Week 6: Show & Tell

 Out of the two stories, I most see myself in Cousins because I understand what it’s like grow apart from someone I used to be close to. Within the post, the writer says that their cousin was “[s]omeone to lean on and confide in when the times got tough… But it all went down in the blink of an eye. I said things…she said things.” While I’ve never been very close with my cousins, this reminds me of the experience I had with my best friend from high school. We became friends our freshman year, and we were inseparable; she was the person I felt comfortable being myself with and told all of my secrets to. However, one day during the summer before senior year, we got into an argument about something I honestly don’t even remember, but we stopped talking after that. Even though we eventually forgave each other, she moved away after graduation, and we were never as close as we once were. 

I think that this story tells more than it shows. Compared to Growing up in Therapy, this piece does not have as much detail. That being said, it could use a little more description, but I think that there is still enough to where I can understand the writer’s mindset and find it relatable. I feel like everyone has that person so close to them that they feel like family, whether it’s a “…sister [they] never had,” or a brother they never knew they needed. It’s because the writer doesn’t overuse detail, that spotting similarities between their experience and my own becomes easier; in a way, their story kind of molds into my own.

Growing up in Therapy definitely is a piece that I feel shows Dunham’s life experience rather than telling it. She writes: “But one day I come in melted down by a recurrence of obsessive thoughts and by the milky, sickening feeling my medication is giving me. I don’t have the will to clean out my binder” (Dunham). Even though I’ve never been to therapy, I feel for her. Her use of detail allows me to somewhat get an understanding about how she felt without actually having to actually undergo these difficulties. However, at times I feel like her intense attention to detail drags the story on. To be honest, I found myself easily losing focus on Dunham’s memoir because of this. For example, when she writes about how her and Audrey bond over the things that they hate, Dunham dedicates a whole paragraph listing them off. It was moments like these where I felt like this amount of detail was not necessary to getting the point across. 

In terms of how truthful I believe the memoirs are, I think that Cousins is a little more honest. It’s because even though memoirs should have detail, this memoir is not overbearing. In fact, the piece probably could have benefited from more description. It’s short and to the point, but the audience still has insight into the writer's thoughts. As for Growing up in Therapy, Dunham’s use of detail doesn’t make her feelings seem less genuine, but I question as to if her lengthy description was used to exaggerate these moments for the sake of the reader.