The Idea of an Essay, Volume 2

28 “Diabetes: The Birth of a Reader” by Meredith Oxley Instructor’s Notes Personal narratives are generally told from the first person point of view, which is exactly what Meredith Oxley does in her literacy narrative. But what would happen if Meredith told her story from another character’s point of view? What if she wrote from her mom’s perspective? Would the story still be true? If one of the reasons we write is to learn, what learning might occur if Meredith rewrote this story from her mom’s point of view? What if the story was written from the point of view of an inanimate object, perhaps from that of Meredith’s insulin syringe? Is that even a possibility? Writer’s Biography Meredith Oxley is a junior Nursing major from Ohio. After her undergraduate studies she hopes to pursue a career as a diabetes educator because of her personal experience with type 1 diabetes. She is also fascinated by the liberal arts and enjoys reading classics in her spare time. Her hobbies include cooking, playing sports with friends, reading, and spending time with her family. Diabetes: The Birth of a Reader On June 23, 2011, I went in for a checkup at the doctor’s office. I had been experiencing some odd physical signs: excessive tiredness, constant dehydration, and unnatural weight loss. Nothing greatly worried me; nevertheless, my mother wanted to make sure everything was alright. Instead of going home after my appointment like I, a healthy teenager, had expected, I was rushed to the emergency room. That day I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. During the second half of the previous school year, I had experienced a lot of emotional stress, positive and negative; mostly negative. My grandfather passed away two days before my sixteenth birthday in January, I took a two week long trip to Europe in March,