Response to Short Takes pieces for Portfolio

“Me Talk Pretty One Day”- David Sedaris

I think this piece is so funny because it is showing a 41 year-old man being nervous about speaking another language and being afraid of screwing-up in the classroom as would a young student. His constant struggle to understand and speak French in this piece is pretty hilarious because he makes up to show that he has no idea what someone is saying.  I also like how he explains his teacher as being down-right rude and kind of invasive, meaning she asks people why they are a certain way that seem to frustrate her for whatever reason. In the end, I get the sense of Sedaris getting self-satisfaction from finally discovering that he can understand what his teacher is saying and he can also speak French, but he still is using awful grammar.

“Semi-Colon”- Barbara Mallonee

This might be my favorite piece from Short Takes because Mallonee is incredibly witty throughout this entire piece. She starts off by describing how she is grading papers during winter and is trying to understanding why students haven’t fully understood the usage of a semi-colon. In this, she goes on to describe how the semi-colon was created the Greeks and then goes to say it needs some praise. My favorite part is when she compares the semi-colon to other punctuation marks, while saying semi-colons are what writers use as tool to explain something, while she uses a semi-colon in her explanation: “Most punctuation marks arose as aids to elocution; the semi-colon serves not the outspoken orator, but the silent writer solitary at his desk. I’m just picturing Mallonee sitting down at a desk, while she is writing this. 

“Contributor’s Note”- Michael Martone

Again, this was a witty and inventive piece. I love how he seems conflicted about his name, while also feeling ownership to it. He starts the piece by explaining his childhood nicknames like Missy; that immediately hooked me. I was kind of confused about the Monk part. He describes this as his classmates teasing him, but then he goes to on change names of famous people into using Monk; to me, that seems a little narcissistic. I also thought it was interesting that he used third person, while writing about himself: “His family still calls him Mick but will force themselves to refer to him as Michael when speaking about him in third person to people who ask.” This line is talking directly to the audience.

What I like about each of these pieces is how creative, witty and clever they are: Martone is talking about himself in the third person, while trying to understand what his name means to him, Mallonee is explaining the usage of semi-colons throughout history, while using semi-colons throughout her piece, Sedaris is trying to understand foreign languages, while inserting himself in the piece to show his confusion. I just really love the inventive ways these writers take their pieces. I would hope to try and take this aspect into my own writing by being sly and clever to make a point that is funny, but not being obvious about it.