Everyone has a green-eyed monster living within them waiting for the right time to show itself. Both Andrea Roman and David Sedaris let their green-eyed monsters show in their essays. Andrea Roman wrote her essay “We’re Not…” to demonstrate how Bolivian culture has influenced her lifestyle and has slowly become a part of it. Roman insinuates that her mother, a native Bolivian, expects Roman to behave and act as a Bolivian would. This means that as a child Roman was not allowed to borrow clothes, attend sleepovers, or even finish her homework on Sundays. Roman was jealous of her American friends because they were not constrained by Bolivian values. By the end of her essay Roman was able to get over her jealousy and move forward with her life.
…show more content…
When Roman transitions into an adult, the tone of her essay transitions from frustration to acceptance. Before accepting both cultures as her own, she had felt as though she was entangled in a war between her strict Bolivian mom and her fun American friends. A major turning point in “We’re Not…” occurs when Roman hangs her huge American flag in her new college dorm room. This shows the reader her excitement towards the freedoms she has yearned for since she was a child. Roman also hangs a Bolivian flag next to her American flag, symbolizing that she still respects her Bolivian values. Roman then says, “My mother instilled Bolivian values; Bolivian culture was the only thing I had ever been exposed to, and I loved it”(190). Roman felt at harmony with both her American and Bolivian …show more content…
Sedaris’ tone was more lighthearted than Roman’s. He shares his feelings of jealousy through the use of humor. Sedaris says, “When I’m told such stories it's all I can do to hold back my feelings of jealousy”(181). Sedaris is not shy when he shares his feelings of jealousy. Sedaris uses very few first hand examples because he has never experienced life on the Continent of Africa first-hand. Dialogue would make Hugh’s fascinating tales more credible and would let the reader feel closer to his examples. Sedaris uses plenty of dialog when talking about his own life and comparing it to that of
When Roman transitions into an adult, the tone of her essay transitions from frustration to acceptance. Before accepting both cultures as her own, she had felt as though she was entangled in a war between her strict Bolivian mom and her fun American friends. A major turning point in “We’re Not…” occurs when Roman hangs her huge American flag in her new college dorm room. This shows the reader her excitement towards the freedoms she has yearned for since she was a child. Roman also hangs a Bolivian flag next to her American flag, symbolizing that she still respects her Bolivian values. Roman then says, “My mother instilled Bolivian values; Bolivian culture was the only thing I had ever been exposed to, and I loved it”(190). Roman felt at harmony with both her American and Bolivian …show more content…
Sedaris’ tone was more lighthearted than Roman’s. He shares his feelings of jealousy through the use of humor. Sedaris says, “When I’m told such stories it's all I can do to hold back my feelings of jealousy”(181). Sedaris is not shy when he shares his feelings of jealousy. Sedaris uses very few first hand examples because he has never experienced life on the Continent of Africa first-hand. Dialogue would make Hugh’s fascinating tales more credible and would let the reader feel closer to his examples. Sedaris uses plenty of dialog when talking about his own life and comparing it to that of