Personal Narrative with Overtones
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The Personal Narrative with Overtones
Cathy N. Davidson's piece, "Laughing in English", is a personal narrative with overtones. In a personal narrative with overtones, a story is told and the writer uses different devices to express her feelings on a personal, political or social issue. The four devices that are most prevalent in "Laughing in English" are dialogue, questions, dialect and the significance of a change or philosophy.
Dialogue is an effective device which allows the reader to understand the characters and helps to develop a personality for each character. This device, dialogue, can be used to make the reader feel for the characters. In Davidson's essay she uses dialogue to help the reader understand the difficulty the women experience when learning a different language. Davidson explains that an American meant to say a legislator was both "very distinguished" and "onara shi" (Davidson 7) which means "to cut a fart" (Davidson 7). The American meant to say "onna-rashii" (Davidson 7) which means "very feminine"(Davidson 7). The Japanese women also experience difficulty when attempting to speak a different language...