Megan Catalano's Use Of Strategies In Writing A Personal Essay

Writers use strategies in personal essays to make a connection to readers. Even though readers aren’t necessarily right next to the writer, writers write their personal essays as if the reader were there. They are able to reveal their deepest thoughts within their writing, as readers can relate to it. Phillip Lopate states the importance of strategies in his anthology, “The Art of the Personal Essay.” In his anthology, Lopate mentions that the use of strategies used in personal essays are similar; however, those strategies can portray different themes that the author doesn’t state. In Megan Catalano’s “Body Parts,” Catalano used many strategies to explain that her observations of an autopsy, make her wants to seek more information from her

The use of the conversational element strengthens her argument that dwelling on the past can affect someone’s way of moving forward. People interact with other people through conversations so that they can get to know one another, and have the opportunity to hear what’s on the person’s mind. In literature, the use of conversation assists the writer in making the essay interesting. Catalano has internal conflicts within herself, and that’s causing her to have doubts in her current relationship. In the following quote, it states “For a short moment I was scared, not of the body I was about to see, but of the future and, most of all, myself. If I could obsess over the physical details of Kevin’s sexual past in the middle of an autopsy, how would I make it through a lifetime of marriage?”(Catalano 6). One can infer that Catalano had a previous relationship that failed, and it’s affecting the way she acts with her fiance. She has her guard up, and constantly compares herself to her partner’s exes, as she

Lopate explains that it’s natural for essayists to visit their past only because everyone does it at some point in their life. As Lopate states, “The past is frequently and often lyrically visited by personal essayists. The retrospective glance comes naturally to the essayist” (7). People don’t necessarily need to have a reason to think about their past or someone’s else’s past; when they probably don’t know that they are doing it. Focusing on the past is an innate feeling that everyone encounters throughout their life. Catalano focused on the past of her fiance only to investigate due to her worriedness. In the following quote, it states “I’m curious about dead bodies. It’s a morbid curiosity, like the interest I take in my fiance’s ex-girlfriends. Part of me wants to know nothing, and part of me wants to know everything: What do they look like? Why did they depart? What do they look like everywhere?” (Catalano 1). Since Catalano searched through her fiance’s personal items, she only did it because she has done it before. Part of her wants to “go with the flow,” and accept things the way they are; but she knows that she won’t come to any conclusions by doing that. By snooping in her previous relationship, it came natural for her in new relationship. It’s common for her to go through her