Parental Guidance
Have you ever disappointed your parents? I’m sure the answer is yes but think about it. How did that make you feel? Did you start to panic and rapidly try to fix what you could of the situation or did you just “man up” and deal with the consequences? The short story titled My Dad Tried to Kill Me with an Alligator explores this topic. Our story is placed in rural Mississippi and features a father and his two boys, called by their nicknames “Fat-Tart” and “Bird”, and is written for anyone who questioned their parents growing up. We see the story from the eyes of Fat-Tart and right off the bat, he tells us how he is not like his brother and father. Fat-Tart is a man of literature while Bird and their Dad are outdoorsmen. This creates a contrast that many people with siblings can relate to. Fat-Tart tells the story of how he and Bird managed to accidentally drop a $200 rod in the river and how their Dad forced them to swim in gator infested waters in an attempt to find the rod and remedy their mistake. Eventually, the father is able to retrieve the rod. Fat-Tart then fast forwards to the present and although he was unlike his late father, he found himself taking his children out on a boat to explore the dangers of the world as well. The author uses lots of humor as well as vivid imagery and relatability to pull in the audience and to show how sometimes it takes a long time to understand the purpose of your parents’ actions.
The author of this story effectively used humor in the right moments to reel in the reader. Just from reading the title, the reader can tell that this is going to be a funny story which is a fantastic use of pathos. The craziness of a statement like “My Dad tried to kill me with an alligator” is simply hilarious and draws the audience in right away. After reading that title, the reader instantly has a million questions and the story holds those answers. The author does not stop there, a page later he describes his father’s reluctancy to let the boys use the boat by saying that “It's written somewhere in boating safety manuals that you don't let people named Bird and Fat-Tart borrow your bass boat”. This line is great because it points out the ridiculousness of their goofy nicknames and simultaneously points out the assumptions that one would make about people with nicknames. Be honest, if you were asked to let two young boys named Fat-Tart and Bird use an expensive item of yours, would you? I know I would be hesitant. Also, it foreshadows that their Dad was reluctant for a reason. As a reader, you want to know what’s going to happen to the boat and/or the boys, and because of that, the use of humor here is effective.
While being very humorous and outlandish in his claims, the author is still able to keep the story realistic with the use of imagery and relatability. As mentioned earlier, the author sets up the dynamic between his father, his brother and himself right away. This dynamic is very relatable to anyone who has siblings because from personal experience, there is almost always a sibling who is similar to their parents and one who is not. There is a very simple interaction between the brothers that shows Fat-Tart not wanting to swim in the river because he doesn’t want to die, and Bird makes fun of him because of it. Painting this picture is an effective use of Kairos as well as Ethos at the same time. The author combines these two again when he describes the contents of the Pearl River in rural Mississippi by saying that “there were realer things in that water, like massive knots of water moccasins, and snapping turtles the size of laundry baskets, and gar, a prehistoric fish with the face of a pterodactyl and the teeth of Gary Busey”. This use is very interesting because the author knows his audience is going to be very broad and might not know what dangers lie in a rural Mississippi river. So, he provides context to those who aren’t in the know while also relating these dangers to an item of everyday use, a well-known dinosaur and a pop culture icon which ensured that his large audience would stay engaged. Once again, this use of Kairos and Ethos was effective in keeping his audience’s attention. After the story fast forwards to the death of their father, the author details how “the world turned blue” and also how he found himself wanting to give his daughters some of the experiences that his father gave to him. This use of imagery and Pathos makes the reader feel for him and it is easier to understand what he was going through during this time because of it. Now that his father was gone, he finally understood the point of the danger that he put them through. Their father did not want them to be living their lives full of fear, and now Fat-Tart wants to instill that same message into his own children. Although the circumstances may not be relatable, the idea of questioning your parents but then understanding their intentions later down the road is very relatable.
The author of My Dad Tried to Kill Me with an Alligator capitalizes on relatability, humor, and imagery in a way that effectively attracts and keeps the audiences attention while instilling the important message that parents may seem wrong in the moment, but later in life the purpose of their actions will become clear. While sharing this goofy and heartfelt story, the author wants readers to contemplate their own childhoods and view their memories in a different light.
Reflection
In this assignment, we were tasked to pick a story and then analyze the author's uses of appeals throughout the story. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I was under the impression that I don't have much of a process. However, this essay showed to me that well maybe I kind of do. Although I am still quite the procrastinator, I definitely put a lot of thought into how I crafted this piece. After reading the source material for the first time I was able to pick out a few things that I saw as consistent throughout the story, but I didn't quite see the purpose of it. This left me with half of a thesis which wasn't going to cut it. Because of this I had to think about the author's intentions quite a bit and I found myself reading the story again trying to decipher the message. Once I was able to find a message that made sense to me, the thesis of my essay came to be. My next step was to go through the text again and point out the parts that backed my thesis. When writing, I write as much as I can off the top of my head until I hit a wall. Then I tend to read my work aloud to myself. This allows me to revise by try pointing out awkward flows, run on sentences, and fluff words so that I could restructure those parts. By the time I’m done doing that, I’m almost always able to break through that wall and another string of ideas comes to me. Another tool I use is the ever so helpful spelling and grammar tools in Microsoft Word. Where would we be without that gem of a resource. Using these handy underlines was a big help in cleaning up my work. Having peer reviews in class was also a massive help. Another set of eyes on your work is always helpful and was very helpful in my writing process. My peers pointed out things that I most likely wouldn’t have noticed and I’m very thankful for that. Overall, this essay made me realize my process more than I did before.
Have you ever disappointed your parents? I’m sure the answer is yes but think about it. How did that make you feel? Did you start to panic and rapidly try to fix what you could of the situation or did you just “man up” and deal with the consequences? The short story titled My Dad Tried to Kill Me with an Alligator explores this topic. Our story is placed in rural Mississippi and features a father and his two boys, called by their nicknames “Fat-Tart” and “Bird”, and is written for anyone who questioned their parents growing up. We see the story from the eyes of Fat-Tart and right off the bat, he tells us how he is not like his brother and father. Fat-Tart is a man of literature while Bird and their Dad are outdoorsmen. This creates a contrast that many people with siblings can relate to. Fat-Tart tells the story of how he and Bird managed to accidentally drop a $200 rod in the river and how their Dad forced them to swim in gator infested waters in an attempt to find the rod and remedy their mistake. Eventually, the father is able to retrieve the rod. Fat-Tart then fast forwards to the present and although he was unlike his late father, he found himself taking his children out on a boat to explore the dangers of the world as well. The author uses lots of humor as well as vivid imagery and relatability to pull in the audience and to show how sometimes it takes a long time to understand the purpose of your parents’ actions.
The author of this story effectively used humor in the right moments to reel in the reader. Just from reading the title, the reader can tell that this is going to be a funny story which is a fantastic use of pathos. The craziness of a statement like “My Dad tried to kill me with an alligator” is simply hilarious and draws the audience in right away. After reading that title, the reader instantly has a million questions and the story holds those answers. The author does not stop there, a page later he describes his father’s reluctancy to let the boys use the boat by saying that “It's written somewhere in boating safety manuals that you don't let people named Bird and Fat-Tart borrow your bass boat”. This line is great because it points out the ridiculousness of their goofy nicknames and simultaneously points out the assumptions that one would make about people with nicknames. Be honest, if you were asked to let two young boys named Fat-Tart and Bird use an expensive item of yours, would you? I know I would be hesitant. Also, it foreshadows that their Dad was reluctant for a reason. As a reader, you want to know what’s going to happen to the boat and/or the boys, and because of that, the use of humor here is effective.
While being very humorous and outlandish in his claims, the author is still able to keep the story realistic with the use of imagery and relatability. As mentioned earlier, the author sets up the dynamic between his father, his brother and himself right away. This dynamic is very relatable to anyone who has siblings because from personal experience, there is almost always a sibling who is similar to their parents and one who is not. There is a very simple interaction between the brothers that shows Fat-Tart not wanting to swim in the river because he doesn’t want to die, and Bird makes fun of him because of it. Painting this picture is an effective use of Kairos as well as Ethos at the same time. The author combines these two again when he describes the contents of the Pearl River in rural Mississippi by saying that “there were realer things in that water, like massive knots of water moccasins, and snapping turtles the size of laundry baskets, and gar, a prehistoric fish with the face of a pterodactyl and the teeth of Gary Busey”. This use is very interesting because the author knows his audience is going to be very broad and might not know what dangers lie in a rural Mississippi river. So, he provides context to those who aren’t in the know while also relating these dangers to an item of everyday use, a well-known dinosaur and a pop culture icon which ensured that his large audience would stay engaged. Once again, this use of Kairos and Ethos was effective in keeping his audience’s attention. After the story fast forwards to the death of their father, the author details how “the world turned blue” and also how he found himself wanting to give his daughters some of the experiences that his father gave to him. This use of imagery and Pathos makes the reader feel for him and it is easier to understand what he was going through during this time because of it. Now that his father was gone, he finally understood the point of the danger that he put them through. Their father did not want them to be living their lives full of fear, and now Fat-Tart wants to instill that same message into his own children. Although the circumstances may not be relatable, the idea of questioning your parents but then understanding their intentions later down the road is very relatable.
The author of My Dad Tried to Kill Me with an Alligator capitalizes on relatability, humor, and imagery in a way that effectively attracts and keeps the audiences attention while instilling the important message that parents may seem wrong in the moment, but later in life the purpose of their actions will become clear. While sharing this goofy and heartfelt story, the author wants readers to contemplate their own childhoods and view their memories in a different light.
Reflection
In this assignment, we were tasked to pick a story and then analyze the author's uses of appeals throughout the story. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I was under the impression that I don't have much of a process. However, this essay showed to me that well maybe I kind of do. Although I am still quite the procrastinator, I definitely put a lot of thought into how I crafted this piece. After reading the source material for the first time I was able to pick out a few things that I saw as consistent throughout the story, but I didn't quite see the purpose of it. This left me with half of a thesis which wasn't going to cut it. Because of this I had to think about the author's intentions quite a bit and I found myself reading the story again trying to decipher the message. Once I was able to find a message that made sense to me, the thesis of my essay came to be. My next step was to go through the text again and point out the parts that backed my thesis. When writing, I write as much as I can off the top of my head until I hit a wall. Then I tend to read my work aloud to myself. This allows me to revise by try pointing out awkward flows, run on sentences, and fluff words so that I could restructure those parts. By the time I’m done doing that, I’m almost always able to break through that wall and another string of ideas comes to me. Another tool I use is the ever so helpful spelling and grammar tools in Microsoft Word. Where would we be without that gem of a resource. Using these handy underlines was a big help in cleaning up my work. Having peer reviews in class was also a massive help. Another set of eyes on your work is always helpful and was very helpful in my writing process. My peers pointed out things that I most likely wouldn’t have noticed and I’m very thankful for that. Overall, this essay made me realize my process more than I did before.