Comparison of "Meatless Like Me" and "Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture"

            In “Meatless Like Me,” by Taylor Clark, he wants to prove to the reader that vegetarians are the same as any other person, and that they should not be judged for choosing not to eat meat. He explains that he knows what people think about vegetarians, and claims that they are not what everybody thinks they are. He is not judging people for eating meat, he does not want to free every pet he sees, he just simply does not choose to eat meat. In this essay, he uses a few personal anecdotes to show how he has dealt with people judging him for being a vegetarian for a long time. Clark also uses a lot of humor in his essay, which I think is to prove to the reader that he is in fact a normal person.

            In “Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture,” by Ariel Levy, she wants the reader to understand why she thinks that the “raunchy” way that women are looking and acting is not empowering to women. She talks about the fact that her friends go to strip clubs and talk about porn stars to act a little bit more like the men. Levy argues that this is not at all empowering to women, rather it is a step back. She uses her experiences of seeing women on television, and then on the street, with minimal clothes as a personal story to further her argument, like Clark did in his essay.

            I think that both Clark and Levy do a good job in getting their arguments across to the reader. In my opinion, it is very important to include small anecdotes from your personal life in a persuasive essay. By doing this, you gain more credibility for the subject because it proves that it is something you have thought about and care about, rather than trying to prove something random. It is much easier to side with and believe a person who strongly believes in what they are saying, and both authors accomplished this in their essays. I like how Clark uses humor in his essay, but overall, both are effective in getting their argument across to the reader, and maybe even in causing the reader to side with them.

Draft Analysis for Narrative Essay

I decided to use something similar to the “I Believe” format for my narrative essay. I was not planning on using this subject for my essay, but as soon as we were asked to write in class, it became really easy to write and I decided to go with it. The reason that I was not originally going to write about this topic is because it is something that is hard for me to talk about, which is why I was so surprised at how easy it was. It also seemed a little bit too depressing to share at first, but I figured that this was a great way to express my feelings and beliefs. Although this is a hard subject to talk about, it is a huge part of my life, and therefore very important to me. I am writing about my belief in the importance of tragedy. I discuss how my personal experiences with tragedy have helped me grow, and how I think that tragedy is a necessary event that everybody must deal with.

I only have a few paragraphs in my draft as of now, so it is far from finished. I am not sure about the order of my paragraphs or if I even want to include everything that I have so far. I need to work on including more details, and I need to find a way to tell the story so that it will flow- possibly chronologically. I also have to make sure that the voice and tone of my writing is what I’m aiming for. With such a sad topic, it is difficult to keep it from being too depressing. At this point I’m just focused on keeping the voice of my writing away from sadness, because I want it to have more of a grateful, and possibly even a motivational tone. I don’t want people to read this and feel sorry for me, rather I want them to know that I’m trying to appreciate the good, even if it comes from something bad. I also want people to take something from it, and know that they too can get past whatever life throws at them.

Compare/Contrast “The Money” and “The Daughter”

“The Money,” by Junot Díaz, is a personal narrative about the robbery that he and his family experienced. In this story, he seems to have a relaxed tone, but does not fail to include his emotions having to do with the robbery. His tone does not seem to be angry or regretful, but when he describes his friends who took the money from his family, he uses words such as “dopes,” “morons,” and “dolts.” This narrative has a bit of an inconclusive ending. Díaz states that he never really gets what he wanted, even after returning the money to his mother. As a reader, I was looking for something more matter-of-fact to end the story, but you never really find out if he is happy or not.

            “Only Daughter,” by Sandra Cisneros, is another story about a family that immigrated to the United States. The tone in this narrative shows much more emotion than Díaz chooses to show in “The Money.” Cisneros depicts in her writing the sadness she feels when her dad seems to overlook her. All she wants to do as a child and when she is growing up is to impress her father with her writing. Being that she is the only girl in a family with seven children, her father is more focused on the six sons, and does not have big dreams for her. The author shows how this affects her by writing things such as “I could feel myself being erased.” Also different than Díaz’s narrative, Cisneros makes sure to include an ending that shows her happiness and excitement. It is conclusive, and is more of a “happy ending.” When she finally starts to make the money and get the success that her dad wants from his sons, she brings her newly translated work back to her father. At the end of the narrative when he finally reads her work and seem proud of it, Cisneros states that this was one of the best things that have happened to her.