Transformation and Transcendence: The Power of Female Friendship

by Emily Rapp

http://therumpus.net/2012/01/transfor...

1 pages, Online Article

First published January 22, 2012

About the author

Additional books and editions on Goodreads under the name Emily Rapp Black.

Emily Rapp was born in Nebraska and grew up in Wyoming and Colorado. Born with a congenital defect, her left foot was amputated at age four, and she has worn a prosthetic limb ever since. A former Fulbright scholarship recipient, she was educated at Harvard University, Saint Olaf College, Trinity College-Dublin, and the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a James A. Michener Fellow. She has received awards and recognition for her work from The Atlantic Monthly, StoryQuarterly, the Mary Roberts Rinehart Foundation, the Jentel Arts Foundation, the Corporation of Yaddo, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, and the Valparaiso Foundation. She was the Philip Roth Writer-in-Residence at Bucknell University and has received a Rona Jaffe Fellowship. Her work has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, Salon, The Sun, The Texas Observer, Body & Soul and many other publications. Emily has taught writing in the MFA program at Antioch University, Los Angeles, The Taos Writers' Workshop, University of California - Palm Desert, and the Gotham Writers' Workshops.

She is currently professor of Creative Writing and Literature at the Santa Fe University of Art & Design in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Reviews

[Nicole Agadoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered "Transformation and Transcendence: The Power of Female Friendship" from a Huffington Post article entitled "Best Articles 2012: The 25 Pieces That Should Be Required Reading For Women," and it was a truly great read. Author, Emily Rapp, takes the reader on a journey as she discovers that friendships with women are more than just nice supplements to the "real" relationships in our lives, such as the relationship between spouses or relatives. I found this article to be powerful and moving, and it made a great impact on me. Rapp's honesty and vulnerability allowed me to understand her perspective. Because she was so open and authentic about herself and her past, I cared about what she had to say. It was apparent that she considered her audience when writing the article. "After Ronan was napping, oblivious to his fate, I talked with my girlfriends for hours. “Talked” is a generous term: I wailed, shrieked, cried, sobbed, screamed, cursed, threatened, lamented and pounded my head against the wall. I pulled at my skin and my hair. I talked jibberish and shouted the word “blackness” over and over again. I was truly freaking out, truly inconsolable, in a Job-like state of hell that is still very present in my daily, waking life." Knowing your audience, and considering their wants and needs is incredibly important as a writer. Without Rapp's personal details and experiences, the article and overall message would not have been nearly as meaningful. This particular article is targeted at adults, but I would love to find another example that would be relatable to my students of how authenticity and vulnerability can make writing powerful. This would be a great mini-lesson before journal writing. Developing writers should also be introduced to the idea of thinking about the needs and wants of their target audience.