I am writing about an alarm clock my father gave to me in the 8th grade when I just moved to the U.S. The clock is small, black and very portable. The length is about 3 inches and the width 2. The clock has a small black cover that takes up about half of the front of the clock. The small black cover when opened forward reveal two small black buttons and two small indicators. The two small buttons have “hour” written on one and “minute” on the other, whereas the two small indicators have “TIME SET/ NORM/ ALARM SET” on one and “ALARM ON /ALARM OFF” written on them. Above the two indicators, and outside the realm of the small black cover is a long dark blue button measuring about an inch. On one end of the blue button is the word “LIGHT” and the other “SNOOZE.” Above the long blue button is a screen of some sort that digitally displays the time. The back of the alarm clock holds two battery slots and has a curved bump to it.
Out of all the other alarm clocks in my home and even others I have come across, this one my father gifted me is fairly simple and ugly. From the look of the clock, it is as if the alarm clock was made with just the purpose of it functioning to wake its owner up. The alarm clock is not aesthetically pleasing and neither does it carry out any other function than to wake me up. The style of the clock reveals two things, one about my father and the other about me. The first thing it reveals is that my father is a fairly simple and practical person. He does not see the function of having overtly multifunctional and ultra-stylish products. My father is a person that believes that for something to serve a function it does not have to do anything but that function. The other thing it reveals about me is that I am the same as he is. Why would I need a stylish alarm clock if the only time I will have contact with it is when I am going to sleep and waking up? The practical mentality of me and my father can be deduced just from a small alarm clock as the one I have.
I write about the practicality of my father and I, and how that is reflected in alarm clock he gave me, but what this object fails to do is show how close I am with my father. While my father gave me this clock with the explicit intention of using it as an alarm clock, how I have come to keep it after six years does not in any way have to do with the clocks function. The last time I used this clock was my freshman in college, but I have made sure that anywhere I moved this clock comes along. It does not have a practical function for me anymore but this clock has come to represent and almost embody the relationship I have with my father and how much I cherish it. I feel like whenever I take this clock with me to a new dorm building I’m living in I am taking my father with me. I am taking the memories we have had; the late night talks and the hours we spent watching documentaries.
The Materials of History, Thought, and Art 
I love how this clock has come to symbolize your relationship with your father. It is an inherently simple object. You must get a lot of comfort of taking your family with you, and that explains why you can’t part with it.
Your description is well-written and shows of its practicalities. I think what I appreciate most about your object is exactly how fitting it is. Alarm clocks are the best and worst invention. We hate the obnoxious sounds they make, and how they ruin your sleep by waking us up, and of course, we value them as they wake us up and allow us to be out and ready on time. I find this particular clock is fairly frugal, and as you said, it describes you two well. And in a way, it does describe your closeness. Despite the wonderful connection you have to him because of it and what it symbolizes to you intrinsically, it also tells of how something that serves its function would be something both of you enjoy, it’s a bond you two can share. I found it touching that you keep it considering it seems to be of a low quality and you no longer even use it. It’s a nice memento of him, your relationship, and even where you’ve been as a person.
I really love how you talk about how originally the “purpose” of the clock was function yet over time it became less about functionality and more about a representation of your father. Its interesting to see how our views of the objects around us change and something that can seem so mundane can make you feel so much closer to home and family.
I love what you said about your alarm clock and how you used it as a means of understanding yourself and your father. It’s so cool that you actually use an alarm clock! Everyone now-a-days, including myself, usually uses their cellphone. There is a beauty in the way you described using the clock for its function and its function only. I remember when I was buying an alarm clock for college (which I don’t use), it was a cheap little thing from Target. Very much like yours, it’s only job was to wake me up. Yet, I felt that this had left the alarm clock empty, and so I chose one of a similar style that hand rainbow numbers. I felt that I needed these colors to make up for its simplicity. It is interesting how people fell differently about objects.