Essay Questions

Deconstruct Brianna’s condition. - 'Every Little Thing'

Brianna expounds, “She had scientists baffled. “Hyperthymesia,” they called it: highly superior autobiographical memory. They thought there might be forty or fifty people in the world like us, people whose pasts keep opening up and swallowing us down.” Brianna recognizes that she could be suffering from “Hyperthymesia” due to the exactness of her memory. She immerses in her memory often and vividly recounts past experiences which she would have forgotten if she was not having the condition. Her ability to recollect past experiences is so exceptional that all the details emerge smoothly.

Explain the foremost limitation of “Hyperthymesia.” - 'Every Little Thing'

Brianna confesses, “You’d think this memory would’ve made me a straight-A student, a Jeopardy Champion. You might call it a gift. I wouldn’t. In school, when I opened my locker or sharpened my pencil or sat down with a quiz, I’d suddenly fall into some other day, some other moment. Ten minutes later I’d still be standing there, lock in hand as the late bell rang, or my pencil would be ground down to a nub, or the teacher, gently and sadly, would say, “Brianna, time’s up.” ” Although Brianna’s memory is outstanding, it does not increase her intelligence. She is distracted often that she would not concentrate on her undertakings. Therefore, the condition is not an absolute endowment because it hinders her from concentrating; her mind drifts often. Her ability to concentrate on specific tasks is adversely affected by Hyperthymesia.

Expound the power distance between girls and boys in' Girls, At Play.'

Ng explains, “But the game has rules. You go with the boy who snaps your bracelet. You don’t pick the boy; he picks you; they’re all the same to you. You do exactly what the color prescribes, even if you hate him, like we hate Travis Coleman whose fingernails are always grubby. No talking other than hello. Don’t tell anyone if you hate it, if his tongue feels like a dead fish in your mouth, if his hands leave snail-trails of sweat down your sides.” The boy has more power relative to girls in the game because they are the only ones who can select girls with whom to play and not vice versa. Moreover, the boys steer the game by determining the colors which girls should follow. Moreover, the girls must put up with the game even when it is not pleasurable. In the context of feminism, the game is symbolic of sex; girls are deemed as objects who must partake in the game of sex to gratify men. The boys, in the game, exhibit a patriarchal mind-set for their actions demonstrate that their entitlement to the girls' bodies.