Michael Lewis, the author of the short story “Buy That Little Girl an Ice Cream Cone” had gone to school at Princeton University and the London School of Economics. Lewis had spent four years as a bond salesman on Wall Street. It was there that Lewis got the idea for his first and bestselling book “Liar’s Poker” and decided to become a professional writer. This essay originally from his book “Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood” is trying to get us to recognize that sometimes your kid’s actions can really surprise you and they might not always be the best surprise but it’s hard not to feel proud when they are standing up for their sibling. Lewis uses the rhetorical strategy pathos to get the audience to understand how proud and impressed …show more content…
While at the pool with his two daughters a conflict arises when four boys around ten or eleven enter the children’s pool. The boys seize the pool noodles and started to wield them as weapons, then headed towards Quinn his six-year old. Once the boys had reached Quinn they started to smack the water around her and tease her. That is when her younger sister Dixie comes to her defense by yelling “teasing boys” (Lewis 655) loud enough to get the attention of the adults nearby. Once Dixie realizes that it didn’t work she raises her voice and says, “You just shut up you stupid motherfucking asshole!” (Lewis 655) and that got the attention of everyone. As Lewis hovers in the shallows waiting for the situation to play out: “My first thought: Oh . . . my . . . God! My second thought: No one knows I’m her father.” (Lewis 655) Knowing that he should take Dixie out of the pool and punish her he can’t but be impressed with her courage. Finally, Dixie says the right thing to get the boys to go away and that’s when Lewis makes a mental note to take her for an ice cream …show more content…
Lewis was driving his two daughters, a seven-year-old boy and a ten-year-old girl home from school when the topic of bad words came up. The kids were talking about Deena said the S-word and Wally said the D-word and out of curiosity Lewis asked what those words stood for. At first the kids were hesitant to say what they were but with some encouragement told him they stood for dumb and stupid. Finding this funny, when the seven-year-old said he knew a bad word he asked what it was. Being overwhelmed by the kid saying his bad word he immediately pulled the car over and gave the kids a lecture on the difference of bad words and really bad words. Being excited by Lewis pulling over the car because of that word Dixie starts saying it but was yelled at. “So here we are, months later, in this Bermuda pool, Dixie with her chest thrust out in defiance, me floating like a crocodile and feeling very much different than I should.” (Lewis