Critical Analysis: Ka-Ching By Margaret Atwood

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Critical Analysis: Ka-Ching by Margaret Atwood Author’s Voice The essay that I chose to analyze was the personal essay, Ka-Ching by Margaret Atwood. I feel that Atwood intended for mostly teenagers to read this essay, because most teenagers can relate to the feeling of being unsure and confused at a new job. Also, most teenagers are faced with the decision to go to university/college and further their education or to just start work straight from high school. This relates to the essay because it shows the difference between book smarts and street smarts and how they are completely different. I feel that this is also the thesis of the essay, however I do not have a direct quote for the thesis because it is an implicit thesis. I believe…show more content…
The first literary device in the text is the metaphor at the beginning of the introduction. Atwood writes “I’ll pass over the mini-jobs of adolescence –the summer camp stints that were more like getting paid to have fun” I feel like this is a metaphor because she is comparing a job, which is usually difficult and boring to having fun which is the complete opposite of boring. Atwood seems to take a liking to irony in this essay; she uses situational irony, dramatic irony, and verbal irony. The situational irony is used throughout the essay, when the reader reads that Margaret has received the job at the restaurant the reader assumes that she was hired due to her high levels of education. However, we soon find out that she was hired for the exact opposite reason; because she was not “street smart” enough to steal money from the cash register. This exact same situation can be dramatic irony as well. What we, the reader, believe to be true about her receiving the job because of her extensive schooling is exactly what Margaret believes as well, but as the reader we also know that that is not why she got the job, thus, making it dramatic and situational irony. Atwood also uses verbal irony in this personal essay. After Margaret shows up to work with the white dress that she had bought for her “uniform” only to find out that she bought the completely wrong…show more content…
She makes the essay seem more like a story, incorporating humorous and nostalgic moments to make the story easy to relate too, therefore, making it more easily understood by readers. By having multiple short paragraphs it keeps the reader interested due to the use of multiple ideas only discussed for a short period of time. Atwood also uses the traits of a personal essay very well to make it seem more like a story, which for whatever reason seem easier to follow for most people in her intended audience (teenagers). Almost every teenager will be able to relate to this text because it is usually around the teen years in a persons life where they have to get their first job. I personally can relate most to the fact that she was very embarrassed on her first day, and found that tasks that seemed simple enough, like using a cash register for example, are in fact very difficult. I felt the exact same way when I showed up to Tim Hortons for my very first day of work. They had told me to wear any black running shoes, so I went home and dug up my old pair of puma running shoes. Not until the morning of my first shift did I realize that “black running shoes” in fact meant very specific black safety shoes. I feel as if Margaret felt the same way as I did when we both showed up to work in the wrong attire. If I had to compare this essay to any other that I’ve read I would compare it to My Mothers Blue

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