ipl-logo

Me Talk Pretty One Day Summary

671 Words3 Pages

Everyone knows the grown-ups in Charlie Brown and a person 's struggle listening to their incomprehensible murmurs. This is exactly how David Sedaris feels in his story "Me Talk Pretty One Day" while trying to learn French. Not only is Sedaris trying to learn a foreign language but he also has traveled to a foreign place to learn it: Paris. The consistent, sarcastic tone of Sedaris ' story adds humor to what is actually a stressful sounding event. The diction of his writing, in first person point of view, creates the impression that Sedaris ' purpose is to either express the humor in his travels in a journal or inform a family member of everything that has happened to him in Paris. Sedaris ' casual and laid-back attitude contradicts …show more content…

Sedaris reveals his story in a chronological order of events, starting from when he paid his tuition and received his student ID. Time passes and he reveals how discouraged he is getting, disappointedly stating "Over time it became impossible to believe that any of us would ever improve". Sedaris treats time as if it had been forever yet no progress has been made, but then to his surprise, he realizes that he actually understands his teacher better, a step towards success! Many allusions are also expressed in Sedaris ' work, "causing me to feel not unlike Pa Kettle trapped backstage after a fashion show" is one example. After researching Pa Kettle, it is determined that he is a hillbilly comic film character from the show "Ma and Pa Kettle" which aired in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Sedaris included this allusion to express his feelings of being out of place since he is around an abundance of young school children and he is in his early forties. Because Sedaris knew of this show from the mid-1900s, he also shows his age, since the younger individuals in his class would not understand his reference. For those who understand Sedaris ' allusion towards Pa Kettle, they would be able to get a laugh out of his humor. Another allusion that the author refers to is the Playmate of the Month data sheets, which with further investigation is actually Playboy magazines ' article about the women who were "chosen" that month to be featured. This allusion is used by

Open Document