Diving into Personal Narratives

 The first paragraph, or introduction, does a good job at setting the tone for the essay "Me Talk Pretty One Day". I could already tell that it would be an offbeat and humorous essay. The next paragraph is also important for the introduction, giving you a few more important details about the story. Sedaris includes only details relevant to the story and creating an image in the readers mind. Details throughout the story make the reader feel they are sitting in the class with all of these students, being scolded and mocked by the teacher. I felt as if I was in the same boat as the author and other classmates, not understanding what was being said to me but feeling shameful for what was said. Sedaris makes good use of quoting others for emphasis, especially the French teacher. Seeing the teacher's full insults brought an authentic humor to the story. The story is well organized, and easily relatable. It just so happens I'm currently enrolled in a French 101 class, but luckily it isn't quite like this one. Sedaris does an excellent job at explaining the signifigance of all occurences within the story, tying it together perfectly in the conclusion. Through all the embarassment and scolding brought about by the teacher, Sedaris actually learned to understand French.