Works Cited
Sedaris, David. "Standing By." First Year Composition Reader. Boston: Pearson, 2011. 275-277.
Print.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Sedaris’ “Standing By”
The essay "Standing By" was pretty critical of human beings yet interesting to read. The author's ability to keep my attention through an ENTIRE essay about flight and travel was impressive, I must say. I think his power to be descriptive, detailed, and also so real and blunt about how typical airport occurrences generally go, such as the older lady with her spiffy looking grandkids, or the large family that is trying to reach their destination, not trying to please anyone with formal wear; after all, it is just the airport (Sedaris 275). Then you have the men between middle aged and mid life crisis who have nothing better to do but go on forever about politics (Sedaris 275). Then there is you (in this case, David), in the midst of all this commotion, forced to zone in on all of these different side conversations going on around you (Sedaris 275). These realistic depictions are what made me continue reading with increasing interest. Sedaris' humor reflected into the entire passage also which gave the read more of my mind absorption (Sedaris 275-276). All of these qualities together make up a worthy piece of writing which is why I felt it was worthy of my time. Overall, I would definitely say that everyone could take a liking to the story in one aspect or another. Very well written.
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I think you pick up on some great details of the story, and start to hint at what Sedaris' purpose is. What specifically do you think his purpose is? How do you see the details you pointed out working toward that purpose?
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you put your opinion in your summary. A lot of students chose not to. (There's not a right way to do it, so don't freak out.) I was wondering why you chose to include your commentary--who did you imagine your audience as? How would your summary change if you were writing a summary about this as part of an essay? What are the pros/cons of subjectivity when writing a summary?