In "Song of Myself," Walt Whitman writes "I am of old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise...a child as well as a man, stuff'd with the stuff that is course, And stuff'd with the stuff that is fine." His words epitomize the often ambiguous, usually frustrating, always criss-crossed worlds of college freshmen who find themselves stranded somewhere between childhood and adulthood. Scharper's collection of thirty-eight memoirs written by her students reveals a world where young people encounter, often for the first time, life's vital issues and big questions. Scharper's students gravitated toward their passions and familiar, yet transitional, experiences: high school, pregnancy and abortion, coping with illness, near-fatal injuries, sports and drugs, soul-making and religion, family, and the future.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
...may lend a sense of comfort to teens who are feeling alone with their turmoil...and a model for teachers interested in expanding student interest and proficiency in writing -- ForeWord
All [the essays] are offered in a context of personal narrative where age-old truths find fresh and meaningful expression -- The Independent, Durham/Chapel Hill, NC
The ability to express oneself through writing is not inherent but can be learned, as these writers convincingly demonstrate -- Independent Publisher
This book consists of essays written by students for a college composition class. Dealing with such issues as a Childhood, Pregnancy, Religion and Drugs, the essays present a wide range of contemporary experiences from the perspective of people who are not professional writers. Indeed, this collection is perhaps most useful from a sociological perspective as a chronicle of what a certain group was feeling in a certain era. It is also interesting (and heartening) to note that with correct teaching most individuals can produce adequate prose. Much of the writing is good although little of it is remarkable; even the best essays are affected by an apparently irresistible need to find a positive resolution to human suffering, no matter how horrifying or pointless (if one simply chopped the last hundred words from the essays, the hundred words that contain the inevitable moral, they would stand much more firmly). The ability to express oneself through writing is not inherent but can be learned, as these writers convincingly demonstrate. -- From Independent Publisher
[The students] pour out heart and soul, rewriting and revising until their slices of autobiography are sharp and sure -- Baltimore Sun
All [the essays] are offered in a context of personal narrative where age-old truths find fresh and meaningful expression -- The Independent, Durham/Chapel Hill, NC
The ability to express oneself through writing is not inherent but can be learned, as these writers convincingly demonstrate -- Independent Publisher
This book consists of essays written by students for a college composition class. Dealing with such issues as a Childhood, Pregnancy, Religion and Drugs, the essays present a wide range of contemporary experiences from the perspective of people who are not professional writers. Indeed, this collection is perhaps most useful from a sociological perspective as a chronicle of what a certain group was feeling in a certain era. It is also interesting (and heartening) to note that with correct teaching most individuals can produce adequate prose. Much of the writing is good although little of it is remarkable; even the best essays are affected by an apparently irresistible need to find a positive resolution to human suffering, no matter how horrifying or pointless (if one simply chopped the last hundred words from the essays, the hundred words that contain the inevitable moral, they would stand much more firmly). The ability to express oneself through writing is not inherent but can be learned, as these writers convincingly demonstrate. -- From Independent Publisher
[The students] pour out heart and soul, rewriting and revising until their slices of autobiography are sharp and sure -- Baltimore Sun
From the Publisher
Young adults and teens are attracted by the cool cover and straightforward writing; writing teachers who have adopted the book report that their students are not only learning to write better, but it's the only "textbook" they read from cover to cover.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful, brutal honesty about struggles, triumphs...,
By A Customer
This review is from: Songs of Myself: Episodes from the Edge of Adulthood (Paperback)
Each memoir lends a different voice to the song of these student's lives. I learned so much about myself by reading about how each person bravely faced what could have destroyed them,but instead made them stronger in spirit. I was honored to have my painting in the book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truly honest account of our generation; beautiful,
By Stephanie Malanowski( watercolour@juno.com) (Baltimore, Maryland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Songs of Myself: Episodes from the Edge of Adulthood (Paperback)
I submitted a the only painting that was published in the book(it opens the section on pregnancy) and i was honored to have my work surrounded by such honest and heartwrenching memories of my those in my generation. This book is truly unique in that it tells the story of people just reaching the threshold of adulthood, and how they reached that point.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bitterly Painful and Heartwarmingly Real,
By
This review is from: Songs of Myself: Episodes from the Edge of Adulthood (Paperback)
Right when you start feeling nauseous from all the sugar-coated sentimentalism in the world, or cynical from the overbearing and stolid commercialism in many publications today, a book like "Songs of Myself" comes along and reminds you that yes, there are real people out there, with real problems, and learning real life lessons.I picked up this collection of short memoirs on assignment for a college course in memoir writing, believing it to be another boring textbook. Instead, I found myself reading long into the night, unable to put it down, gripped with the reality of these stories. The writers in "Episodes From the Edge of Adulthood" cannot be called children but are not your stereotypical teenagers. They are unique individuals with intense emotions. Whether they're dealing with unexpected early pregnancy, death of loved ones, life-threatening situations, or simply the first time living away from home, these writers tell their stories succinctly and with raw emotion. True, the writing is at times amaturish, but it is really the stories that grip you, that make you laugh out loud or literally cry in sympathy, pain, or horror. The fact that they really happened is what gives them their power. I would strongly recommend this for any student of memoir looking for examples of their peers. I would also recommend this collection of stories for any teenager, or even adult, who desires to walk a while in the shoes of another - to realize the deep emotions of someone on the Edge of Adulthood.
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