The Catbird Seat
The Catbird Seat English 3 AP Date: 3- 13- 13 Pd. 5th Comprehension: 1. Birnbaum feels his “new place in society” after his accident is that he’s provides with certain specialties due to his disabilities and that now he has special privileges that regular people doesn’t contain. 2. He takes advantage of his new status by cutting in front of lines at the DMV, the movies as well as many other places where people tend to have to wait in a line. He’s also not punished as hard as a regular person for the mistakes he’s made due to his disability. . He describes them as his “even uppers” for his physical limitations and for the difficulties caused by establishments not complying with the Americans disabilities act. 4. He realized he has limitations as well as everyone else after the incident he went through with the blind person and observed how the blind is much more privileged than the ones with the wheelchair. Purpose and Audience: 1. He expects the reader to now occupy the life of a disabled person in a wheelchair.
He gives daily life examples of his life to show who stands above him and what special benefits have he conquered due to his accident. 2. He specifies his thesis late in the essay since he believes starting off the essay with examples will cause more of an impact on the reader than just stating the thesis so his technique was well thought out. 3. His view point would make an utter change as he might encourage as well as inform the disabilities to know what benefits they achieve as well as the limitations that come from them. . His goal for the essay seems to inform the readers as well as educate them on the life of the disabilities. Now he expects readers to have the same amount of knowledge as him when it comes to people on wheelchairs. Style and Structure: 1. Starting off the essay with an example is an effective introductory strategy, since it grabs the reader’s attentions much more closer than any other techniques could have. 2. His essay is definitely much more convincing due to his experience in the life on a wheelchair.
It would be impossible to try to come up with other ways to make it much more convincing. 3. He arranges his examples through chronological order and through out a whole direction where the reader wont fall off a cliff. 4. It helps the readers see how people treat the ones that are disabled and has requirements as well as showing how people react to the ones that are much more severely disabled. Vocabulary projects 1. Quadriplegia – Paralysis of all four limbs; tetraplegia. 2. Reprimand – A rebuke, esp. n official one. 3. Purser – An officer on a ship who keeps the accounts, esp. the head steward on a passenger vessel. 4. Condescending – Acting in a way that betrays a feeling of patronizing superiority. 5. Patronizing – Treat with an apparent kindness that betrays a feeling of superiority. 6. Chardonnay – A variety of white wine grape used for making champagne and other wines. 7. Trumps – any playing card of a suit that for the time outranks the other suits, such a card being able to take any card of another suit.
Journal entry – It is reasonable to provide someone with a disability with special privileges since their life long goals are limited. Although it is understandable to see why they are provided with these privileges, it is only required for them to use it well and not act condescending where they take too much of an advantage of the privileges they are provided with. The same aspect applies to Birnbaum as to just keep his advantage level to a minimum and not to rise it to a great extent like he described in his essay. At that point, normal people wouldn’t required the need to act patronizing.
