Me Talk Pretty One Day copy PDF

Preview

Summary

Download Me Talk Pretty One Day copy PDF

Description

"Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris is a short story about a middle-aged man on a journey to concur his fears. One is learning how to speak a second language. While getting over that fear he has realized that is not his only problem. He has a teacher who despises the class and himself; He can't understand anything being said in class as well he is starting to guess second his decision to move to a foreign land at his age. His writing will show the reader that it's ok to continue education at an older age, it’s all about how you to engage yourself when trying to acquire those new skills. My goal for this critical analysis essay will be after the reader has read my passage he or she believes in themselves more than ever and is willing to take the challenge of life and uncertainty head first. They will become strong willed as well they will transfer their strength and passion to others through their work effort.

The first major key point found in the article is about being diligent in all aspects of your life. The author explains diligence as to succeed or work hard in the article as “spending countless hours a night being involved with school work.” (Page 1) Being determined to show his teacher and classmates that he can succeed in class. David Sedaris describes diligence as “I’d spend four hours a night on my homework, working even longer whenever we were assigned an essay. I suppose I could have gotten by with less, but I was determined to create some sort of an identity for myself."(Page 1) This quote translates to, the best way for him to succeed at any task is to endure the long process. He trusts from experience that putting in hours of work studying will pay off. The confidence written in this quote tells me that he has always been diligent in his learning process. This quote connects to my thesis by proving no matter your age, your skill set or competency you can fulfill your dreams through being diligent. Fight the long hours of work,

school, practice to see the result at the end. As long as you believe in yourself, nothing is impossible.

The second key point is creating a culture of competition in class. The author explains how no one is interested in a challenge. He goes on to say that all of his previous classes have had a layer of competition in it (page1). Sedaris explains the lack competition as "Unlike other classes, I have taken, here there was no sense of competition” (1). This quote implies that Sedaris strives when competition is at the forefront of the task. He enjoys the battle between students. It brings out inspiration and critical thinking in the students as well in the teacher. He must equate all he does to how can I be better than the next. That sense of competition is what makes him who he is. With no competition, people start to go thru the motions. No enthusiasm to be better that the next person. I agree with the author's key point. As I'm reading, I have seen in my life where people have not challenged themselves at jobs or school, and it leads to bad performance, but I don't believe the author has met his goal with the evidence presented. He did not go into enough detail to explain to the reader what competition looks like to him. How to start it, how do I react to it, what are the challenges, how do you get someone that has never had competition in the class to buy into it? These are all questions I believe if answered would have made a more profound argument for competition being one of the authors main key points.

The third key point will follow once you have success at the first two, Achieving. The author explains this as seeing improvement over time, as well as understanding what his teacher and classmates are saying when speaking to him in the different language (1). Here's how Sedaris explains achievement. "Over time, it became impossible to believed that any of us would ever improve. Fall arrived, and it rained every day. It was mid-October when the teacher singled me out, saying, "Every day spent with you is like having a cesarean section." And it struck me that, for the first time since arriving in France, I could understand every word that someone was saying. Understanding doesn't mean that you can suddenly speak the language. Far from it. It's a small step, nothing more, yet its rewards are intoxicating and deceptive. The teacher continued her diatribe, and I settled back, bathing in the subtle beauty of each new curse and insult." "You exhaust me with your foolishness and reward my efforts with nothing but pain, do you understand me?" "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." This evidence supports my claim by explaining how being diligent at your task and persevering can be rewarding. It's fulfilling to know that you accomplished a task you thought might be unachievable. I agree with the author's key point and evidence because he is showing us what he did to overcome his fears. He writes about his feelings as when he finally understood his teacher to becoming proficient enough in the language to hold a conversation. I can relate to that feeling. I've had numerous times when I couldn't understand an assignment or class, but I was diligent in my preparation and homework which helped me persevere through, and it finally clicked. Wow!! I understand this now. This quote from Sedaris explains it very well. "Understanding doesn't mean that you can

suddenly speak the language. Far from it. It's a small step, nothing more, yet its rewards are intoxicating and deceptive." The author meets his goal of with this evidence.

In conclusion, believing in yourself and working hard should be the most important thing you do every day. It helps tremendously when trying to learn new things or just getting up to go to work. If you continue to work hard at life, you will see opportunities open up you never thought would. The author was spot on with majority of his key points. I understood what he was trying to accomplish. Even though he uses a comedic approach, he still managed to get the reader to ingest the overlaying aspect of the article. Once I peeled back the layer of the original story, I started to see things that built character in him through his life. He puts one hundred percent effort into whatever task; He makes sure he is challenged when learning and is trying to get other people to feel his passion for working hard. Passion for achieving is very underrated.

Sedaris, David. ""Me Talk Pretty One Day"." Little, Brown and Company, 2 May 2000. Web....