22. On Self-Respect

In this article the author Joan Didion who start by stating his failure into getting in Phi Beta Kappa. That upset him a lot and brought him down because he started to have less self-respect. As t is written on the title this article is solely about this theme in which Dideon explores the effects of having a high and low level of self-respect. He uses beautiful language as in paragraph 4 "To live without self-respect is to lie awake some night, beyond the reach of warm milk, the Phenobarbital, and the sleeping hand on the coverlet, counting up the sins of commissions and omission, the trusts betrayed, the promises subtly broken, the gifts irrevocably wasted through sloth or cowardice, or carelessness." He is very good in using the english language in a very imaginative and graphic way helping the reader to understand. Didion also talksa bout that if you do not respect youself then other people will not respect you. According to him self-respect can be gained and developed through time so that people wth less of t can respect themselves more through time. 

Overall this article was good because it completed the objectives that were in his thesis. They were to firstly inform the audience about what is self-respect and also talk abot it's effects. He is saying how not having self-respect is bad for someone because htey cannot deal with their internal problems well and do not give themselves the value they deserve. Also, it is not good so think too much of oneself and be lost in ego. Didion is very good in writing and uses beautiful words to illustrate his meaning. His article was good overall and achieved his thesis.