Name: Phung Huynh

Professor Salazar-Romo
ESL 33B
18 March 2016
READING RESPONSE JOURNAL 7
1. A brief summary of the reading:
The author begins her article with a story about her visit at a venture capitalist where she
experienced a life-changing revelation. Looking at the owner's closet, she realized a lot of things about
the owner's personality and from that, she relates it to psychoanalytic theory of Freud: the ego, the
superego, and the id. Each part of the closet represents one thing about yourself, whether it is the ego
your private side, the superego your adaption to society, or the id your unconscious needs and
desires. Comparing to herself based on those three divisions, she once thought that her messiness closet
is a part of her and it is necessary for her as a writer. However, after one time came back from travels
and saw the orderliness of her own closet transformed by the new housekeeper, she changed her mind.
She starts realizing that there are foibles exposed from her closet, there are also things which is so
important but were misplaced and buried. All of those revelations lead her to the process of writing
stories: when she went through things that are no longer meaningful, overused and overly sentimental,
what are left is a sense of who she is and memories of what helped her become that way.
2. My response to the reading:
Reading this article gives me confusion. After reading it four and five times, I still don't think that I
understand everything that the author tries to say. I start thinking about my own closet, whether there
are things that I never worn but always there; whether my clothes reveals who I am. Then I look at all
my shirts and realize that most of them are gray. Why did I buy so many gray clothes, from shirts to
jackets, and dresses either? The only excuse I have for myself for so many years is that gray is neither
too dark to show I am a pessimist, nor it is too bright showing that I am very optimist. I feel

comfortable with gray. Isn't it weird to feel like that? Then I think about my writing. I love writing. I
used to write a lot whenever I think I need to express my thoughts in someway. I like to write
especially after I went to some places, meet some people, learn some new things and have some kind of
thoughts and memories. I also think about my books I brought here when going to U.S. Why did I
choose those books but not others? Each of those books has a lesson for me at some moment and it
made me who I am. Just like the author said, after wading through everything, we then realized that
there are things that has both memories which made us who we are and presents who we are.
3. 2 discuss questions:
As the author said, there are things which used to be put in a cardboard box of old clothes and
never be worn until her thirties. What do you think are the factors that changed her mind? Why
does she think that those clothes represent parts of her ego?
Why there are things that also important to the author but were misplaced and buried: her
favorite blouse, the velveteen vest?
4. A brief explanation of my reading process:
While reading this essay, a lot of things come inside my head. While reading the author's anecdote,
I didn't think that the owner turns out to have OCD, and closet can reveals so many things about one
person. I was surprised when the author mentioned about ego, superego and id. I stopped a few times
rereading those paragraphs to make sure I understand what the author is trying to say. There are also a
lot of new words which I've never known before and I was surprised when I looked up for their
meaning. How can a word be that powerful of description? I continued reading the rest of the essay and
cannot stop reading because I want to know what the author's closet reveals about her. Then, one more
time, I stopped when the author mentioned about things which are so important but were misplaced and
buried, things that carried memories. And when I finished reading the conclusion, I keep thinking about
it. Writing is defined in a very new way, that what is left when we write, as the author stated, both a
sense of who I am and memories of what help me become that way.

5. 5 good words from this particular reading:

Repository: a place where a large amount of something is stored.
Ex: A repository is a place where a large amount of something is stored.
I choose this word because I just feel that this word is a great word used in this essay. How can I know
that a closet can be a place that stored so many thing and reveal so many different sides of you?
Ego: a part of the mind that senses and adapts to the real world.
Ex: Ego is one of the three divisions of the psyche in psychoanalytic theory.
I choose this word because I think I agree to what the author said about ego, about things that you wear
at home, things that you loved a lot and never let anyone see them but yourself when you feel
comfortable.
Superego: a part of a person's mind that relates to attitudes about what is right and wrong and to
feelings of guilt.
Ex: Superego is one of the three divisions of the psyche in psychoanalytic theory.
I choose this word because I like the author's explanation for it. I never thought that superego are
clothes which you wear in the public everyday, which show to the public who you are.
Id: a part of a person's unconscious mind that relates to basic needs and desires.
Ex: Id is one of the three divisions of the psyche in psychoanalytic theory.
I choose this word because it was an interesting word to me. I like the way the author relates it to things
in her closet not only those things represent a part of our personality but also accurate to use it to
represent this word.
Sentimental: having or expressing strong feeling of love, sadness, etc., in a way that may seem foolish
or excessive.
Ex: That book contains a lot of short and sentimental stories.
I choose this word because it makes me think about what the author said in this essay. What are things
that is sentimental, which I still keep but never use it? Is it true that our closet reveals who I am, that

there are things represent for my foibles and fetishes?