Responce to Lamb and Berman

The piece by Wally Lamb and the piece Jeffrey Berman I do not believe either one was trying to target a specific audience. At least when I read both pieces I felt as if I could relate to both. In the story that Wally Lamb wrote I could relate to the events that he so carefully detailed and sketched out in his story. I could envision the christmas day and the gathering of his family. I imagined the food that he described and almost made it like I was there right beside him at the dinner table. My own family has a big celebration on Thanksgiving day. I imagined my own family there, sitting at the dinner table mesmerized by the food our cousins so diligently worked on. I feel as each person reading the story Food and Fatalism could relate in some way. Especially when talking about Nonna, his grandmother. I know that at least one person can relate some family member, whether a grandma, grandfather, aunt or uncle; the story or events are very real.
In the piece Risky Writing: Self-Disclosure & Self-Transformation in the Classroom by Jeffrey Berman, I certainly found my self relating to the story, not that essay but the meaning behind this " Risky writing". Last year my teacher had us write a " Heart on paper" essay. Here we had to write down a very descriptive event in our life that made us sad or cry. I wrote seven to ten pages about a very traumatic event in my life and after I was done I was not so sure if I wanted to share. In the end I was happy that I did because it gave me definite closure. Like Jeffrey said that not many students have the opportunity to do this because alot of teachers fear emotional or legal troubles.
I think that both pieces relate to each other because Wally Lambs story is what Jeffrey Bernam would call "risky". He wrote a story about his family, he told secrets that most would be ashamed to even speak of. While he told the story about his grandfather, he wrote how he felt bad just talking about it let alone publishing it for everyone to see. So why would he write it? One might ask. I think that only way he could have closure with the situation is if he wrote it down and let every one who was too scared to let any one no see that it is okay. Secrets within a family is very risky, making a story about it is even more. Never the less, it needed to be done, stories are meant to be told and Lamb told an incredible story.