Assignment 4

I honestly think that one of the primary reasons he wrote this story is to make people think about their own behavior, attitudes, and judgments toward other people in society. Moreover, I think he wants people to do some self-reflecting. Throughout this story, we as the readers are introduced to all these different characters that hold judgments towards different people in society. Sedaris also does this. For example, Sedaris says, “Stevie Wonder wore his hair like that in the late seventies, but he’s black. And blind. Then, too, Stevie Wonder didn’t have acne on his neck, and wear baggy denim shorts that fell midway between his knees and his ankles. Topping it off was the kid’s T-shirt. I couldn’t see the front of it, but printed in large letters across the back were the words “Freaky MothaFucka” (Sedaris 276). This is just one example. Throughout the whole story, Sedaris makes judgments about the young parents, the elderly woman and her grandchildren, and about the two Republicans that stood behind him in line. I think this story supports the idea that people stereotype people based on their race, creed, religion, and even their clothing attire. And that is why I think he uses the airport to approach this subject. Because, the airport more than any other place in society truly shows how diverse our society is.

The timing of this story is also significant. It’s in this time period. It’s in this time period that an African American man has been elected to President twice, a time in which men and women in the military can be open about their sexuality, a time in which gay people can get married in certain states, a time in which women can now fight in combat. In this day in age, specifically in these last couple of years, there has been a lot of social change. The timing of this story is significant because Sedaris wants his readers to think about these topics. He wants his readers to dwell on how they or we perceive the world and the people in it. Perhaps, he wants his readers to change the way they think and be less judgmental.

I believe he chose to publish his story in a magazine because his target audience is anyone between the ages of eighteen and thirty five give or take a few years. I’m just guessing. His target audience is us. We are the ones who read magazine articles and more often than not it’s elderly people that read newspapers. Everyone else uses the internet or reads magazine articles. I can’t speak for everyone, but I know that I will use the newspaper to clean the windows of my house before using it to get updated on current events. He is not looking for more elderly people to change the world. He is looking to us to do that. He is looking to us to change the way people in society think.

Works Cited

Sedaris, David. "Standing By." First Year Composition Reader. Boston: Pearson, 2011. 275-277. Print.