The Private Reading Experience: Revised

The Private Reading Experience
It was a chilly day in the early spring of 2002 when a navy blue school bus drove up a hill and screeched to a halt outside an urbanization of modern, white, blocky houses. Students began filing out of the bus, finally a small blonde girl wearing baggy jeans and a Green Bay Packers t-shirt took the last two steps at a hop, rounded the corner, and skipped the three blocks to her very own white cube. She ran into the kitchen, grabbed a bag of Doritos and a juice box and bounded up the steps to her room. The little blonde girl threw the bag of chips on her bed, put the juice on the night stand and stood in front of her bookshelf, contemplating which Harry Potter book would be best suited for this day. She paused briefly before snatching the third installment of the series: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. With the three hundred-page story tucked under her arm, she pulled back the checkered comforter and crawled in. She placed the book on her lap, pulled open the bag of Doritos, pierced the straw into the juice box, and turned the cover to unveil the pages stained from the dozens of times they had been read. As she read the first couple of words she forgot about any problems that she was experiencing at school or at home and delved deep into the magical world of wizards, giants, elves, and vanishing staircases. This blonde girl snuggled beneath the covers with her nose in this childhood classic was I.  Sven Birkets argues in his book The Gutenberg Elegies that reading is a private experience. While I don’t completely agree, as I think that reading and writing can be useful tools of communication, I do agree that reading can be an intensely personal journey.
There are two different forms of reading and writing, in my mind: there are creative stories and there are factual documents. To say that all reading is a private experience is naïve and incorrect; reading literature may be a private experience for some, but newspapers and essays are, not only meant to be a public experience, but are put to their best use when discussed in a group setting. Reading a novel, such as Harry Potter is, at least in my mind, a private experience. For me, delving into the realm of Harry Potter was a way to escape reality and travel into a world that was completely different from my own. Many children implore their parents to read to them; they ask for a bedtime story as they snuggle beneath the covers while a parent sits at the foot of the bed telling the child stories of monsters and princesses, each character allotted a specific voice and expression. I was not one of those children; I disapproved of the high squeaky voice my mother assigned to Hermione, for I knew that her voice was level and even-toned. I rejected the way my father would insert a hint of panic into Harry’s intonation, for he was a brave character: one who did not lose his nerve. And most of all I abhorred the concept that anyone, other than myself, had the ability to experience this magical land that, in my mind, was privy to only me. When an outsider would read Harry Potter to me all of the sudden it wouldn’t be the Hogwarts I had come to know and love, it was a different setting with altered characters who were unfamiliar to me.
For many, reading serves as an escape; turning page after page of a story in a far away land with characters who the reader has never personally met before, while simultaneously feeling a connection to this character that rivals any bond between real people. This escape is impossible to experience when shared with multiple readers; it is unfeasible to delve deep into another realm when a peer is sharing this experience with you. When I would come home from school and crawl into bed, my friend or school problems would cease to exist, and had anyone else taken part in the Harry Potter experience I would not have been able to make the full escape I strived for.
While, personally, I believe that reading novels is best experienced privately, I also believe that there is a time and place for public reading. Newspapers and Propaganda, for example, are incredibly useful ways of conveying ideas. For thousands of years people have been using writing as a way to communicate with the masses and attempt to persuade people to see things in a certain light. Hitler used his book, Mien Kampf, as a platform for his political journey that resulted in the most powerful and destructive dictatorship of all time. Mein Kampf, or ‘my struggle’ in English, was an autobiography while simultaneously describing Hitler’s political ideology. This text became the ‘Nazi Bible’ with about 10 million copies of the book sold; this volume became the starting point for Hitler’s Nazi regime. Without this book being publicly read and discussed Hitler’s ideas would never have surfaced to the extent that they did, meaning that the Second World War may have never occurred. While the rise of Hitler is, obviously, not a positive thing, there is little doubt that Nazi books and propaganda played a large part in it’s temporary success.
Nazi’s are not the only ones to use writing as a form of communication, newspapers and essays are common forms of exchanging ideas. Newspapers such as The New York Times use reporters and photographers to collect ideas and news and transfer them to the general public. News and Ideas are best understood when talked about in a group. For example, in a classroom setting students are encouraged to speak about the material they have been assigned to read and share their thoughts and feelings on the subject.
Reading can be both a private and public experience based on the type of writing in question. A novel, in my opinion, is a private experience that is often best enjoyed alone, an escape provided by external worlds that the reader is thrust into, while newspaper articles or nonfiction writing can be better enjoyed as a public form of communication. Both types of writing are valuable to society, however personally I enjoy the private journey of reading a novel more than the public experience of reading nonfiction and news articles.

The Private Reading Experience: Revised

The Private Reading Experience
It was a chilly day in the early spring of 2002 when a navy blue school bus drove up a hill and screeched to a halt outside an urbanization of modern, white, blocky houses. Students began filing out of the bus, finally a small blonde girl wearing baggy jeans and a Green Bay Packers t-shirt took the last two steps at a hop, rounded the corner, and skipped the three blocks to her very own white cube. She ran into the kitchen, grabbed a bag of Doritos and a juice box and bounded up the steps to her room. The little blonde girl threw the bag of chips on her bed, put the juice on the night stand and stood in front of her bookshelf, contemplating which Harry Potter book would be best suited for this day. She paused briefly before snatching the third installment of the series: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. With the three hundred-page story tucked under her arm, she pulled back the checkered comforter and crawled in. She placed the book on her lap, pulled open the bag of Doritos, pierced the straw into the juice box, and turned the cover to unveil the pages stained from the dozens of times they had been read. As she read the first couple of words she forgot about any problems that she was experiencing at school or at home and delved deep into the magical world of wizards, giants, elves, and vanishing staircases. This blonde girl snuggled beneath the covers with her nose in this childhood classic was I.  Sven Birkets argues in his book The Gutenberg Elegies that reading is a private experience. While I don’t completely agree, as I think that reading and writing can be useful tools of communication, I do agree that reading can be an intensely personal journey.
There are two different forms of reading and writing, in my mind: there are creative stories and there are factual documents. To say that all reading is a private experience is naïve and incorrect; reading literature may be a private experience for some, but newspapers and essays are, not only meant to be a public experience, but are put to their best use when discussed in a group setting. Reading a novel, such as Harry Potter is, at least in my mind, a private experience. For me, delving into the realm of Harry Potter was a way to escape reality and travel into a world that was completely different from my own. Many children implore their parents to read to them; they ask for a bedtime story as they snuggle beneath the covers while a parent sits at the foot of the bed telling the child stories of monsters and princesses, each character allotted a specific voice and expression. I was not one of those children; I disapproved of the high squeaky voice my mother assigned to Hermione, for I knew that her voice was level and even-toned. I rejected the way my father would insert a hint of panic into Harry’s intonation, for he was a brave character: one who did not lose his nerve. And most of all I abhorred the concept that anyone, other than myself, had the ability to experience this magical land that, in my mind, was privy to only me. When an outsider would read Harry Potter to me all of the sudden it wouldn’t be the Hogwarts I had come to know and love, it was a different setting with altered characters who were unfamiliar to me.
For many, reading serves as an escape; turning page after page of a story in a far away land with characters who the reader has never personally met before, while simultaneously feeling a connection to this character that rivals any bond between real people. This escape is impossible to experience when shared with multiple readers; it is unfeasible to delve deep into another realm when a peer is sharing this experience with you. When I would come home from school and crawl into bed, my friend or school problems would cease to exist, and had anyone else taken part in the Harry Potter experience I would not have been able to make the full escape I strived for.
While, personally, I believe that reading novels is best experienced privately, I also believe that there is a time and place for public reading. Newspapers and Propaganda, for example, are incredibly useful ways of conveying ideas. For thousands of years people have been using writing as a way to communicate with the masses and attempt to persuade people to see things in a certain light. Hitler used his book, Mien Kampf, as a platform for his political journey that resulted in the most powerful and destructive dictatorship of all time. Mein Kampf, or ‘my struggle’ in English, was an autobiography while simultaneously describing Hitler’s political ideology. This text became the ‘Nazi Bible’ with about 10 million copies of the book sold; this volume became the starting point for Hitler’s Nazi regime. Without this book being publicly read and discussed Hitler’s ideas would never have surfaced to the extent that they did, meaning that the Second World War may have never occurred. While the rise of Hitler is, obviously, not a positive thing, there is little doubt that Nazi books and propaganda played a large part in it’s temporary success.
Nazi’s are not the only ones to use writing as a form of communication, newspapers and essays are common forms of exchanging ideas. Newspapers such as The New York Times use reporters and photographers to collect ideas and news and transfer them to the general public. News and Ideas are best understood when talked about in a group. For example, in a classroom setting students are encouraged to speak about the material they have been assigned to read and share their thoughts and feelings on the subject.
Reading can be both a private and public experience based on the type of writing in question. A novel, in my opinion, is a private experience that is often best enjoyed alone, an escape provided by external worlds that the reader is thrust into, while newspaper articles or nonfiction writing can be better enjoyed as a public form of communication. Both types of writing are valuable to society, however personally I enjoy the private journey of reading a novel more than the public experience of reading nonfiction and news articles.

The Private Reading Experience: Original

It was a chilly day in the early spring of 2002 when a navy blue school bus drove up a hill and screeched to a halt outside an urbanization of modern, white, blocky houses. Students began filing out of the bus, finally a small blonde girl wearing baggy jeans and a Green Bay Packers t-shirt took the last two steps at a hop, rounded the corner, and skipped the three blocks to her very own white cube. She ran into the kitchen, grabbed a bag of Doritos and a juice box and bounded up the steps to her room. The little blonde girl threw the bag of chips on her bed, put the juice on the night stand and stood in front of her bookshelf, contemplating which Harry Potter book would be best suited for this day. She paused briefly before snatching the third installment of the series: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. With the three hundred-page story tucked under her arm, she pulled back the checkered comforter and crawled in. She placed the book on her lap, pulled open the bag of Doritos, pierced the straw into the juice box, and turned the cover to unveil the pages stained from the dozens of times they had been read. As she read the first couple of words she forgot about any problems that she was experiencing at school or at home and delved deep into the magical world of wizards, giants, elves, and vanishing staircases. This blonde girl snuggled beneath the covers with her nose in this childhood classic was I.  Sven Birkets argues in his book The Gutenberg Elegies that reading is a private experience. While I don’t completely agree, as I think that reading and writing can be useful tools of communication, I do agree that reading can be an intensely personal journey.
There are two different forms of reading and writing, in my mind: there are creative stories and there are factual documents. To say that all reading is a private experience is naïve and incorrect; reading literature may be a private experience for some, but newspapers and essays are, not only meant to be a public experience, but are put to their best use when discussed in a group setting. Reading a novel, such as Harry Potter is, at least in my mind, a private experience. For me, delving into the realm of Harry Potter was a way to escape reality and travel into a world that was completely different from my own. Many children implore their parents to read to them; they ask for a bedtime story as they snuggle beneath the covers while a parent sits at the foot of the bed telling the child stories of monsters and princesses, each character allotted a specific voice and expression. I was not one of those children; I disapproved of the high squeaky voice my mother assigned to Hermione, for I knew that her voice was level and even-toned. I rejected the way my father would insert a hint of panic into Harry’s intonation, for he was a brave character: one who did not lose his nerve. And most of all I abhorred the concept that anyone, other than myself, had the ability to experience this magical land that, in my mind, was privy to only me. When an outsider would read Harry Potter to me all of the sudden it wouldn’t be the Hogwarts I had come to know and love, it was a different setting with altered characters who were unfamiliar to me.
For many, reading serves as an escape; turning page after page of a story in a far away land with characters who the reader has never personally met before, while simultaneously feeling a connection to this character that rivals any bond between real people. This escape is impossible to experience when shared with multiple readers; it is unfeasible to delve deep into another realm when a peer is sharing this experience with you. When I would come home from school and crawl into bed, my friend or school problems would cease to exist, and had anyone else taken part in the Harry Potter experience I would not have been able to make the full escape I strived for.
While I personally like to enjoy reading as a private experience, I can definitely see how reading can be an incredibly useful tool for communication, especially when it comes to texts like propaganda and the news. For thousands of years people have been using writing as a way to communicate with the masses and attempt to persuade people to see things in a certain light. Hitler used his book, Mien Kampf, as a platform for his political journey that resulted in the most powerful and destructive dictatorship of all time. Newspapers also use writing to communicate the news, and in some case opinions, to the citizens, allowing people to be well informed and make electoral decisions based on that information.
Reading can be both a private and public experience based on the type of writing in question. A novel, in my opinion, is a private experience that is often best enjoyed alone. Newspaper articles or nonfiction writing, on the other hand, can be better enjoyed as a public form of communication.

Self Reflection

The first day of class we were asked to write out a ‘to do list,’ I had a hard time writing down things I needed to work on because I wasn’t really sure what was wrong with my writing to begin with. I decided to include introductions and analytical writing on my list. However as the year went on and I began reflecting on my papers I came to the conclusion that my weak point is, in fact, being able to come up with sustainable arguments and be able to back them up in a convincing manor. As I read through my first essay of the semester I came to find that I agreed with my arguments because I knew what I was trying to say, but had an outsider read them they would have been less than convinced. Therefore, I decided to attempt to take my arguments further. I really liked my example of Hitler’s Mein Kampf but there wasn’t enough evidence to make it a strong point, so I took my argument further by including more information in order to make it more convincing. I also felt that my writing needed to be more eloquent. I thought that my introductory paragraph was strong, with its vivid description, but as I read through the rest of the essay I came to find that the rest was not as articulate. Therefore I went back through the essay and attempted to make my sentences and paragraphs flow better and find better suited words to replace elementary language. I think that I have succeeded in improving this paper, and look forward to being able to continue to grow as a writer during the rest of my Washington College experience.

CNN’s Political Ticker

The electronic text I’m going to do my writing project on is CNN’s Political ticker. I’m choosing to use this text because I am interested in politics and people’s opinions about politics and this site allows one to experience both. I enjoy reading, but I often like to read small amounts of text that gets straight to the point instead of long drawn out essays or stories that dance around the point for many pages before finally coming to a conclusion. This is the reason I find CNN’s Political Ticker inviting, it is a series of short news articles where average people are allowed to post their ideas and beliefs, responding to the article. I believe that this text would be a good text to use for this project because it brings up issues that Birket’s feels is important such as private reading, and the legitimacy of text.

CNN’s Political Ticker: A Legitimate Form of Writing

“GOP to unveil campaign pledge after Labor Day.” This title is one that people would expect to find on any newspaper or news website, however this particular title is found on a website that is legitimate news, but at the simultaneously, commentary. This title is found on CNN’s Political Ticker; a website that posts short news stories and then average citizens comment and share their opinions on the particular story. Is this a legitimate form of writing? To answer this question one must define legitimate writing. In my eyes valid writing is any text that conveys an idea or opinion. If one takes this to be true, CNN’s Political Ticker is, indeed, a legitimate form of writing.
Before the invention of the Internet or cell phones writing and literature were easy to define, for writing was limited to novels, newspapers, magazines, and letters. Once computers and Internet became household items, however, the world of writing became much broader and more vague. The Internet is made up, almost entirely of words, one must be able to read and write to navigate the Internet; there are words everywhere, from the toolbar, to facebook posts, to CNN.com. So now the question becomes which of these compilations of words is considered a legitimate from of writing. Is a five-word post on a friend’s facebook wall legitimate? Or what about written commentary on an article? Legitimate writing can be considered any written work that conveys ideas, opinions, or commentary; therefore I believe that a majority of writing found on the Internet can be considered legitimate, including CNN.com’s Political Ticker.
There are, obviously, critics of this idea. Some people may argue that legitimate writing is only that which is well thought out, professionally edited, and written by a professional writer. This argument does have some legitimacy; in one article, concerning former Vice President Dick Cheney’s use of crude language, one commentator wrote, “hope its warm enough in hell for ya, Dick!” This sentence has many problems with it; the first word of the sentence isn’t capitalized, ‘ya’ is not a real word, and there is no apostrophe in between the ‘t’ and the ‘s’ in ‘its.’ However, this author is conveying an opinion, and there are comments on the very same entry that are well written as well as expressing ideas. “That is really no way for the VP (current or former) to speak to a Senator. That is too crude and unrefined, but that is Cheney and his worldview. I would have hoped that Cheney would have followed the rules about “unbecoming” language. It just shows me that he is uncreative when it comes to telling someone that they aren’t liked or welcomed.” This post, for example, is much more polished; the grammar and spelling is correct and the author carefully chose his or her words. While these two posts vary immensely, they both still convey ideas and opinions, making both posts legitimate writing.
In the article, Is Google Making us Stupid? The author, Nicholas Carr, argues that, “as we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence.” I disagree with that statement; I believe that allowing people to read news articles on-line and then have them write their responses to them allows people to, not only think about and express their views, but makes it possible for many different opinions to be shared and acknowledged. This allows people to get many different sides of one particular story, not just the reporter’s take on it, therefore this argument, in my eyes, holds very little value.
Over the years writing has changed to such a degree that it is nearly impossible to define ‘legitimate writing,’ not only are more people putting ideas into words, but these ideas are becoming more concise and found not only on paper, but on the web. This form of communication, while perhaps not as eloquent as novels, is much more efficient, for anyone with access to a computer is privilege to this information, therefore I believe that blogs such as CNN’s Political Ticker are not only legitimate forms of writing, but effective ways of communication

CNN Political Ticker

Electronic Text: CNN’s Political ticker. This is a site where short news articles are posted and then the average person can comment upon the article and express their thoughts and feelings. This form of writing is different from the classic novel, obviously, and newspaper, but I think it still has legitimate value. This idea of sharing ones opinions and beliefs in a public forum would cause Birkerts to criticize such a site as well.

Thesis: I believe that literature is any text that expresses beliefs and ideas, therefore, as CNN’s Political Ticker is a forum where opinions and comments can be shared with the rest of the world, I believe that it is a legitimate form of writing.

Birkerts: “Privacies of reading”

Counter Argument: One could argue that, because these comments are not edited or written by professional writers, the value of their opinions

Blade Runner

Gillian Hevey
English 101
Professor Meehan
Blade Runner and Frankenstein

There is no music; only Sebastian’s voice timidly informing Tyrell that he brought a friend. Roy’s face is barely visible in the background, behind the doors. Tyrell calmly walks toward them in silence. The silence in this part of the scene hints at a conflict and when the menacing conflict when Roy comments that it’s not easy to meet your maker slow menacing music plays. Roy asks for more life from his father, walking towards him slowly but purposefully as Tyrell backs up suggesting that Roy holds the physical power in the relationship. As Tyrell refuses to extend Roy’s life the camera focuses on Roy’s face looking stern but as the candle light flickers on his face it is clear that there is anger bubbling underneath his cool exterior.
As the conversation continues the interaction becomes less menacing and more caring. Tyrell comments that the light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you have burned so very, very brightly Roy. He then proceeds to sit on the bed next to Roy and stroke his head, beginning to look more like a father figure than simply a creator and Roy confesses that he has done ‘questionable things’ as a son would to his father. Tyrell comforts Roy, telling him that he has done ‘extraordinary things’ and Roy places a single hand on Tyrell’s face.
Roy’s face is inches from Tyrell’s, the lighting is dim, making the scene a more menacing one with a sense of impending doom. While the lighting is dim the colors are a sepia tone, drawing the viewers eyes into this scene. Tyrell’s face is resting in one of Roy’s hands, and as his second hand rises to cradle Tyrell’s face, Roy smiles a conniving smile that hints to the inevitable. Roy closes in on Tyrell, giving him a long, passionate kiss ending when Roy’s thumbs find Tyrell’s eyes, gouging them out and, in turn, killing his maker.
The story of Frankenstein is one that deals with creation, the creator, the created, and the relationship between these two entities. The story of Frankenstein is not solely told in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, there are many books, movies, and other stories that have these themes of creation and relationships. One story, a movie called Blade Runner, deals with this theme of creation and this intimate relationship. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Victor is the creator and the Monster is his creation while in Blade Runner Tyrell is the creator and Roy is his creation. An interesting parallel between the movie and the novel is the relationship between the creator and the created; in both stories the monster and Roy have a certain compassion for their creator and plead for something that only Tyrell and Victor can provide. When the creators fail to comply with the needs of their products, Roy and the Monster turn to violence.
In the movie Blade Runner Roy is a replicant, created by Tyrell. Tyrell and Roy share a relationship somewhat similar to that of Victor and his Monster. Both creators fear their creations to some extent, and most importantly both Victor’s monster and Roy have a sense of great attachment to their creator but simultaneously harbor intense anger towards humans. Roy demonstrates this compassion and childlike interest in his ‘father’ when he has a conversation with Tyrell sitting down on the bed, symbolizing that they are on equal footing. When Roy realizes that he is not going to obtain the extra life he was seeking, however, he resorts to violence. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, it is clear that the monster has a certain amount of compassion for Victor as throughout the novel Victor is never killed and the monster comes to Victor pleading for a companion. When Victor refuses his request, similarly to Roy, the Monster resorts to violence killing those close to Victor.
Both Blade Runner and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein deal with relationships between the creators and the created. Blade Runner effectively enhances this relationship through it’s use of color and sound. The lack of both vivid color and sound allows the viewer to focus solely on the relationship being portrayed and forces the audience appreciate the complexity of the connection between Tyrell and Roy.

Frankenstein and Blade Runner

For my writing project comparing a movie to Frankenstein I chose the movie Blade Runner. The story of blade runner, with it’s creation of replicants and the father figure to the replicant Roy Batty, the story line has many similarities to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The story of Frankenstein is one that deals primarily with the idea of creation and what can go awry when humans take it into their own hands.
I am going to focus mostly on the scene when Roy approaches his ‘father’ concerning his dwindling life span and the viewers are exposed to a child like version of Roy when he takes his fathers head into his hands and kisses him and then the violent version when he gouges out his father’s eyes and kills him.
This is very similar to Frankenstein’s monster; he is created as a naïve creature who has a certain passion for his creator, but when Frankenstein refuses to create another monster to be his companion, similarly to Roy’s father refusing to extend his life span, he grows angry and violent.

Frankenstein and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Gillian Hevey
2/23/2010
English 101
Frankenstein and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Like one who, on a lonely road,
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And, having once turn’d round, walks on,
And turns no more his head;
Because he knows a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread.
- Samuel Coleridge
Throughout the novel Mary Shelley effectively uses works from other authors to emphasize and enhance the story of Frankenstein. For example, Shelley uses Samuel Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner to augment Victors fear after finally creating the monster. The passage Shelley picks so accurately depicts Victor’s terror and dread of the monster’s appearance that it could have practically been part of the original text. While this passage comes from a story of destruction rather than creation, it seems that both protagonists are facing the same tribulations, making this passage an interesting and effective addition to the story.
The story of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner deals with a crew out at sea who find themselves lost in the arctic. An albatross eventually appears and leads the ship back to safe waters where the Mariner shoots and kills the bird. After this murder the crew begins to experience trouble, with eventually the Mariner being the only person left alive, forced to wander the earth telling his story to all who will listen. The passage taken from this poem is utilized right after the creation of the monster when Victor is wandering the streets trying to escape his horrific conception.
After the creation of his monster, Victor wanders the streets with “irregular steps, not daring to look about [him]”(pg. 44) in fear that the monster might soon appear. The passage from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner directly follows, stating, “Because he knows a frightful fiend doth close behind him tread.”(Pg. 44) These two quotes are almost identical in meaning, expressing the extreme fear of what the subject might find were he to look around. The use of the word “fiend” accurately depicts how Victor and the rest of human kind view the monster, and its usage through a passage separate from the original text of the novel reinforces that idea.
The creation of a living monster is an abnormality in the normal rotation of the earth; God is, by definition, the sole creator, and living creatures are His design. Shelley emphasizes the idea of irregularity in the sentences leading up to Coleridge’s passage. Shelley describes Victor’s heart as ‘palpitating’ and his steps as ‘irregular,’ stressing the deviant pattern of life that has arisen from Victor’s creation.
The relationship between The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is one that, at first glance, seems to be unrelated, however, upon further inspection are both stories of men who have muddled with the balance of the universe and are, consequently, paying the price. The passage from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner accurately depicts Victor’s emotions at the time and serves to emphasize this fear and apprehension.