Hum 100 Project 2 short answer
First draft The Critical Analysis of David Sedaris Article, “Me Talk Pretty One Day” 1
Assignment: First Draft of Critical Analysis Essay
Henry Spurlock
English Department, Southern New Hampshire University
Eng-122- R5097 English Composition l 20EW5
Instructor Erin Fitzgerald
06/07/2020
In the article “Me Talk Pretty One Day”, published in 1999, David Sedaris describes the struggles he faced when he moved abroad to Paris at the age of forty-one to study the French language. His use of comic satire to convey the insecurity he feels when faced with an abrasive instructor and being surrounded by a much younger peer group. Sedaris’s stays driven to overcome his initial feeling of being inferior to the French culture, peers and teacher. He uses the perfect amount of Pathos to bring a laugh out loud moment, to all new learners of a foreign culture or language. Sedaris successfully shows his readers that perseverance is the way to overcome fear and doubt.
Sedaris’s humorists’ tone is felt immediately as he describes returning to school makes him a real debutant. He goes on to mocking his student I.D. and the fact he will get discounts to the movies and an amusement park which chooses a cartoon dinosaur to appeal to customers. His readers can feel his doubts about returning to school, as they can’t help but laugh at the thought of a forty-one-year-old man being enticed by these benefits of being a student.
The continue self-ridiculing of his age, is Sedaris’s way of telling his readers in first person the insecurity it made him feel. For example, when describing his classmates as all good looking and young who spoke French well, despite their backgrounds. He later states, “I remind myself that I am now a full-grown man. No one will ever again card me for a drink or demand that I weave a floor mat out of newspapers.” (Sedaris, 1999) He quickly overcomes his age insecurity when he sees how horrid his teacher was to everyone in his class.
Sedaris’s uses exaggerated detail of how rude and unconventional his teacher was to everyone to keep readers entertain. He tells how she called on different classmates who eagerly raised their hand. She asked them to tell the class about things they liked and disliked. The teacher replied rudely to Anna the seamstress, who liked spending time with friends and disliked mosquitos. The laugh out loud worthy analogies of his teacher, help him connect with his audience. Like when he explains a young optimistic Yugoslavian girl said she loved everything about life and he states, “The teacher licked her lips, revealing a hint of the sadist we would later come to know. She crouched low for her attack, placed her hands on the young woman’s desk, and said, “oh, yeah? And do you love your little war? She only allowed her students to speak French, however she practices using her other languages on them. Sedaris took it personal when the teacher repeatedly said “I hate you” and another time she called him uninspired. He decided he would work more and give more effort than what was required to get through the class. He had bad experiences when trying to handle his personal needs outside of school. He was determined to overcome his terror of not understanding when anyone spoke French to him.
Throughout Sedaris’s article “Me Talk Pretty One Day” his logical sequence of his struggles with insecurities of his age, dealing with an abusive French teacher, and maneuvering in his everyday life in a Foreign culture. He shows his readers to persevere is rewarded with a since of accomplishment no matter how small it may be. When Sedaris states, “The world opened up, and it was with great joy that I responded,” I know the thing what you speak exact now. Talk me more, plus, please plus.” His claim to his readers to persevere is rewarded with a since of accomplishment no matter how small it may be. By applying a critical analysis to this article, an older student taking a foreign language in a foreign culture can learn that unexpected insecurities will arise. Through revising a critical analysis of Sedaris’s article, a person will find that he delivers a deeper message to persevere to overcome one’s insecurities.
Sedaris, D. (1999) Me Talk Pretty One Day. Esquire, 13(3), 86.