我站着一座离水面大约6层楼高的铁路大桥上，我的意识里萦绕着复杂的想法：但理智又迫使我快速逃离那座生锈的铁桥，向车子的方向奔跑，系紧安全带，遵照交通限速的要求，小心翼翼地开回家，毫不夸张地说随时为可能在路上闲逛，挡住我去路的小动物们避让。这些陈腐的桥段，当然我并没有做，我有必要尝试一些更刺激，更不计后果的方式。
“我为什么要这样做？”
我退回到生锈铁桥看不到桥面高度的地方，然后，身体也因满怀期待而不住颤抖，跑向大桥边缘，纵身跃入桥下。“我是要死了吗？我是不是马上要见猫王埃尔维斯*和吉米·霍法*了？”从桥上纵身一跳是我从未有过的体验。我一点也不惧怕死亡，也没有任何自杀倾向，我只是喜欢不受大脑里面任何的似乎合常规的约束，随意的跃入桥下。
站在那里，脑海中又蹦出物理课上学到的知识，我向下跳时有9.8m每秒平方的加速度，尽管重力对我来讲，从桥上向下跳可以忽略不计。我感觉我会永远飘在空中（虽然，实际上我在空中降落的时间也只有3秒钟而已）。这一跳是我的生活中最让我害怕又让我兴奋的一次经历。就是这种担心和兴奋的共同作用，让我产生了一种幸福愉快感。向下跳的过程中，感受大地在身下消散简直难以置信。我曾经攀过岩，也曾长距离绕绳攀爬，但那些都不能与现在这次相提并论，这次的心情既恐惧又兴奋。我克服了最初的恐惧，一跃而下，然后我试了一次又一次，找寻第一次跳跃时四肢的刺痛感，但是无论如何再也捕捉不到第一次时难以言说的喜悦。我跳了一次后又试了很多次，每一次都感受到了乐趣，但只有哪一次都比不上第一次带给我的乐趣多。可以说第一次跳跃时的兴奋和独有的狂喜，是我一生中最美妙的感受。
“哇塞，是多么不可思议，我竟然做到了！”
当我从桥上跳下来的时候，我是多么开心，与此同时，也经历了反抗。我为以前只是做着合乎常理，不敢有丝毫危险的事，而这些并非让自己快乐的事情感到后悔。我在空中飞舞，虽然这是一件叛逆鲁莽的事，但这让我很快乐。我毫无顾虑的做了，而且感到轻松快乐。我过往的生活，现在看来，完全不敢逾越正常的逻辑思维的限制。就在跳跃的那一刻，我勇敢地越过了这些限制。在这些限制之外，我感到很自由快乐，哪怕只是短暂的几秒，依然很重要。
注：
埃尔维斯：埃尔维斯·普雷斯利“猫王”可能是20世纪美国流行音乐中最重要的人物。他虽然不一定是最优秀的，但无可争议的是他使摇滚乐在世界范围的流行普及化。单从他的唱片销量上就可以看出，他的影响力是非凡的。从50年代中期到70年代中期这20年间，他的国际热门歌曲一打儿接一打儿，甚至在他去世之后他的任何再版唱片都能保持极其稳定的销量。毋庸置疑，他是流行音乐历史上唱片销量最高的艺人，这一纪录只有宾·克罗斯比（Bing Crosby）和“披头士”（the Beatles）乐队可以达到。
吉米·霍法：Jimmy Hoffa，国工会失踪的会长，由于缺乏相关的证据和线索，就连警方和法庭科学也无法调查这些离奇案件。
分析
这篇文章中，索恩用一种让人着迷的方式叙述一段对他形成人生态度和看法很重要的经历。为了让叙述方式取得成功，作者必须用叙述性的语言为读者设置场景，并将其引领到场景之中，甚至让读者置身于他的思维之中。索恩这种做法很棒：过清晰、描述性的语言想象索恩站立的那座铁桥，甚至能感受到他自由降落时的失重状态。索恩用老练的词汇，通过内心对话，使文章一气呵成。
不言而喻，作者希望通过这种方式向读者传递自己的个性和性格方面的信息。这种情况下，索恩希望向读者展示他随心所欲，无拘无束的一面，诸如驾驭风险、挑战陈规和敢于经历危险的勇气。文章有一个很有力的收尾：索恩将前文描述很好的事件，融汇到一个更大的事件中去，以告诉读者这件事情对他的生活来讲产生的重大意义。
英文原版ESSAY赏析
ESSAY18: “Should I Jump?”
By Timothy F. Sohn
As I stood atop the old railroad-bridge some six stories above the water, my mind was racing down convoluted paths of thought: Logic and reason would oblige me to get off this rusting trestle, run to my car, fasten my seat belt, and drive home carefully while obeying the speed limit and stopping for any animals which might wander into my path. This banal and utterly safe scenario did not sit well with me. I felt the need to do something reckless and impetuous.
“Why am I doing this?”
I backed up to where I could no longer see the huge drop which awaited me, and then, my whole body trembling with anticipation, I ran up to the edge, and hurled myself off the bridge. “Do I have a death wish? Will my next conversation be with Elvis or Jimmy Hoffa?” The first jump off the bridge was like nothing I had ever experienced. I do not have a fascination with death, and I do not display suicidal tendencies, yet I loved throwing myself off that bridge, despite the objections of the logical part of my brain.
Standing up there, I recalled from physics that I should be pulled toward the earth with an acceleration of 9.8m/s. G-forces meant nothing to me once I stepped off the edge of the bridge, though. I felt like I was in the air for an eternity (although I was actually only in the air for about three seconds). This leap was at once the most frightening and most exhilarating experience of my life. That synergy of fear and excitement brought about a unique kind of euphoria. Jumping off and feeling the ground fall out from underneath me was incredible. I have rock-climbed and rappelled extensively, but those experiences cannot compare, either in fear or in thrill, to jumping off a bridge. Once I conquered my initial fear and jumped off, I did it again and again, always searching for that tingling sensation which ran through my limbs the first time I did it, but never quite recapturing the astonishing bliss of that first jump. I have jumped many times since that first time, and all of my jumps have been fun, but none can quite match that first leap. The thrill of that first jump, that elusive rapture, was one of the greatest feelings of my life.
“Wow, I can’t believe I did that!”
When I jumped off that bridge, I was having fun, but I was also rebelling. I was making amends for every time I did the logical thing instead of the fun thing, every time I opted for the least dangerous route throughout my life. I was rising up and doing something blissfully bad, something impetuous. I was acting without thinking of the ramifications, and it was liberating. My whole life, it seemed, had been lived within the constrictive boundaries of logical thought. I overstepped those boundaries when I jumped. I freed myself from the bonds of logic and reason, if for only a few seconds, and that was important.
ANALYSIS
In this essay, Sohn presents a captivating narrative of an experience that has significantly shaped his attitudes and outlook on life. In order for this narrative form to be successful, the writer must use descriptive language to set the scene and transport the reader to the location and even into the thought process of the narrator. Sohn does this remarkably well. The reader can envision the railroad trestle upon which he stands and even feel the weightlessness of his free-fall thanks to clear, descriptive language. Sohn uses a mature vocabulary and incorporates an internal dialogue to aid the flow of his essay successfully.
The inevitable goal of such a format is for the writer to convey something about his or her personality or individual qualities to the reader. In this case, Sohn wanted the reader to know about his freewheeling side; his ability to take risks, defy logic, and experience danger. The conclusion is also a particular strength of this essay. Sohn takes the isolated event he has described so well and applies it to a broader scheme, showing the reader just how this event was truly significant to his life.
注：ESSAY出自哈佛成功ESSAY50篇之第一版
