twa plague of tics
David Sedaris “A Plague of Tics”
Summary: In this autobiography of David Sedaris, he describes, in a vivid and humorous detail, the obsessive compulsive behavior that plagued his life from grade school into college. The autobiography starts off with his teacher scolding him because he is licking her light switch. He also includes some of his “tics” of having to count and touch everything he does. David tells that a person had to do these things because nothing was worse than the anguish of not doing them. He is constantly second guessing himself, which causes himself to have to restart many of his nonproductive “tics” over again. One of his major “tics” was to sit on his bed and rock back and forth listening to the radio. While he was doing this he would try to find the hidden meanings for all of his favorite songs or just random songs.
As he starts to get older his parents start to try different things to cure his disorder. In one instance his father threatens him by saying that if he touches his nose to the windshield of the car while he was driving, one more time he said he wish he would haven’t. This of course makes him want to do it even more so he just about to touch it when his father slams on the brakes. David examines his now broken nose, and comes to the conclusion that that much force of slamming his nose to the windshield was much more satisfying than just touching things with his nose. This is the start of a potentially lethal set of “tics.” So he tries to do it when he is not around. But throughout the course of College he encounters drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes, which thanks to the cigarettes he able to control all of his urges to satisfy the “tics.” He becomes normal in the eyes of other people because he has a new addiction, smoking.
Speaker: David Sedaris, a playwright from North Carolina, who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder.
Audience: People who want to read about people with OCD.
Mood: Annoyed, Frustrated yet Humorous.
Summary: In this autobiography of David Sedaris, he describes, in a vivid and humorous detail, the obsessive compulsive behavior that plagued his life from grade school into college. The autobiography starts off with his teacher scolding him because he is licking her light switch. He also includes some of his “tics” of having to count and touch everything he does. David tells that a person had to do these things because nothing was worse than the anguish of not doing them. He is constantly second guessing himself, which causes himself to have to restart many of his nonproductive “tics” over again. One of his major “tics” was to sit on his bed and rock back and forth listening to the radio. While he was doing this he would try to find the hidden meanings for all of his favorite songs or just random songs.
As he starts to get older his parents start to try different things to cure his disorder. In one instance his father threatens him by saying that if he touches his nose to the windshield of the car while he was driving, one more time he said he wish he would haven’t. This of course makes him want to do it even more so he just about to touch it when his father slams on the brakes. David examines his now broken nose, and comes to the conclusion that that much force of slamming his nose to the windshield was much more satisfying than just touching things with his nose. This is the start of a potentially lethal set of “tics.” So he tries to do it when he is not around. But throughout the course of College he encounters drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes, which thanks to the cigarettes he able to control all of his urges to satisfy the “tics.” He becomes normal in the eyes of other people because he has a new addiction, smoking.
Speaker: David Sedaris, a playwright from North Carolina, who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder.
Audience: People who want to read about people with OCD.
Mood: Annoyed, Frustrated yet Humorous.