In our first reading we learn about Lauren’s symptoms of epilepsy. We also learn that we must question the narrator. The reliability of the narrator is quite questionable. The title itself is “I exaggerate”. Nonetheless we are introduced with descriptions of what Lauren calls “jasmine world”. I found this to be a very interesting read. Particularly because I am not quite sure what the diesease epilepsy entails. It is crazy to think that a sypmptom of this disease are to experience strange smells. Lauren writes, “I have epilepsy. Or I feel I have epilepsy. Or I wish I had epilepsy, so I could find a way of explaining the dirty, spastic glittering place I had in my mother’s heart.” (5-6) She herself is unsure of whether or not she truly has this disease! If she does not know how are we the readers suppose to know. It appears that she has a poor relationship with her mother. Perhaps she wants to believe she has epilepsy because she believes that then her mother would pay more love and attention to her. This would be common behavior from a child.