Analysis of Me Talk Pretty One Day

Using The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing

David Sedaris writes with a unique and hilarious style. Critics praise his witty, ironic vignettes. Although his writing entertains, is it actually well-written? In the title chapter of his book Me Talk Pretty One Day, Sedaris actively describes his masochistic French teacher, showing us his experiences in her classroom. At times, he struggles to be concise.  The narrative style and unconventional themes gracefully disguise a very traditional construction for this essay; the exposition sets the scene; the ending provides for growth, closure, and future challenges. Acclaimed primarily as a comedian, David Sedaris also knows how to craft a good essay. One might even wonder if he has read Michael Harvey’s The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing.

“While the optimist struggled to defend herself, I scrambled to think of an answer,” (Sedaris 169).  Words like ‘struggled’ and ‘scrambled’ keep a scene incredibly active, considering that the subjects of these verbs are both sitting motionless at stationary desks. The first lesson that Nuts and Bolts teaches us is to ‘always use strong verbs and the active voice’ (Harvey 16). There was purpose and vitality when David “jotted down frantic notes in the margins,” (Sedaris 169). The other part of active voice is to show using active verbs over descriptive or linking verbs (Harvey 15). Where he could have just said ‘it felt sort of humiliating and ironic to be a middle-aged man back in college’, Sedaris gives us a telling example, “I was issued a student ID, which allows me a discounted entrance fee at movie theaters, puppet shows, and Festyland, a far-flung amusement park that advertises with billboards picturing a cartoon stegosaurus sitting in a canoe and eating what appears to be a ham sandwich,” (Sedaris 166). This detail is delightful, and so much more interesting than descriptive verbs like, ‘I felt like I was too old for this’ or ‘it seemed I had traded in my dignity’.

David Sedaris, as well as most of the populace, is prone to rambling. His prose is all in his own narrative voice and, like in a real conversation, he sometimes lacks concision. Nuts and Bolts tells us that this ‘pompous style’ is to be avoided whenever possible (Harvey 3). For example, “As an added discomfort, they were all young, attractive, and well dressed, causing me to feel not unlike Pa Kettle trapped backstage after a fashion show” (Sedaris 167). ‘Causing me to feel not unlike’ - really? - ‘I felt like’ would definitely suffice. And it is obvious from his previously stated feelings of intimidation that their coifed appearances won’t bring him any comfort (Sedaris 167). How about, ‘And of course, they were all young, attractive, and well dressed’. That would keep his ironic tone without the excess syllables. It happens again when he talks about how his fellow students “all left class foolishly believing the worst was over”, and later “surely that was just an act designed to weed out the dead weight”, and in case it’s not clear, “We didn’t know it then, but the coming months would be...” that’s right, just as bad (Sedaris 170). How many times must he reassert that they weren’t expecting more of the same? These are small annoyances, sometimes for the sake of maintaining a genuine voice, but they are nonetheless far from concise.

What distinguishes a short story from a rambling chapter is the beginning and ending. “All good beginnings include a thesis statement, context, and a starting point” (Harvey 78). “At the age of forty-one, I am returning to school,” gives us context and a starting point (Sedaris 166). A thesis statement is meant to explain the main point of a work, and nowhere does Sedaris state ‘I moved to Paris and was traumatized by a sadistic French teacher’. So, he seems to be lacking that, but in prose, as long as the audience stays engaged, maybe it’s okay not to know where the story is going. As far as Harvey is concerned, this beginning is two for three. Looking to the end, an audience wants “a paradoxical quality: a sense of closure combined with a suggestion of new spaces to explore” (Harvey 83). This is where Me Talk Pretty One Day distinguishes itself from jumbled comedy, “The teacher singles me out, saying “Every day spent with you is like having a cesarean section.” And it struck me that for the first time…I could understand every word…The world opened up” (Sedaris 173). He has arrived at the epiphany, and done it in an ironic style that is true to him. The world is just starting to open, and he has so much more to learn of the language, but there is a momentary triumph.

The essay Me Talk Pretty One Day is by no means a perfect example of college writing. David Sedaris is not brief in his narration, and this can be trying. However, it does use action verbs and details to show the reader what the narrator is feeling, rather than saying ‘I felt’, which make the piece an enjoyable read. Personal style and content aside, his essay is well constructed and has a satisfying conclusion.