Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Anthony Setari “Little Blonde Boy”

This essay describes the events of one night where the narrator and his girlfriend see a little boy (who happens to be Sonya’s son) who makes the pair realize that they want a family…eventually. This is spelled out for the reader all neat and tidy in the last paragraph of the essay. I wanted to know (while reading this essay) why Ryan isn’t very socially savvy. I mean, she’s in college, right? How does she not know how to mingle? Did she go to high school? Was she home schooled? Did she just arrive here from K-Pax? I think knowing more about her character will help the reader identify with these two characters—both as individuals and as a couple.

I think this is my major concern with this essay. I don’t have any idea of who this girl is, so I get absolutely no satisfaction from reading that she wants a baby one day. I think the little boy is a good medium to show the couple’s closeness, and I think he has good presence, but I want this essay to be more about Ryan than him. Without knowing her very well, the line “She was my tagalong. That was her job” can seem a bit disrespectful. It just makes the narrator seem like not a very nice guy, and it makes the conclusion seem false. Help us see the value of this relationship and this essay will be easier to digest. It seems a bit falsely cheesy as it is.

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