A House Divided Yet United
In Sarah Vowell's "Shooting Dad" she describes how different she and her dad were. They believed and took interest in different things, and thus did not have a very good relationship. However, despite the vast differences between Vowell and her dad, their oppositions against each other made them similar. Even if their ideals and beliefs did not coincide with each other, their attitude and stubbornness about their individual hobbies were exactly the same. In a sense, this home was divided and united at the same time.
From the very beginning of Vowell's essay, she depicts a strong sense of discord between her and her father as she explains how different they were. Her father loved guns and firearms, while Vowell loved …show more content…
Vowell had her own space for her hobbies while her dad had his own area for his work, and she describes the work areas as “jealously guarded totalitarian states in which each of [Vowell and her dad] declared [themselves] dictator [over their own territory]” (par. 7). As she describes these workspaces, she uses parallel formats for each one, as if she were indicating how similar the two really are. She starts out by explaining how her father’s shop “was a messy disaster area, a labyrinth of lathes.” Then, later, she describes how her domain, the music room, “was also a messy disaster area, an obstacle course of musical instruments.” She continues to describe both of the rooms in a distinct and purposeful manner. For her dad, “[t]he available flat surfaces [of the shop] were buried under a million scraps of paper on which he sketched his mechanical inventions in blue ballpoint pen.” While for the Vowell, “[t]he available flat surfaces [of the music room] were buried under piles of staff paper, on which [she] penciled in the pompous orchestra music.” The wording and format is almost the same, with the only difference being the actual content of the sentences. Reading this paragraph, one can easily see the similarities between the behaviors of Vowell and her father. They are both overprotective about their respective work areas, and even their work
In Sarah Vowell's "Shooting Dad" she describes how different she and her dad were. They believed and took interest in different things, and thus did not have a very good relationship. However, despite the vast differences between Vowell and her dad, their oppositions against each other made them similar. Even if their ideals and beliefs did not coincide with each other, their attitude and stubbornness about their individual hobbies were exactly the same. In a sense, this home was divided and united at the same time.
From the very beginning of Vowell's essay, she depicts a strong sense of discord between her and her father as she explains how different they were. Her father loved guns and firearms, while Vowell loved …show more content…
Vowell had her own space for her hobbies while her dad had his own area for his work, and she describes the work areas as “jealously guarded totalitarian states in which each of [Vowell and her dad] declared [themselves] dictator [over their own territory]” (par. 7). As she describes these workspaces, she uses parallel formats for each one, as if she were indicating how similar the two really are. She starts out by explaining how her father’s shop “was a messy disaster area, a labyrinth of lathes.” Then, later, she describes how her domain, the music room, “was also a messy disaster area, an obstacle course of musical instruments.” She continues to describe both of the rooms in a distinct and purposeful manner. For her dad, “[t]he available flat surfaces [of the shop] were buried under a million scraps of paper on which he sketched his mechanical inventions in blue ballpoint pen.” While for the Vowell, “[t]he available flat surfaces [of the music room] were buried under piles of staff paper, on which [she] penciled in the pompous orchestra music.” The wording and format is almost the same, with the only difference being the actual content of the sentences. Reading this paragraph, one can easily see the similarities between the behaviors of Vowell and her father. They are both overprotective about their respective work areas, and even their work