“A Few Words About Breasts”
I really enjoyed reading this essay because it was very relatable, especially to females, and had a humorous conversational tone. Every little thing she did in grade school could completely ruin her femininity and she tried desperately to have breasts. Having breasts was the epitome of being a girl or being feminine. These components kept it interesting to read, but at the end, I was not sure what her argument was. It was not explicit to the reader and I think that is what put me off from this essay. Yes, I got the point breasts ran her life and that was all she thought about, but what was the point. I guess I expected the cliché answer that she learned to be happy with herself no matter what, but instead it threw me off at the end when she said “I have thought about their remarks, tried to put myself in their place, considered their point of view. I think they are full of shit.”
“The Androgynous Male”
I could not relate as well to this essay as I could “A Few Words About Breasts,” and I am pretty sure it is because I could relate to what the girl was saying and not relate as well to what the boy was saying. Then, I also think this is what these two essays kind of talk about, gender roles and stereotyping. The essay above was struggling to get the one thing that symbolized her femininity, to her, and here he is defending that just because he is not the stereotypical “he-man” does not mean he is not masculine. He is masculine but has more freedom to do other things and express more feelings without the worries of fulfilling the “he-man” image. I guess this essay had he more typical response that I was looking for in the first one. “The Androgynous Male,” to me, developed his argument more concisely and the argument was much more explicit. He included needed details from personal experience to support the argument, but did not over do it to the point that he began to lose me in detail.
“Minivan Motoring, or Why I Miss that Old Car Smell”
This was a fun story to read, but I think what ultimately made this story was the incorporation of statistics. That was one thing I worried about trying to incorporate into this paper and this was an excellent example of how to use them to support your story. As I was reading the essay, I was not really sure what his argument was going to be, until I got to the end. The first one I was left unsure, the second essay told us early and here he waited until the end. Now, as I go back and reread some of his points I understand why he chose them and how they support his argument.
“Surviving the Mustard Lid Days”
This story above all appealed to pathos. Her story begins with an unexpected blow as a very young child; then again, a few years later she is hit with another devastating loss. You feel for the author and sympathize with her throughout her struggle as she tells it to us in the essay. Overall, the moral of the story is no matter how annoying, unfair, or embarrassing the ones who are raising you act, they ultimately have the best intentions for you. She develops her story by taking us through what she was feeling and experienced as she learned to cope with her feelings through her writing. I think this story could have ended up very cliché, but how she wrote about wrestling with her emotions and struggles brings you closer into the story because she really opens up and tells us everything.
