Mystery Fruit Essay, Research Paper
I am sitting at my desk with the fruit I ve chosen placed directly in front of me. I ve placed a pen and plenty of paper to right, which enables me to record all of my observations. Using all four of my senses (sight, touch, smell, and taste) as well as my thoughts throughout this exercise, I will try to make it clear what fruit I have chosen.
Using just my sight I see that this fruit is almost a perfect sphere. It is about the same size as softball, but because of what looks like indentations and knots, it has lost its perfect shape. The colors of this fruit make it look as though it has been badly bruised. Where it once resembled part of a spectrum going gradually from light orange to bright red has now been interrupted by large brown scab like marks. I take a closer look and notice what looks like millions of little pores covering every inch of the surface. At the center of each pore the color becomes a bit brighter than the surrounding area. Upon rotating the fruit clockwise, I notice one large gash moving vertically along the side. As I continue rotating I count three more scars similar to the first.
I then look at it from a birds eye view, and I become aware of a perfectly round indentation at the highest point of the fruit. After a moment of thought I conclude that a stem once covered this small opening, but because of poor treatment, it has been separated from the fruit. Blankly staring at the fruit my mind begins to wander. When I realize I ve lost my train of thought, I again examine the mark left behind by the stem. Strangely the fruit begins to take on another image; it begins to resemble a large eye. The actual cavity becoming the pupil while the slightly bruised area surrounding the pupil becomes the iris . I see this eye looking at me suspicious of why I m just staring at it, telling me Stop staring at me! If you re going to eat me just do it!
What else could possibly be said from only observing this fruit using only my sight? At this time I m becoming very frustrated, unable to think of anything else to explain. Out of frustration I lay my head down continuing to examine this fruit. I begin to think about how this fruit has gotten in such bad shape. It looks like it s had a very hard life even though it may have just become ripe. The exterior of this fruit is covered with remnants of beatings, drops as well as close encounters with a knife or two. At this point I am very bored and tired of looking at this single fruit. It s amazing how short my attention span seems to be for this assignment.
So far, using only my sight I have learned this fruit is almost a perfect sphere, no larger than softball. I ve also observed the once vibrant colors of its exterior have now begun to fade away due to the negligence of previous handlers of the fruit.
After looking at it from every angle I feel as though I have gathered all the information possible using nothing more than my sight. However, after reviewing the notes I ve gathered, I realize that my observations are not enough. The clues I ve gathered so far are still very vague, making it very difficult for the identity of this fruit to be revealed. Observing this fruit based solely on what can be seen may have narrowed the choices a bit, but it can still be one of several different fruits. It has become obvious that an analytical observation requires more than just one of my senses. I sit for several minutes staring at my fruit sitting comfortably in the palm of my hand. The temperature of this fruit is very cool as if I had just removed it from the refrigerator. Running my fingers across the surface, I feel every inch of the fruit, and feeling much like skin that is covered with goose bumps after a chill blows over it, I feel a tingling sensation at the tips of my fingers.
As I hold my fruit in my hands, I begin to play with it, gently tossing it from one hand to the other. While doing this I am reminded of playing softball. I really wish I could be playing softball instead of sitting and observing a piece of fruit. Holding the fruit in one hand I begin throwing imaginary pitches aiming directly towards the trash can, wishing I could just throw it in and forget about this unreasonable assignment. I take aim again, gently squeezing this soft yet firm fruit, pulling my arm back I follow through with the pitch. Just as I reach the point that I must release it and send it flying through the air straight towards the trashcan, I chicken out continuing to grasp the large fruit in the palm of my hand. Reminding myself of the many hours I ve spent on this exercise so far all my work would have been in vain.
Bringing the fruit close to my nose I take in a deep breath taking in the bittersweet citrus smell into my lungs. I feel a sigh of relief as the soothing scent begins calming all of my frustrated nerves. I take in another breath and examine it more closely. The scent is sweet like an orange. At the same time there is the presence of a sour scent almost like a lemon but not as acrid as lemons usually are. After taking a few more breaths, I again place my fruit on the desk and realize that the refreshing smell still remains on my hands. I begin smelling both hands until the smell eventually disappeared.
Now that I have experienced the relaxing feeling this fruit s natural scent can give me I become a bit excited looking forward to observing how this fruit tastes. I must now dissect this unknown fruit, but how shall I proceed in doing so? Should I cut it into two symmetrical halves? Or should I peel it by removing layer by layer? After careful consideration I decide to peel it. Where should I start? I quickly decide to choose any random place on its surface, dig my fingernail through the thick exterior and pull back a large section of it. As this section is being pulled back it makes the sound of a ice-cold soda can being opened. It also allows a mist to escape along with even more of the refreshing scent spraying all over my hands. As I finish peeling the remainder of the exterior I notice that there is yet another layer. This layer seems to be somewhat thinner. The color is creamy pale pink with many lines that resemble veins running around the fruit. Feeling somewhat tricked I continue peeling layer after layer.
With the removal of each layer the smell becomes much stronger and my fingers have become drenched in the sweet juices that have escaped through the punctures I have made with my nails. When I ve completely peeled off every trace of the creamy pink layer, I am left with a bright pink fruit. What was once badly beaten and bruised is now a beautiful piece of fruit. The many outer layers served a purpose, to protect this precious fruit in the middle. The bright pink fruit is covered in tiny little veins running throughout the fresh looking fruit.
I split the fruit into two identical halves and look even further inside this well protected fruit. Along the fresh tear of each half there are a few big drops of juice, which reminded me of dew found on leaves early in the morning. The bittersweet smell has filled the air surrounding me urging me to take a bite.
Finally after watching this fruit for so long I am able to taste it. I clear away all the seed and take a big bite. AHH! Mist from the juicy fruit tickle my nose and some of the juice begins dripping down the side of my hand. This fruit is very sweet, much sweeter than I d expected. I then continue to eat the fruit.
What kind of fruit is this? Is it an orange? No, this fruit is far too pink to be an orange. Maybe it could be a lemon? No, lemons are much smaller. After taking a few more bites I notice a very bitter after taste and I ve become very thirsty. I take another bite and my thirst is quickly quenched. Wait a minute I ve got it! There are very few fruits that I ve ever tasted with an after taste like that. Combined with the other observations that I have made it becomes clear to me. IT S A GRAPEFRUIT!
Having spent so many hours observing this grapefruit I ve learned that when trying to concentrate on something that is very frustrating for me whether it be an object or a lesson, my mind tends to wander very easily. I noticed that when I looked at the grapefruit at different angles I became very bored at times staring at certain marks or shapes for long periods. While I stared at this fruit for a while the marks and shapes took on a whole different shape or reminded me of old memories. Observing all that I saw usually turned into the cloud game (taking shape or characteristics of the clouds and naming what it looks like), every color, every bump or mark began to take on a life of it s own. When I was able to touch the fruit I began playing with it out of frustration and remembered things I normally wouldn t think about if I were doing something I really enjoyed. In doing this assignment I ve also realized that I must concentrate harder on what I m doing as well as control my wandering thoughts regardless to whether I m enjoying it or not.