Are the Rich Happy by Stephen Leacock and Homeless by Anna Quindlen

595 Words2 Pages

For this discussion, I have chosen “Are the Rich Happy?” written by Stephen Leacock (1916) for my narrative essay and “Homeless” written by Anna Quindlen (n.d.) for my descriptive essay. In this essay discussion, I am going to compare/contrast the author’s purpose, the intended audience, and the impact on the reader’s that each author intended to accomplish through the essay that they wrote; I also plan to show that the descriptive essay communicates the author’s point of view superior to that of the narrative essay. In the narrative essay, Leacock (1916) wanted to narrator an essay to show in his own words and through his own experiences what rich people think are problems, that they are not rich they are “pinched” (p2), and that they have more faith in money and possessions than they do in people which makes them bitter over time. Leacock (1916) shows an example of this when he tells of how Mr. and Mrs. Fowler were losing their butler, and it appears to be because of how he his treated; though Mr. Fowler promptly stated it was no fault of theirs, but it was because their butler did not like them (p16). Leacock went on to say that the Fowlers were going to have to rough it and take a ten room four bath suite (1916). While the purpose of Anna Quindlen’s (n.d,.) descriptive essay “Homeless” was written to show that people generalize the homeless as one group of people, not as individuals without a home (n.d., p10). Quindlen goes on to say “you are where you live (n.d., p2)” showing that the Ann the homeless lady that Quindlen had met is at home being homeless at this time in her life; Ann had a house once and to her she was not actually without a home, because that house in the picture that she showed Quindlen would alway... ... middle of paper ... ...things for granite that poor people cherish, and consequently poor people are fulfilled by the little things in life that the rich take for granite. While in contrast, Quindlen’s (n.d.) descriptive essay she used bold details in order to achieve a completely different impact on her reader’s. She wants to show the reader’s, “They are not the homeless. They are people who have no home” (n.d. p.10).The impact Quindlen (n.d.) wanted to have on her reader’s was to tug at their heart and inspire them to help the people that are without a home. (n.d. p.10) Works Cited 2.Leacock, S. (1916). Are the rich happy? In R. Nordquist (Ed.), About.com Guide to Grammar & Composition. Retrieved from http://grammar.about.com/od/classicessays/a/Are-the-Rich-Happy-by-Stephen-Leacock.htm 3.Quindlen, A. (n.d.). Homeless. Retrieved from http://pers.dadeschools.net/prodev/homelesstext.htm

Open Document