The Total Agony of Family Time
By: Ethan Hauser
In this is article, Ethan Hauser sheds light on his dissatisfaction of routine family holiday reunion. His feelings during the holiday season and family time is represented through his pessimistic imagery, diction and syntax.
Usually articles during the holiday bring pleasant thought and images to mind. However, Hauser decides to take a different route. I found his following comment to bring out his true feelings as he describes what he sees, "At Penn Station everyone gets on with too many bags, all those meticulously wrapped presents, all the desperate sons- and daughters-in-law trying to impress intractable, tribal New England parents" (Hauser). This is a typically holiday event as families rush to the airports and train stations to pick up their loved one. He description of hustle and bustle of the holiday season supports his negative outlook for family time.
The reader is able to pick up on his frustration right from the start when he use "agony" in the title. But there are many examples throughout the article, the one I found to stand out the most was when he said "Once home, I honor a different kind of tradition: regressing into a petulant teenager, coughing up monosyllabic answers to innocent parental questions…" (Hauser). In this, the word petulant stood out as it described the immature, unpleasant characteristics of a teenager.
His whole article reflects the frustration that he is feeling about this time of year and family get togethers. He states his yearly family routine with the various by saying how "You can take the dog for more and longer walks. You can explore the many pharmaceutical choices modern medicine provides. Or you can just lie wedged in a bed that’s lumpy and too small and stare at the ceiling…" (Hauser). Hauser's use of short sentences ultimately shows his irritation as well as giving the reader a feel for how he truly feels about getting together with the family. It adds some personal quality to what he says even though it may not be in the most meaningful way.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/opinion/sunday/the-total-agony-of-family-time.html?ref=opinion&_r=0
This sounds like an entertaining article- with strong tone. You used three DIDLES and had good examples. My only suggestion would be to add a couple more quotes. But, really, you are doing great!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you chose this article! The way this author described holidays with his family was hilarious to read.
ReplyDeleteMake sure to not use "I" when you write these essays. It's supposed to be more of a formal analysis, which means you can only use third person. You should probably expand your intro a little more. Try to include some more background information on the article before getting into your thesis. Also, just like in your open prompt, I think you need better organization. Mainly, you need topic sentences for your three body paragraphs so readers know where you're talking about imagery, where you're talking about diction, and where you're talking about syntax.
I chose this same article! I had a simmilar view on the article and also used the quote about dog walking and medicine. His sarcasm is something I can relate to. My only complaint is in the third body paragraph topic sentance. Maybe talk about syntax a little in it so we know you are going to talk about it.
ReplyDelete