David Sedaris

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Humor can be used in storytelling as a device to magnify something that is truly funny, or to make something that is sad bearable. David Sedaris is an American humorist known for his use of satire and sarcasm in his writing, which is often autobiographical or based on personal experience. Sedaris’ essay “The Youth in Asia” is a comical and exaggerated portrayal of the importance the family pets play in the household. The family’s Great Dane, named Melina, is described with human qualities and affection equal to a child. In the essay “Repeat After Me,” Sedaris uses humor to light sensitive family dynamics. Sedaris also uses his sister’s pet parrot Henry to demonstrate the emotional dependency that humans have on their pets. Humorists use tools such …show more content…

In talking about their childhood, Sedaris describes Lisa as the appointed star of the family and most likely to succeed. The reality could not be further from the truth. As Sedaris reflects, “We’d always known her as an authority figure, and while we took a certain joy in watching her fall, it was disorienting to see her with so little confidence” (Sedaris 144). Similar to his essay “The Youth in Asia,” Sedaris uses the relationship between people and animals to demonstrate a person’s reliance on a pet’s dedication and connections that cannot be forged among people. In a funny recollection, Sedaris shares how his underachieving sister Lisa trained her parrot Henry to act as her emotional cheerleader. Sedaris writes, “I’d call and hear him in the background, screaming, ‘We love you, Lisa!’ and ‘You can do it!’” As Sedaris reflected, “...it is understood that (Henry) is loyal to only one person, which, I think, is another reason my sister is so fond of him” (Sedaris 149). If Lisa was the appointed leader of the family, Sedaris was the one to most likely set his house on fire (Sedaris

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