My Papa
All people are impacted by the presence of others in our lives. Because the elderly are wise from a lifetime of experience, they are often looked up to and loved by friends and family. The Reflective essay, "My Papa", the author successfully uses imagery, diction, and language to tell the story of her Papa's death and how she was impacted by the life-changing event.
The imagery in this essay is very strong, and makes the reader feel as if they are in the room with the author. Many comparisons are used to help the reader understand the authors feelings and emotions. "I observed his chest rise while drawing in a deep purposeful breathe and fall as if breathing out all of his 83 years of life, for the last time."this comparison really impacted me as a reader, helping me to understand that Papa's life was full of not only difficulties, but also joy and happiness. The use of imagery impacted me as a reader, giving me the feelings the author had in the event of Papa's death.
The word choice in this essay gives the reader not only a feeling of heartache, but also joy in celebrating Papa's life and the time the family had left with him. The author uses many words that give the reader strong feelings. One example is when she is describing what her Papa is like, in the very first sentence of the essay. "My Papa was a plump, jovial, whiskey soaked, mischievous man, with an amazing heart and a laugh bordering on evil, which almost always meant he had something up his sleeve, just for you." the diction used in this sentence successfully describes Papa to the reader, and makes the reader understand why the family loves him so much. Another example of incredible diction is when she is describing her feelings when she is "called" over to her Papa's death bed. "It was haunting and cut right to the core of my soul." the word choice explains the depth and emotion at this moment in time. The diction the author presents is very successful throughout the essay.
Throughout this essay, there is language used that describes the overall piece. The use of the words pain and peace seem to summarize what the author and her family were feeling in this difficult time in their lives because although it is painful to lose a loved family member, his death was also peaceful because he is no longer suffering. There is language used in this essay that does a good job of describing the piece as a whole.
The author of the reflective essay "My Papa" wrote a very emotional piece that successfully uses imagery, diction, and language.
Great essay! Your intro was good, I like the opening sentences. The conclusion was pretty brief, though. In a real essay you might want to make that a little longer. I was never sure how to structure these but yours are well-done essays, nice work.
ReplyDeleteGreat comments and great points and great use of quotes to really emphasize and back up your points.Real emotional article touched me right in the heart. I think your first two body paragraphs were really strong but the third one could use a little bit of work in comparison to the others. Other than that keep up the great work. Good work.
ReplyDeleteYour close readings are awesome! You structure them so well and use great evidence to show that you really understand the way the author is using these techniques. This is a great job, the language paragraph could have used a quote possibly or at least a little more power to it for it to stand with the others, but otherwise, this was an awesome analysis of this article.
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