Public and Private Self.

For this post, explain something that you understand about yourself that other people may not understand or even know is true about you.  Another way of asking this is: what is true about your private self that people don't see publicly?  Why do you think this part of yourself doesn't translate well?

Due Wednesday.

Innocence and Experience

While reading Catcher in the Rye, we're going to be thinking about coming-of-age (the bildungsroman genre) and what that means for us in two interrelated ways: how we move from innocence to experience, and how we begin to construct a public self out of our private self.  One may argue that Holden has difficulty expressing his the shape of his private self in social situations: his inner logic becomes distorted when expressed publicly.

As a first step down this road, try writing (in the comment section below) about something you became aware of as you became mature, which you felt very differently about when you were younger.  This could be a reality in the world that you are now aware of and having feelings about, or a part of your experience in life for which your feelings have changed considerably over the years.  Try your best to be as clear as you can about how your private self handled this new awareness.