The Narrative Essay: “Afternoon of an American Boy” Page 4
Notes:
This memoir is about an early experience of E.B. White’s: his first date, which he describes as “an exhibit of teenage courage and ineptitude.”
The essay uses an historical allusion to the House Committee on Un-American activities. In the 1950s, the era of the Cold War, this committee, headed by Senator John McCarthy, used “witch-hunt” tactics designed to weed out Communists. The committee accused anyone seen as subversive or threatening to the American way of life. Many people lost jobs, reputation, were fined or imprisoned because the committee accused them.
Read the essay and answer the following:
1. What universal anxieties do you think males and females share about first dates?
2. Identify the following writing variables for this essay:
a) Purpose
b) Audience
c) Tone
d) Mood
e) Language
3. Examine the structure of the essay:
a) The introduction is contained in paragraphs 1 to 4. What information does it present to the reader?
b) The body is contained in paragraphs 5 to 14. What information does it contain? How does it circle back to the beginning?
c) The conclusion of the essay contains the thesis. Which sentence is the thesis? (Look in the last paragraph)
4. Explain the significance of the title.