A confession stems from guilt. It begins like a tumor, small, benign, seemingly harmless, but as you feed it with feelings of guilt and shame, it will grow to the point when you just want to let it out. I believe a confession is when one knows and understands what he/she did wrong -- either from his/her own perspective or from society's perspective of what is right and what is wrong. But a confession does not necessarily mean people feel sorry for their actions, and that is where the difference lies between a confession and an apology.
An apology stems from regret. It is when people seek forgiveness, from G/god(s), family, friends, people of authority, or anyone for that matter. People confess their "acts of sin" to another, hoping the other will no longer resent them for their actions. Or people apologize when they understand someone else's feelings. They say, "I'm sorry for your loss," because they understand the difficulty of losing a loved one.
When people confess, without looking for forgiveness, they may simply want to relieve themselves of their guilt. The examples of confessions in Wear and Jones's "Bless Me Reader for I have Sinned" seem to be one-sided confessions; they aren't looking for a response. When people confess to another, then they want to be forgiven.
Based on a writing assignment from the past, drawing from personal experiences in writing can be helpful. We remember little details more vividly and can easily incorporate them into our writing, making it more personal and enticing. But at the same time it can hinder writing because it becomes simple to lose the focus of the paper and dwell in an entirely different event from the past.
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| xkcd: Control |
