In The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien explains to the reader the importance of making one's stomach believe when telling a story; a story that is true, but may have never even happened. This is story truth, and what does it mean exactly? The way I see it is every story has truth to it, even the most fabricated of tales. How though, can a made up story be true? It goes back to making the stomach believe. What's true about a fictional story is when your mind is focused on what happens, and your heart begins to race, and you just have to know what happens next. The events are fake, but the feeling and emotional response is as real as can be. I think that's the whole point of telling a story really. What's known as "happening truth" is indeed a story, but more of a retelling of an event. There's no moral, no message, possibly an emotional response, but overall just the simple relaying of an event that's happened. I don't mean to downplay stories of happening truth, it just simply plays a different purpose as to story truth. Happening truth is all about, obviously, what happened, whereas story truth is all about the story, not just what happened. There's a meaning and a purpose perceived by the mind of the storyteller, who may add details and events that never happened to make one's stomach believe. Even though there are fictional areas in a true story, the feeling in the story truth will always be more true than the happening truth, which serves better in the art and function of storytelling.

With my most recent essay, I felt a bit scatterbrained and overwhelmed with my topic, since it is very broad with many different sides. In Bright-Sided, Barbera Ehrenreich discusses how positive thinking is undermining America, and I added how exactly it does so. Themes of entitlement and what it means to live a truly happy and fulfilling life are brought to the table, yet I believe that Ehrenreich and I neglected to give the other side of the equation, of how positive thinking is a great mindset to hold for everyday life. I believe that even though positive thinking can be seen as undermining America, there's a reason Americans from coast to coast have adopted this philosophy. I plan to give a less cynical approach to the topic and shine light on the good effects of positive thinking. Yes, I'm being positive. Gasp.