Analysis of David Sedaris's Me Talk Pretty One Day

      David Sedaris wrote the essay fairly well by following most of the rules found in Michael Harvey's book, The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing.  The key point of Harvey's book is to avoid "pompous" writing by being concise and clear.  Sedaris does exactly this in his essay by avoiding incredibly complex language and keeping his ideas clear.

      Throughout the essay, Sedaris utilizes the different ways discussed in The Nuts and Bolts to have good flow.  Immediately, he demonstrates control over pronouns to keep the essay reading well.  In this part, he describes the steamstress with proper use of pronouns so you can focus more on what is happening. 

The seamstress did not understand what was being said but knew that this was an occasion for shame. Her rabbity mouth huffed for breath, and she stared down at her lap as though the appropriate comeback were stitched somewhere alongside the zipper of her slacks. (Sedaris 12)

Although this seems like a simple enough skill to have, Harvey makes it a point that it is important to use pronouns so that instead of focusing on the subject over and over again you can pay more attention to what is being described. (Harvey 26)  As Sedaris does this, your attention isn't drawn away from the streamstress's "rabbity mouth" and frantic search for a retort.  

      Another technique that Sedaris employs is his use of introductory phrases to keep the essay flowing smoothly.  In chapter 3, section 4 of Harvey's book, he mentions the use of linking phrases and conjunctions at the beginning of sentences to keep a paragraph cohesive.  In Me Talk Pretty One Day, Sedaris uses this technique in the entire essay.  The use of this skill can be seen in sentences like "When called upon, I delivered an effortless list of things" (Sedaris 13) and "While the optimist struggled to defend herself, I scrambled to think of an answer." (Sedaris 12) This keeps the essay flowing while varying sentence structure making it interesting. 

     The most important part of Sedaris's essay that makes it well written is it's conciseness and clarity.  The tone is casual, like you are his friend and he is recounting his experiences over a drink.  He does not use incredibly complicated wording so the reader is with him for the whole essay.  Harvey mentions this time and time again throughout his book and emphasizes avoiding "pompous" writing.  Although I am positive that Sedaris has an extensive vocabulary, being a professional writer, he does not clutter his writing by inserting the biggest words he knows.  

     Despite being well-written, Sedaris does employ some use of the passive voice which Harvey advises against.  This can be seen in sentences like, "Vacations were recounted, and questions were raised concerning mutual friends with names like Kang and Vlatnya." (Sedaris 11)  However, this use of the passive voice is very minor in the essay and would only be a problem if it dominated the writing. 

     Overall, David Sedaris's Me Talk Pretty One Day applies the skills described in The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing to create a well constructed essay.  The essay is easy to read through conciseness and clarity yet is still interesting and flows well.  The proper use of pronouns and linking phrases keeps this flow.  It is obvious that Sedaris is a professional writer because he avoids the mistakes Harvey describes that many novice writers make.