I had the opportunity to read Paige Hoppmann's essay. One thing that stood out to me instantly was we had a lot of the same opinions on the story. We both noticed that Sedaris uses a lot of humor and came to the conclusion that he incorporates the humor to try and cover up his judgement. One thing I liked about Paige's essay was, she used humor while writing it too. It didn't sound like a boring paper you have to read, it was also entertaining and I wanted to continue reading her thoughts on the story. Even though we both saw the story almost the same, there were some things I really liked that she made obvious. "Sedaris actually seems to be mocking us as readers in a sense; because while reading his story our first instinct is to be surprised at him for judging others so harshly." She then points out that everyone judges people, it's unavoidable. This is why Sedaris is mocking us, because it makes us as readers realize, we do it too.
I incorporated the same things into my essay but I feel like Paige got the point across a lot easier and a lot more clear than I managed to. It's easy to understand the things she is pointing out in her essay and even relates it back to real life. I think it was funny how we both realized Sedaris' purpose the most in the final paragraph when Sedaris proposes his famous question, "We're forever blaming the airline industry for turning us into monsters: it's the fault of the ticket agents, the baggage handlers, the slowpokes at the newsstands and the fast-food restaurants. But what if this is who we truly are, and the airport's just a forum that allows us to be our real selves, not just hateful but gloriously so?" (Sedaris, 277). Paige and I both stated in our papers that we really understood what his purpose was after reading this part of the story.
I think the only thing I would want to change in my essay is to try and make it clearer. I think when I look back, I didn't make as much sense as I wanted to. In a previous blog post I said, when it comes to formal writing, I know what I'm trying to say, but others don't. That is what gets me every time. So when I revise my draft, I will keep this in mind. Last but not least, I want to make my essay more entertaining. Reading over it, it's kind of boring. I want my reader to be interested in what I have to say but at the same time completely understand it. They don't have to agree, but just understand.
I like that you identified what was entertaining about Paige's paper. That should be helpful when writing your own. I always like to ask myself, "What would make me want to keep reading this paper?" and then write it that way.
ReplyDeleteIt also doesn't surprise me that you identified Sedaris' purpose to be the same as Paige's. What needs to be different though, is your own purpose. Remember that your purpose cannot be the same as Sedaris' purpose. You have to identify what is at stake for you (what matters for you as a reader) and make that part of your controlling purpose.