Review on: "Afternoon of an American Boy" & "The Drama Bug"

I found both of these essays to be really interesting. They inspire me in a way to write about my personal life that I am most comfortable with to give a vivid reflective essay portraying the meaning I am trying to get across. Reading both stories, I learn different aspects of writing that I need to improve on, to better, or that I unconsciously use.

E.B. White's "Afternoon of an American Boy" gives me an idea of how descriptions of character or appearances really affect the story as a whole. Without the detailed description of Elwyn's shyness toward girls, I wouldn't understand why he couldn't approach Eileen or what could have possibly went wrong on the afternoon he took her out. I like how White writes about himself subjectively. He gives me a detailed description of what he thought was bad about him. He hated the fact that he was shy, and he told me what he meant by describing a situation rather than just saying he couldn't approach girls. With this type of writing, I have learned how to approach my future writing that begs for detail.

I believe David Sedaris' "The Drama Bug" is so honest and entertaining. Sedaris really gives a great portrayal of his early childhood. It seems like he really isn't keeping anything back, even though he might possibly be holding many things back, but it is just the way that he opens up and becomes quite frank with the audience. I think it is all about his style of writing. He smoothly says something and smoothly transitions into something else while still keeping the reader's attention and at the same time, he doesn't drift off from the main topic at all. I like his essay because of those main reasons. I would definitely use his style of writing as a way of approaching my writing.

Overall, both stories were great. I have learned so much from just analyzing White and Sedaris' writing style.