Reflective Essay Outside Reading: January 10

Reflective Essay Outside Reading

“Coat Drive” by Colin Nissan

McSweeney’s January 4, 2011

In McSweeney’s “Coat Drive,” Collin Nissan educates his reader in the lifestyle of the impoverished.  He begins by discussing the coat drive, an event that has become somewhat commonplace, and then expands his essay to include all other kinds of drives.  By adopting a humorous tone, Nissan is able to pull on the reader’s heartstrings and introduce the desperate lives that the less fortunate really do live. 

The main technique that Nissan uses to communicate is humor.  As mentioned, he begins his essay by discussing the coat drive, but eventually expands to include other drives.  However, these drives are somewhat over-the top; he discusses cat drives, cat food drives, taxi fare drives, and iPad drives.  Nissan even mentions the Divorce Drive he was forced into holding after the legal community discovered his history of Affair Drives (2).  The wide array of drives that he chooses to include, however, help Nissan to effectively communicate to the reader.  This is his biggest strength; Nissan is able to convince the reader of the extent of some people’s poverty.  Although the humorous tone that Nissan adopts helps him to get his point across, however, it significantly lightens the mood of the essay.  This takes away from the severity of the piece, and his biggest strength therefore doubles as his biggest weakness.  Nissan is able to fill the reader in on the fact that the impoverished sometimes have to rely on others for everything, and he is also able to introduce a sense of sympathy.  However, the humor that he employs did not leave me with a desire to do anything about it.

Nissan also employs curse words in communicating to the reader, which helps to develop how desperate the less fortunate really can be.  However, in addition to the humorous tone he adopts, the swearing would be inappropriate for an AP Essay.  The humor and curse words create an informality that is not up to par with the AP Exam.

As mentioned, Nissan is able to introduce a sense of sympathy to the piece.  He does this by appealing directly to the emotions of the reader.  In his opening paragraph, Nissan pleads with his reader.  “Is there anything in [your closet], anything at all, that would look better on Tom” (1)?  By repeating “anything at all,” Nissan is using syntax to add a certain sense of earnestness.  A few paragraphs later, he further appeals to the reader’s emotion.  “Remember, this isn’t just about reaching into your closets, it’s about reaching into your hearts” (1).  This helps Nissan to instill a sense of sympathy, and therefore leaves the reader pitying the impoverished.