Assignment 2

Below's writing is very honest and sincere. He writes about Woody Selbst as if he knows him personally. By using his first name when speaking of him suggests this personal quality as well.


"How, against a contemportary background, do you mourn an octogenarian father, nearly blind, his heart enlarged, his lungs filling with fluid, who creeps, stumbles, gives off the odors, the mildiness or gassiness of old men."

To say these things takes some amount of courage, and comfort. It's admirable.


The story about Woody's trip to Africa adds a light quality to the text. This is an article about death but it is very light hearted and also lets the reader forget about death.

"There were giraffes along the tropical river, and hippopotomuses, and baboons, and flamingos and other brilliant birds crodding the bright air in the heat of the morning, when the calf, stepping into the river to drink, was grabbed by the hoof anf dragged down."

This whole excerpt seems almost entirely irrelavant but it's a great technique. It's a minor distraction, yet still on the topic of "mourning" Below mentions a few times, directly.