A Summary/Response of “Writing For Me”

I once knew a man by the name of Barbarous Gray. He felt that it was his duty to rip apart every piece of literature, or text for that matter, to get down to the bottom of what the author was trying to say. And, when I had an assignment to write a reading essay my thoughts immediately floated to his words, “In writing a reading essay, one must first describe the story, then he must rip apart every fiber of the story until he feels he has sufficiently unmasked the reason and meaning behind the text.”

In writing an essay that summarizes an author’s text, I thought that I should choose a piece of writing that I felt appealed to me. I chose “Writing For Me.” This essay was written to entertain. Baker wrote a humorous story about an event that happened to him, where he and his family ate their first spaghetti meal together. His teacher responded to the essay by congratulating him and reading it to the class. I think that it appealed to the audience who felt a connection with the author, Russell Baker, feeling like writing is a boring and bland subject. The writer entices us to read about his first positive experience with writing that occurred while he was in the eleventh grade. He tells of his writing process that is the standard for many a high school student set with writing loads of “boring” essays. He, obviously, waited until the day before the assignment was due and at a late hour started on his assignment, which was an informal essay. He then wrote a fabulous paper that he felt was far too informal to qualify as an

actual assignment. But, he had tarried so far into the night that he had not enough time to write a well thought out, acceptable essay. So, he had to turn in his unacceptable essay instead. He found that his unacceptable essay had found him a good grade and a high reputation with the teacher. This experience led Baker to enjoy writing and even to pursue writing as a career in later life.

I feel that Baker’s purpose was to entertain his audience and maybe even spark them into enjoying writing as he did. I think that Baker succeeded in entertaining me. He definitely kept me reading on, as any good writer will, by explaining an experience that was close to home. I too have had a similar experience with my writing. In fact, the similarity is uncanny. While I was in fifth grade my teacher made me write an essay on anything that I wanted, I chose baseball. Anyway, one thing led to another, and I had my work published in a magazine to me, a great feat. As for the sparking my interest in writing, it was the same before and after I read his essay. Baker’s essay was simply just an entertaining story that was fun to hear. I do not think that it had the type of magnitude that could just make a person, all of a sudden, yearn to write. My opinion, however, is only my opinion. For all I know, Baker’s essay had a hidden meaning that sent a secret code to refugees hiding from their pursuers. But, I seriously doubt that.

Russell Baker’s “Writing For Me,” was a good entertaining essay. It was no more and no less. He did a fine job of conveying a story of a young man that finds his first interest in writing. I really just think it is a good essay and should be left at that.

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