Great Works of Literature II

Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Confessions is an autobiography, meaning it is the story of his life, written by himself. Rousseau begins in a way that seems self-centered and conceited to some. He writes things like, “I venture to believe that I am not made like any of those who are in existence.” But it’s only human nature to be a bit self -centered. I think it would be a bigger problem if someone’s life was centered on someone else.  In some cases it’s illegal for you to be concerned solely on someone else. One example is stalking. Rousseau goes on to speak about some of the most embarrassing moments in his life.  He admits to an experience where he was beaten by his nanny, and enjoying it. He wanted to be beaten again. He basically told the world about his taboo sexual desires. And later told us about his silly belief that he was saved because he hit a tree with a rock, even though he chose the biggest tree and it wasn’t likely at all that he would miss. But the most interesting thing about Rousseau is not what he said, but that he said it. From what I’ve seen, people tend to tell you what they want you to know and hide the embarrassing details of their life until they’re on their death bed, or they take their secrets to the grave. So I believe that he’s either hiding the deeper darker secrets, or he isn’t being completely honest. In fact, the pre-text says “ …despite its claim of absolute truthfulness, sometimes appears more concerned to create a self –justifying story than to confine itself strictly to actuality.”   (I’m gonna write in capital letters so that people will actually read this now)

EVERYONE KNOWS THAT PEOPLE ARE BIAS. I KNOW THAT I COULDN’T WRITE A TRULY HONEST CONFESSION WITH THE MOST EMBARASSING DETAILS OF MY LIFE, WITH SELF REFLECTIONS FOR THE WORLD TO READ AND JUDGE ME. MY QUESTION TO THE CLASS IS, DO YOU THINK IT’S POSSIBLE TO WRITE A HONEST CONFESSION LIKE THIS? AND IF SO, COULD YOU DO IT? (and for extra credit, I think we should each write a confession…. I’ll go first… Ok I can’t do it… I’ll go second… to last…. Which is probably first anyway lol)