have done the appropriate research and rehearsed your presentation several times you should be confident. The audience can detect confidence.

A third technique that engages me as a member of the audience is displaying enthusiasm. For different people, displaying enthusiasm means different things. For some people enthusiasm means moving around the stage. For others enthusiasm means smiling and alternating the pitch of their voice. For some, enthusiasm means making hand gestures. The speaker should engage in whichever one of these techniques feels natural and comfortable to them. The speaker should keep in mind one word of warning when displaying enthusiasm. Whatever display of enthusiasm the speaker chooses to engage in, it should not be distracting or otherwise take away from the presentation.

One example of a presentation that grasps my attention, holds my focus, gets me interested and inspired to act is a Steve Jobs presentation. The link at the bottom of this post is a link to a You Tube video titled “Present like Steve Jobs.” This video is great for anyone who would like additional tips on giving effective and engaging presentations. Some of the tips that are given in the video include providing a clear and consistent theme, providing an outline, make numbers and statistics meaningful, make it visual, and rehearse. I would like to hear what others think of this video and the tips given.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-ntLGOyHw4

What language does for an experience...

I think in terms of language being able to capture the enormity of experience, my first thought is no. However, I would argue that it provides a new experience all together. Language will never truly be able to describe a situation, a view, a feeling with every little detail down exactly. It will be able to provide you with insight to what the person was going through, it only reiterates what happened, and cannot put you there in that moment. But while trying to capture an experience, language is able to provide the reader with a new experience all together. 

When people read books the language affects them differently, which is what the portrayal of a situation would do too. The effect is different on different people, which is why it is new to every person. Regardless of how well written or how well described the experience being written about is, the reader will never have been in that moment, so they will never truly feel the same way as in the moment described. The reader will get a good idea of what happened, I 

think the description would be good. But is reading about a feeling the same as feeling it? No. 

If a person is just starting to fall in love with someone and decided to write about all of the butterflies and the feelings, the reader would not be getting butterflies but they would be reading about how it felt. There is a big difference. 

To truly be able to capture the enormity of an experience, the reader must be able to experience and feel the same things as what is being portrayed. But that is not realistic. Consider a photograph. When you see the most beautiful and incredible view in a photo, what do you feel? You feel multiple things that the person who took it felt, but you will never feel your breath taken away in that moment, you will not feel how calming it is. There is a big difference. A photograph can say a lot, and according to most it is worth "a thousand words", but words cannot provide you with that true and authentic feeling of actually being in that moment being described. 

Looking to an example, Marcus Latrell's "Lone Survivor", he gives an excellent account of what happened in Afghanistan and explained every little detail to perfection. But if you were in his situation, how would you have felt? A reader is capable of being scared and feeling excited by what is happening in a text, but what if you were face to face on a mountain side in Afghanistan with people who are your enemies and have the power to hurt you? How would you feel? You would be scared out of your mind, and that is not necessarily something that a written experience can provide you. 

I think language can do a great deal in describing and trying to portray a situation, but it will never be capable of grasping the enormity of an experience fully. 

Capturing the Enormity of Experience

When we tell stories we use language as a tool to paint a picture for our audience. Every time that we tell a story we attempt to capture the enormity of the experience for our audience. I use the word “attempt” because I think it is extremely difficult to fully capture the enormity of experience using language, if not impossible. No matter how detailed of a description a storyteller gives, it is unlikely that a reader or listener will feel the same things that the storyteller did in the moments of the experience.

Luttrell’s Lone Survivor provides a great example of this. This piece of creative nonfiction does an excellent job of painting a vivid picture for the reader of what happened on that mountainside. It details the conversations that the men had before and during the firefight. It details Luttrell’s thoughts as he was on that mountainside, as he was rescued, and as he visited the families of his fallen SEAL teammates. I could say that after reading his book I understand what he went through, but I will never be able to fully understand. The enormity of these experiences cannot be entirely captured in words. As I read the book I felt emotion, but I will never be able to feel the same emotions that Luttrell was and to the same degree. I may feel scared or sad or upset as I read the book, but I will never feel as he did in those moments. I will never get the same feeling of my heart pounding or my stomach dropping that he likely felt throughout his experience. While he can explain those feelings to me, I will not be able to feel them too. To say that, yes, language can capture the enormity of experience would be to say that by reading Luttrell’s book I experienced the same heartbreak that he did. That will never be the case. I may experience heartbreak from reading his story, but it will never be on the same level of what he experienced. Within his book Luttrell also talks about the training that he needed to go through to become a SEAL. He devotes a good portion of the beginning of the book to talking about Hell Week. He describes getting wet and sandy. He describes pulling the boats of the rocks. He describes the running and the log workouts. He describes the fatigue. He describes the ringing of the bell as recruits quit. As I read these descriptions I understand that SEAL training is only for the best of the best, but I will never know truly how difficult it is. I will never know what that kind of fatigue feels like. His language is very descriptive during this part of the book, but it is still not able to capture the enormity of the experience.

Even though language cannot capture the enormity of experience, it does serve a purpose. Language attempts to capture that enormity, and it brings the reader as close to the experience as possible. There are many things in the world that each of us individually will not have the opportunity to experience, and for that there is language. There are also probably many things in the world that each of us would not want to experience firsthand, and for that there is also language. I would not have wanted to experience what Marcus Luttrell did during Operation Red Wing, but I was able to read about it through language. I was able to get as close to the experience as I would have wanted to get. I was curious to get a taste of what SEAL training is like. I also got a taste of what it would be like to be in combat, and that is as close as I would like to get to seeing combat. I got a taste of the heartbreak that I would not have wanted to experience fully. Language was able to bring me close to an experience. It was able to give me a view from the outside. It gave me a taste of something that I will never experience, and that is all that I would want in this case.