A plague of tics reading exercise , Q & A's

“A Plague of Tics” Critical Reading Exercise

Complete this assignment after you read “A Plague of Tics” by David Sedaris. Each response should be a paragraph with at least 8 sentences, preferably 12-15. You can either post your responses to your blog or print them out and add them to your journal.

  

1. List at least 10 of Sedaris’s tics and try to establish some general rules that make them tics and not more socially acceptable repeated motions or habits.

1 .Licking light switches

2. Pressing his nose against the refrigerator

3. Touching door knob with his elbows

4. Violently shaking his head back and fourth

5. Counting his steps on the way home from school

6.  Rocking back and forth on his bed

7. Tapping the soles of his shoes on his forehead

8. Licking mailboxes

9. Pressing his face against hot hoods of cars

10. Jabbing a butter knife into electrical sockets

All of these are not considered to be socially acceptable habits by society. They are considered not “normal”. Whereas certain habits like “smoking” or “biting your nails” are considered to be more socially acceptable habits.

2. What are some tics or habits that you have? Are they more socially acceptable than Sedaris’? Why do you think that is?

I have a smoking habit. It is more socially acceptable than Sedaris’s habits, because society says it is. Not because I say it is. It’s the way we are taught from the beginning of our lives. If we were taught to wear rotten fish carcasses on our heads as the norm, then it would be known as “normal”.

3. What do you think the point of this essay is? (Prove it with examples from the text.)  

This essay discusses the plight of a child growing into an adult while struggling with a debilitating psychological disorder, OCD. It seems that this child wants is to fit into what is considered to be normal and this becomes more evident as the child grows into a teenager and then into a young adult college student. He cannot seem to find a way to be normal until college where he turns to drugs and alcohol as a means of self-medication. This story is the journey of the author through life, learning how to cope with abnormal behavior and lack of parietal support. Everyone wants to fit in and be normal and for this author perhaps sharing his story brings light to that struggle for those with psychological disorders as well as healing for his own personal past.