Essay Packet 1/ Goldberg Packet 3

I have always been taught that essays had to be about facts, you needed data and raw materials to write one... and don't forget to source everything! Leave no details out and it must be at least 10 pages long, double spaced, 12 pt font, and times new roman. This was imprinted into my brain from the start of high school. When I started reading into the essay packet, that's kind of what I expected. To my surprise the so called "essays" seemed just like stories. I enjoyed reading them, instead of feeling like I'm just reading about facts, there were deeper meaning behind theses "essays" and I enjoyed trying to figure them out.

One essay I really enjoyed was Naomi Shihab Nye's Mint Snowball. This essay was about a great-grandfather that invented something called the Mint Snowball. People drove from miles and miles away to come enjoy this recipe. It was kept a secret from everyone, even his own family until he decided to sell it to someone in town for $100. At first I thought this was suppose to have a tear jerking feeling about how people grow old and give up on something that use to be important and pretty much throw it away for chump change, but the end involves the  great grandson and how his mom explains this story from her point of view to him. How she use to eat the concoction and swivel around on the chairs. She even tried to recreate the recipe long after it was sold, but could never get it quite right. The ending is what really caught my attention and drew me in. The great grandson explains how he is like the recipe. Lost, not understanding where his place in the world might be. Everything has changed in this small town and he wants to be like a small, traditional town. He is knowledgeable in the daily routines in life, but feels like he needs more, or he is missing something.

In the Goldberg Packet, there is a section called use loneliness. You want the reader to be able to relate in some way to the writing. Using loneliness helps the reader understand, "it's ache creates urgency to reconnect with the world." Everyone has had feelings of loneliness. Let the loneliness guide you to something that will help you express yourself and reconnect back with the world. In the essay Mint Snowball, the great grandson feels lonely. He knows something is missing but doesn't know what yet. He misses the old town and disagrees with what it has turned into, missing the local feel of a small town. Not being able to try that mint concoction that his great grandfather sold for $100. He's trying to find that place in the world where he belongs but he doesn't know where it is yet.