Friday, September 19, 2014
Zepp's Last Stand
Zepp's Last Stand is a profile piece discussing Edward Zepp, an 83 year old man. This article written by Madeleine Blais uses vivid language to describe Zepp in a way that the reader can make a description of the man; she describes Zepp with his physical appearance using a chronological structure to tell his story. "Zepp is bald. He wears fragile glasses. The shoulders are rounded. His pace is stooped and slow." Blais writes about an experience Zepp has had. She uses a letter he had written to his mother and his personal experience to write the story. She uses direct quotes from Zepp to make the story more personal and believable.When she writes "can you picture the man" you can actually make a guess as to what this man has looked like because her language is descriptive and figurative. I believe the language makes a story because it adds a personal element that brings the story to life and make it real to imagine to events, even if they had occurred in the past.
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I agree that "Zepp's Last Stand" uses vivid detail in order to capture the character of Zepp in his battle. However, I'm not sure this solely displays his physical appearance, but also allows the reader to understand the character of Zepp as well. This can be seen in the way he carries his things, and the subtle hints that are shown throughout the piece. This builds sympathy for his character as well.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the direct quotes add a more personal touch to Zepp's story. The use of chronological order in which the events that occurred during Zepp's life made it a lot easier to follow. I thought that it was very respectable that at his old age he still fought for what he thought was right.
ReplyDeleteI found Zepp's physical appearance easy to picture as you said. I think the ambiguous description of the main character allows the reader to picture anyone they want. Also, I agree that the direct quotes allowed the reader to get to know Zepp on their own without the opinions of the author guiding the characterization.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the author used vivid descriptions of Zepp to help portray him to the audience, and it definitely establish a strong connection with the reader. Everyone has somebody in their life that they can think of as being like Zepp, which makes the essay very interesting to all readers.
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