Clara Hammer's Writing Blog

  Part One:   A single story leads one to believe that there is a right way to be. Similar to what Chimamande Adichie believed about the British books she read when she was young. Telling a one-dimensional story about a person makes it “impossible for [one] to see [people] as anything but” whatever your preconceived belief about them was, as Chimamande Adichie explained about the house boy who she only saw as poor because that is all she was told about him. A single story leads to great misunderstandings about others and our world as a whole.  Nkali means “to be greater than another” as Chimamande Adichie said. This belief leads people to view all situations as hierarchical and singular. When one views a citation in this way they miss the depth that other people have in their identities and actions. Chimamande Adichie mentioned that stories are defined by how they are told and who tells them, meaning that only listening to a single story does not allow one to understand a...

 I could not access the entire Atlantic article because I do not pay for a subscription to them, but I found a summary elsewhere that was hopefully adequate. When I first got a phone it was before 6th grade. My parents figured I should at least have a way to talk to friends and contact them, but I was not allowed to use social media till maybe 7th grade. The main thing I enjoyed about getting a phone was having the ability to take photos so easily. My phone has become a huge part of my life. It’s my main source of information and how I find creative inspiration. Using social media has its many downsides but it does provide interesting information and displays art accessibly.  I was intrigued by Jean M. Twenge’s article because I myself am part of “iGen.” From the beginning, I assumed Twenge would be biased and take the typical stance that many people from older generations do. It does seem like her aim was to inform, but the excerpts I saw seemed to mold facts. She used studie...

Brainstorming: Things I want: To be better at crochet, to learn how to sew, more books, more jewelry, a haircut, more time to relax, more pants, a new lightweight jacket, a later wakeup time... The Jury is Still Out: Could I pull off a pixie cut, are bell bottoms and flares cute, how much figurative language does it take for an essay to be cringy, are crop tops just a phase of my style, is my tendonitis better enough for me to do a workout, do I like Kendrick Lamar, how much do I like Star Wars...? My Media and My Obsessions: How To Train Your Dragon, flowers, violin, Stolen, Mary Oliver, Alice Walker, Rick Riordan, crochet, plants, Hozier, The Beatles, art, jazz for stuyding, Nirvana...  Things That Bother Me: When people think feminism is just for women and girls, people chewing loudly,  young people with their ringers on in public, procrastinating, gender norms, trying to decypher politician's intentions, when I cannot tell if my writing will be cheesy or not... My clothing...

  1. Doyle and Gardener both fell prey to confirmation bias in their research of the fairies. They allowed themselves to be convinced by unconvincing “evidence” and underestimated Elsie's artistic ability. By underestimating Elsie, Gardener overlooked a crucial piece of their case. Also, as the essay mentions, it was a large misstep on Doyle's part to send Gardener instead of investigating the fairy photographs on his own. Gardener was already convinced of the existence of fairies and was seeking any evidence-like information. 2. Many of the women who visited Hull House in search of the Devil Baby had lost children or seen their children suffer. Addams uncovers the story of a woman whose son had been taken advantage of. Her son was always “innocent,” as she says, and from a young age, his peers exploited that. When he grew up and became a large man, criminals began to exploit him to complete burglaries. This woman shared her frustration with her son's continuous mistreatmen...