The Fourth State of Matter

The opening and closing of this essay echo one another: Beard is dealing with her ailing collie, looking toward the sky and its stars, moons, and planets. How does this mirrored structure impact the reader’s understanding of Beard’s processing of the tragic events?

The deliberate marking of time recurs throughout this essay. How does Beard’s use of timestamps impact the essay’s movement through her processing of the shooting?

Beard describes herself as a bit of a fish out of water in her department at the University of Iowa, citing that her colleagues speak “in physics” (Paragraph 70) and that she seeks to put “a layperson’s spin” (Paragraph 31) on the department’s concepts and conversations. This tension between Beard and her colleagues carries over to Beard discussing her ailing collie, to which Goertz sensibly and rationally argues that Beard can decide how long she suffers. In response, Beard shudders and quickly changes the subject. How does the tension of emotion versus science/reason thread throughout this essay and impact one’s reading of the grief Beard describes and endures?