Steve Martin the Death of My Father

362 Words2 Pages
After reading Steve Martin’s “The Death of My Father (2008)” essay, I could definitely tell it was a personal story. The story was very heart touching because he was telling a life story of him and his father. This story had quit a few elements to it but the three that stood out to me was Creative tension, Use Concrete Language to Create Clear Visual Images of the Setting and Characters, and the Conclusion. Creative Tension: There is a conflict and it gets resolved. Martin never got the affection from his father as a young child and that caused him to remember all the bad things. This was after he heard all the good things about his father. When his friend was going through all the loss, he gave Martin some good advice, “that if I had anything to work out with my parents, I should do it now, because one day that opportunity would be over.” So Martin starts getting close with his parents and once his father was on his death bed, he finally said those three magic words “I Love You.” He was able to get closure; Martin knew his father loved him, his family and that his father was proud of him. Use Concrete Language to Create Clear Visual Images of the Setting and Characters: Form Martin’s description of memories he had of his father, I could picture each event as I read them. I could see his father handing Martin the keys to the 1957 Chevy or his father being at the tumbling contest, and I would try to picture their reactions of the situation. The Conclusion: I think the conclusion of the story had a great quote; “But the most enduring thought was expressed by my sister, Melinda. She told me she had learned something from all this. I asked her what it was. She said, “Nobody should have to die alone.” I think this quote means, no matter how much you dislike your family, never let them be left alone. You never know when you or that person will take the last
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