Christie Pettit Empty
In the selected memoir, Empty, written by Christie Pettit, the author reflects on her past actions through the text. Unfortunately, Christie struggles with negative body image and eating disorders. She struggles balancing her life: tennis; friends; family; and college studying. All of her stress take a massive toll on her overall well being, indirectly leading to severe anorexia and negative body image.
Originally, Christie meant to slightly alter her eating habits to avoid Freshman 15 (when a freshman in college gains fifteen pounds from lack of exercise and excessive studying), but it became exponentially extreme. First, she decides to swap out soda for water, red meats for lean meats, and sugars for low-fat protein. Then, she completely cut out poultry, grains, and meats. As time passed, extreme healthy eating increasingly became an obsession in her daily life. In the preface, Christie tells the purpose of her memoir is to prevent other young girls from suffering with eating disorders and low self-esteem. The overall questions the memoir is asking is, How do you discover who you are? How do you positively grow as a person?
…show more content…
During Empty, “I threw myself into achieving in the realm of fitness so that I could feel special. I wanted to be the fittest, the leanest, the thinnest. I had to be the best at something” (Pettit 162). Her self-esteem quickly plummets when she compares herself to everybody. She feels “fat” if she is not the skinniest one in the room. This strong mindset holds Christie back from recovering quickly, and is difficult to overcome. Now, Christie acknowledges this unhealthy behavior and realizes her past
Should College Athletes Have A Special Diet Essay
869 Words | 4 PagesUsually, most of the college athletes make good choices in the cafeteria for a few weeks. After that, most of them start to make bad choices in the cafeteria and this impacts their performance. All college athletes on each team want to perform at their best; however, only a small percentage of them will achieve this if they keep a good diet during all the time of the competition. Bernard Roth signals this in his book, The Achievement Habit: Stop Wishing, Start Doing, and Take Command of Your Life, “People just talked about it, and nothing happened” (142). College students with determination keep going to eat healthy must make good choices at all
Analysis Of Alice Randall's My Soul To Keep My Weight To Lose
1277 Words | 6 PagesEveryone has their own idea of a healthy body. That also means everyone sees their own body in a different way. Thus everyone deals with discomfort and or dislikes of their body image in a different way as well. In the article “My soul to Keep, My Weight to Lose” by Alice Randall and the article “One May Explains Why He Swears by Wearing Spanx” by Kevin Fanning the authors talk of how they view and feel about their body in respect to their weight. By reading and analysing them I will be able to compare their views and come to a decision on which author I believe describes their body with the healthiest view.
Softball Player Monologue
683 Words | 3 PagesDo you know who you are? I’m not just talking about your name and age. What I’m talking about goes way deeper than that. Anyways, there’s this girl who’s so desperate to find out who she really is. Sure, she knows what her dislikes and likes are, but what else does she know?
Lucy Grealy's Autobiography Of A Face
411 Words | 2 PagesOne must choose wisely and continually combat the world’s messages because self-image can set the stage for one’s entire life. Grealy’s struggles with self-esteem reveal the fluidity of one’s self-image. A confident young girl can evolve into an insecure teenager or adult because of a new circumstance or the damaging words of others. Grealy does not disclose extensive details about her life or sense of self-image before cancer, but a few brief scenes paint a picture of Grealy that only accentuates the deterioration of her self-esteem.
Self Discovery In Anwer Khan's The Pose
118 Words | 1 PagesIt is often said that you shouldn't let other people's opinions dictate how you think of yourself and how you live life, but in this case, it ends up leading the protagonists to self discovery. In the stories, “The Pose” by Anwer Khan, the girl acts as a mannequin to find out how people truly feel about her. On the other hand, in “Mirror Image” by Lena Coakley, Alice gets a brain transplant and is conflicted trying to find out whether she's still Alice or Gail. Throughout the stories, “Mirror Image” and “The Pose”, the girls both struggle to find self acceptance. As the stories progress, the opinions of others end up guiding them to value their
I Want To Be Miss America Summary
575 Words | 3 PagesThrough the short story, she shows the message that If a person doesn’t see their true value they may constantly try to change themselves. It is shown through the literary elements of Imagery, Simile, and Verbal Irony. “Our skin was diagnosed by the department of beauty as ‘shallow’ we definitely needed some strong foundation to tone down that olive”[pg.39] Alaverse’s use of imagery is spread throughout the story, she uses this tone most when she is describing how much distaste she had for herself, or how she needed to change herself to be like the models seen on the television, magazines or her classmates. Throughout the story, she has an internal urge to be something she’s not. “We complained about how short we were, about how our hair frizzed and how our figures didn’t curve like those on T.V” [pg.39]
Charlotte Charke's Identity
1464 Words | 6 PagesFrom the day she was born, she was seen as an outcast and a burden by her siblings. “I believe I came not only an unexpected, but an unwelcome guest into the family… so that I was rather regarded as an impertinent intruder” (Charke 11). This immediate disapproval from those closest to her may have had a major impact on her self-image and confidence later in her life. For example, in the letter to herself at the beginning of the story, she says that she has never seen herself as a friend, and speaks of herself in a very
Finding Identity In Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson
308 Words | 2 PagesOne will eventually come across the day where they are able to figure out who they truly are as a person. A discovery like this will lead to new chapters of life and start new beginnings. Although finding one 's identity can be difficult to understand and accept, it is crucial in life to discover oneself. In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, a teenage girl, who had to overcome and deal with an awful tragedy, takes readers on the long journey she walked before finding meaning and value in who she is as a person.
On Being A Cripple By Nancy Mairs
1174 Words | 5 PagesThe appearance is not important for our lives. Most people would say that yes. Appearance is important, but it’s not everything to know who they really are. Lucy Grealy in, Autobiography of a Face, has cancer on her face, and she has to remove the part of her face. That ruins her childhood.
Amy Tan Mother Tongue Thesis
528 Words | 3 Pages“Ashamed of my mother”, she states, but as she matured,
Rhetorical Analysis Of Leslie Garrett's Essay You Can Do It Baby
972 Words | 4 PagesHave you ever tried to bolster a child’s self-esteem by saying “You can be anything you want when you grow up”? What if you knew that in today’s society, saying this would increase disappointment; thus faltering a child’s self-esteem later on in life. Author Leslie Garrett, who wrote the article “You Can Do It, Baby!” in 2015, talks about the common phenomena of hindering a child’s opportunity of finding satisfaction in life, by encouraging them that they will grow up to be anything they want, without limitations. Garrett utilizes rhetorical devices to promote the emotional and logical perspectives supporting her claim; however, she incorporates a handful of in-text citations from scholars, psychiatrists, and academic professionals in order to persuade the reader of the article’s credibility.
Imagery In The Handmaid's Tale
836 Words | 4 PagesShe describes her body with imperfect diction, such as “strange”, “outdated”, “shameful”, and “immodest” (82). Atwood has such a critical tone towards body image to expose the high standard of beauty and how the standard forces people to feel about their own body. Such image of oneself compared to the standard allows people to feel imperfect and incompetent and prohibits beauty to surface. Atwood uses parallelism in “without thought...without care” (82) to emphasize the past’s carelessness of exposure. Atwood compares the past’s exposure to the present’s concealment to differentiate the effects of each.
Identity In Alice's Adventure In Wonderland
780 Words | 4 PagesThis because she is a capricious protagonist who can be perceived as utterly, unstable and unreliable. In one passage she cries and feels pity for herself, and in the following she expresses maternal compassion and care for others. Alice’s constant changes in size are puzzling for her. She seems to struggle in order to comprehend her identity, but the various oscillations in size and in life phases cause considerable confusion on her. The concept of identity can be also associated to an adolescent’s socio-emotional development.
One Of Us Is Dying Bronwyn Rojas Character Analysis
1191 Words | 5 PagesHer willingness to confront the truth about her actions and accept responsibility for the consequences not only changes her perspective on life but also inspires others around her to be more honest and courageous in the face of adversity (McManus 253). By choosing to embrace authenticity and face the ramifications of her choices, Bronwyn evolves from being driven by external validation to someone guided by her principles and values. This transformation serves as a powerful reminder of the profound impact that secrets can have on one's personal development, and how embracing the truth, no matter how difficult, can lead to growth and self-discovery (McManus 281). Through her journey, Bronwyn becomes a symbol of resilience and authenticity, demonstrating that true personal growth lies in the courage to confront and address the secrets that shape our
When The Fat Girl Gets Skinny Analysis
806 Words | 4 PagesThe purpose of this is to set an example to her audience of how she struggled and how she achieved happiness without having to harm herself. It is evident, individuals develop traumas at a young age due to the ideas being harvested by society, for instance, “By the time I was sixteen, I had already experienced being clinically overweight, underweight and obese,”(17-18) this helps the audience understand that these ideas not only traumatize a child but compels a child to feel the necessity of achieving ideal features at a young age. It is evident that for a child to be considered “... overweight, underweight, and obese...” by the age of sixteen is not healthy. Blaid explains how as a child she wasn’t affected by being called fact, until she understood what it truly meant.
More about Christie Pettit Empty
Should College Athletes Have A Special Diet Essay
869 Words | 4 PagesAnalysis Of Alice Randall's My Soul To Keep My Weight To Lose
1277 Words | 6 PagesSoftball Player Monologue
683 Words | 3 PagesLucy Grealy's Autobiography Of A Face
411 Words | 2 PagesSelf Discovery In Anwer Khan's The Pose
118 Words | 1 PagesI Want To Be Miss America Summary
575 Words | 3 PagesCharlotte Charke's Identity
1464 Words | 6 PagesFinding Identity In Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson
308 Words | 2 PagesOn Being A Cripple By Nancy Mairs
1174 Words | 5 PagesAmy Tan Mother Tongue Thesis
528 Words | 3 PagesRhetorical Analysis Of Leslie Garrett's Essay You Can Do It Baby
972 Words | 4 PagesImagery In The Handmaid's Tale
836 Words | 4 PagesIdentity In Alice's Adventure In Wonderland
780 Words | 4 PagesOne Of Us Is Dying Bronwyn Rojas Character Analysis
1191 Words | 5 PagesWhen The Fat Girl Gets Skinny Analysis
806 Words | 4 Pages