Rhetorical Analysis Essay: “Me Talk Pretty” by David Sedaris In the text, “ Me Talk Pretty” by David Sedaris, the author reflects on his experience at a language school in France. His reflection is more focused towards his teacher’s unusual and harsh teaching style. The purpose of the text is to not let oppressive people tear you down. The author uses juxtaposition and irony in his text to present the purpose to the audience. One of the techniques the author used was juxtaposition. At the beginning of the text, the author states the he is going back to school at the age of 41 and begins to talk about his student ID card. He states that his student ID gives him discounts to “movie theaters, puppet shows, and Festyland”. By him listing the
…show more content…
After he talks about his classmates, he introduces the audience to his teacher. He gives the audience a hint of what the teacher’s personality is like by saying that she “marched” into the classroom. Once the author says the word “marched”, the audience automatically thinks of a military officer. With this in the audience's minds, they can infer that the teacher is very serious, strict, and rude. This inference is then confirmed when the teacher says that the students who haven’t learned certain things before starting her class, don’t belong there. What his teacher said is ironic because teachers are supposed to help their students understand and improve in the things they are having a hard time with. They aren’t supposed to make their students feel like it is impossible for them improve in things that they aren’t good at. After the teacher is introduced, she makes her students introduce themselves to class in French. Since the students were still learning French, they all gave simple answers due to their limited vocabulary. With every response the students made, the teacher would use sarcasm to mock it. As a result, her sarcasm made the students go through “an occasion of shame”. This is ironic because teachers are supposed to be encouraging their students not emotionally breaking them down. With this, the audience feels like the same would happen to David, but it acted as a motivation for the author to improve at understanding
After he talks about his classmates, he introduces the audience to his teacher. He gives the audience a hint of what the teacher’s personality is like by saying that she “marched” into the classroom. Once the author says the word “marched”, the audience automatically thinks of a military officer. With this in the audience's minds, they can infer that the teacher is very serious, strict, and rude. This inference is then confirmed when the teacher says that the students who haven’t learned certain things before starting her class, don’t belong there. What his teacher said is ironic because teachers are supposed to help their students understand and improve in the things they are having a hard time with. They aren’t supposed to make their students feel like it is impossible for them improve in things that they aren’t good at. After the teacher is introduced, she makes her students introduce themselves to class in French. Since the students were still learning French, they all gave simple answers due to their limited vocabulary. With every response the students made, the teacher would use sarcasm to mock it. As a result, her sarcasm made the students go through “an occasion of shame”. This is ironic because teachers are supposed to be encouraging their students not emotionally breaking them down. With this, the audience feels like the same would happen to David, but it acted as a motivation for the author to improve at understanding