Alcohol Anonymous Meeting Experience

“So fantastic, I think it deserves to be published.” “Really,” I asked dumbfoundedly. “But why?” “Because people need to hear your story,” he said. “It can affect other people in so many ways that you can’t imagine.”

“Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can't remember who we are or why we're here.” (Sue Monk Kidd). In The Things They Carried, O’Brien is clear in saying that he would agree with this as without stories, people would be very blind about their past and in some cases, what to do in the future. Sherman Alexie and Tim O‘Brien tell stories to help teach people, or show that people are naturally good at heart but they’re ideas can change based on events that they experience or witness in their lives.

Stories and memories passed on through generations can help to shape an individual. In many instances, storytelling can tell a lesson or push a person’s opinion about something in a certain direction. Memories can sometimes be unreliable, but can also be all that someone can base their life off of. Judith Ortiz Cofer’s memoir Silent Dancing: A Partial Remembrance of a Puerto Rican childhood uses storytelling to share her memories in a life lesson manner.

The Power of the Narrator Truth is not what was seen or heard or happened, but what was felt. It can neither be generalized nor objectified because it is unique to the person who experiences it. The author’s best option to make the story feel true for the reader is to make it relatable to them by using the narrator. For the reader to relate to the story most, the narration of the story should alter depending on the content of the story. Tim O’Brien focuses on the relationship between narration, truth and feeling in his compilation of stories called The Things They Carried.

It says, man, you got wax in your ears. It says, poor bastard, you 'll never know—wrong frequency—you don 't even want to hear this. Then they salute the fucker and walk away, because certain stories you don 't ever tell,” (O’Brien 56) as a result of their loss of sanity and rational state of mind. The experience of the soldiers in “How to Tell a True War Story” illustrates an example of how events can affect the psyche and lead to long-term concerns of

1: Associated Rehab Program for Women Inc, Carmichael, CA H2: Associated Rehab Program for Women Inc: Alpha Oaks is a treatment center in Carmichael, California. Associated Rehab Program for Women Inc: Alpha Oaks is a treatment center in Carmichael, California. It primarily focuses on substance abuse services. They also cater on detox services, personalized residential counseling, 12 step connection, alcohol or drugs dependency program, and a residential program. It has programs catering to particular demographics, such as people who have experienced sexual abuse.

The people in charge of these meetings do not care for their members and do not care where they end up in the future and that makes it difficult for members to want to continue to change because they feel as if nobody cares whether they change or not. People need to be motivated to make a change you cannot motivate somebody by showing you dont care if they change or not if the person who is trying to make a change sees that these people from the AA meetings actually check up on them to see if they are doing good or doing better than they will be motivated to make a change because they feel as if they matter now. The meetings do not keep attendance that means it does not matter to them whether you show up or not they do not care if you make a change or not and they do not care if you are struggling with anything other than alcohol you will not receive the type of help you

This is related to The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien when O’Brien says By telling stories, you objectify your own experience. You separate it from yourself. You pin down certain truths. You make up others. You start sometimes with an incident that truly happened, like the night in the shit field, and you carry it forward by inventing incidents that did not occur but that nonetheless help to clarify and explain.

I chose this particular group because it was an open meeting and they welcomed anyone. The man running the group, was a member himself, and was very welcoming. The meeting started with the AA promise and 12 steps, which I believe they start every meeting with. There was not one specific topic focused

All that matters is that listeners are there, that they are our partners in crime, when they hear that story. Ultimately, it does not matter if the truth is true because, as O’Brien claims, “story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth” (179). In other words, some stories may never have happened, but these stories can be emotionally true rather than factually

My initial perception of the members in the room is that some members may be shy to disclose their stories, but was amazed that everyone came forth in the room to discuss their shortcoming. Furthermore, I did not have any stereotypes perception about alcoholism since I am aware that alcoholism is a disease that affects the brain. My understanding about alcoholism was confirmed by the various client verbalization of their stories and problems associated with

The sad thing about stories is that “once a story is told, it cannot be called back. Once told, it is loose in the world” (King10), that plane with no survivors cannot be taken back, the article in the news about the bus that flipped is read by thousands of people and cannot be taken back. The author of the “Truth About Stories” never says whether he thinks that not being able to take back stories is a good or bad thing, but rather he states that “you have to be careful with the stories you tell. And you have to watch out for the stories you are told” (King,10) because they will shape who you

People tend to tell their stories more than one time, over and over, and collectively

The meeting was different than I expected. I expected a small group of people sitting in a circle and telling their stories and it was very different from that. It was an extremely positive place. There were people ranging in ages and people ranging on length of sobriety. Some people there have been sober for over 25 years and some people had less than a week

Life orientation: Alcohol Assignment. Grade 11R Elai Zlotnick   Task 1:advert 1) In the First advert (binge drinking girl) alcohol is portrayed as a negative substance. In the first advert we see a girl whose clothes are torn, her heal is broken, her makeup is smudged and she has vomit in her hair. In the advert a very low spirited song is played in the background.