Narrative Essays
Understanding the true beauty of perspective through storytelling is the greatest gift a reader can bestow upon themselves. When we read a narrative, we should stop to analyze the author’s purpose and intent. The strategies to do this are endless. In this section, we will dive into two powerful narratives that have countless similarities despite the vast differences in the author’s craft. By analyzing narratives, an author will broaden our own writer’s toolbox of techniques, strategies, and ultimately stories to tell in our own strategic manner.
Learning Objectives
- Identify and explain key differences in narrative perspective, structure, and purpose between the two essays.
- Analyze the narrative strategies used in David Sedaris’s “Us and Them” and Anjali Enjeti’s “Drinking Chai to Savannah,” including structure, voice, and use of imagery.
- Evaluate how each author’s narrative style and structural choices contribute to their themes and overall impact.
Author’s Craft and Strategy
An author’s craft is unique to their own style and intent. For example, the comedic genre within narrative writing can be presented in a sarcastic manner or it can be lighthearted. An author determines this by the application of tone to evoke an expected mood from the reader. Tone is the combination of diction (word choice), imagery, and figurative language which creates the mood the reader is left with after the reading.
Figurative language is the use of words in a non-literal way to create a specific effect (like a vivid image, an emotional impact, or a humorous twist).
| Type | Definition | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simile | Comparisons using “like” or “as” | He is as brave as a lion. | This might suggest that his fearless attribute is not average and can be compared to how courageous a lion is. |
| Metaphor | Comparisons that say one thing is another without using “like” or “as” | The world is a stage. | This might suggest that each person is an actor in their own way, and their platform to showcase who they are exists wherever they place their talents. |
| Personification | Giving human qualities to inanimate objects or animals | The wind whispered secrets. | This might suggest that only those who truly listen can identify the secret messages and meaning of things that are not easily perceived. |
| Hyperbole | Exaggeration for emphasis | I’m so hungry that I could eat an entire horse! | This might suggest someone is incredibly hunger, though they may not eat a horse literally. |
| Alliteration | A literary device that involves two or more words that appear close together and have the same initial stressed consonant syllable | The perfectly positioned and pink chairs lined the room. | This allows for the reader to visually understand how pristine the pink room is to be. |
| Onomatopeia | A literary device where words mimic the sounds they describe | The buzzing of bees filled the air. | This allows for the reader to hear the sound of the environment. This can be literal or figurative. |
| Idiom | Phrases with figurative meanings | I’m going to “hit the sack.” This means: go to bed | Idioms often mean something very different from its statement. This idiom means “go to bed.” |
Imagery, in a simple sense, is using descriptive language to create pictures in the reader’s mind, engaging their senses. It’s like painting a picture, yet with words, allowing the reader to visualize, hear, smell, taste, or touch what the writer is describing.
“Us and Them” by David Sedaris
Sedaris is an American humorist, essayist, and radio contributor. He often writes autobiographical essays that mix personal stories with larger social commentary. In “Us and Them,” Sedaris weaves together observations of a neighbor’s family with humor, irony, and subtle social critique which forces him to reevaluate himself under the same microscope.
As you read “Us and Them” by David Sedaris, try making personal connections to his story. Allow this humor and wit to catapult you into the 1970’s when tradition was challenged and experiences were common, or so we thought.
“Us and Them” by David Sedaris
Exercises:
Exercise 2.1
Below are the plot elements for “Us and Them.” The problem is, they are out of order! Drag and drop each description to its correct spot on the plot development map.
| Elements as per Story | Identifier |
|---|---|
| Sedaris recounts his childhood after moving to a new neighborhood. | A |
| The Tomkey family do not own a television. | B |
| Sedaris becomes increasingly obsessed with the Tomkeys’ strangeness, spying on them and mocking their unusual behaviors. | C |
| In a moment of selfishness, he hoards the best candy, offering only the least desirable pieces, and even tries to hide the good stuff. | D |
| The situation becomes a moment of moral reckoning—he sees himself as justified, but there’s an undercurrent of guilt and embarrassment. | E |
| The essay ends with a sense of ironic self-awareness, highlighting the theme of how we define ourselves by who we consider different or “other.” | F |
“Drinking Chai to Savannah” by Anjali Enjeti
As an American writer, activist, and journalist, Enjeti’s work often focuses on identity, culture, and race. Her essays blend memoir and social analysis. She is particularly interested in writing about themes of belonging and exclusion. “Drinking Chai to Savannah” reflects on personal and cultural identity, using vivid imagery and storytelling techniques.
“Drinking Chai to Savannah” by Anjali Enjeti
Guided Narrative Analysis: How Do These Authors Tell Their Stories?
This section will help you break down the narrative strategies used by David Sedaris and Anjali Enjeti.
- Narrative Perspective and Voice: How does each author’s choice of tone and voice (humorous vs. reflective) shape how we perceive their experiences?
- Structure and Chronology: How does each author organize their essay—nonlinear vs. linear—and how does this affect the way their themes unfold?
- Use of Detail, Imagery, and Literary Devices: How do Sedaris and Enjeti use specific images (like the sloth) to reinforce their themes and create meaning?
- Purpose and Reader Engagement: How does the intended purpose of each essay (entertainment vs. reflection) influence the way they are structured and written?
Exercise 2.2: Short Constructed Response
Questions for Discussion
Think about a time you’ve told a story to a friend—did you tell it in order, or did you jump around? Why? Which structure (linear or nonlinear) do you think is more effective in making a lasting impression on the reader? Why?
If Sedaris and Enjeti had switched styles (Sedaris writing reflectively, Enjeti using humor), how do you think their essays would have changed? Which approach—humor or reflection—do you think is more powerful for engaging readers? Why?
Attribution
- “Us and Them” is from Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris. Copyright 2014. Available at National Public Radio.
- “Drinking Chai to Savannah: Reflections on Identity, Inclusion and Power in the South” by Anjali Enjeti. Copyright 2017. Available at Longreads.
