Working Out Worries by Writing
After his father was driven to the hospital for emergent treatment, 43-year-old Yanatha Desouvre began to panic. So, he did one thing that he knew would calm himself: He wrote. Over the next few weeks, Desouvre filled several notebooks, writing about his worry as well as his happy memories with his dad. “Writing allowed me to face my fear and process my pain,” he says. Psychologists refer to that kind of writing as “expressive writing”. People do it by recording their deepest thoughts and feelings. However, different from writing in a journal, expressive writing is to reflect honestly and thoughtfully on a particular frustration or challenge.
A well-known psychology professor says that hundreds of studies have looked at the potential benefits of expressive writing and found it can help reduce pain and improve mood, sleep and memory. It may even help reduce symptoms of various illnesses, and prevent colds and flu.
Expressive writing takes effect because translating a painful experience into language allows people to make meaning out of it, some experts say. The process forces them to organize their thoughts and offers a sense of control, thus completing the pursuit of value from such an experience. Another research suggested that during expressive writing, the act of labeling a feeling can lessen the activity relating to nerves in the threat area of the brain. With these nerves relaxed, people can lower the symptoms of their diseases, enhance their appreciation for life, and increase the acceptance of various experiences in their lives.
What can’t be ignored is that it shouldn’t be used as a replacement for other medical treatments. And people coping with a severe depression may not find it useful to do on their own, without therapy. Yet, it can be a powerful coping tool for many, in large part because it helps battle against their reluctance to face negative emotions.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
There are several qualities of literature. One of them is its description of
3 . Joseph Conrad, a famous English novelist, said that his goal as a writer was “to make you hear, to make you feel, and above all, to make you see. That, and no more, is everything.”
In Hemingway’s story, The Old Man and the Sea, however, we must approach the content on another level.
Readers cannot appreciate a short story fully unless they react not only to what has been said but also to how it has been said.
A.They must look for style and structure. |
B.In complex stories, careful readers may not always agree with the author. |
C.The impact on the reader comes from the sudden and unexpected response. |
D.A good short story tries to give the reader a sense of the actual experience. |
E.Finally, the reader should be able to explain the insights which the author has given into the theme. |
F.The impact of the story comes from the insight it gives us into the needs and desires of youth and old age. |
G.In order to read a short story with full understanding, the reader must approach the content on two levels. |
Loving Legacy
Magic wands, flying broomsticks, terrifying monsters... these are the features of the fantasy genre. And over the last few decades, Harry Potter has remained at the top of the list for
Harry Potter might have started off as
I grew up reading Harry Potter. Like millions of other children, I waited on my eleventh birthday for an owl carrying a letter to inform me that I
Some may think that fantasy or science fiction has no place in literature, as they corrupt the mind and provide no useful lessons. These people are wrong. Characters in popular fantasy or science fiction novels are not much different from those in classic literature novels. Each embodies the emotion, character and thought
5 . From the ancient Chinese stories, to the stories in the medieval cathedrals(中世纪的教堂)in the west, it is perfectly clear that there is strong pleasure and meaning to gain from stories told through images or pictures. People are lucky enough to have had books with both pictures and words when they were children.
After the world wars, the cheap books without pictures were everywhere and it made reading books illustrated with pictures for adults a very luxurious thing. Somehow, pictures had also come to seem childish or strange.
What is the use of a book without pictures? Very little, it turns out, particularly if we consider that pictures are buried within the very symbols used to write words. As for a picture book for adults, author Tokarczuk sweeps away all doubts. She adores the picture book.
A.Because it is hard to read books with pictures. |
B.And yet readers love stories told through pictures. |
C.However, words and pictures are not always connected. |
D.Text and picture, after all, are not so far apart. |
E.For her it is a powerful, old way of telling a story. |
F.Adults are thought foolish to read such books. |
G.They often remember the pictures as clearly as the words. |