Responses to friends in social relationships

¶ … education in Nabokov's book Speak and how you used it to discuss your experiences being tutored. I felt it offered a sense of connection when discussing the desire to pay it forward or pay it back in relation to your parent's hard work and desire for you to get a good education. I felt the instances you spoke of not only described well the two themes discussed in the book, as well as in your essay: travel, memory, and education. You were also able to offer memorable description throughout the essay.

The train ride associated with the pool and your aunt, and the fear of going into the water, it made the essay impactful and made me want to continue reading. What I needed more of was more actual examples from the text of where and how these themes discussed earlier were demonstrated. I did not get a thorough understanding from the times you mentioned Nabokov apart from his father hiring a tutor and the cousin accompanied train ride. How did he get smarter? What area did he get smarter in?

You painted such a clear picture of your own memories, I would have liked a clearer picture painted of the book's memories too. I think that elaborating more and using quotes from the book would help cement the comparison of the wonderfully described memories of your life. Being specific in the book as well as specific in your memories allows for improved focus in the essay.

I can use an instance from my life to show you. On page 30 of the novel, Speak, Nabakov discusses of the chaotic nature of life: "The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness." Life truly has many instances of random occurrence and it is up to use to decide how we might respond to them if they ever were to occur. Using common sense and being aware of how things exist within their space helps to decipher, even if at best a little, the possible ways life might occur.

#2

I enjoyed reading your essay and your descriptions were vivid and detailed. The floating arm bands, the small "mouse" hole, it all lended to the story. Many times people can't remember anything before age 4. This is true for most, but it's always nice to try to remember. There's information available that states babies up until 3 months can only see in black and white and need to see black and white in order to develop their brains more.

I believe retrieving as much detail as possible from your early childhood is a great way to improve your own memory as well as connect events in your life. A lot of things you do now were shaped by what you did when you were little. For instance, your inquisitive nature back then, how you wanted to see through the hole and your sadness. Perhaps understanding why you cried so much before going to kindergarten could explain some of the sadness you may have now.

The book, Speak, helps readers build a sort of road map of the character's life through these reconstructed memories. To associate these memories with certain actions and possible connections to certain feelings, helps identify what one might be going through presently, or in the least, paint a better picture of things. An instance for me in early childhood was my first time riding a bicycle. I was eight at the time.