Birth Order and Sibling Competition

Birth order is something I didn’t think affected our lives too much, but author Frank J. Sulloway changed thought for me. However; I didn’t agree with everything that Sulloway was talking about. Being that I have an older brother who is 5 years my senior, I feel as though I take on many of the characteristic that he is supposed to hold. I am the more bossy and in charge one, but then again I hold a lot of the younger sibling traits, for example: my brother is the more academic and definitely stronger than me. “A considerable surprise from these results is that growing up in the same family exerts only a small influence in making siblings more alike.” (Sulloway 299). This I feel is perfect in describing my brother and I, because a lot of people tell us that we are nothing alike and now there is a valid reason why. Sulloway gave many good examples in his writing to get his point of birth order and sibling competition across. Not only did he give examples on the human sibling competition, but he also explained animal sibling competition. This was extremely helpful in understanding where he was coming from. Another topic he touched upon in his writing was that too match the characteristics of birth order, he gave examples from famous historical figures and how significant their birth order was. This was a very interesting piece and well explained, I enjoyed it immensely and helped me understand my own birth order.

Work Cited
Sulloway, Frank J. The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.

Of all the authors I have read none have been stranger than J.D. Salinger, as described by Margaret A. Salinger. Not only was Margaret Salinger the author of a memoir depicting J.D. Salinger’s life, but she was also his daughter. Salinger gave a very descriptive look into her father’s private life and also her childhood. When I was first handed Salinger’s work, I was a bit skeptical as to what she was going to say about her father and if it was going to be boring. I say boring, because I really did not picture J.D. Slinger to be such an interesting character. As his daughter described him in her book, he is a bit of a neurotic and definitely marched to a beat of a different drummer. His behavior was and still is a bit off the wall and his antics definitely display that, from living in almost complete solitude to drinking his own urine. Also, his relationship with women was a bit eye opening and especially the relationship between him and his second wife. This wouldn’t be the type of person I’d never picture to write such a great American classic. The way that Salinger described her father through word was perfect, and it was like you could almost picture him doing all the things she said he did. It really made me look at the world of authors different, that they are all different in their own ways.

I'm terrible about keeping up with writing in this thing. I can never seem to put my thoughts into words, and I know I have a lot to say it's just hard to say it here. Privacy is my thing, I love knowing that I have it and don't have to share it with anyone if I don't want too. That's how if I had the talents to be in the limelight, I wouldn't be able to deal with not being able to go out in public without being hounded. What's making bring up this topic is that, I've been watching videos on TMZ.com and I love watching E! and all those entertainment show. Oh and I love those trashy magazines. Even though I love watching and reading about celebrities, I actually feel kind of bad fore them sometimes. But isn't it what they asked for and knew that if they got into the business thats part of it. I guess that's why I've learned to hold my privacy so dear. I just also have to learn to update this more so I could share my thoughts with the world. Which is a weird concept to believe, that anyone in the world could read what I have to say, it's odd.