If Michael Harvey were to have read David Sedaris' essay, "Me Talk Pretty One Day," he would be surprised at how his key points in The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing were used; the clarity, flow and concision that the essay portrays makes Sedaris a "good writer that sees their words from the reader's perspective," allowing the readers to hear his tone (Harvey, 10).
Concision is something writers lack because it "can make us feel exposed," but if writers can eliminate the fat, "it makes the prose easier to read and understand" and that is just what Sedaris did (Harvey,1). None of his sentences were flat or full of big words that overwhelms the reader, "I’ve moved to Paris with hopes of learning the language...the students exhibited an ease and confidence that I found intimidating," he exposes himself just enough so that we, as readers feel unlike complete strangers (Sedaris, 11). But does he sound passive at all? Harvey emphasizes that the challenge to concision doesn't rely on "long versus short," rather, it "says something concrete and informative" (Harvey, 9). Think about it-- a five year old can write a short and blunt sentence without bulky words. Is it concise though? Sedaris proves that he is concise with unusual, but strong verbs weaved throughout his texts. "proceeded to rattle off a series of administrative announcements...Her rabbity mouth huffed for breath..." announce versus rattled or took another breath versus huffed for breath, i think Sedaris wins (Sedaris, 11-12).
I've never thought that clarity and concision were different. In fact, I would switch those two words based on how they sounded with my context, which leads to Harvey's second topic: clarity. There are numerous questions a writer should ask themselves. "Have I explained enough so that she knows what I'm talking about? Is my evidence persuasive?" is a couple out of the many that Harvey states (Harvey, 10). All these questions have something in common, that is, does the reader truly understand my writing. To find out, a writer must stick to the "basic pattern, who does/did what" and logically support it (Harvey, 11). In "Me Talk Pretty One Day" two main ideas are clear. (a) Everyone studying abroad in France with Sedaris is struggling with the language. (b) The teacher is ill-tempered, "Her temperament was not based on a series of good and bad days but, rather, good and bad moments" (Sedaris, 13). I know this because Sedaris is clear with who-does-what. Who? The students. Does? struggle. What? fluent French. Again, who? The teacher. Does? accuse, yell, rage at students. What? lessons. So how does Sedaris show clarity through it? Well, his 'who-does-what' doesn't change throughout the story--it's persistent. Even until his last paragraph, where Sedaris is astonished at the fact that he understands, he doesn't write that his teacher was actually a great teacher nor does he share that his classmates are fluent in French. He pushes through with clarity from his observation in the beginning.
Aside from concision and clarity, there is another connection between The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing and "Me Talk Pretty One Day"; Sedaris' essay has a good flow. According to Harvey, "a good essay unfolds like a story," with the beginning, ending, an interesting plot, and a prose to the essay, "Me Talk Pretty One Day" unfolds just like a story (Harvey, 23). Sedaris' essay not only is like a story helping readers to understand better, but it also contains other aspects that Harvey thinks contributes to flow. For instance, his essay consists of natural conjunctions and linking words which provides a smooth and easy read. In addition, Sedaris' "humble pronouns and other pointers permit powerful effect" (Harvey, 26). Humble pronouns are short words that relate to something known, such as "Next came a beautiful young Yugoslav who identified herself as an optimist, saying that she loved everything that life had to offer," in which the small pronouns contribute to the flow of the sentence (Sedaris, 12). As readers, we enjoy reading what we could possibly relate to and more often than not, those are stories; "Me Talk Pretty One Day" doesn't carry a dramatic tone, but is abundant with Harvey's points of good flow.
After reading these two texts, "Me Talk Pretty One Day" coincides well with Harvey's Nuts and Bolts of College Writing. Even though they were written towards different audience and the writing pieces are much different from each other, they both contain what seems to be a good writer. Michael Harvey and David Sedaris are writers who write with clarity, flow and concision for the sake of their readers. In both of works, readers will be able to see an "essay like personality, hangs together through a delicate balance of forces; ... clear but not empty, thoughtful but down-to-earth, strong minded but fair minded" (Harvey, ix).
