Descriptive versus Narrative
Descriptive versus Narrative
This essay is to compare-contrast a narrative and descriptive essay The essays I chose were, “Are the Rich Happy?” written by Stephen Leacock (1916) for the narrative essay and “Homeless” written by Anna Quindlen (n.d.) for the descriptive essay. The title of both essays is what caught my eye and the reason why I read them. Although, I enjoyed reading both essays, I felt the descriptive essay “Homeless” had more value and was the better read. Therefore, in this essay, I am going to compare/contrast the author’s purpose, the difference in their use of descriptive language, and the impact on the reader’s that each author intended to accomplish through the essay that they wrote. I also plan to show why, in the case of these two essays, I felt that the descriptive essay “Homeless” was the better read.
One comparison of these two essays is the descriptive language they use. A narrative essay is written to tell a story. In the essay “Are the Rich Happy?” the author Leacock tells a story of his encounters with people he thought to be rich. He sarcastically tells the story using some vague descriptive language. His descriptions are not such that you can see or feel but, so that you understand who he is talking about, their expressions, and their lifestyles so that you can see the comparison he is making between the rich and the poor. In his essay he speaks of a man who makes fifty thousand dollars a year and has told him with great frankness that it is impossible to keep up with the rich and that it is better to accept the fact of being poor. He speaks of how the man can only give him a plain meal that he calls a home dinner but, that it takes three men and two women to serve it (Leacock, (1916), paragraph 3). A descriptive essay is written to describe a person, object, or event in such a way that you can see them or it or, experience it in the case of an event. Quindlen uses very vivid descriptive language so that you can actually see the
This essay is to compare-contrast a narrative and descriptive essay The essays I chose were, “Are the Rich Happy?” written by Stephen Leacock (1916) for the narrative essay and “Homeless” written by Anna Quindlen (n.d.) for the descriptive essay. The title of both essays is what caught my eye and the reason why I read them. Although, I enjoyed reading both essays, I felt the descriptive essay “Homeless” had more value and was the better read. Therefore, in this essay, I am going to compare/contrast the author’s purpose, the difference in their use of descriptive language, and the impact on the reader’s that each author intended to accomplish through the essay that they wrote. I also plan to show why, in the case of these two essays, I felt that the descriptive essay “Homeless” was the better read.
One comparison of these two essays is the descriptive language they use. A narrative essay is written to tell a story. In the essay “Are the Rich Happy?” the author Leacock tells a story of his encounters with people he thought to be rich. He sarcastically tells the story using some vague descriptive language. His descriptions are not such that you can see or feel but, so that you understand who he is talking about, their expressions, and their lifestyles so that you can see the comparison he is making between the rich and the poor. In his essay he speaks of a man who makes fifty thousand dollars a year and has told him with great frankness that it is impossible to keep up with the rich and that it is better to accept the fact of being poor. He speaks of how the man can only give him a plain meal that he calls a home dinner but, that it takes three men and two women to serve it (Leacock, (1916), paragraph 3). A descriptive essay is written to describe a person, object, or event in such a way that you can see them or it or, experience it in the case of an event. Quindlen uses very vivid descriptive language so that you can actually see the
References: (Quindlen, A. (n.d.). Homeless. Retrieved from http://pers.dadeschools.net/prodev/homelesstext.htm) Leacock, S. (1916). Are the rich happy? In R. Nordquist (Ed.), About.com Guide to Grammar & Composition. Retrieved from http://grammar.about.com/od/classicessays/a/Are-the-Rich-Happy-by-Stephen-Leacock.htm