The Empathy Exams

Jamison begins by providing a definition of saccharine, which she refers to as “the fear of too much sentiment, too much taste” (111). She then describes a trash can in her kitchen she reserves solely for artificial sweetener packages, a can she hides from guests. She provides etymology for the word saccharine, then describes a picture of herself buried in diet Coke cans from college after taking a physics final. She then describes her childhood house where birds would eat fermented berries and fly into their windows. At eight years old, she poured sugar into a glass of wine to make it taste sweeter, and Jamison then reflects on feminine representation in literature. Jamison was resentful of most of these female characters when she was in her teens, believing them to be overemotional. It is not until she grows older that she comes to love the melodramatic display of emotion.

Jamison draws a connection between sentimentality, which is indulgent, often unearned emotions, and artificial sweeteners, which is sweetness without the calorie impact. She explains how both deal with excess, one an excess of feeling and the other an excess of taste.