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Fiona Campbell English, Block F Argumentative Essay Giving a Face to the Unknown Imaginary friends are everywhere. The big, hairy, friendly monster on top of the subway, the kid who live next door who is always eating your ice cream on a summers day when you turn your back, the shadow on the sidewalk, your dream husband or wife, a book or movie character you long to talk to, that celebrity who you wished was your friend, the ideal boss who always gives you raise, a lost friend or relative, a pet youve always wanted. They are all born from some subconscious need or want, when a person feels lonely, when an explanation is needed when none can be found, even to settle an argument! It can be argued by some that gods and mythical figures are too, in part, imaginary friends. Not all gods are benevolent, however, and the same is true for imaginary friends, they can be an imaginary nemesis, a scapegoat, or a fear embodied as a person or animal to scare humans away. The question is, are they good only for children, or for the world to believe as well in the unknown and give it a face? Children and imaginary friends have always gotten along famously. Some adults and teenagers today also have imaginary friends as companions for everyday life. Dr. Ichard, a practicing psychiatrist and psychologist, says that imaginary friends often help the real friend through stress and times of loss as well as coping with unfamiliar surroundings such as collage or high school. Many first-time parents ask doctors and friends, My ______ year old son/daughter has an imaginary friend, is this healthy? and most responses from doctors, are yes, part of growing up is interaction, and when a child is unable to have a real friend, they make one up so

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that they may fulfill that requirement. Many agree and say that a child having an imaginary friend is creative, and shows promise as a good problem solver. ("Is It Normal? My Child Has an Imaginary Friend." GreatSchools). And also as stated before, there are advantages for anyone to have an imaginary friend, to play with, to have someone to relate to, even to have an imaginary sibling if you wanted one! I have several imaginary friends, but the ones who have always been there for me are Lee and Aiden. Lee was always there to cheer me up with a smile and a punch on the shoulder, lifting my spirits and brightening my day with a silly remark. Aiden was the more serious of the two, preferring to be silent than talk. If I were scared of something, like the dark of the closet, the monster under my bed (which happened to be my snoring, drooling, little sister during the time we shared a bunk bed.) or a strange noise, Aiden would always be there, my knight in shining armor, to save the day. I still keep those two around, of course. What could I possibly do without them? I love them both so much, and when people say that theyre not real I still get upset even though Ive heard it a million times. To me they will always be real, and to others who have imaginary friends like I do, in part, they will always be real as well. Imagination has saved and hurt people for centuries. The act of labeling what is not known to you, in a way, is like creating and imaginary friend. It helps you cope with the inexplicable and gives you an explanation you can handle. This is mimicked in a more mischievous way by children who have their imaginary friend take the blame for disappearing ice cream, thinking that their parents wouldnt be the wiser, its just laying the blame on someone shoulders who doesnt exist; like with me and my imaginary brother Lee. Whenever there was broken glass, I never broke it! It was Lee! (Only it really was! Im serious! I swear I didnt do it!) or when doors slammed without someone being near it, it had to be my brother. Shoes misplaced? Lee. Lunch bag gone? Lee. Objects levitating? Lee. Hearing boyish laughter in my ear when Im alone? Lee.

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Always having fun duping all around him with his invisibility and prancing, my twin brother was a troublemaker to the core. But that didnt necessarily make him bad; it just made unexplained events make sense and feel more safe. At times, it can be hilarious! My father, sister, and I will be sitting in the car, driving along when we hear a thunk on the roof of the car, as if a teenage boy carelessly landed atop it from above. We will all shout something along the lines of, Lee! Get off the freaking roof! But there is another, darker, side to imaginary friends. Some use this method to control rage, fear, or other negative emotions by personifying them into an imaginary friend. I know of this because, I myself, do this. My demon is Violet, the darker imaginary friend who contains all my anger and frustration. By letting her be the enemy, I can conquer my anger by making her disappear, or exorcising her. I know that others have tried this, and sometimes not voluntarily; sometimes the enemies can be a little too real, and the threat becomes an actual problem. Some, who cannot control their alter ego of sorts, can lose themselves to madness. That is, indeed, one of the risks. But then there is the hope, that by besting the darker side of yourself, you are the stronger. And that gives hope to those who need it most on the inside. Then there are the foes that are not yourself; the ones that you cannot name. The beast in the forest, the haunted howl that plays at your ears, the cold shiver up your spine; all of these are not directly harmful to you, but they can inspire fear. And that fear can manifest itself in the form of something bigger than it really is. And that can be thoroughly problematic. When the sound you heard could have just been a hungry dog, baying to its master for food, the hearer could interpret that to be a ravenous wolf, on the prowl in the woods. Then, the hearers mind would run wild with images of wolves, and nightmares ensue. Soon, the fear became an image of a wolf, then soon after, paranoia. Once that is done, the hearer will conjure up manifestations of the blood-thirsty wolf, and may even go so low as to imagine it in a

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humanoid form. (And thus, ladies and gentlemen, werewolves are born!) In this way, using imagination to create a threat bigger than it is, so fierce that one cannot vanquish it, is a bad thing, sometimes even seriously dangerous. Misinterpretation has always lead Man astray, but it still happens, and will again in modern society. When people stop socializing with others, it is most likely due to lack of something in their life and the need to keep themselves occupied within themselves to make up for that. Many who shut themselves away suffer from lack of attention, love, or companionship. To make up for that, they will invent friends for them to talk to, but most people, not looking at the situation properly, would deem the neglected person, crazy. A person can be perfectly sane, and still be accused of having a mental disorder due to their lack of social interaction with humans and their preferred was of expressing themselves through their friend. When signs of lack of interest in school work start to show in a childs habits, and a way of shutting themselves away, it is considered unhealthy. But when caught reliving stress by talking to an imaginary friend, most parents and doctors will initially deem the child in need of help. This is an absurd first conclusion, and I am continuously outraged by the fact that the accusers (doctors and parents) lack the skill to see the big picture and determine what is really going on with the child. (Patient.co.uk - Trusted Medical Information and Support). Instances have come up before when children were said to have schizophrenia, or hallucinations of some sort were watched, hospitalized, and given medications that they didnt need that seriously could have damaged them over a long period of time, before someone came along and realized, Hey, these kids might not have anything wrong with them; they might just need a little love! And that person tuned their life around. And all these false accusations and mistreatment was due to people not

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knowing what they were dealing with and doing the wrong thing about it. So all in all, it isnt the imaginary friends who are bad; its just the people who cant see the big picture. All in all, harm only comes to those who let misinterpretations mess with their lives, but most of the time, seeing as we are humans; that cannot be helped. But we can always try to surround ourselves with fun, uplifting, positive companions who love us, real or not, who will always be there for us. I hope that in the future, when more is known about the world, there will be less to not know and to therefore fear, there will be more love and acceptance in the world so less people get hurt, and most of all, I hope everybody could have an imaginary friend if they wanted one, because it has been proven that those with imaginary friends tend to be more creative thinkers. Those people will be the people who are going to lead the world into the bright, beautiful future.

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ReflectionsIn my essay, Giving a Face to the Unknown, I used a variety of differing tools of argumentation. I feel as though I have utilized the three appeals Logos, Pathos, and Ethos all fairly the same; though the one I used the most was Pathos. I felt that I could convey my theme and meaning best through personal memories and emotional lectures, as seen mostly in my second to first, and second to last, paragraphs. The Methods of Exposition I used were, analogy, anecdote (although it wasnt that short), cause and effect, examples, and I have referenced Dr. Ichard. These were, I think, the best tools I could have used for my writing. The rhetorical strategies I have chosen were few, but they served well in my essay in my opinion. They were uses of, sometimes, most of the time, and in some cases. I fiercely argued against the opposing opinion, and I called upon the reader, to better themselves by being imaginative. Although I may ramble on in my writing, I try to keep with the format of an essay, but to me, writing an essay is like telling a story, a convincing story with facts and evidence, but not so boring as to leave the reader face-down in a puddle of drool in the paper. I hope this was an interesting paper, at least memorable, and I dare you to be creative. Thank you for reading.

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Works Cited "Is It Normal? My Child Has an Imaginary Friend." GreatSchools. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. "Supernanny.com." Supernanny.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. "The Real Reasons Kid Create Imaginary Friends." Disney Family.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014 Dr.Ichard. Personal Interview. 23 January, 2014. "Patient.co.uk - Trusted Medical Information and Support." Patient.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. Davis, Carrie-Lyane. "10 Things You Discover About Yourself When Youre Diagnosed With Borderline Personality Disorder." Thought Catalog. N.p., 29 Aug. 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.