The Listener Lyric unit challenged us to research a topic of our choice and write about it in a lyrical essay. We learned to blend narrative, expository, and poetry writing to convey our message in this creative nonfiction piece. We gathered, annotated, and cited our research sources. We also read a variety of lyrical essays to gain a better understanding of this genre of writing.
Lyrical Essay
Temporary Euphoria
Everything hurts: your back after hunching over your laptop for the past seven hours, your eyes after staring at the bright screen in front of you, your head after a day of worries and thoughts running aimlessly through it. Seven unopened assignments await you, causing you to groan in misery. You stare helplessly in front of you, wishing to be anywhere but here. Suddenly, it seems as though your fingers have developed a mind of their own. Perhaps it’s muscle memory, perhaps a spirit has possessed them—any theory is welcomed to distract from the truth.
A few clicks later, the dreadful assignments are gone and replaced with options. So many options. Your eyes are gleaming at the possibilities; dopamine starts to flood your brain. Your mouse wanders around until it lands on “sweaters.” It’s still summer but it’s better to plan ahead, right? You scroll down the page for what seems like hours, but the options never seem to end. You’re drifting further and further away from Earth, entering a new realm—one where colors and brightness overwhelm your senses and consequences are foreign. You’re mesmerized. Until suddenly the colors look too saturated, too vibrant. The brightness blinds you. You finally snap out of your trance and fall back to Earth, finding your body mold perfectly to the familiar seat. Looking up, your eyes widen at the sight of hundreds of tabs fighting for space on your browser. The sound of the terrifying fan and the heat coming from your laptop are suddenly apparent. How did you not notice it before? It’s all that you can hear and feel.
Quickly, you decide it’s time to finally decide. You start the process of elimination, keeping only the items that excite you, although arguably, they all do. You visualize yourself wearing each piece, wondering what you’ll pair it with, imagining where you’ll wear it to, fantasizing about your new life. Somehow, you end up narrowing it down to just five items, and you go to put in your information. The boxes light up with your data before you even begin typing, remembering your past transactions. The process continues smoothly and your mouth curves up in anticipation at the items waiting for you.
A large cotton sweater. A soft navy blue, easy to pair. Falls well below the hips, perfect for the upcoming fall weather.
A simple grey tank top. Nearly identical to the handful of grey tanks you already own. But there can never be too many, right?
A plain black jacket. You’ve always wanted one. Yet somehow you’ve never picked one up. One might wonder whether or not you really wanted one.
A pair of small gold hoops. Recently, you’ve shifted from silver to gold jewelry. You get excited by the thought of wearing them with your gold necklace, your gold bracelet, and your gold rings.
A mini shoulder bag. They’ve been pictured everywhere on the internet. You tell yourself it’s a reasonable purchase. You’ll take it every time you go out. You won’t know how you ever lived without it.
For the next few days, you check your email every few hours, on the lookout for an update on where your package is. They tell you it will come in five days. You check on the first day. You check on the second day. You check on the third day. You check on the fourth day. Still no sign of the package—dissolving your hope that it would arrive earlier. And sure enough, the package shows up at your doorstep on the fifth day; you can almost hear the tracking app taunt you in the back of your mind but you shake it off. You rush to open the door and pick up the small, brown, familiar parcel. Despite its simplicity, you love the sight of it. Quickly, you take everything out and try it on; you’re practically bursting with excitement. Ten minutes later, you’re back to sitting by your laptop. The new items lay sprawled on your bed, wrinkling as the minutes pass. You’re back to trying to figure out what your chemistry teacher was trying to teach you that morning. The package leaves your mind and the stress comes rushing back to fill its place. But every so often, you remember. And it fills your heart with excitement all over again. A dangerous feeling. A feeling that possesses your fingers to go back to its old habits. You find yourself staring at the familiar screen again.
Intention Statement
“Temporary Euphoria” is a lyrical essay about the dependency on shopping to relieve stress and escape reality. Specifically, it highlights the addictive aspect of online shopping and how easy it is to fall into a harmful cycle. I decided to write my essay in second person for readers who may not have experienced something like this and also for those who are familiar with this cycle to relive the experience and relate their own memories to my story. For readers who have not dealt with shopping addictions, reading this lyrical essay in second person allows them to take on the role of a compulsive shopper and more easily empathize with them. When I started listing the items the subject had decided to buy, I tried to incorporate more poetic language to appeal to the lyrical facet of this essay. I also structured this lyrical essay in a way that’s more carefree than what I am used to writing, something that I enjoyed about this process.
Throughout the essay, the tone shifts a number of times, expressing the subject’s internal conflict and their ups and downs as they fall victim to an endless cycle of compulsive shopping. At first, the subject is overwhelmed and drained from the amount of schoolwork they have yet to accomplish, but once they step into the world of online shopping, their mood instantly changes. But once the feeling goes away again, they’re back to square one. My research sources were helpful in portraying the various aspects of shopping addictions, as well as the scientific reasoning behind them.
During peer review, my readers enjoyed the style of my writing, but suggested I be more detailed with specific parts of my essay. They also asked me for clarification with some sentences or phrases, which I later added. The most helpful feedback I received focused on parts of my essay where I could include my research, as well as brainstorming for potential research topics. I was particularly inspired by David Foster Wallace, the author of “Consider the Lobster,” as the article was the first lyrical essay that stood out to me. I thoroughly enjoyed his sense of humor and the creative ways he covered the event. I also liked his genuine and casual tone, something that I hoped to convey in my own lyrical essay.