My Papers: Part One, Grace's Party

 Introduction

At the beginning of August, I finished my English Composition I course for high school. Though I really enjoyed learning how to write, it was a struggle to manage my time correctly and express my feelings through writing. Because I didn't write a lot of papers, I was unsure that my grades weren’t going to go well. But once I got my first A, I was more confident in my skills. All through August, I am going to post my papers from the course. The first paper is a narrative about an event that happened recently in my life. 

In February, I went to one of my friend's parties. I instantly knew that it was the event that I was going to write about.  My biggest problem was the word count(as you'll see in the other papers). At first, I was going to include the part about my grandmother being sick, but then I realized my word count was too high. I had to take out all of the unnecessary details which included my grandmother being in the hospital. I hope you enjoy this paper and are inspired by what I learned in my experience.

Grace's Party

Charis Johnson

June 8, 2020

English Composition I

Grace’s Party

Though I enjoy being in social settings, I consider myself an introvert by most standards. Sometimes, I am afraid that people will not like me if I accidentally embarrass myself around them or make them uncomfortable. A few months ago, when my friend Grace invited me to her party, it gave me a chance to open up. A day after, I discussed the possibility with my mom and she agreed that I could go. Although, a couple of days before the scheduled party, my grandmother, whom we call Gran-gran, was admitted to the hospital. So, my parents made the decision to pack up and run down to Mississippi to support her.  I  came to the realization that since Gran-gran was in the hospital and that we had to leave, I couldn’t attend Grace’s party.

After packing, I rushed upstairs to get on the computer. Numbly, my fingers danced on the keyboard as a disappointing email to my friend relayed from my mind onto the screen. However, once the email was sent, my mom entered the room. She remembered that my friend’s party was that day and since my sister Tabitha had work and couldn’t go to Mississippi, Tabitha could take me. 

That evening after Tabitha was done with work, we went to the Methodist church where the party was being held. When we entered the dimly lit area of the fellowship hall, the hosts, my two friends, were nowhere to be seen. A few moms there greeted us and tried to make us feel welcome. As I tried not to look stupid while I was looking for a place to sit, I took the “follow the older sibling around so that you don’t look clueless and stupid even though you do” card and sat down near Tabitha. I watched the few other people talk until a couple of minutes later a girl came over and we talked a little. When the conversation dwindled down and the awkwardness grew,  I moved to the other side of the table, near some other people.

Because it seemed that everybody else was wrapped up in their own conversations, I used that excuse to not socialize. I felt that if I tried to ease myself into a conversation, then I wouldn’t be welcome. So I just sat there awkwardly as I tried not to listen to other peoples’ conversations. As more people entered, I started to socialize with a girl named Elizabeth; Tabitha also joined the conversation. 

When Grace and Maria appeared, we got settled to play an ice breaker game. We were to stand up and  say our name, favorite band, and favorite book.While other people said their stuff, I worried about what I was going to say. When it was my turn, I rose up and spat out the sentence:

“My name is Charis, I don’t have a favorite book, and my favorite band is Perfume.”

I said it so fast and low-toned that I wasn’t sure that anybody heard me. I wasn’t sure that anybody else even cared. I sat back down and lowered my head as habit took over. It was very uncomfortable to stand up and have everybody listen to you. 

After that, we played some more games, one of which was called “Erica’s Got Talent”. It was a spin-off of America’s Got Talent, but in this game, all of the contestants’ names were Erica and the judges told you what talent you were to act out. I saw more than half of the other invitees back out; they were in the same boat as I. I didn’t want to be the same as them. I had to tip the boat. My biggest fear was that they were going to give me a questionable talent that I would only be able to act out if I embarrassed myself. It was too late to turn back. 

When my turn came up, they assigned me the talent of “taking heart medication”. My heart was beating like the bass in my neighbors’ loud rap music as I planned my movements: picking up an invisible pill bottle off of the judges’ table, opening it, putting the imaginary pills in my mouth, and flushing them down my throat with a gulp of imaginary water. When I finished, I was so proud of myself even though nobody there understood my silent triumph.

Since I have practiced letting go of my fears of embarrassment and speaking out, it’s made me a more confident person and made me realize that the way other people may look at me doesn’t define the way I look at myself.  In order to let go, you have to put yourself in reality and realize that there isn’t much to lose when you are put on the spotlight. 

 

1. Which narrative techniques did you use to bring your story to life? (2-3 sentences) I used dialogue to show specific info about my feelings towards being social and the challenges I had with public speaking. One example of showing versus telling was when I said, “I planned my movements: picking up an invisible pill bottle off of the judges’ table, opening it, taking imaginary pills, and flushing it down my throat with imaginary water.” instead of saying “I took the imaginary pills.”. I also used the sentence, “Numbly, my fingers danced on the keyboard as a disappointing email to my friend relayed from my mind onto the screen.” to show that I was writing an email to my friend. 

2. How did your purpose and audience shape the way in which you wrote your narrative? (3-4 sentences): I wrote in a way that would show the way I felt to sympathize with those who are uncomfortable when socializing. I wanted to show that being social isn’t too hard of a task and that it is completely worth it. I wrote it in a way to reveal my feelings and to show that they were barely anything compared to the joy I had the rest of the night. I wanted them to know that standing up to your fears is an experience that you’ll never forget.

3. Provide a concrete example from your narrative that shows how you have written specifically for this audience and purpose. (3-5 sentences) I used the sentence “ I wasn’t sure that anybody else even cared. I sat back down and lowered my head as habit took over.” to show the way that I would condemn myself when I thought that I failed. I used the metaphor, “my heart was beating like the bass in my neighbors' loud rap music” to show my fear when I was about to perform my talent. I wanted the people who have felt that way, not only the people who are socially uncomfortable, to associate themselves with that experience.