The “Birth of Cool” by Aiasha Sabitini Sloan describes her experiences growing up as a mixed race child in Los Angeles. At the same time she describes the life of musician Thelonius Sphere Monk.
This essay is different than the other essays in that Sloan chose to write about many experiences in her life as well as the experience of another. Choosing too many experiences can be dangerous because there is a risk of your theme becoming clouded. Sloan avoided this by keeping a tight theme and consistencies.
The Lesson:
Sloan picks times in her life that tie together because of the way that they made her feel. Racism makes her feel out of place such as when her classmate tells her he doesn’t like her curly hair,“
"'Why is your hair like that?' Every day for the next four years I wore it in a tight bun. Some might call me oversensitive." Wearing her hair in a bun shows the hurt she does feel from racism which ties into the theme of achieving "cool" throughout the essay.
She also ties Thelonius Monk into her story by tying in her opening scene of Los Angles glinting, and Monk glinting as he plays the piano. Monk was born before the Civil Rights Movement and has managed to achieve that “cool” that everyone is trying to achieve despite his race.
Sloan does a fine job keeping her essay flowing and relevant. Essays that jump from memory to memory need to follow the example that Sloan provides.
How we can apply this in our own writing:
- tie all anecdotes into a common theme.
- focus on details that show that theme.
- Cut any distracting details or anecdotes.
- make sure one major theme is apparent.
- Ask yourself the question, "So what does this essay mean?"
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