Personal essays are supposed to center around a particular issue, a theme relevant to the author’s personal experience as well as society-at-large. When I began reading Jessica’s essay, I seemed fairly obvious that her topic was anorexia. ‘Nuff said. As I continued, however, I began to think the subject of her piece was something more… maybe. When she wrote about her therapy sessions, how she “stopped talking about eating during them,” I wondered whether her focus was more on the inadequacy of psychological therapists, or psychology in general. She talks about discussing other things – school, stress, problems with her family. It seems that Jessica had already come to terms with her immediate problem, but where would her essay end? What would it mean to her audience (namely me – I’m very selfish).
Here’s a portion of her final paragraph: “I went to my last session, talked about my final exams and plans for the summer, and then left the office.” The essay ends with a calming vision of the sun, “gleaming in a calm, blue sky.” Such a peaceful, freeing ending, seems to indicate a resolution to the problem at hand, which ultimately, should be the focus of her piece. If anorexia is an existent struggle, then what conflict was resolved? Perhaps her dislike of therapy and therapists was the conflict. Perhaps their inability to “cure” her eating disorder was contemplating. Then again… perhaps not.
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