Sedaris’ essay, “Me Talk Pretty One Day”, correctly utilizes the points discussed in The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing. From concision to flow, “Me Talk Pretty One Day” has the clarity, effectiveness, and sense of humor that enables readers to not only understand, but also enjoy the text.
One crucial writing technique that Michael Harvey describes in The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing is concision. This is important because the reader should be able to understand what is happening without feeling overwhelmed by unnecessary adverbs or tiny details. According to Harvey, “Concision can add remarkable grace to our prose. It also makes our prose easier to read and understand” (Harvey 1). Sedaris displays concision throughout his essay, as he sticks to what is essential and cuts out any additional wordiness. For example, the sentence, “After being singled out as a lazy kfdtinvfm, I took to spending four hours a night on my homework, putting in even more time whenever we were assigned an essay,” is descriptive enough to show the readers what is happening but concise enough to not make the readers feel harassed with details (Sedaris 14). Sedaris’ use of concision greatly benefits the overall flow of his essay.
The flow of “Me Talk Pretty One Day” is very smooth. Sedaris correctly uses introductory phrases to “provide other kinds of contextual information” (Harvey 29). In the sentence, “While the optimist struggled to defend herself, I scrambled to think of answer to what had obviously become a trick question,” Sedaris uses the introductory phrase to connect the previous paragraph to the new paragraph (Sedaris 12). By mentioning the struggles of the optimist and then the man’s scramble for an answer, Sedaris combines these two events together to create flow between the two paragraphs. This opening phrase also introduces contextual information about how the man decided on his answer. Clearly, Sedaris’ essay follows the advice of Harvey’s idea of introductory phrases, “In general, these opening phrases make room for contextual information, so that by the time you reach your main point your reader gets it” (Harvey 30).
In addition, Sedaris uses the beginnings and endings techniques that Harvey describes as, “The beginning grabs the reader’s attention, prepares a context, and states the argument. The middle (or body) works through the argument step by step: giving examples, connecting the general and the particular, unfolding causal relationships, and using good supporting materials. The ending (or conclusion) repeats key points and send the reader off feeling that she’s learned something worthwhile” (Harvey 78). This organization of paragraphs is an essential to a good essay because it brings the essay together on a whole. Sedaris’ essay starts out with a strong beginning that catches the eyes of a reader, since most students are not forty-one years old, “At the age of forty-one, I am returning to school and have to think of myself as what my French textbook calls ‘a true debutant’” (Sedaris 11). The body paragraphs give examples and describe relationships and turns of events. One paragraph shows the relationship of the strict teacher and her students and another paragraph shows how the man’s fear of the teacher impacted his learning and everyday life. The ending paragraph repeats what the man has learned and how he has changed, “The world opening up, and it was with great joy that I responded ‘I know the thing that you speak exact now. Talk me more, you, plus, please, plus’” (Sedaris 15). Although it is evident that the man still has a ways to go in learning French, he has improved in that he can now understand the language more clearly.
Overall, “Me Talk Pretty One Day” is a well-written essay. Sedaris displays many of the important qualities that Harvey describes in The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing like concision, flow, and paragraph organization. By using these writing techniques, Sedaris creates an amusing and thoroughly-written essay.
One crucial writing technique that Michael Harvey describes in The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing is concision. This is important because the reader should be able to understand what is happening without feeling overwhelmed by unnecessary adverbs or tiny details. According to Harvey, “Concision can add remarkable grace to our prose. It also makes our prose easier to read and understand” (Harvey 1). Sedaris displays concision throughout his essay, as he sticks to what is essential and cuts out any additional wordiness. For example, the sentence, “After being singled out as a lazy kfdtinvfm, I took to spending four hours a night on my homework, putting in even more time whenever we were assigned an essay,” is descriptive enough to show the readers what is happening but concise enough to not make the readers feel harassed with details (Sedaris 14). Sedaris’ use of concision greatly benefits the overall flow of his essay.
The flow of “Me Talk Pretty One Day” is very smooth. Sedaris correctly uses introductory phrases to “provide other kinds of contextual information” (Harvey 29). In the sentence, “While the optimist struggled to defend herself, I scrambled to think of answer to what had obviously become a trick question,” Sedaris uses the introductory phrase to connect the previous paragraph to the new paragraph (Sedaris 12). By mentioning the struggles of the optimist and then the man’s scramble for an answer, Sedaris combines these two events together to create flow between the two paragraphs. This opening phrase also introduces contextual information about how the man decided on his answer. Clearly, Sedaris’ essay follows the advice of Harvey’s idea of introductory phrases, “In general, these opening phrases make room for contextual information, so that by the time you reach your main point your reader gets it” (Harvey 30).
In addition, Sedaris uses the beginnings and endings techniques that Harvey describes as, “The beginning grabs the reader’s attention, prepares a context, and states the argument. The middle (or body) works through the argument step by step: giving examples, connecting the general and the particular, unfolding causal relationships, and using good supporting materials. The ending (or conclusion) repeats key points and send the reader off feeling that she’s learned something worthwhile” (Harvey 78). This organization of paragraphs is an essential to a good essay because it brings the essay together on a whole. Sedaris’ essay starts out with a strong beginning that catches the eyes of a reader, since most students are not forty-one years old, “At the age of forty-one, I am returning to school and have to think of myself as what my French textbook calls ‘a true debutant’” (Sedaris 11). The body paragraphs give examples and describe relationships and turns of events. One paragraph shows the relationship of the strict teacher and her students and another paragraph shows how the man’s fear of the teacher impacted his learning and everyday life. The ending paragraph repeats what the man has learned and how he has changed, “The world opening up, and it was with great joy that I responded ‘I know the thing that you speak exact now. Talk me more, you, plus, please, plus’” (Sedaris 15). Although it is evident that the man still has a ways to go in learning French, he has improved in that he can now understand the language more clearly.
Overall, “Me Talk Pretty One Day” is a well-written essay. Sedaris displays many of the important qualities that Harvey describes in The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing like concision, flow, and paragraph organization. By using these writing techniques, Sedaris creates an amusing and thoroughly-written essay.
