Source Entry 2

Source Entry 2, My Life as a Psychopath by Katie Heaney

Summary: 

The article “My Life as a Psychopath” written by Katie Heaney is an interview between the author and a woman who’d be diagnosed as a psychopath in her mid to late twenties. Starting the article Katie Heaney breaks down what a psychopath really is based on her source Craig Neumann. Craig goes on to say that defining a psychopath is pretty straightforward forward “Broadly speaking, psychopathy refers to a pathological personality that is interpersonally deceptive, affectively cold, behaviorally reckless, and often overtly antisocial,” The author also talks about the misconception of psychopaths and the misuse of the term. She says the word is often misused like many words pertaining to a mental illness. Neumann introduces an idea stating that Psychopathy isn’t something you are or aren’t but that “Psychopathy is a scale.” essentially saying that everyone has some psychopathic tendencies or personality traits, but it doesn’t necessarily make them a full-blown psycho, while others have more psycho tendencies than the average person. Katie Heaney follows up by stating that although one may have those tendencies, to truly be considered a psychopath they have to fulfill four domains which get tested for using the PCL-R (a psychopath checklist). The PCL-R test to see if you have the personality traits of a psycho about four domains, these domains are; Interpersonal, Affective, Lifestyle, and Antisocial. And as stated by the author those personalities in each domain that you must have to be considered a psycho are; “Interpersonal: They’re manipulative, deceitful, and/or narcissistic.
Affective: They lack remorse, are callous, and may take pleasure in hurting others.
Lifestyle: They’re impulsive, may use illegal substances, and may have disregard for the consequences of their actions.
Antisocial: They are physically aggressive and may have a history of or tendency toward criminal behavior.” Continuing the author interviews the woman who shares her experience living life as a psycho and her thoughts on the stigmas of what a psychopath is.  

Rhetorical analysis:  

The genre of the article “My Life as a Psychopath” is an interview. The article was written by Katie Heaney, in the article Katie discusses what a psychopath is with Cragie Neuman. The author uses the rhetorical appeal of logos when she states that Craige Neumann is a “Professor of clinical psychology at the University of North Texas, whose singular research focus has been the psychopathic personality and its traits.” The purpose of the article is to inform others and expand their knowledge of what a psychopath is to avoid misuse of the word and to squash stigmas on what a psychopath is.  

Notable Quotes: 

1. “Psychopathy is a scale”  
2. “To qualify, he says, a person must possess traits pertaining to each of four domains” 
3. “I’d always known my whole life I was quite different in how I trust people, how I thought about things, how I experience the world.”