Chilton Manrodt's Saga Of An Educated Vagabond

Autobiography Book Report In Spencer Chilton Manrodt’s autobiography, Saga of an Educated Vagabond, he shares his life story into something that we can all read and imagine. I believe that his motivations for writing an autobiography would be to share his life story with later generations such as myself (since he is my 3rd cousin). In order to pass down the life of a football star that was later dragged into the tragedy of war, he wrote a manuscript that was later found in a trunk in the basement after his daughter’s death in recent years. “No one must limit himself to one character. With each change in environment, embellishments may be added to, or subtracted from the basic character.” (Manrodt 4) He believes the legacy of the Chilton family should live on, make an impact that lasts and never forget who made it happen. Manrodt’s most admirable quality would be that he is optimistic. “You might think my character days were over. No. This didn’t call for my ceasing to be a character; it only called for a change in type. I will always be a character of one type or another.” (Manrodt 383) This quote explains that he always looked ahead of himself, and he believed that more events, whether they are good or bad, will help become a better person in the future. Unfortunately, Manrodt passed
He starts from his time he starts college with flashbacks pertaining to his childhood events. The diction that Manrodt decides to use would be an old fashion choice of words, and the words he writes are denotative. “Currently, I was no longer a topographical computer.” (Manrodt 130) Throughout the book, there are figurative devices used such as similes and metaphors. For example,” To me, I was as ugly as a pan of worm.” (Manrodt 9) In order to keep the writing drawn into the book, Manrodt focuses on a little comedy. “The draft, of course, you nut heads. Haven’t you been reading the newspapers?” (Manrodt