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Taylor Leverett

Weaver

LNG 406

25 March 2011

“The Ways We Lie” Annotations

Questions on Meaning

1. What is Ericsson’s thesis?

Ericsson’s thesis is “We lie. We all do. We exaggerate, we minimize, we avoid

confrontation, we spare people’s feelings, we conveniently forget, we keep secrets,

we justify lying to the big-guy institutions.” (par.3) her thesis gives way to her later

topics of discussion in her essay and goes in correlation with the headlines of the

different types of lies.

2. Does Ericsson think it’s possible to eliminate lies from our lives? What evidence

does she offer?

Ericsson does not think it’s possible to eliminate lies from our lives because she gives

evidence of different types of lies lied by people or the government that we assume

we can trust not to in some cases. The Omission lie involves religion where in

Christianity, in actuality; Lilith “defied Adam’s need to control her” yet many

Christian teachings today tell the story of Adam and Eve being banished together

away from the Garden of Eden because of their unruly behavior to control themselves

of temptation.

3. What is this essay’s purpose?

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The essay’s purpose is not to gratify the types of lies but to give light to the paths of

deception. Ericsson purposefully goes into depth with the different types of lies to

truly explain the real meaning behind lying and the ways to do it.

Questions on Writing Strategy

1. Ericsson starts out by recounting her own four-lie day. What is the effect of this

introduction?

Ericsson recounts her four-lie day to hyphen the reality of the types of lying today.

Also, with giving account to her own lying behaviors, it gives the reader a real

glimpse of the author and it makes the author seem more on a personal level with the

reader.

2. At the beginning of each kind of lie, Ericsson provides an epigraph, a short

quotation that forecasts a theme. Which of these epigraphs work best, do you

think? What are your criteria for judgment?

The epigraph that works the best would be “We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves”

because it basically tells of when people lie to the point of delusion, What can they

believe? Ericsson states that some omit to lying by “lubricating the daily machinery

of life” by “embellishing” the truth until even they themselves begin to believe their

own lies.

3. What is the message of Ericsson’s conclusion? Does the conclusion work well?

Why, or why not?

Ericsson’s message in her conclusion would be that lying does have its benefits at the

moment but ultimately it’s you who have to live with the emotional backfire to the
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lie. The conclusion works well because it leaves the audience with an open door to

questioning or examining their own lies that have been told.

4. Other methods. Examine the way Ericsson uses definition and example to

support her classification. Which definitions are clearest? Which examples are the

most effective? Why?

Ericsson uses definition to hyphen her meaning behind the idea of lying. She

primarily focuses on the overall, general type of lie associated with today and many

people, and then she examines each type of lie by also giving the reader examples to

go by. This technique helps Ericsson be more effective in telling her story and more

clearly defines many of her key points relating to her theme as well. The definitions

of Delusion and Stereotypes and Clichés are the clearest because they go straight into

the topic of discussion as well as give key examples to support. Personally, all of the

lies are ultimately effective because they truly define more of the theme in the essay

and lying as well.

Questions on Language

1. Look up any of these words you do not know: haggard; travails; facades; plethora;

ecclesiastical, pedophilia; irreparable, co-perpetrator; patriarchal, archetype; gamut;

myriad; reticent.

Haggard- wild; wild-looking: haggard eyes.

Travails- painfully difficult or burdensome work; toil.

Facades- a superficial appearance or illusion of something.

Plethora- overabundance; excess.

Ecclesiastical- churchly, clerical.

Pedophilia- sexual desire in an adult for a child.

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Co-perpetrator- to perform or be responsible for.

Gamut- the entire scale or range.

Myriad- a very great or indefinitely great number of persons or things.

Reticent- reluctant or restrained.