7 Points of Analysis

Essay ___Silk Parachute_______________                Name _Maddie Dietz, Molly Watson____ Hour ___2___

	Claim	Evidence	Warrant
1) Identify the thesis (the central idea or guiding statement).	In John McPhee’s “Silk Parachute” he identifies the importance of seeing the good in someone he loves.  He never “recalls” any of the difficult situations he and his mother have encountered over the years.	P16: “We have covered everything even faintly unsavory that has been reported about this person in ninety-nine years, and even those items are a collection of rumors, half-truths, prevarications, false allegations, inaccuracies, innuendos and canards P2:  “It has been alleged that when I was in college she heard that I had stayed up all night playing poker and wrote me a letter that used the word “shame” forty-two times.  I do not recall this” P3:  “I do not recall being pulled out of my college room and into the church next door.” P4: “It has been alleged…” P19:  My mother figured out how to take the subway to a stop in Jackson Heights and a bus from there – a feat I am unable to duplicate to this day.
2)What is the essay’s purpose (the reason for its composition)?	This essay’s purpose is to show readers that through the good and the bad your mother or someone you love will always be there for you.  It also indicates that it’s what is on the inside that counts.	P19: “Always, it floated back to you – silkily, beautifully – to start over and float back again.  Even if you abused it, whacked it really hard – gracefully lightly it floated back to you.” P17:  “This is a mother who – when Alfred Knopf wrote her twenty-two-year-old son a letter saying, “The readers’ reports in the case of your manuscript would not be very helpful, and I think might discourage you completely” P18: “Evidently, my father had written for tickets in the last row in the 2nd balcony.  My mother knew what to do about that.  She gave me for my Birthday elegant spy glass sufficient in power to bring the Connecticut Yankee back from Vermont.
3) Who is the audience (the readers to whom the essay is directed)?	John McPhee’s audience consists of old and young.  We feel like he’s talking to his mother in a way, though.  A tribute to her.	P19: “Folded just so, the parachute never failed.  Always, it floated back to you – silkily, beautifully – to start over and float back again.  Even if you abused it, whacked it really hard – gracefully lightly it floated back to you.” – His mother is the parachute.
4) Is the essay subjective or objective?	The essay seems to be both.  When he says “alleged” or “I do not recall” seems to be objective, showing that he’s speaking of someone else’s point of view, but when he’s talking of the good things about his mother, it is a subjective tone.	P2:  “It has been alleged that when I was in college she heard that I had stayed up all night playing poker and wrote me a letter that used the word “shame” forty-two times.  I do not recall this” -- as if someone else has told him this.  -- Objective P18: “I also recall her taking me, on or about March 8th, my birthday, to the theatre in New York every year, beginning in childhood.”  -- Subjective
5) What is the dominant impression (the author’s tone or attitude)?	The author’s tone throughout the essay is of course anecdotal, noting that he mostly has anecdotes in his essay.  The other tone that seems to be realistic.  His tone is realistic because of how he tries to remember the “better times” and forget the not so better times.	P18: “I also recall her taking me, on or about March 8th, my birthday, to the theatre in New York every year, beginning in childhood.”   -- there are these little anecdotes throughout the essay.
6) What LANGUAGE is noteworthy? (diction, figurative language, syntax, and imagery) are noteworthy and why?	The patterns throughout the essay like “–“, specific numbers, and sensory imagery are the noteworthy languages.  Diction is very key in this essay with pattern words like “Alleged” and “I don’t recall”.	In paragraph 19, the patterns with – are showed throughout. P19: “On one for those theatre days – when I was eleven or twelve – I asked her if we could start for the city early and go out…” P19: “Always, it floated back to you – silkily, beautifully – to start over and float back again”
7) How does the structure or arrangement (organization or method of development) contribute to the essay’s message?	Some paragraphs are very short, which keep your attention.  This essay is anecdotal and chronological, in which he is telling stories of his mother, in short form and how the patterns of numbers show up throughout his essay.