In his essay “Hyphen Flint,” James O’Dea tells the very personal story of his life in Flint as a philosopher from Irish heritage, who encountered several situations where he was stigmatized for being from Flint. He shares his arguments and proudness of being from Flint as a philosopher and a poet who studied at the University of Michigan-Flint. By conveying his personal story and pride for his Flint inheritance, O’Dea aims to alter how people generally perceive Flint as a poor and miserable city, and examines Flint stereotypes and the negative perceptions of Flint students, professors and citizens in general. Lastly, he shares his ambition and belief in revival make Flint a better city. This section contains a summary of James O’Dea’s story.
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One of the aspects I find strong is the organization of the essay and the smooth transition between the main ideas. The author has a very attractive start, which sets up the credibility of his argument that Flint is stereotyped. He began by stating some sentences from a philosopher’s speech on graduate school, which, also, addressed how students are not valued for being from Flint. O’Dea begins his essay, “She wanted to be gentle, but a philosopher does not hide the truth. ‘It’s tough to get out of Flint,’ [the philosopher] told us. ‘You know it is’” (134). I think quoting sentences from the philosopher’s speech helps emphasizing that fact that Flint is stigmatized and makes the author credible. After explaining how “-Flint” schools is stereotyped and extremely not valued when compared to other schools like Ann Arbor, O’Dea supports this fact by narrating his personal experience when he decided to study in U of M-Flint. He says: “When I told people I’d decided to go to U of M-Flint, their faces seemed to say, That’s it? (Or, Poor thing, you have to stay home?) Nobody thought it was cool” (136). Moreover, after presenting the argument and supporting his position with examples, O’Dea makes a smooth transition to the idea of his pride for his Flint inheritance, when his Irish ancestors moved to Flint in the 1900s. I find O’Dea’s transition from explaining his personal connection to Flint to introducing the idea of …show more content…
However, relying only on the emotional appeal to show the positive side of Flint is not adequate when compared to what O’Dea mentioned earlier in his essay about poverty, crime and misery that identify Flint. In other words, he is not denying that Flint has high rates of violence and crime, but he tries to change that perception by telling his audience that he lives peacefully and is enjoying his life. For example, he says: “I do not live in fear of escalating violence or rampant unemployment, though too many in our city do. I wake up in a bed with two dogs I love like children, in a room of book piles and wrestling mats for practicing jiu-jitsu, in a house shared with my brother and a close friend. Rent is cheap” (138). In my view, O’Dea should have focused on more legitimate and realistic pros of living in Flint or suggesting ways to avoid crimes and violence in the city. This critical review has evaluated the essay “Hyphen Flint” by James O’Dea. Overall, O’Dea addresses a very interesting topic which is how the city of Flint is stigmatized when compared to other cities by illustrating his own personal experience as a philosopher and a poet. In addition, the author conveys his pride for being from Flint and his call for revival to the readers in a powerful
One of the aspects I find strong is the organization of the essay and the smooth transition between the main ideas. The author has a very attractive start, which sets up the credibility of his argument that Flint is stereotyped. He began by stating some sentences from a philosopher’s speech on graduate school, which, also, addressed how students are not valued for being from Flint. O’Dea begins his essay, “She wanted to be gentle, but a philosopher does not hide the truth. ‘It’s tough to get out of Flint,’ [the philosopher] told us. ‘You know it is’” (134). I think quoting sentences from the philosopher’s speech helps emphasizing that fact that Flint is stigmatized and makes the author credible. After explaining how “-Flint” schools is stereotyped and extremely not valued when compared to other schools like Ann Arbor, O’Dea supports this fact by narrating his personal experience when he decided to study in U of M-Flint. He says: “When I told people I’d decided to go to U of M-Flint, their faces seemed to say, That’s it? (Or, Poor thing, you have to stay home?) Nobody thought it was cool” (136). Moreover, after presenting the argument and supporting his position with examples, O’Dea makes a smooth transition to the idea of his pride for his Flint inheritance, when his Irish ancestors moved to Flint in the 1900s. I find O’Dea’s transition from explaining his personal connection to Flint to introducing the idea of …show more content…
However, relying only on the emotional appeal to show the positive side of Flint is not adequate when compared to what O’Dea mentioned earlier in his essay about poverty, crime and misery that identify Flint. In other words, he is not denying that Flint has high rates of violence and crime, but he tries to change that perception by telling his audience that he lives peacefully and is enjoying his life. For example, he says: “I do not live in fear of escalating violence or rampant unemployment, though too many in our city do. I wake up in a bed with two dogs I love like children, in a room of book piles and wrestling mats for practicing jiu-jitsu, in a house shared with my brother and a close friend. Rent is cheap” (138). In my view, O’Dea should have focused on more legitimate and realistic pros of living in Flint or suggesting ways to avoid crimes and violence in the city. This critical review has evaluated the essay “Hyphen Flint” by James O’Dea. Overall, O’Dea addresses a very interesting topic which is how the city of Flint is stigmatized when compared to other cities by illustrating his own personal experience as a philosopher and a poet. In addition, the author conveys his pride for being from Flint and his call for revival to the readers in a powerful