Holiday Season Summons Memories of Good Deeds by Tara Dixon Engel

       Tara Dixon Engel wants the reader to feel compassion and the want to help others while reading this column. I know this because Engel puts a lot of stories of people helping those in need to trigger your compassionate side. An example is " There's a fellow Shiloh Church, United Church of Christ, who recently made sleeping mats out of plastic bags for us to share with our homeless guest" (Paragraph 12). This example makes people remember times when others helped them out when they needed it. Making people want to help others out and also feel gratitude to the ones who helped them.

       Engel want the readers to remember the times they received help from others and the gratitude they had toward them. She shows this in paragraph 7, "Through all the years -- almost 30-- and all the kind things people have done for me, I still remember that simple, heartfelt gesture." This shows that people will always remember the simple but heartfelt gestures. Though some may not really remember for a little. Engel uses her own examples to bring to the surface all the heartfelt gestures that have happened to the reader. I can't help but think about all the times I have been helped out while reading this column and I just want to go to each person and thank them all over again.

       The purpose of Engel's column is to inform the readers that you can help anyone out and that one simple gesture from you could change their life. I see this we she gives such a variety of examples, they are not just big companies or just churches or just a single person. She makes a variety of example to show everyone that they can make a difference. " I've had volunteers willingly hand over the coat they wore here to someone who needed it more than they did." (paragraph 14) This just informs everyone that you don't even have to have a lot to help someone else out.

        Engel uses diction and syntax to improve her point. An example is she put the word "Starving" in quotes to create a double meaning show she is physically starving but always starving reporting meaning she has really gotten much. Also she uses dashes to draw your eyes to the 30 years. " Through all the years -- almost 30-- and all the kind things people have done for me, I still remember that simple, heartfelt gesture." ( paragraph 7). This draws the readers attention to the 30 years making them realize kind gestures are hard to forget because 30 years is a long time to remember a small gesture.

          This column is relevant to society because many people think they can't help others by themselves or they think they don't have enough themselves to help anyone else. Also so many people in society have turned cold and only wanting to keep their money for themselves. Hopefully this helped remind them of when someone helped them out. I hope that then those people would change and want to help other people out. Engel did an amazing job just reminding me of all the times I have been helped out. She makes me want to go out now and just help every person I can because I want everyone to experience what I have gotten to experience.

      
      

   

Leonard Pitts

/    I read a couple more Leonard Pitts columns because I loved the way he wrote and made his point. One thing that I really loved about Pitts is the way that he starts his column with a really grabbing short paragraph. He grabs you with an event and slowly starts to incorporate his ideas and the real reason he is writing the paper. I love when he does this because you don't feel singled out and are less likely to feel like you are being attacked.

     I don't get why Leonard Pitts takes so long to get to his point in some of his columns because in some of his columns I really agree with what he has to say and I really just want him to come out and say it earlier so people who don't understand him can be enlightened earlier and enjoy Pitts' writing and understand where he is coming from so they are not so quick to judge him and his thoughts. I understand he is avoiding people's fear of being directly attacked.

  My favorite column that I read by Leonard Pitts would be 9/11 because I love the way Pitts shows the strength of our country and how even though we are very upset we will still be strong. Also its saying that we will stop at nothing to protect the way our country works. Pitts does an amazing job of explaining that their motives were unsuccessful because we will just get back up.

Here's a link to the column 9/11: http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article1928716.html