"Zepp's Last Stand" by Madeleine Blais focuses more on the aspect of characterization than "Ms. Kelly's Monster." Throughout this piece, Blais uses several phrases from an interview to construct the story of Zepp taking a stand toward his honor. The piece places importance on the goodness of the main character, Zepp, and his reasons he felt justified not to fight. This piece takes a more emotional route than the other piece we read for this class period, where the surgeon is fighting a "monster", Zepp is fighting himself.
What I really like about this piece is it has broader audience than those interested in veterans or war. It has a universal theme of wanting to do good and listening to your conscious, no matter what others tell you to do.
Another thing the author does well is bringing dialog into the story to help the reader understand how the subject felt in the time that this was all happening. Then, further explaining by offering her own stand point and creative tones to allow the reader to enjoy this snapshot of Zepp's life.
I agree with you that Zepp taking a stand for what he believes in regarding his benefits for serving in the war. I think all veterans should receive great recognition for what they have endured.
ReplyDeleteI felt that Blais's descriptions of Zepp made his character shine. He was pushing his way to regain his honor. He didn't care how long it would take for him to clear his name and his determination led him to accomplishing that. I felt Zepp was fighting his superiors more than himself. He was trying to get recognition from other people, such as the Board. He truly believed that he hadn't done anything wrong and he wanted the approval of others.
ReplyDeleteThere is definitely an aspect of this being interesting for a wide variety of people. There is a lot of information that everyone, even those not interested in war, could find interesting. There are a lot of chances for connections to be made when it comes to determination. This, just like "Mrs. Kelly's Monster" are stories of determination, but they are both very different reasons why, so I like that about these two profiles.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that it is an effective essay because it reaches out to a wide audience and not just a narrow audience of veterans. It reached out to anyone that wanted to make things right in their lives. Also, I definitely agree that this one was more emotional because I feel that more people could connect to someone like Zepp.
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