“Me Talk Pretty One Day” by David Sedaris

I believe the author is trying to convey how a change of perspective, patience, and confidence can affect an outcome. At the beginning of the article, Sedaris shows consistently how hard it was to adapt to the French language. From the random lettering of words to the confusion covered up by humor, he showed discouragement in his situation. However, when he realized how the other students were feeling the same way he was, his perspective changed. He was able to see that learning something takes time and it required patience.

Owing to this thought process, he gained confidence knowing that he will get better.

There are many key points in Sedaris’ article. The main concept in Sedaris’ article is to not let your situation control you and to be flexible. Sedaris changed his perspective when he realized his “only comfort was the knowledge that [he] was not alone” (Sedaris 4) when he saw his classmates feel the same way he did. At the end of the article, he states how he “settled back, bathing in the subtle beauty of each curse and insult” (Sedaris 4).

This event is when Sedaris gained confidence and instead of letting his situation control him, he controlled his situation. He welcomed his teacher’s insults and guided himself to learn more due to them. In the last sentence of the article, he said, “the world opened up, and it was with great joy that I responded, ‘I know the thing what you speak exact now […]’” (Sedaris 4). This showed the confidence Sedaris obtained and how he was okay with the learning difficulties.

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This helped his mind become flexible knowing that his patience will inevitably result in success.

I believe the target audiences are two different audiences. The first audience is anybody above 8th grade. This audience is somebody that can relate to being in a classroom and can understand due to their age and being in school. The other audience I believe is anybody that is going through a difficult situation and can learn from what Sedaris is saying in his article. This audience can connect to what Sedaris is saying specifically because of their situation. There are many connections that Sedaris makes with the audience.

For the audience that is above 8th grade, they could relate to Sedaris’ classroom setting because they are still in school and have to sit in a classroom every day. They can also relate to feeling like they have to fit into their setting. Many students have also had a teacher that made them feel stupid and inferior. For the audience that is going through a difficult situation, they can relate to feeling uneasy and discouraged in life. Throughout the article, Sedaris shows how hard his situation is to him. The audience can connect to this because everyone has gone through a hard time and has felt discouraged, not knowing what to do. He helps the audience see that a little bit of confidence and patience can change a person’s perspective to positive.

The article’s claim was strong. I believe it captured exactly was Sedaris wanted to say. When Sedaris talked about how he settled back and took in every insult from his teacher, this showed the audience that he wasn’t worrying anymore. His perspective shifted and he became confident knowing that all the insults coming at him wouldn’t affect his learning. Instead, it became an incentive to learn more. He gained patience and understood it takes time to learn something new; but with practice and a positive perspective, it can be attainable.