Writer's Dreaming

 

8. Angelou say, “There’s a world of difference between truth and fact.”  What do you think she means by that?  Do you think the same?

I think Maya Angelou means that truth and fact can differ depending on perspective.  For instance, take a witness to a crime.  The witness may not see the whole crime, but would regard what they saw as fact.  When asked by the police, or in court, what they saw, the witness would be stating facts.  In reality, the two people in the crime had a history that went downhill, and their scuffle in the street was witnessed by a bystander.  The bystander only knows what they saw, so must rely only on their observation.  They know nothing of the two criminals’ history.  On the other hand, the two people in the scuffle know the ugly, twisted truth of their history.  These two people do not have a clear, unobstructed vision to rely on; they have memories distorted with emotions that they must rely on.  The bystander has no personal connection to the two people, whereas these two people have raw feeling towards each other.  Truth can be obstructed by emotion, and fact is based on results and what you see.

3. Angelou says she doesn’t even like to talk about her bad dreams because talking about them “gives them too much power.”  Do you think talking about bad dreams or bad news or other bad things (or feeding into the “drama” at school or in life) gives those bad things more power?  When have you known this to happen?

I do think that talking about bad dreams, bad news, or other bad things does give them more power.  Talking about and focusing on the bad things in life will prevent one from focusing on all the good in their life.  Feeding into the “drama” at school and in life does not help anything, because drama is usually bad or messy.  If someone spends all their time worrying about what “that girl” said about them, or a rumor circulating the school about someone in your friend group, it is added stress to this person’s life.  By focusing on the small joys in life, such as being surprised with your favorite meal for dinner, a person’s life would be filled with so much more joy, and less “bad.”  I have seen the bad things in life completely take control of someone’s life when bad things continued to happen to them, and they only focused on the drama in their life.  This person had a hard time of seeing the silver lining, and only looked at the darkness that they had to come home to every day.  I tried to make sure that this person had something to smile or laugh about every day, because I knew they were going through rough times.  The people that one surrounds themselves with is also a big part of whether or not they let the bad things take over.  Trying to surround yourself with people who focus on the good in life will also help you to focus on the good in life. 

11. Angelou mentions being told that “one can’t really learn after one is twenty-five.” Do you think the older you get the harder it is to try and learn new things?  Or do you think being older means you’re more focused on what’s important and not distracted by things that keep you from learning?

I believe that the older you get, the more focused you are on what’s important in life and not distracted by the things that keep you from learning.  The older you are, the more you know (most likely).  Most people have a desire to learn, and are forced to do so in school at younger ages.  In school, people learn history, English, mathematics, science, etc.  These are things that a person needs to know for specific times in their life, but I do not think a person will need to know calculus when they are 60.  You have a better idea of what you want to learn about when you are older, and will have less wasted time in the areas that you do not want to study.

7. Angelou says she often has “total recall” of the events in her life.  Are you a person who remembers everything or someone who remembers almost nothing? Which is better to be?  Which periods or times in your life are clearest?  Fuzziest?  Do you have better recall of the times you consider happy or the ones you consider sad or embarrassing or uncomfortable or humorous?

I am a person who can barely remember to put on their shoes in the morning.  For example, I have to write notes to myself as reminders, and I have to pack my backpack at night to prevent myself from forgetting anything in the morning.  It would be great to be able to remember things more clearly, because you would not be wondering all the time what it was that you forgot (just to have yourself remember later).  The periods of my life that are the fuzziest are of when I was younger.  I think that I actually remember some of them incorrectly, because my parents will tell me that me that some things I “remember” never happened.  The events that have taken place recently (in the past few years) are the clearest in my memory.  I also have better recall of times in my life whenever I was happy or someone was laughing.  A few of these do include embarrassing situations, because someone (including me) ended up laughing at my clumsiness.