Neat people vs. Sloppy people by Suzanne Britt - Book Report/Review Example

15 March, 2008 Critical Analysis of Essay "Neat People vs. Sloppy People" By Suzanne Britt Jordan The essay "Neat People vs. Sloppy People," by Suzanne Britt Jordan, is a careful and humorous comparison/contrast essay written about two kinds of individuals; the neat people and the sloppy people. Generally, making an act of comparison/contrast means making a value judgment about a thing. For example if we have to buy ready made cloths from a shop, then surely before buying them, we will go through a series of judgments about the cloths. We will look for their colors, patterns, quality, price etc. Even while making our choice, we may care how they will look like to others. Nevertheless, we make a judgment based on comparison and contrast. Another, important thing is that sometimes it happens that we learn better about our vices, virtues or things around us, if they are humorously presented before us. Amusingly making the reader to draw a conclusion or arrive at a value judgment about neat and sloppy people is the purpose of this essay. This is what Suzanne Britt has done in this essay. She amusingly portrays two classes by demonstrating both their similarities and differences not merely in preferences in cleanliness as essay title shows, but in morality. She argues that neat people are "meaner and lazier than sloppy people." They care more about the results than the Process. They are wasteful and insensitive. Sloppy people, on the other hand, "carry in their mind's eye a heavenly vision, a precise plan, that is so stupendous, so perfect, it can't be achieved in this world or the next." Her definitions convey a sense of irony opposite to real world and one really enjoys her interpretations about neat and sloppy people. Suzanne Britt's has used block arrangement method to present her views to make it more effective. By this way she draws the reader attention first to one side of the picture: the sloppy people. She presents her key idea about sloppy people by providing all supporting details relate to neat people. The she turns to neat people following the same procedure. Overall her presentation technique is a conglomeration of many different methods; all of which, Britt uses to slow the reader down. She slows the reader to make sure that they have grasped her opinion of neat people vs. sloppy people. This strategy works well as it draws reader attention to all points present in essay. Exploring several of Britt's paragraphs, the reader can consider the differences of her technique and their effectiveness of contrasting the characteristics of sloppy people and neat people. The 1st paragraph of Britt's essay though a brief yet most authoritative section of essay. This introduction, customarily, fields the basis of Britt's leading thesis: "Neat people are lazier and meaner than sloppy people" (Jordan, 223). From 2nd paragraph, Suzanne Britt begins her exploration of the common sloppy man by submitting her sympathy that sloppy people are not really sloppy. Their sloppiness is merely the unfortunate consequence of their extreme moral "rectitude" (Jordan, 224). She continuous her exploration by saying that sloppy people live within "Never-Never-Land". Someday is their "mtier" (Jordan, 224).They "carry in their mind's eye a heavenly vision, a precise plan that is so stupendous, so perfect, it can't be achieved in this world or the next" (Jordan, 224). The fourth paragraph is a justification of her previous paragraph. She validates her "Never-Never-Land" by reiterating that despite all noble reasons and more, sloppy people never get neat as their meticulous someday "mtier" planning only creates useless "new piles of papers with new headings" (Jordan, 225). In the 5th paragraph Suzanne Britt Jordan astutely depicts the sloppy people affection for continuous possession of things. She points out that "sloppy people can't bear to part with anything. They give loving attention to every detail" (Jordan 225). Her portrayal clearly justifies why sloppy people meticulous someday "mtier" planning only creates useless "new piles of papers". Next her focus suddenly shifts to the systematic cutting down of neat people. She says that neat people are bums and clods at heart. They have "cavalier" attitudes toward their possessions including family heirlooms. She sums up the mind set of neat people by saying, "[N]eat people operate on two unvarying principles: Never handle any item twice, and throw everything away" (Jordan 225). Except their immediate use, neat people write off all things into trash can. In 9th paragraph she reiterates her argument by exemplify the neat people attitude towards their correspondence. They don't believe in "sentiment salvaging". They have, "no sentimental salvaging of birthday cards or the last letter a dying relative ever wrote" (Jordan 226). Next three paragraphs explain that neatness is their first priority. They are incredibly wasteful as the throw many economically useful things into trash can. Neat people are neither good burrow nor good buyer. They lack any sentimental feelings. People, animals, and things are all one to them. Since Suzanne Britt Jordan has presented her views by using block arrangement technique, hence she has used repetition to clarify her comparison. While writing a comparison essay using arrangement technique, we concentrate on first subject; and present all of our key ideas and supporting details as they relate to this subject. When we have finished first subject, we turn to second subject and follow the same procedure. While narrating all subject details about either subject one or 2nd, as we repeatedly provide information about the subject either to compare or contrast between them. Hence repetition helps to distinct two things and most importantly the ideas behind the comparison. Suzanne Britt Jordan has done the same thing to clarify her comparison. Works Cited Jordan, Suzanne Britt. "Neat People vs. Sloppy People": 223-226. The Bedford Reader, Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. Read More