The Temptations of Two

To me the theme or Rogers essay is that there is a temptation to do things in pairs of twos so you don't have to go out alone and risk anything that comes with that, but also going out with someone else isn't necessarily a bad thing. I got this message as Rogers talks about how Emily can't go out paddling with her one night, and she falls into a trap of negative thoughts surrounding her possible trip. She recalls all of the times she's gone out alone and ponders all the good and bad outcomes of this possible trip and inevitably heads out and loves the experience she had. On the other hand though, after her late night adventure with Emily she realized that she would never have done those things solo, so having a partner can also make for wonderful adventures as well. The use of alliteration in the first paragraph with, 'saucer-sized snapping turtles' really drew me in and helped me to picture the scene with the creative description. Additionally, on page 163 when she talks about the comforts of her car and how it's a place a safety it just connected with me to see the one thing that makes her feel comfortable fade away as she paddles farther out. These are effective because they caused me to read more closely to get the full effect of what she was saying.