"Essays"

The Stunt Pilot, by Annie Dillard, is an “essay” because of the great descriptions and comparison by use of similes and metaphors. Dillard’s portrayal of the art of stunt piloting as well as the report of her own fascinations, makes the reader more drawn to the topic and makes you feel as if you too can also appreciate this “art” without even witnessing it. She describes the planes movements with similes such as the plane: “arched its back like a gymnast”, “played with its own line like a cat with yarn”, and “split the bulging rim of the future along its seam”. She describes the landscape by painting a picture with her words such as in the sentence, “Vaguely I could see the chrome sea twirling over Rahm’s head like a baton, and the dark islands sliding down the skies like rain.” I think that the essay is great because it uses a ton of description, but the description is not overkill. It is done in a poetic artsy manner and blends in the story Dillard is telling.
The well renowned Gay Telese captures the disposition and relationship between each of the characters in Ali in Havana. Talese describes Stevenson, the local three time Olympic gold medalist, as “a proud man who exhibits all of his height (with a) firm jaw and his oval shaped head locked at a right angle to his straight spined back.” She tells that Stevenson and Ali have a distinct relationship although they do not speak the same language or even communicate much at all. They are “brotherly in their body language”. When approached by Castro, Ali’s hesitation is portrayed through the sentence “His expression remains characteristically fixed and benign, and his eyes do not blink despite the flashbulbs of several surrounding photographers.” The closeness of Ali and his wife is represented when Yolanda begins to “caress (Ali’s) left wrist, on which is a silver Swiss Army watch she bought him…the only jewelry (he) wears.”
Although I did have some trouble retrieving the entire excerpt of Silent Dancing, I was drawn to the distinction between the view of Cofer’s mother and father of living in El Building in New Jersey. Her father had ordered Judith and her family to keep to themselves and not talk to any of the other families living above or below them. These orders were put into place so that the family wouldn’t develop any bonds, making it easier to leave the barrio (neighborhood). To her mother, the building was “comfort”. She enjoyed the familiar language-Spanish, familiar smells-red kidney beans, and familiar music- Salsas. For some reason I thought it was ironic that what driving one parents to leave the area and move away was the comfort of the other.