Analysis of A Personal Essay by A Personal Essay by Christy Vannoy

This essay was about the author, who wrote about herself, briefly describing a hard past, which included abuse and sodomy by her mother. As an adult writer, she remembers being in a room with others who had written essays, and judging each essay based on how hard the person's life had been. If their life had been hard, she seemed to give a positive response. If their life hadn't been so hard, or they didn't seem to show as many signs of a struggle throughout, she would scoff at them mentally, knowing that their essay wouldn't be considered by the editor to be published. It seemed that the purpose of this essay was to demonstrate exactly how much scrutiny an essay goes through before being published, and what kind of material an editor would be looking for.

The story would be written for an audience of writers or readers. The writers would want to know what would pass the bar, or get published, and the readers would already make the connection that hardship makes for a more interesting story. One device that the author used was to refer to the people as essays, not people, almost as if to say that they were no more important or interesting than what their essay said about them. I believe that the author did achieve her purpose, as she showed her responses to other people's essays and how an editor would critique them.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3009/2978965707_93538e7cb6.jpg

This picture helps to emphasize the time and care that goes into a person's personal essay, as they might be up until very late at night working on it.

Analysis of Lucky Girl by Bridget Potter

Lucky Girl by Bridget Potter is about the author's illegal abortion when she was 19, living in New York in the 1960s. It was to be performed in a manner that was not safe, not done with an anesthetic and not performed by a medical professional, but the author was in desperate need. Back then, having a child before marriage was greatly frowned upon, and her unsupportive family would probably shun her if they had known. This is why, despite the legal and physical risks, she decided to have the illegal abortion. She pooled together all of the money that she had from her $60/week salary, and went to different locations around the state and country. At each station she was turned down because she was too young, the person performing the procedure had been thrown in jail, or because the procedure itself seemed a little bit too unsanitary/unsafe for her comfort. I think that the author's purpose in writing this essay was to show that if people desperately need something, they will get it, regardless of known dangers. She didn't have a lot of money, but found a way to have the abortion. The audience for whom this essay was written was a group of people who have an opinion of the value of choice to a person, and the author achieved this purpose through the autobiographic mode and by describing the desperation behind her own illegal abortion.

This image helps to symbolize the importance of an unborn child to a person's life, and how, if you're not ready for the child, you have the power to choose whether or not it is the right decision to keep it.

Image from: http://dadthing.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/positive-pregnancy-test-427x320.jpg

Analysis of Topic of Cancer by Christopher Hitchens

This essay was about the author waking up one morning feeling so ill that he had found it difficult to move from his bed. He remembers struggling to get up and call emergency services, being diagnosed with cancer, and eventually coming to terms with the diagnosis. He said that the five stages of grief didn't really apply to him in this case, and that he had been cheating death for a while now, only to see the Reaper finally catch up with him. He describes his opinion on chemotherapy, or on cancer "treatment", and says that you end up giving up your hair, taste buds, and coherent thought for a few more years on the planet. He felt cheated because he'd had a decade of plans made out, and he'd felt that he'd worked hard enough to earn them. He didn't feel angry about coming down with cancer, regardless of how negatively he did feel. He appears to be a credible author, and was even the editor of the previous' year's Best American Essays. He contributed to the New Statesman, the Nation, the Atlantic, the London Review of Books, the Times Literary Supplement, and Vanity Fair in his lifetime before his death in 2011 of cancer. I believe that the author's purpose in writing this essay was to detail the life of a cancer patient. He did bring up that having cancer is always described as a battle, and when someone is free of cancer that they had "won the battle." If they died, however, they "lost the battle." He said that what is always pictured is a valiant internal conflict, but that's not what it feels like at all. Instead, he remembered feeling so powerless against the cancer as he was receiving treatment, almost like a sugar lump dissolving in water. The essay was written for anyone who would be interested in the internal struggle of a cancer patient, or anyone who wondered about the struggle for hope.

This is a picture of the author when he was still alive, smoking a cigarette, which is a known cause of cancer.

Analysis of After the Ice by Paul Crenshaw

After the Ice by Paul Crenshaw is a story about how the author's young nephew, Keith, was killed by his stepfather around the time of an ice storm. Paul Crenshaw says that he only remembered the ice because of his nephew's death at the time. He appears to be a credible author, as he is an assistant professor of English at Elon University, and published two essays, one in the Southern Humanities Review and the other in the Connecticut Review. He recalls the interactions with his nephew in the days before his death, and as his very last interaction, remembers when Keith's stepfather brought Keith to the grocery store where Paul worked. Keith was crying, and as soon as Paul held out his hands and let Keith run to his arms, Keith stopped crying, feeling safe. Paul handed Keith back to his stepfather afterwards, and he immediately started to cry again. This part was stated with a bit of remorse, as Paul said that, at the time, it was impossible to have known the reason why. The author's purpose seemed to be to show that as he grew older, he began to forgive the stepfather, and he made himself force the forgiveness out. He felt as though if he had been more receptive before Keith's murder, Keith would still be alive, and he can't forgive the stepfather if he can't forgive himself. I believe that Paul Crenshaw's purpose was also to tell the story of his nephew, and how one event can affect someone for the rest of their life, making them link it to something seemingly insignificant like an ice storm. The essay seemed to be written for a curious audience, one that is into stories about criminals, or one that would like to know how losing someone important would affect someone's life.

This photo symbolizes Keith's situation in the story. He couldn't turn to anyone for help because he knew that his stepfather would kill him.

Analysis of Beds by Toi Derricotte

Toi Derricotte is the author of this piece, and appears to be credible. She has written 7 books, including Tender, which won the Paterson Poetry Prize in 1998, proving that she is a skillful and intelligent author. Beds is about the author as a young girl who lived with her mother and her abusive father, who would beat her viciously. The girl in the story described the reason for the beating as a sort of mental competition between herself and her father. When she cried, her father would describe it as her trying to get attention, and would beat her even more until she stopped crying. She said that her father was smart, but violent, and would beat her in areas where the bruises wouldn't show, and there would be no evidence of a beating. She never once blames him throughout the story, though, almost making it sound like she looks up to him for his strength. She describes him as resolute, and talks about him as though he was one of her closest friends. She gave him pet names, playing with his slippers when she was bored. The story is told in a way that revolves around the different areas the main character slept in. She slept in a bassinet first, then a crib, and afterwards in various beds in different rooms. This essay seemed to be about reflecting on how the beatings have affected her and why they occurred. It appears that the target audience for whom this essay were written was people who were curious as to what it's like to have an abusive parent. The author wanted us to think about her situation without skewing our opinion in any way for or against her father's treatment of her, which is why she told the story dispassionately.

This picture shows an ideal version of the first bed that the author slept on, a bassinet. 

Image Source: http://www.lifamilies.com/chat/p/6579427_1.jpg