Narrative Essays And Homeless: A Comparative Analysis

Compare-Contrast Essay
Lesley Perry-Tanner
ENG 121
Annemarie Hamlin
November 28, 2013

There are many similarities as well as many differences in narrative and descriptive essays. A narrative essay many times reflects some type of personal experience. The narrative essay also tells a story and it has an intriguing way to keep the audience wanting to know more. The descriptive essay on the other hand usually just describes a person, a scene, or feelings to a reader (Connell, C., & Sole, K.) (2013). Descriptive essays can be very helpful but may sometimes take a while to grasp the audience’s full attention. Narrative essays seemingly appear easier to follow and understand in most cases than descriptive essays. In this compare-contrast
The reader can ask what is standing in the way of Spuggs eating a simple dinner or living a simple life for that matter. Spuggs probably can’t even drive himself to the store or take a long walk alone. Who would have thought that something as simple as eating plain food would be a burden to the rich? I would have never imagined that before reading this narrative. The poor eat plain food everyday if the eat at all. Anna Quindlen, author of the descriptive essay “Homeless” paints a picture based on what she considered homeless people. Although she delivers several good points on homelessness she does not make a clear thesis statement that gives her audience a question to answer in the beginning of her essay. Quindlen begins her descriptive essay by eluding her audience to envision what appears to be a homeless person. She writes,
“Her name was Ann, and we met in the Port Authority Bus Terminal several Januarys ago. I was doing a story on homeless people. She said I was wasting my time talking to her; she was just passing through, although she 'd been passing through for more than two weeks” (Quindlen A, paragraph
It was easier to understand what was going on in the narrative from the beginning. The author of “Are the Rich Happy” had a clear and distinct point of view. He had a reason for writing his essay. Unlike in the narrative essay “Are the Rich Happy” the author of the descriptive essay doesn’t have a clear thesis statement. She is just writing. The audience has to read and infer in order to try and understand what the point or the thesis really is whereas Leacock had a clear thesis from the very beginning which was things and people are not always as they appear. Although it took Quindlen awhile to make her point, at the end you understand that every house is not a home and there’s more than one definition of being homeless other than simply living on the streets, under a bridge or in a shelter. Home is indeed where the heart is. It doesn’t matter where you live. All that matters is that your heart is there and you are happy. Leacock on the other hand told his audience almost immediately that life is not always what it seems. The audience can infer