Sarah Beth Childers 'Essay Ten Years Ago'

“Ten Years Ago”. Who knew a two page essay could have so many narrative techniques. “Ten Years Ago” is by the author Sarah Beth Childers. The essay “Ten Years Ago” is a very great example of a narrative essay because of all the different type of techniques being used such as diction, description, dialogue, characterization, and tone. This helps develop the story more and makes it realistic. One common technique used throughout the passage was diction. The author used “wordless dragonfly whine” to describe the impact of Nick's voice. This shows that Childers was able to catch his words regardless of how low it how far he sat, her affection towards him. It builds the story showing what Childers sees him as. “Slipped” was another author word of choice used in the essay. Shows the impact that Heather had a habit of going to him on a basis. This makes Childers realizes things about herself towards Nick. The story wouldn’t be possible if the author doesn’t describe some of the characters. In the second paragraph, Nick is described as a guy with “basketball muscle, messy gelled hair, bright blue eyes...” This gives the reader a visual of what Nick looked like. So now the reader can imagine the whole story play out in their head. This connects to imagery. Another example which also plays the same role is the description of …show more content…
It shows the readers what type of attitude the character has. Childers had this attitude of careless. “I felt as important as the girls in my class who got up at five to curl their hair, the boys who thought too often about their shoes”. She doesn’t want to be like Heather, she feels important in her own skin now. This relates to mood. Another tone was when she talked about her younger brother, “my most significant social interaction of the day...” This explains how the author only looked forward to the moment when she got to see her younger brother. This has a connection with