According to Sara Levine, a good essay leaves the reader, “feeling as if (they) have met somebody” (159). Throughout “The Self on the Shelf,” Levine attempts to “talk about how an essayists makes an impression” (160). One point that she makes is that generally essays make use of the “first person singular,” and that the essayist can be “spotted by the frequent flash of his “I” (160). Levine states that, “in many ways writing is the act of saying I, of imposing oneself up other people, of saying listen to me, see it my way, change your mind.” (160)

“The Empathy Exams” does a great job of providing Leslie Jamison’s persona through her writing. The essay itself provides two separate stories that are woven together. One story consists of a created world, where Leslie works as a Medical Actor. These characters are constructed with little details, for the sole purpose of testing medical student’s knowledge. In the other story, Leslie introduces her own reality, revealing details of her actual life; linking her fictional characters stories to authentic experiences that have occurred during her lifetime. By doing this, Leslie exposes her true-self and personality through her writing.

The first example of this occurs when Leslie is interacting with med students. She states, “I want to tell them I’m more than just an unmarried woman faking seizures for pocket money. I do things! I want to tell them. I’m probably going to write about this in an essay someday!” (5). This comment is a clear indication that the authors real self is lashing to get out. While she pretends to be someone during the interviews, she can’t express the actual events that are happening in her life. To me, this quote provides a glimpse at her distress in her own reality.

After this initial comment, Leslie then digs into her persona, by providing glimpses of her life. While talking about an abortion, Leslie states,

“the sense that the end of this pregnancy was something I should feel sad about, the lurking fear that I never felt sad about what I was supposed to feel sad about, the knowledge that I’d gone through several funerals dry-eyed, the hunch that I had a parched interior life activated only by the need for constant affirmation, nothing more.” (12)

These comments reveals deep insights to the emotional state of Leslie. We see a personality within her writing, the person that she really is, Leslie’s sense of “I.” It continues her feelings of distress, and her lashing out for some sort of “affirmation” or empathetic understanding from others.

The last quote I will provide that glimpses into Leslie’s theme of distress and affirmation/understanding is found when Leslie comments on what she calls, a “stuttering tape” (23). Jamison states,

“Patient wants everyone to understand that this surgery is isn’t a big deal; wants everyone to understand she is stupid for crying when everyone else on the ward is sicker than she is; wants everyone to understand her abortion is also about definitely not about the children her ex-boyfriends have had since she broke up with them.” (25)

I think that these quotes provide a level of uncertainty and self-doubt within the authors persona. I also believe that they reveal Leslie’s need for affirmation from others and her need for others to understand the reasons behind her decisions and actions. Overall, I think Leslie does a great job revealing her persona through her writing.