Julie's Essay

Julie Philippe
Mr. Hamilton Salsich
English 9
22 April 2009

Everything Matters:
An Essay Based on Three Pieces of Literature

1) An onion is just an onion, translucent and useless, yet tasteful to our stew. 2) A dead man is a nobody, with shattered dreams and “closed eyelids”. 3) Yet we still stop to shed a tear and pay our honors to the drunken workman who had no luck . 4) We still cry every time we chop an onion as if to ask “ are you a nobody too”?

TS In Naomi Shihab Nye’s “The Traveling Onion”, she speaks of a layered onion with history and importance, and she describes it with sentimental words. SD “The way knife enters onion and onion falls apart on the chopping block” reflects the feeling of a broken heart. CM The feeling of a shattered soul can be painful, just like the knife cutting through the onion. CM Sitting behind a broken heart and a peeled onion, is a layer of history, full of pain, joy, and “forgotten miracles” (Participle). SD As the onion is being chopped and a heart is being hurt, “tears fall” down our faces with no comfort or warmth to console us. CM Ms Nye speaks of “the translucence of [an] onion”, meaning that light can pass through an onion without anyone noticing it, just like you can pass by a tear on a face, ignoring it. CM However, the onion‘s soft cry is never heard. CS A heart and a vegetable, “now limp, now divided”, reflect the sentimental words of Naomi Shihab Nye.

TS Unlike Naomi Shihab Nye’s compassionate (FAST) poem, Emily Dickinson’s poem speaks of the effects of having an excess of sentiment. SD Emily Dickinson speaks of the power of being no one, with the simplest emotions. CM One might think that being a “nobody” is negative, but she speaks of “how dreary to be [a] somebody!” CM Being a happy human living in simplicity might be better than denying the sadness of acting like “somebody” (participle phrase-opener). SD Perhaps her words are words of advice to warn us from the dangers of overwhelming emotions. CM Perhaps there is too much complexity to being a “somebody”. CM Perhaps it is better to live a nonchalant (FAST) life with the simplest emotions as to not become “public like a frog”. CS Like the onion, being a nobody is a gift that must be kept away from the ones that don’t cherish it.

TS In Katherine Mansfield’s “The Garden Party”, sentiments play a big role in Laura’s life as she deals with the death of her neighbor. SD After Laura’s neighbor, a drunken and lower-class workman, dies, she is being judged for her emotions (Appositive). CM Because his family was not as opulent (FAST) as Laura’s, Jose believes it was unacceptable to “stop a band playing” and feel sympathetic for this man. CM However, sentiment goes beyond the wealth of a family or the unfortunate luck of a man. SD Her strong feelings of pity for this unknown neighbor of hers gave her the urge to walk over to his house. CM “While [the guests of the party] were laughing and while the band was playing, this marvel had come to the lane” and nothing could be more wonderful to Laura’s eyes, than the feeling of peace and silence. CM Perhaps, the sentiment of looking at a dreaming man, never to wake up again was better than being rich and ignorant. CS Perchance, sentiment is enough to push out the innocence of a family, the “somebody” out of a person, or the “division” of an onion.

1) Life must be lived with sentiments, not too much, but just enough to appreciate the small things. 2) The onion, which may seem like a translucent, unimportant vegetable, must be handled with care (Appositive). 3) A poor dead man must be treated with gentleness and sympathy because he, like everyone else had a place in this world. 4) Perhaps, we should all be “nobodies”, and live life simply without excessive emotions, but rather harmless friendships. 5) Let’s be content.