Freda Kirchwey

Nation of Lies Why do we lie to others, but expect others to be honest with us? Today in society, lies have embodied the lives of many to the point where it has become a natural part of our lifestyle. Lying has become a natural habit for us, it has become a factor in how we carry out our lives. Whether we may have lied in consideration of how others may feel, or if it was because we did not want to carry out something we were assigned, lying has become so natural to us that we cannot distinguish it from what the truth really is. Lying has become a cultural cancer, as Stephanie Ericsson states in her essay, “The Ways We Lie”, that we have come to the point where we accepted it into our society. It has become an “incurable” disease that is spreading throughout our society as it is eating away what our culture stands for. Lying is becoming so much of a second nature to us that it is becoming an invisible aspect of our reality, our lives, just as water is an invisible aspect to the fish that swims in it. Would you ever lie to your children, your family, even after knowing that the consequences may be much worse if they find out? People lie for many reasons but would you accept it from someone you were raised by, someone you were raised with? This was a question Audre Lorde had to answer in her essay, “Fourth of July”. During the time of this story, segregation was still alive in the United States. However, Lorde’s parents did not want their daughter to realize that the color…

In 1961, John F. Kennedy took the podium after being sworn in as the 35th president of the United States. People gathered around, despite the bitter cold, in hopes of hearing reassurance from their new national leader. At this time in history America was struggling with social inequalities, racial tensions, and a fight against communism. With the current issues in mind, Kennedy sought to invoke a sense of unity across the nation. Through the use of rhetorical devices such as strong dictation,…

Are we at war? The once cheerful cartoons on the small television monitors get tuned into a muted vivid image of a plane heading toward the twin towers. Than another. Flames begin to blaze as smoke surges through the air, the oxygen we must breathe now. The buildings immediately tilt as our world starts to break, humans’ ordinary humans have a life or death decision to make. But do they really? Because, either way the ones attacked physically need to choose how they’ll die that day. The…