Falling Asleep on the Job: A Guide to Understanding Ramage

Here is the first page and half of my paper. I know it's a corny but I was really struggling with ideas on how to attack the travel narrative idea. I really appreciate any criticism you guys might have.

For the past month and a half, my life has revolved around my job as a desk receptionist for University Place. My once vast vocabulary has been reduced to the four words “keys and ID’s please.” For those of you have never lived on campus at Kutztown University and are unfamiliar with the life of a D.R., let me fill you in a little. I get to sit on an obnoxiously high chair that makes me look extremely powerful behind a desk and make sure that everyone trying to come in the building does in fact live there. Considering I most always work night shifts and there are very few things we are allowed to do while on duty, the job can get very boring in a matter on minutes. Good thing I had my good old pal John D. Ramage to keep me entertained.

It had to be at least 4:30 on a Monday morning when I finally decided to pick up my used but seemingly untouched copy of Rhetoric: A User’s Guide by Ramage. I was at working at the front desk trying to remember what daylight was like and longing for human contact. As I flipped through the pages of Rhetoric and struggled with paragraph after paragraph of the first chapter, I could feel my eyelids becoming heavier and heavier. Suddenly I was startled by a strange looking man standing in front of me. I was very confused considering it wasn’t even five in the morning yet and the majority of our residents are either teenagers or in the twenties tops. “Um, can I see your keys and ID please?” is what I had been trained to say.

“ID? Oh you mean identity? You see there are three dimensions that help to construct one’s identity…” I had to cut him off; I was starting to get worried. With my job I was used to rambling drunks but never before had I witnessed anything like this before.

“Sir what is your name, do you live here?”

“Ramage, my name is Ramage and live here? Haha! Of course I don’t live here. If you come with me I’ll show you my home.” I thought about his offer for quite some time. I mean I would get fired in a heartbeat if anyone noticed that I had left the desk during a shift, but I was having such a hard time grasping the concepts of Rhetoric and this guy claimed to be Ramage so maybe hearing him out face to face would help me write my paper. After all, the creepy Public Safety man had already done his rounds for the night and neither of my bosses would be around until morning.

“Alright I’ll go but just for a little bit.”

“As I was saying, everyone’s identity consists of three unique parts: the given, the readymade and the constructed. Come with me to page 42 and you’ll see what I mean.”