Three Spheres
Lauren Slater
Creative NonFiction Journal

Quality of Voice? The voice is very reminiscent of a journal entry, very informal and at times meandering. “Of all the hundreds of hospitals in Massachusetts, why did it have to be that one?” I can see this in a journal with the word “that” written all in capitals and underlined several times.

What are some of the specific words or phrases that bring this essay into focus for you? “ I am now a psychologist who, over the years, has learned to give up her Indian print sundresses and bulky smocks for tailored skirts, who carries a black Coach leather briefcase.” The amount of importance placed on appearance when grouping people is acknowledged by Slater. Because she now appears in control she is given the respect people reserve for those who have everything together. Slater’s piece attacks this way of viewing things.

Where does this writer create images and or scenes? “our house swells with raw and echoing sounds, with crashing crescendos and wails that shiver up inside mu skin, lodging there a fear…” “the way night looked as it fell behind the bars and the stars were sliced into even segments.”

Where does this writer “tell?” “Sometimes I wish time stayed solid, in separable chunks as distinct as the sound of the ticking clock on my mantle right now.” “Wound’s, I think, are never confined to a single skin.”

What kinds of sentence variety, phrasing, etc. add to the quality of this piece? “Safe again. Trapped again. Safe again. Trapped aga—“ “ I am standing on the other side of that door—the wrong, I mean this right, side of the door—and I ring the buzzer.” Lines such as these add to the immediacy of the piece.

Questions:

How did she achieve such a easy blending of past, present, and processing?

Where was she career-wise was she when this piece was published? Did she feel exposed?