Tristan's Essay!

Tristan Yerkes

Mr. Salsich

English 9

20 April, 2009

Sentimental Stories:
An Essay on Sentiment

Jedi knights, a fictional type of people who keep order in the universe, are encouraged to think without sentiment in order to make unclouded decisions. Sentiment is a word used to describe thinking with passion or emotion. In the poems and passage, acting sentimental changes other’s lives, can be quite a beneficial way of thinking, and can harm people.

T.S. This Paragraph will explain how sentiment can cause decisions to made that benefit some, while making others unhappy in all three pieces of literature. S.D. In The Garden Party Ms. Mansfield shows sentiment in the character Laura. C.M. When Laura decides to go and help the dead man’s family, she does it purely on what her emotions tell her. C.M This decision eventually helps the family of the dead man, but makes Laura’s family unhappy that she must go to the peasant’s hamlet. S.D. In the untitled poem, Dickinson writes about how she is no one. C.M. The mood of the poem suggests that this is a secret thing that’s frowned upon by society, saying, “Are you nobody, too? Then there's a pair of us -- don't tell!” C.M. This shows that Dickinson’s decision to be no one, inspired by her emotion makes society unhappy, but she benefits in the end. S.D. In “The Traveling Onion” Nye shows how the personified figurative onion makes emotional decisions. C.M. In the last stanza, Nye writes, “[The Onions] for the sake of others, disappear” showing that the onion, despite its long-lived, full life, decides to give up the stage to others. C.M. This shows an emotional decision by the onion, in which it loses the stage, but other elements benefit from this sentimental decision. C.S. In these three pieces of writing, characters make sentimental decisions, decisions influenced by emotion, and somebody benefits while someone else loses.

T.S. The same three aforementioned pieces of literature display the benefits of sentiment in general, which will be explained in the following paragraph. S.D. In The Garden Party, Laura, as well as the family she helps, also feels good about her sentimental choices. C.M. When Laura decides to help the family of the dead man, she feels good about her decision saying, “Yes, quite” when asked by her brother if her encounter was alright. C.M. Although Laura’s feelings may seem pretentious (FAST WORD), Laura’s character displays that her feelings are completely innocent. S.D. In the untitled poem by Emily Dickinson, sentimental decision-making is done by the narrator (Dickinson) to benefit themselves. C.M. Dickinson makes the decision to be nobody based on her emotions, logically she would fit in and be nobody. C.M. Ms. Dickinson benefits in the end, and is quite glad to be nobody, saying, “How dreary to be somebody!” S.D. “The Traveling Onion” displays benefit from the Onion’s Spontaneous (FAST WORD) decision to give the spotlight to others. C.M. The onion in the poem decides to give the spotlight to others, and in a way benefits itself. C.M. The onion may lose the spotlight in the end, but after it’s long, content life, the onion seems to feel better watching others take it’s place when Nye says, “For the sake of others [the onion gives up the spotlight.]” C.S. In the end, the one who gives sentiment benefits in one way or other.

T.S. Although sentiment benefits in ways, it can also cause distress and bad consequences. S.D. The Garden Party, being a somewhat enlightening and hopeful story, has surprisingly subtle unhappy elements.(S-V SPLIT) C.M. It is clear that Laura is happy in the end, and benefits from her sentimental experience with the dead man, but when she first sees the dead man, she is aghast and scared. C.M. Being a relatively sheltered child, Laura was surprised to see a dead man, when Mansfield writes, “Laura gave a loud, childish sob.” (OPENER) S.D. Dickinson’s poem, mysterious and unyielding(APPOSITIVE), displays little, but still shows that Dickinson has bad consequences from her sentimental decision. C.M. Dickinson may be quite happy about being nobody, but this does not change the fact that she must still hide herself and be somebody in secret. C.M. This is shown when Ms. Dickinson writes, “Don’t tell [that we’re somebody]!” S.D. In Ms. Nye’s poem, the onion suffers the consequences of letting others take the spotlight after it. C.M. The figurative onion in “The Traveling Onion” gives up its “spotlight” of respect and power to other, less prominent elements. C.M. This removal from a prominent position in people’s minds puts the onion at a lower position than originally held as a consequence. C.S. Although sad, sentimental decision making can lead to bad consequences, and the one making these decisions can only hope that the benefits outweigh the consequences.

The benefits and consequences mentioned are very strong powers, and can get out off control if sentiment is misused. Many people rule their sentiment, but sometimes their sentiment can rule them. Jedi Knights, strong and dedicated(APPOSITIVE), are not allowed to make sentimental choices, whereas the characters in these three stories make their own sentimental decisions, and they end up working out.