"Me Talk Pretty One Day" Analysis

 In The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing, Harvey makes excellent points in how to improve writing. Many of these are exemplified in David Sedaris' short story "Me Talk Pretty One Day". I found the beginning of the story engaging. It was not too lengthy or too short, which matched Harvey's advice. Sedaris opens his story telling the reader a bit about himself. It appears that he desires to be more cultured and is willing to return to school, despite being a little older than the typical college student. However, I found that his introduction and ending failed to come full circle. Harvey states, "Return to the story, example, quotation, or the like that you used in your introduction" (Harvey 83). Although Sedaris introduces us with knowledge about his return to school, or being regarded a "debutant", he finishes the story with himself realizing that he does understand the French language-- something unrelated to his intro.
Throughout the story, I found his grammar and punctuation to be accurate. For the most part, his story has clarity because he does not fill it with fluff or the "arrogance" of beginning writers that Harvey speaks of. He refrains from using only linking verbs, which helps the story become more clear and active.
His story also flows because he uses consistent characters. An example of this could be "She crouched low for her attack, placed her hands on the young woman’s desk, and leaned close, saying, “Oh yeah? And do you love your little war?” (Sedaris 12). His consistent past tense shows an example of how he keeps the story flowing.
Overall, I found the story very enjoyable. It did not have things that distracted it too much from the main story, such as grammar and punctuation mistakes, linking verbs, or excessive words. I found that the story was almost a clear cut example clarity and flow wise because it followed Harvey's rules almost exactly. However, it was not a great example of how to come full circle when writing a story. I found it to start and end in two very different spots.