Lying
I’m about 40 words under the word limit so if you have any ideas
of places I could elaborate let me know.
“Did you practice this week?” my
violin teacher asked. I quickly racked my brain for an answer. The truth was I
hadn’t picked up my violin once that week. With mountains of homework, Cross
Country practice until 6:15, and other extracurricular activities, violin
practice had gone to the backburner. But how was I supposed to tell my violin
teacher that violin practice was at the bottom of my priority list? So instead
I replied, “Yeah I had a pretty busy week but I still had some time to
practice.” After that the lesson pretty much went downhill as I stumbled
through scales and the piece I was working on. I forgot to take into account
notes my teacher had written down from the last lesson and I kept messing up.
It was pretty obvious that I hadn’t practiced. Yet somehow telling a lie to my teacher
even though he would still be able to tell I hadn’t practiced was better than
just telling the truth to him.
Whenever I haven’t practiced, I’m
always filled with dread as I walk to my violin lesson. As I hurry to the Music
building I can just imagine the embarrassing lesson that’s about to go down and
the disappointed lecture that my violin teacher will give me if I tell him I
that I haven’t practiced. I hate lying to my teacher but now it’s become
something I just do naturally without thinking. If I haven’t practiced, I never
tell him even though it’s probably obvious that I haven’t practiced when I
start playing. I would rather lie than face his disappointment. I hate
admitting my mistakes to people who are counting on me so now I’ve become pretty
comfortable about lying about them.
However, when it comes to telling bigger lies
I get very uncomfortable. I’m always worried that whoever I’m lying to will
find out that I lied and the consequences will be bigger than just having told
the truth. The person’s feelings could get hurt and they would probably be
pretty mad that I lied. I could lose their trust and that could change the way
that they act towards me. Or the lie could just spiral out of control. As
Shakespeare wrote, “Oh what a tangled
web we weave when at first we start to deceive." My dad told me about this
quote when I was younger and I always remember it when I’m in a situation where
I might have to lie. I try to remind myself that telling the truth is better
than a lie getting completely out of my hands.
Plus I’m a terrible liar when it
comes to telling a big lie. Even when I lie to someone as a joke I burst out
laughing, start smiling weirdly, or I can’t make eye contact with them. For
example, once when I was younger I was trying to trick my babysitter into
thinking that I was going to Egypt for a few months (I’m not really sure why
but I thought that I was being funny). The only way I could lie to her was
talking to her from another room because I couldn’t keep a my face straight.
Once she started interrogating me about my trip to Egypt, I cracked and started
laughing. If I have to tell a more serious lie, I have trouble making eye
contact with the person I’m lying to and I always feel guilty afterwards. Even
if I think that I might have to lie about something, I rehearse what I’m going
to say over and over in my head to try and make up something that sounds
reasonable.
I really like how the persona that you show here is really complicated and interesting. I think this complexity makes this a really interesting essay. You introduce your lies with a relatable feeling and a pretty innocent situation. Then, you imply a much less innocent situation and say that you do it though it makes you uncomfortable. This transition rocks. I only wish that you would elaborate what kinds of bigger lies you are talking about. An example would work well In the third paragraph.
ReplyDelete^adding to my comment above. I think that a really risky example could make this essay go from good to great. (Ms. Rodems doesn't judge!) I think since you build up these big lies with all this vague explanations, giving na example of feeling guilty or rehearsing your lie when you need to could be a great end to that last paragraph. However, I don't think you should end it there. It is a bit abrupt. If I were you I would think about what you think you've learned about yourself while writing this. I have definitely learned from this that you are thoughtful and complex. It doesn't have to be that, I just think you need a separate conclusion. I really love this essay. That is why I'm giving so much feedback. It has so much potential and was so much fun to read. It's really good.
ReplyDeleteI really liked reading this post. When I was younger, I would always dread my piano lessons after a week of not practicing, lie, and just fail and be really disappointed. That problem has gone away for me in recent years; part of it is I actually practice, but when I don't get to something or other, these days I just tell my teacher. It's just more productive when I'm straightforward, and then we can actually work on what I don't know together.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your example of violin lessons, and also how you react when faced with telling other kinds of, and bigger lies. I think to both make this essay stronger and a little longer, it may be good for you to spend a little more time at the end reflecting on what lying means to you. You touch on it with your violin teacher, and with the Shakespeare quote. I'm curious what specifically goes on in your mind, when lying starts making you nervous and guilty, and why. The writing was really good as well; good job!
Great post. I quit taking violin lessons two years ago, and in the last few months of lessons, this was a weekly experience for me. I like the essay overall- it opens in an interesting way, and contains many specific personal experiences that are fun topics. However, you could elaborate on the point you make at the end of the first paragraph- it seems like an important idea but it's not elaborated on later. The ending is somewhat abrupt, so I think you could elaborate there, which would also make sense cause it opens up chances for more reflection, which you could have more of in general.
ReplyDelete