Erika+Repasky

1. What is your favorite book or genre? Why is it your favorite? What does it offer?

My favorite book is "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath. It is my favorite for a variety of reasons - I am completely intrigued with the author and the fact that the book is confessional writing by Plath. I love the setting of the story (New York City), and the main character was very easy for me to relate to. Although she suffers from an extreme mental illness, her plights are similiar to what any mid to late 20's adult woman may face. The main character's thoughts throughout the story make her very real to the reader and I was able to form a connection with her. I think there is such a thing as a quarter life crisis, where things are constantly changing, decisions need to be made, and you're not living such a "scripted" path. In "The Bell Jar," Plath offers a character that is struggling with her own identify and overcomes a great obstacle in her life. I think it could potentiall be valuable to a number of individuals because we all face obstacles in life that we either have to face or run away from.

6. What do you do (really) when you don't know a word in reading or conversation?

I certainly don't run to dictionary.com when I don't know a word in something that I am reading. I usually rely on context clues to help me figure it out. Even if I don't end up fully coming up with a definition for the word based on those context clues, I can usually get a general feel for the meaning of the entire sentence/paragraph as a whole. It is only when I feel as though my "ignorance" of the word is truly hindering my overall understanding of the reading that I will turn to a dictionary.

In terms of conversation, I'm typically not afraid to ask "Hey, what does that word mean?" I'm not ashamed because most likely there is someone else involved in the conversation that doesn't understand the meaning of the word as well, unless of course you are in a one-on-one situation, and I am still not afraid to ask. The only time I can think of that I may be hesitant to ask is in a job interview. I may be pretty embarrassed to admit my word definition incompetence to a potential employer. I'd probably look it up later if I remembered or I felt it was essential to my future in the company.

Hi: I like your willingness to sound ignorant. That's called "learning." How much we suffer in ignorance, because we won't admit it! Try placing these questions under the "Discussion" tab.

Bill