[Student]
[Professor]
Thesis Statement
Introduction
The story starts with the personal narrative, when the protagonist takes on telling the reader about her childhood days, when she used to write ‘how to make a snowman’ in his fourth grade, but most of his writing was about his own problems than the description of snowman. He tells how the story of a snowman always ends with the melancholy of it melting away with the sun. Then he takes on mentioning step-by-step procedure of collecting candy-cans. The approach used to describe the process is similar to the ‘how-to tutorials’, but when the reader keeps going, he/she analyzes that the story is meant to be humorous and satirical than a serious short-story. The most intriguing aspect of the story is the close observation of the author in terms of human attitudes, perceptions, and relationships related to the society. What is even more interesting aspect is the fact that the connection of ideas and theme of the story is made effortlessly by using clever words for the analogy. The persona created by the author is that of a carefree teenager, who is in the habit of facing the usual teenage issues and then hiding those from her parents. The paper analyzes the persona created by author in terms of attitude, perception, and communication of a teenager.
The tone adopted by the author is personal, casual, and satirical, for instance, in order to describe the habits and social ways of teenagers such as underage drinking and sex, she states “Wonder if it’s possible for the passenger on your right to get impregnated by the passenger on your left without you moving. Test this theory by sitting up straight in your middle seat” (Crosley), thus, to depict the carefree attitude of young girls and boys towards each other’s bodies and futures. The tone adopted by the author clearly depicts that getting pregnant is not a matter of great concern in teenagers anymore, and the girls nowadays do not even know who the father of her child is. The tone of speaker depicts that the protagonist is either an adult or a teenager as the close observation reflects the experience of the author. Most probably, the speaker is an adult as not only she is well-aware of the teenagers’ carefree attitude, but she recognizes the side-effects and negativity attached with this carefree attitude. By using explicit attitudes and perception mixed with satire and humor, the author creates the persona that enables the protagonist intelligent enough to pin-point the issues with clarity, but without sounding offensive.
If one looks at the speaker’s way of reflecting experiences and teenage matters to such details, one comes to know that the speaker is a keen observer who knows the subject matter and implications of what she is observing. Interestingly, the speaker is also someone who herself suffers from Seasonal Affection Disorder, which makes an individual nostalgic in winters, spring, or rainy season. This is indicated as she takes on describing the events in great depth as she states “There’s something about winter holidays that invite the double-purpose-instruction genre. Open any glossy magazine in the past few decades and you’ll find these pretend prescriptive stories appearing again and again around this time of year. How to Decorate a Christmas Tree is really about drinking to get through the holidays. Learning How to Ice-Skate is really about surviving a divorce.” (Crosley)
The reader unintentionally agrees with the speaker due to the persona created by the author. The speaker is assertive, dominant, and confident in her tone and these elements are added to her persona in such a manner that the voice and tone of speaker sound familiar, right, and logical. The explanation of events as well as facts are so realistic and true that one can related to such experiences, which are part of every individual’s life at one point. For instance, the speaker tells that“Remember that you have unusually strict parents. Your dad makes the dad in Footloose look like a goddamn hippie. Before you left the house tonight, you told him you were going to a movie and a diner and that you’d be back by midnight. You’d ask the boy next to you for the time, but his wrist is so far down the girl’s shirt, you know he can’t tell you.” (Crosley).
Conclusion
WORKS CITED
Crosley, Sloane. 'How To Start Your Candy-Cane Collection In 23 Easy Steps'. Vanity Fair. N.p., 2011. Web. 23 July 2015.
