Preview

Maribeth Fischer's 'The Fictional Writer'

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
343 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Maribeth Fischer's 'The Fictional Writer'
In “The Fictional Writer”, Maribeth Fischer describe how Natalie, the person she thought was her friend, who claimed to be a well-known writer who had sold many books and was living the life most writers wished for, turned out to be a pathological liar. Natalie told countless lies to everyone around her and described her life as something that would make others envious when the reality was that she was lying about everything and was actually describing what she desired her life to be life. Fischer describes how she encountered Natalie and how she learned the truth about her in this essay, where at the end she was left stunned after knowing the truth. Fischer could not figure out if Natalie’s lie was truly a bad thing or not because she did
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Themes of Miracle Polish
    • 1937 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Themes of Miracle Polish

    The themes of this short story include jealousy, obsession with narcissism and the emergence of another identity. In this short story, jealousy is displayed when Monica has the narrator choose between the real her and the Monica in the mirror. In the story, “Once, she said, “You know, sometimes I think you like me better there”—she pointed to a mirror—“than here”—she pointed to herself. She said it teasingly, with a little laugh, but in her look was an anxious question.” The Monica in the mirror was described in this excerpt: “a fresh Monica, a vibrant Monica, a Monica with a glow of pleasure in her face. She was dressed in clothes that no longer seemed a little drab, a little elderly, but were handsomely understated, seductively restrained.” The real Monica is depicted in the excerpt “Not for a moment did the mirror make her look young, or beautiful, for she was not young and she was not beautiful. But it was as if some inner constriction had dissolved, some sense of her drifting gradually into unhappiness.” Jealousy is what drove the…

    • 1937 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Swallowing Stones-Joyce Macdonald Essay Example
    • 527 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Swallowing Stones-Joyce Macdonald Essay Example

    The novel Swallowing Stones by Joyce Macdonald teaches readers everywhere that lying ruins lives and relationships. This was demonstrated in the book by a character named Michael Mackenzie, who lived in a bundle of lies. These lies unintentionally hurt and caused harm to Amy, his new friend. They have also dragged his best friend, Joe into it and it put their friendship into jeopardy. Most importantly, it made finding closure difficult for Jenna, the victim. By choosing to lie, Michael negatively impacted everyone around him.…

    • 527 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lena Dunham's Memoir
    • 235 Words
    • 1 Page

    Lena Dunham's Memoir

    I do agree that the line is incredibly blurry. Thinking and writing about this topic this week made me wonder if it’s not a line but rather a chasm of murky water. Throughout the years, there’s been a number of nonfiction books that have been exposed as fabrications in one way or another. In the book, they talked about A Million Little Pieces, and the classification changing from nonfiction to “semi-fictional.” I also remember reading about Lena Dunham’s memoir and how a story about a supposed sexual assault was called into question due to facts not aligning properly. In theory, there seems to be a thin line separating creative nonfiction from all out fiction, and I think that as time goes by that chasm or line grows smaller…

    • 235 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Melanie Mcadams In Sweet Home Alabama
    • 1159 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Melanie Mcadams In Sweet Home Alabama

    Dan McAdams (1995) believed there were imperative levels in, what do we know when knowing a person. Levels one and two helped us to figure out Melanie was a small-town girl who left and lost life relationships to only return and win them back. Level one (McAdams, 1995) expresses which traits Melanie is high and low in, her strengths and weaknesses. It is vital to attain the answers to the big five; also to not stop there but carry on to level two (McAdams, 1995). The second level shows us why Melanie acted that way and what impacted her life. She became selfish and a little white liar after her unfortunate high school experience. As McAdams (1995) wrote, “Good description is necessary for good…

    • 1159 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sympathetic Approach by Marian Evans Lewes
    • 314 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Sympathetic Approach by Marian Evans Lewes

    In her letter wirtten in response to an American woman, Marian Evans Lewes utilizes an array of rhetorical strategies to convey her belief that the development of a writer is an ongoin process which is pressed on by "some force." Instead of having a condescending tone, Lewes puts herself on the same level as the woman, taking a pathological route in addressing the woman. By using words such as "us" and "we", Lewes sympathizes with the woman and reassures her that she has been in the same position. This sympathetic approach not only informs the woman that what she is goin through is normal, but it lets her realize that no matter what status; well-known novelist or unknown woman; everyone goes through difficult times, and "the only hope is to try and unite the utmost activity with the utmost resignation." Supporting this pathological route, Lewes utilizes first-person enriched syntax to illuminate her experiences and her beliefs on the developmental process of the reader. By stating how she "began writing [works] with no great glory at all" and then flourished into the reknowened novelist she is now provides insight to the woman that, quite frankly, you go to start somewhere. This gives the woman "hope", which is a necessity to all writers. Moreover, Lewes uses chronological syntax to illuminate that the development of a writer is ideed a time consuming matter. Stating the she "entered [with] struggles", the "began writing" and the wrote "ficiton which has been thought a great deal of" conveys her belief that the development of a writer is not a mere overnight happening, but is a long, drawn-out process. In her response to Melusia Fay Pierce, Marian Evans Lewes illuminates the fact that the development of a wirter is not ephemeral, but , just like her synatax, chronological, and time consuming, and to be successful, on must have "hope".…

    • 314 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Flaws Of The Narrator In The Scarlet Ibis, By James Hurst
    • 1156 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Flaws Of The Narrator In The Scarlet Ibis, By James Hurst

    In everyday life, we see many examples of the flaws of humans and narrators. For example, CNN and Fox News are both news channels who usually have the same stories that they report on. CNN could report on the story from a more Liberal standpoint but Fox News could report on the same story but from a more Conservative standpoint. Whose story would you trust? That is the main flaw about our society and about people in general, is that we lie or re-write a story to fit what we believe or what we want to hear, instead of telling the full truth. Sometimes, these traits are similar even in fictional stories, when they involve the narrator. Narrators expose flaws when they introduce themselves in their conversations and actions. In the short story…

    • 1156 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Kate Dicamillo's 'Your Question For Author Here'
    • 393 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Kate Dicamillo's 'Your Question For Author Here'

    In the short story, “Your Question for Author Here”, by Kate Dicamillo and Jon Scieszka, Joe Jones faces a conflict with an author, Maureen O’Toople. Joe has to write a letter to this author for a school project, but he really doesn’t want to do this because he just doesn’t care, and is lazy about it as well. This was a person versus person conflict because Joe Jones was having a problem with Maureen O’Toople. In the beginning of the story, Joe was assigned a project by his literacy teacher that he didn’t want to do. All he wanted was answers from Maureen, but he was asking her for answers in a very rude way. Joe Jones said, “Please send a bunch of author stuff so we can get this over with”(101). This shows that Joe terribly doesn’t want to…

    • 393 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Protagonist: A Fictional Narrative
    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Protagonist: A Fictional Narrative

    Tom wondered for what seemed to be the millionth time why Dectives were required to dress like wall-street bankers or stock analysts. At least that was the expectation in public, however the moment he had the office to himself, he unknotted his tie, slipped off the linen suit jacket, and undid the top button of his shirt, then sat back in his chair, raised his eyes to the ceiling, and tapped the tip of a ballpoint pen against his teeth. That was Tom's usual mode of concentration and contemplation, and so intent was the man's focus on the new case that all else slipped from his mind, even the recollection that he'd texted his wife. Therefore, the sudden familiar sound of her voice, accompanied by the enticing aroma of barbecue, startled him, and he immediately shot upright. The sight of Lila elicited a smile that only widened with the greeting and kiss. "Sorry baby."…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    An Analysis Of Alice Walker's The Color Purple
    • 943 Words
    • 4 Pages

    An Analysis Of Alice Walker's The Color Purple

    She finds a way to rebel (no matter how small), by writing all of her stories, so that in turn, all of her readers can “pass on the tradition” of her life. With her persistence in writing to God with everything she sees and hears and feels, she is unconsciously telling herself that she deserves to be heard; even if it’s just through her writing that no one is going to see but God and her sister.…

    • 943 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Both Stories Involve Manipulation In Different
    • 859 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Both Stories Involve Manipulation In Different

    In both of the story's lies are the the main recipe of manipulation. In the story "The Kiss" Harvey’s motives for manipulation is an innocent prank for a simple payback. He plays around with Natalie with a smile. The women falls in his trap and wants Harvey to kiss her. "Your husband sent me to kiss you." She of course fell for it and now desired him to kiss her, but Harvey rejected her with a smile. "I have stopped kissing women" he says. Not only he surprises the readers with this saying but also fools Natalie. Narrator comments on the situation by saying ‘‘The person can't have everything in this world and it's a little unreasonable of her to expect it.’’ It is clear that the narrator judges the woman for her actions and a teases her with her decision. Referring to the times this story was written, woman were not treated appropriately and…

    • 859 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Why Teenagers Lie
    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Why Teenagers Lie

    When discussing with the the adolescents, she would always ask engaging questions that could be only be given Since she really was focused and attentive to the subject matter she wanted to write about. In addition she would notice things like the types of lies teenagers tell, their examples of lies, and their consistency of always lying that it's a skill. Her watchful manner can be perceived from when she says that, I asked if there were some type of liars’ club or workshop teenagers attend to learn such a skill”(paragraph four),”…I know when I hear some of those flamboyant, outlandish and outrageous lies”(paragraph seven), and finally when she says ‘’ I asked the teens what were some of the best lies they have ever told. There was no shortage of examples”( paragraph sixteen).Obviously, she is very observant because she is noticing things about the teens in her article that many people don't pay attention to or just don't think about, she observes that since they lie in a great manner there must be some type of club or workshop to acquire the knowledge to lie so much, and also since she watches juveniles so much she can decipher lies and know when their bizarre and wildly…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Writing and Hiss Celibacy
    • 394 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Writing and Hiss Celibacy

    Annie Dillard is opposed to “writing personally” because she feels that one may be too caught in themselves “The danger is that you’ll get lost in the contemplation of your wonderful self “When Dillard writes, she wants the reader to connect with the meaning of her passage rather than writing a hidden meaning. Now that Dillard has become a more experience writer, she herself avoids these pitfalls fairly well. However, she claims that in her earlier years she was a more interested in showing off.…

    • 394 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson: Character Analysis
    • 1301 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson: Character Analysis

    Melinda’s identity was changed by her stopping talking, losing her closest friends, and becoming depressed. Before the party Melinda was a bright, energetic, bubbly teenage girl. Andy came around and she forgot all her morals. During the rape, Melinda says’ “I’m not really here, I’m definitely back at Rachel’s, crimping my hair, and gluing on fake nails, and he smells like beer and mean and he’s hurting me and he gets up, and zips his jeans and smiles” (135) The was during and after the rape. Andy scared her so much that she didn’t know what to do so she did not tell anybody and stopped talking altogether. Nevertheless before Melinda stopped talking, she called the police for help. This causes Rachel to come up and say “I hate you.” and never talk to her again. Even though calling the police wasn’t a bad thing, it left Melinda scared, afraid and alone. In conclusion she wasn’t able to tell anybody about the rape, Melinda bottled it up and never told anybody. Since Melinda didn’t tell anyone about the rape, she caused herself to become depressed. Even though Melinda has a strong identity somewhere in her, being raped was a huge turning point in her life and changed her and her…

    • 1301 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Autobiographical Element
    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Autobiographical Element

    A quote with significance in everyone’s life, we all learn to judge others and their backgrounds but we forget about our own in the course. We are the reflection of who we believe in whether it is others or ourselves. I feel writing out about our experiences is an eye opener for everyone as well as for us. We don’t have to give an exact account of our history but have substantial examples to avoid being recognized as phonies, but instead giving an account of our experiences gives the novel or piece of work we are writing depth and progress. Therefore I have decided to compare the reflection of the autobiographical element felt in the two novels I am currently reading. When we talk about autobiography what it means is, auto means self writing and biographical means to relate to a fact or reality of a person’s life history in their own works. When the two words are put together as “autobiographical”, it means to narrate one’s personal history or just take a few significant aspects*. Though the author doesn’t directly write about the deep connection between the characters and her personal life but instead indirectly implicates the relationship between the real character and the factitious character in the novel.…

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Fidget As A Form Of Autobiography Analysis
    • 742 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Fidget As A Form Of Autobiography Analysis

    Continuing, Goldsmith goes on to deem “all autobiographies are … fiction”, noting the impossibility of documenting every detail to produce a genuine account of a person, a life, or a day, describing “Fidget” itself as a “work of total fiction.” Roland Barthes writes that the “literary quality” of “books extolling courage and moral fidelity” should not be affected by the opposing character of the author, an idea Goldsmith investigates, interested in the paradox, particularly in reference to Warhol’s glamorous writings – perhaps applying this to his own work. This pertains to the point that the difficulty of the performative task at hand undermines the honour of the work, and potentially indicates that the text is indeed in parts edited, fabricated, or acted. Whether autobiography in the conventional sense then is quite as firmly rooted in the work’s foundations as it first appears is very much debateable, unless of course we accept Goldsmith’s definitions on the facts of autobiography as being inherently fictitious – leaving the true role of autobiography in “Fidget”…

    • 742 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More