Falling Leaves and Bossypants- Comparison and Contrast

Comparison and Contrast Memoirs provide insight into a person’s life that can be used as a learning experience and show a great deal about the character of the writer. A whole story told from the perspective of the author, gives the reader an impression of the writer, whether intentional or not, with the use of the author’s tone, writing style, and his or her unique voice. While no two memoirs are the same, each gives off a certain feel to the reader, drawing them into the life of the author. Tina Fey’s Bossypants and Adeline Yen Mah’s Falling Leaves are two vastly different stories with one concerning the transition of life from a young girl to a woman living in America and the other the story of a truly unwanted girl in China. Though very different, each memoir focuses on the issues brought up in their life solely because of their gender and how they persevered through society’s social stigmas. One of the main differences between Mah and Fey’s memoirs is how each is written, with both authors using a very different style of communicating their story. Tina Fey uses a very laid back approach to her writing using very simple language and uses a life experience to teach a lesson each chapter while moving chronologically through her life. Tina doesn’t convey her emotions as obviously as Adeline does, allowing for the situation to display how she feels instead of just openly writing about it. “You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the water-slide overthinking it. You have to go down the chute.” (Page 123, Bossypants) This quote shows many aspects of Tina’s writing style, her use of directly addressing the reader to make a point, her use of hypothetical situations to communicate her message, and finally her use of trying to teach the reader to not make mistakes she did in life. This differs very widely from Adeline’s very structured and emotional based writing style. “I learned from this experience to rely on myself. I realized that without Aunt Baba, there