Writing Portfolio

The past few months have been a period of discovery and discipline in writing that has influenced personal goals and pushed me to seek the change in myself I wish to see in in society. Writing and communication is the cornerstone of influence and intelligent human progress. Expression is a fundamental aspect of sharing ideas with others, in relationships, and in persuasion. Without the ability to communicate ideas successfully, the objective of messages or actions are diluted with interpretation or perverted away from their original intent. The ability to clearly communicate your ideas is a priceless skill we should all seek to improve in ourselves. Expanding personal knowledge of communication isn’t just a self-serving skill for you to project ideas, but rather expands your personal level of understanding complex ideas and concepts. It’s the depth of communicative knowledge that unlocks the capability to comprehend concepts beyond your own personal experience. It is through this pursuit that we as individuals hold the potential to elevate the level of consciousness of humankind and quality of life.    

The focus of all of my writing efforts have been to exercise precision in the words I chose to use and to narrow the ambiguity of meaning to portray conclusive ideas. Having precise language is the ability to avoid hyperbole and to represent exact intent by using language as a tool to illustrate ideas in ways that are relatable, vivid, and absolute. Knowing your audience is important to direct the crosshairs of these two goals and is essential for satisfactory communication. To know your audience allows for the writer to sculpt relational ideas that translate your intent and use specific cues with rhetoric that trigger specific meanings within your known audience group.

One way to convey these relational ideas is using words that provide a sense of imagery assist the reader to see in their mind’s eye the ideas presented by the author. One of the projects this year in class that was inspired by this concept of imagery was the first assignment, which called for a description of my approach to writing.  The piece entitled “My Writing Type” is a representation of my endeavor into the ability to make words depict vivid imagery.

My Writing type

Writing, to me, is a process that always changes. It’s a creative process that starts with imagination; it crashes, burns, gets thrown away, and twisted until the seed of inspiration rises from the ashes of this inner clash. The hardest part about writing is knowing that someone else is going to read it. The foreknowledge that somewhere between the first letter and the last period lays an opportunity to convey something that will inevitably represent my perspective and unique identity creates self-doubt. Writing is challenging because within these lines of text, someone beyond my control is instinctively reading between them. Suddenly the first word seems far more important than just a word and the pressure of not just creating but creating something worth reading to someone else weighs on my mind as the perfect words escape me.

It’s this instinctive reaction that causes procrastination in my writing process. In order to produce the conditions for me to write efficiently and move past my physiological reaction to sitting in front of a blank canvas, it is crucial that I find a comfortable, quiet place in my mind and find a clear organizational center.  Outside of  the center I try to place myself in calm surroundings I can control dependent on the writing type or inspirational influence I want to harness. Writing to a more technical degree, I work better in a secluded place where reference material is easily accessible. Creative writing can sometimes be facilitated in a more populated place where I can candidly use personifications of the people I see to convey creative messages. Writing in a more personal context can be better when immersed in a natural or secluded environment where nature’s rhythms can release reflective awareness. 

Once the words start falling on the page, the progress is chaotic, messy, and sporadic. Many times I will have a string of introductory sentences stacked up, piles of fragmented phrases and flow lines I stow at the end of my paper to collect when needed, while I let the trickle of fresh words from mind to my fingers scatter the page. Letting my unregulated conscious unravel across the vacant white plain with explosive tantrums of finger clacking is the key to developing just the right voice. Frequently the flow of ideas starts as a drip, and bursts suddenly down the page as if the dam of creativity breaks. Words cascade down the page faster than my fingers can keep pace. This center of focus can come and go with days, sessions, or moods. I am the type of writer that repeatedly comes back to the piece I am trying to write, always pruning, reorganizing, and developing ideas in self-talk away from the page.

Until the final draft, my writing process is completely absent of any grammar or spelling corrections until all of my ideas and positions have been refined and structured to address its purpose. The final editing is crucial to the final product; it allows you to use words that speak to a specific audience. In writing you have the opportunity to be very precise about language. It is my belief that we as people should be more selective of the words we choose in communication to not only capture the right attention but represent ourselves more deliberately. It’s through this perspective I strive to be the type of writer that attempts to not only communicate, but rhetorically illustrate.

With writing precisely as my main focus, expanding my vocabulary remains a pivotal part of being able to convey more complex ideas. Vocabulary not only has the ability to expand meaning beyond just the denotation but introduce nuances and context overly used words – having been diluted by frequency of use – cannot adequately express.

When talking about abstract ideas, the deliberate use of vocabulary strengthens the position and adds authority to writing through a display of rhetorical depth. In the following piece I chose to write about John Muir and his religious and spiritual perspective of nature, which inspired me to use vocabulary that embodied Muir’s perspective. Communicating ideas with religious and spiritual angles to people that may not relate to spirituality is a challenge to personify the abstract quality and intangible essence of what John Muir expressed in his writing. This piece was an exercise in my own discovery of vocabulary as well as celebrated the literary genius of Muir with his ability to connect philosophical ideas to the tangible, making him an inspiring author for many people.

 Taking his literary lead, my focus with this paper was to push my capacity for description to expand upon what spirituality meant to John Muir. My objective was to explain conclusively where he found this influence and inspiration of spirituality as well as show how he embodied these perspectives in every facet of his life. Relying on a variety of vocabulary, another objective of mine was to highlight Muir’s Christian-rooted perspective of an omnipresent God, which is overlooked in relation to the environmental movement of today. 

John Muir: The Spirit Of Wild

Considered the “father of national parks”, John Muir is one of the most well-known and influential environmentalists in American history.  The author, activists, and preservationist, has made an impact in American history through his collections of essays, books, and writings about nature and the importance of conserving wild lands. His voice was critical in communicating the splendor of the wilderness, persuading presidents and citizens alike to protect areas of exceptional natural beauty. Muir felt that, “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.” (Muir & Rowell). Muir is most well-known for exploration and documentation of the sierras but most notably Yosemite Valley. In Yosemite Valley, Muir found the evidence of God’s hand stating, “no temple made with hands can compare with Yosemite”(Muir & Rowell). Muir’s activism helped secure Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks as well as many other wilderness areas. His ambitious free spirit guided his curiosity of nature all over the Northern Hemisphere. Muir’s spiritual connection to all living things is a theme that transcended Muir’s entire life. From his home country of Scotland through most of the Pacific Northwest and British Colombia, Muir was fascinated with the freedom of the outdoors and the chapel nature provided. Although Muir is most well-known for his contributions to conservationism, it’s his life long spiritual connection to the environment that is key to understanding the nature of John Muir’s preservationist perspective.

John Muir’s childhood was highly impacted by the religious culture of the family; spirituality was a major pillar of his family dynamic. John Muir was born in Dunbar Scotland, on April 21, 1838 where he grew up wandering the East Lothian landscape. He then immigrated to the United States with his family of eight children and parents to Wisconsin in 1849. As a boy he was active in his religious community and was compelled to memorize large section of the bible by his father. Author Amy Marquis noted his father felt that “anything that distracted from Bible studies was frivolous and punishable” which was problematic for John’s free spirited nature. Young John often received lashings for his mischief (Marquis). Eventually these strict studies enabled him to recite all the New Testament and 75% of the Old Testament (Miller). It was his biblical view that all life is God’s creation that became the foundation that shaped the Muir’s perspective of nature.

As Muir grew to maturity, he was very inventive and took interest in studying science and botany. He craved the knowledge of how the world worked and enjoyed the peace within the wilderness. After injuring his eye at the age of 28 and spending six weeks in darkness for recovery, John felt compelled to experience the beauty of God’s creation and follow his calling (Wolf). It was at this period in life when Muir set out to California to study the world in its natural state. He felt the wilderness was sacred because it "came straight from the hand of God, uncorrupted by civilization and domestication" (Williams). The classic Catholic imagery of God he was taught shifted to a more abstract view that validated the scriptures as the origins of nature. In Muir’s view to be in virgin wilderness was to be closest to god and within a lot of John Muir’s writings you can find his references to "presence of the divine in nature" (Holmes). It was this biblical take on the omnipresence of god in all things that defined Muir’s unique spiritual view and his activist perspective as a preservationist.   

From John Muir’s perspective all creatures and life were created equal under God, which was best described by author Linnie Wolfe interpreting his viewpoint stating:

Man must be made conscious of his origin as a child of Nature. Brought into right relationship with the wilderness he would see that he was not a separate entity endowed with a divine right to subdue his fellow creatures and destroy the common heritage, but rather an integral part of a harmonious whole. He would see that his appropriation of earth's resources beyond his personal needs would only bring imbalance and beget ultimate loss and poverty for all.

As equal parts of the same whole Muir felt it was our duty as shepherds of the planet under god to preserve his gifts. This was a key distinction in the debate between Conservationists and Preservationists. Conservationism aimed to use natures resources in a sustainable way verses the preservationist view that wilderness should stay in its natural state - wild. Muir felt very strongly about preservationism and held distain for the industrial culture, which was evident in many of his writings:

Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away… chased and hunted down as long as fun or a dollar could be got out of their bark hides… Few that fell trees plant them; nor would planting avail much towards getting back anything like the noble primeval forests. God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches… but he cannot save them from fools -- only Uncle Sam can do that. (Muir, “Our Nation Parks”)

Through Muir’s experiences, biblical perspective and powerful writing he was very successful at articulating the importance of preserving wild areas and landmarks. His activism, writing and leadership, John Muir helped create some of the first national parks in the United States including, Yosemite, Sequoia, Grand Canyon, Mount Rainer and Petrified Forest Nation Parks (Johnson). He later founded the Sierra Club in 1892, which has become an influential organization in the conservation movement.  For this reason John Muir has been considered the “Father National Parks,” creating a legacy for preservationists and stewards of God’s creation alike to fall in love with nature and be grateful for the beauty that surrounds us in all things.

            Looking back on John Muir’s legacy as writer, explorer, and activist, it was his spiritual influence that drew him to nature’s beauty and was the catalyst that led to the conservation movement that has become a part of mainstream society today. “No synonym for God is so perfect as Beauty. Whether as seen carving the lines of the mountains with glaciers, or gathering matter into stars, or planning the movements of water, or gardening - still all is Beauty!” (Muir & Wolfe).

Many people will forever be inspired by his writings and glowing love for nature as a result of his divine connection with creation. “His church was the mountain, his worship was curiosity and reverence, and his theology was listening to God’s voice in the symphony of the forest” (Scott). Following in the footsteps of John Muir we all have a lasting blueprint to understanding the interwoven theology that connects us all as beings under one creator and teaches the cleansing implications of gratitude.

Following the John Muir paper was an essay that focuses on meaning. This project asks the question of what is the actual meaning of a word. This theme was perfect for what I had decided my focus for this semester was going to be. The precision of communication and language pendulums on this interpreted meaning of words which are constantly influenced by culture, time, and personal experience. Exploring the idea of meaning is an abstract concept to what communication is used for. The ability to convey true meaning beyond just a simple word takes all the components of language. Vocabulary, context, description, analogy, creativity, and culture are the components that depict meaning and give words the power to persuade.

This persuasive effect is the end goal of effective communication. Within this paper I chose to confront the meaning of love and how the hyperbolic character of American culture has perverted it. Within this piece I focus on vocabulary and technically break down meaning through references to culture juxtaposing the usage of love with its traditional meaning.

Breaking down a perspective of a simple word requires accuracy in language and an inclusion of all the components of communication in order to build the argument. Language is a complex human phenomenon and it’s the collective agreement of meaning that allows language to exist – and to change. When people use language flagrantly or inaccurately, there are severe negative repercussions that I allude to in the following piece where I challenge the direction that our culture has taken the meaning of love.   

Love: A Diluted Emotion

“All you need is love…” Since 1967, these song lyrics are part of cultural movement of a expression and compassion for others that is carried on today. The word love and its usage, has inspired many people to explore the emotional realm of the human experience and share it with others. In modern American culture, “love” is used to describe emotional reactions to experiences, relationships with pets, acquaintances, and even products. “Love” as defined by the dictionary meaning: “a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person” (Websters). Although it is difficult to determine a universal definition for the word, has the most sensational word in the English language to describe our inner most passions lost it’s meaning? Or, are we actually experiencing this internal ecstasy for Facebook posts of puppies?

The word “love” has been commoditized and redefined because of the American culture’s hyperbolic nature, and apathy towards vocabulary. “Love” has been morphed into a simple solution to express admiration, appreciation, attraction, friendship, lust, delight, and mere interest. Little did John Lennon know when he wrote those famous lyrics that he was contributing to the transformation of the word that traditionally describes the epitome of human existence, the continuous euphoric rapture that is reciprocated between beings, into one of six emojis that communicate a digital reaction to daily content online.      

            There are many interpretations and layers to love, but in order to understand its appropriate usage its important to understand the essence of the meaning beyond the word itself. Most people share a love for their Parents, siblings and close relatives. Parents, brothers, and sisters share a deep emotional and physiological bond. Across cultures and throughout centuries humans have described this bond as a type of love. There is also the type of bond that is expressed in mutual infatuation, intimacy, sexuality and attachment between human beings which we also call love. Love throughout history is consistently an emotional quality that is shared by beings of consciousness as described by psychiatrist Charles Johnston, explaining how traditionally love was illustrated as two halves making a whole (Johnston).

Throughout human recorded history there has been anecdotes and stories of intimate relationships between human beings that illustrates the cultural norms and customs of intimate interpersonal communication beyond the functionality of procreation. Written in the Sumerian texts, said to be written in 2030 B.C. is a record of a love poem translated as "Bridegroom, dear to my heart, Godly is your beauty, honeysweet" (Arsu). Human anthropologist and human behavior researcher Helen Fisher also explains the cooperative exchange between beings is a phenomenon that works in favor of the evolutionary drivers that promote survival and well being. Humans are generally dependent on their parents for over a decade making a prolonged, intimate, and passionate relationship advantageous by conserving energy in choosing a singular mate, shared parental duties, shared defense, safety, security, and a strong foundation from which to promote the next generation (Fisher). With love as a mechanism to further future generations, love is made an integral part of natural selection.  The institution of love also perpetuates the survival of the species by diminishing the risk of disease by reducing the sexual contact between beings, promoting futility and sexual health (Buss).    

Charles Lewis, a psychiatry professor of University of San Francisco would argue that love is a driving physiological force within nature and becomes an internal need that could be compared to hunger, or thirst, much like other mammals experience (Lewis). In fact, love is the catalyst release of hormones and neurotransmitters in the body. From testosterone and estrogen to dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and oxytocin, our body experiences measurable effects as a result of these intuitive subjective interpersonal relationships we describe in terms and shades of love (Winston) Research published by Trends In Cognitive science measuring the brain activity of people in interpersonal relationships show that these chemical, biological and emotional subjective feelings actually have measurable results. The study concludes that people who mutually share this state of affection produce similar brain waves, giving credence to the idea that people can be “on the same wave length” or “vibing” making it more that just a feeling but a measurable biological synchronization of frequency production (Hasson) All of these physiological, psychological and evolutionary phenomena that happen within our metaphysical shared reality is what we prescribe literarily as love. The word love describes the essence of the connection subjectively and in reality.   

The word love comes from a few different etymological tracts. Love comes the German origin of Lubon, or lieben being the root of love. Love also comes from the old English word lufu meaning “the feeling of love, a romantic sexual attraction, the love of god.” Love also has the latin root of lubet meaning pleases (Love). This etymology supports the idea that we have been using this word to correspond with the physiological and psychological experience that we are inherently and evolutionally predisposed to.

The usage of the word love, or words cross culturally that refer to the phenomena of love, had been exclusive to the context of intimate interpersonal relationships until the influence of the “free love” movement in the 1960s. The free love movement was a counterculture rebellion against state involvement in marriage, birth control, sexuality, and also promoted an antiwar agenda (McElroy). The free love movement, which is encapsulated by the Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix, and others, sought to be a movement to support the individual’s limitless sexual and emotional expression. The word “love” throughout this movement became the slogan that embodies the sentiments of the movement itself. The movement’s conviction enlightened its followers to reject authority and encourage emotional fluidity to express compassion for all people alike. The word “love” took on a whole new dimension to its meaning by expanding to a gesture of humanity and benevolence, rejecting the traditional concept of love that eluded to marriage, blood relation, or gratitude to a creator. It became common to express “love” to an acquaintance, stranger, or projected outwardly towards all things, which the movement is recognized for. The word love not only was used more frequently in broader array of contexts.  It’s meaning has been transformed into an expression of peace in contrast to the sentiments of hate, contempt and negativity that correspond with the context of war. In this way the word “love” became the tip of the spear in culturally combating the nations military ambitions and identifying with the movement. The opposition to the Vietnam War was a centerpiece to the movement that propelled the rebellion of traditions and ignited a counter culture bases around emotional expression. At the time it was socially ideal to express “love” in any context as a direct expression in solidarity with the movement and to challenge social norms. The word “love” through this period lost all its constructs and became an expression defined by all that is good. Through this perspective it is more virtuous to articulate the perception of good intent through the prism of love than to be rhetorically acute, lending to the idea that all good is preceded by good intent, hence the mantra of the free love movement “all you need is love.”

Although superficially “free love” encouraged good intentions and revolutionized the way American culture perceived emotional intelligence, counter intuitively; the movement that sought to express positive nature upon all things led love to a shift towards materialism. Fast forward to 2016, the word love is exchanged in abundance to describe a variety of experiences. In modern American culture people frequently use the word love to describe their sentiments towards, animals, experiences, products, places, or things. Whether its their favorite animal, an event, or a gift its common to hear people express how they “love” it. This affinity for things is depicted in modern music using the word “love” in glorifying material possessions. A few examples of this can be seen in one of America’s top hits in 2016; Selena Gomez’s song where she says “they love the way you dress” communicating an admiration for style or beauty.  Another example can be found in a Patsy Cline song stating, “I love your money, I love your automobile,” which depicts the affinity for inanimate objects.  The word love is even attached to food in one the most well known marketing campaigns in the world advertising McDonalds with the phrase “ I’m loving it” in reference to their fast food menu and the experience McDonalds projects from its brand. Now in the digital world of Facebook, where many people express opinions and share photos and ideas with friends, love has become a commoditized digital expression illustrated with an emoji heart that we can choose to express a reaction to a post. An average Facebook post can be about anything from notifying the Facebook universe that a loved on had passed away, or sharing a picture of a miniature poodle.

Realistically, is it really “love” that we‘re sharing and experiencing?  The hyperbole that is created by the word love and its frequent use in our modern culture deludes the definition of what the word traditionally means. What does that mean for the state of human love if we use the same word to describe our experience at a fast food restaurant and our deep physiological and psychological bond between beings that is encrypted in our DNA? The fact of the matter is that there are many other ways to express gratitude, admiration, interest, preference or glorification in the English language but the lexicon of American English has diminished over time. According to a study done by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the average literacy rate of Americans thirty to fifty years old decreased significantly between the eighteen years from 1994 to 2012 (Tobar).  The average American’s literacy is on the decline and communication is developing towards simplification. We as Americans have adopted acronyms, text messages, and emails as a form of simplifying legitimate communications. This development in American communication limits our ability to accurately and efficiently convey meaning. In today’s society how do you express the deepest mutual human bonding emotion now that love is an emotion that is compared to inanimate objects, experiences, and even money? By limiting their breadth of vocabulary people lose sight of the meaning of words and accept new meanings, which perverts language and meaning away from the imperial and into the subjective. The English language offers a wide variety of rhetorical options to convey anything along the spectrum of what we commonly use the word “love” for, yet in modern American culture, speed and generalities are commonly promoted, while rhetorical precision and description are becoming a tradition of the past.

In conclusion the definition of the word “love” has been diluted to mean an arbitrary variety of interpretations that are far from the original meaning of deep, interpersonal mutual conscious affection. The true meaning of the word love is much too significant of human experience to compare to the pedestrian analogies it’s commonly juxtaposed. Due to the cultural ideal of celebrating benevolence towards all things, materialism has further manifested itself into American culture created by the free love moment of the 1960’s. American culture has become apathetic to the meaning of words that make up the color pallet of the modern American lexicon. Smearing significance on the canvas, blurring shades of color and lines that make language beautiful, American culture is abandoning the mechanism that allows the individual to advance ideas into exchangeable truths while losing what it truly means to love.

As a result of my focus on the precision of language, it has made me question my own definitions and meanings of words and given me a new respect for language as a tool for connection. Learning about the power of meaning and communication has shown me how important of a skill language is. With the power of communication you are equipped to persuade, relate, and organize thought. Without communication as a skill, we are left more interpretive means that limit the ability to express what makes us innately human. For the most part, many people take language for granted and lend to its perversion in the age of emojis, acronyms, and generalizations. We as a humans often jump to our own conclusions and forge our own definitions of “truth” through language.

Language can be used as a means of creation or destruction. When interviewing my father, a man with a high moral integrity and a business owner, he has a utilitarian view of language as the means for creating relationships and tool for progress. Growing up my father taught me a lot about patience and how to deal with people but most of all he taught me that the only thing you have control over in life is how you react to the world around you.  Communication was a quintessential portion of his lessons in illustrating the power of patience and objective thinking. Understanding the potential of language and having emotional awareness improves your ability deescalate situations and use language to resolve conflicts. My father also believes that good communication is essential for negotiations and debate, which is a fundamental necessity to live in a civil society. The ability to peacefully disagree or communicate with one another despite our differences is the foundation for a free and peaceful society.

My girlfriend works as a communications associate at a public relations firm where shaping narratives or perceptions with language define her trade. From her perspective, language is conduit with which we as humans can transmit or retrieve empathy and compassion with one another. Language and all its complexities are unique to the human condition and has been the catalyst in ascending the human race to it’s current innovative heights. But, with such a dramatic influence language and communication has on people, words can be just as divisive, degrading and regressive. It is for this reason that we all have to hold ourselves accountable to using language as means to a desired end.      

To emphasize the lessons of this semester, the presidential election oozed out weekly examples of literary delinquency that vulcanized opposing views. These escalating political indictments degraded the foundations of communication and distracted from the fundamental and philosophical debates that politics are ideally about. Regardless of your political affiliation there could be no better example of the perversion of language then the 2016 presidential election. The hyperbole of the political climate is ripe with misconstrued rhetoric and social indictments. It’s a helpless feeling watching vast groups of people so eager to sacrifice their own integrity and critical thinking to promote reckless words, assumptions, and definitions. It is self-evident how damaging negligent words can be to an individual and even a society when true definition is removed or perverted. It is through this movement of promoting deliberate words and meanings I seek to influence modern culture and future generations to pay closer attention to the repercussions words have. Idealizing character aspects of patience, eloquence, clarity and illustration in communication, we can remedy the rift in combating fractions of the human race. Our generation has a unique chance to reclaim the integrity of communication and talk about ideas and reason while removing unnecessary hyperbole and exaggeration. Truth has become relative in this landscape of distortion and it through a conscious cultural shift in understanding the power of deliberate language and meaning we can break down barriers that divide our communities. True communication and definition is the key to learning, understanding, and progress. The future is ours to shape in ascent or decline, but its communication that can span the divide. With strait shapes not blurry lines, we have a chance to set an example of being deliberate in our words everyday, bringing understanding, empathy, and unity to a petulant world.  

Works Cited

John Muir: The Spirit of Wild

Holmes, Steven J. The Young John Muir: An Environmental Biography. Madison: U of Wisconsin, 1999. Web. 1 Oct. 2016.

Marquis, Amy L. "A Mountain Calling." National Parks Conservation Association. N.p., Oct. 2005. Web. 1 Oct. 2016.

Miller, Rod. John Muir: Magnificent Tramp. New York: Forge, 2005. Web. 1 Oct. 2016.

Muir, John. Our National Parks. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1901. Web. 1 Oct. 2016.

Muir, John, and Galen A. Rowell. The Yosemite: The Original John Muir Text. San Francisco: Sierra Club, 1989. Web. 1 Oct. 2016.

Muir, John, and Linnie Marsh Wolfe. John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1938. Web. 1 Oct. 2016.

Scott, Chris. "The Stunning Spirituality of John Muir." Chris Scott. N.p., 05 Mar. 2012. Web. 01 Oct. 2016.

Williams, Dennis C. God's Wilds: John Muir's Vision of Nature. College Station: Texas A & M UP, 2002. Web. 1 Oct. 2016.

Wolfe, Linnie Marsh. Son of the Wilderness: The Life of John Muir. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1945. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.

Works Cited
Love: A Diluted Emotion

ARSU, SEBNEM. "The Oldest Line in the World." New York Times. N.p., 4 Feb. 2006. Web.

Buss, David M. The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2005. Print.

Fisher, Helen. "Why We Love By Helen Fisher Pdf - Ebooks Download." Helen Fisher. N.p., 13 May 2002. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.

Hasson, Uri et al. “Brain-to-Brain Coupling: A Mechanism for Creating and Sharing a Social World.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 16.2 (2012): 114–121. PMC. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

Johnston, Charles M. "A New Meaning For Love - Context Institute." Context Institute. N.p., July 1985. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.

Lewis, Thomas, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon. A General Theory of Love. New York: Random House, 2000. Print.

"Love - Online Etymology Dictionary." N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.

"Love | Definition of Love by Merriam-Webster." N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

McElroy, Wendy. "The Free Love Movement and Radical Individualism." Libertarian Enterprise .19 (1996): 1.

               Tobar, Hector. "American Adults Have Low (and Declining) Reading ..." LA Times. N.p., 8 Oct. 2013. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

  Winston, Robert M. L., and Don E. Wilson. Human. London: DK Pub., 2004. Print.

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