The Writer’s Inventory and the Physical World: Creating “The Vivid and Continuous Fictional Dream”
750-1000 words typed and doubled spaced on Arachnophobia. I have attached the rubric and instructions.
In this prompt your job is to describe one specific phobia you have in the most concrete way possible.Don’t be ashamed of your fear! Dwell in it! Revel in it!Explore its origin (if you can identify one) as well as its physical symptoms and consequences.
How does your phobia impact your behavior in certain situations?Does it hinder you from partaking in certain activities? Or being honest with other people who may not understand?Or both?
Does your phobia seem to be growing more or less intense over time?How so? How does it manifest itself in your body? Does your heart beat faster?Do your palms sweat? Do your eyes close involuntarily? Do you feel dizzy or disoriented? Do you cry? Hyperventilate? Hiccup? Laugh? Shriek? Scream?
Avoid turning this into a personal narrative-the time I freaked out because I got pushed into a mosh pit of gyrating, hormonal teenagers at a homecoming dance-but do feel free to describe a specific time and place when your phobia reared its illogical head. (My personal experience was when I was about 8 there was a huge spider in by clothes drawer and we couldn’t find it. Didn’t know what kind, but my grandma came over to help us find it because my mom was scared too. It was hiding in the curtains and we used a broom to swat it and kill it.Never knew what kind of spider it was but it was big and hairy).
Finally, feel free to describe coping mechanisms you might have developed over time to mitigate the effects of your phobia.
**Not sure if I need references cited but maybe when Arachnophobia is talked about maybe reference the definition.
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Personal Experience with Arachnophobia
People’s experiences with variousobjects or organismstend to dictate their perception to them, which would explain my perception and fear of spiders. According to psychologists with interest in the subject, the fear of spiders, arachnophobia, could be so significant among some individuals to the extent that some cannot even bear looking at one (Psyblog).
(854 words)