AP English Language and Composition
Ms. Widrig
12 April 2018
Birds Essay
If someone were to venture outside on most any day, or even just look out of their window, they are extremely likely to see some sort of bird. Perhaps one would think nothing of them, being a daily occurrence. However, writers often delve into topics deeper than ordinary people do and show a how those birds affect them personally. Two such writers are John James Audubon and Annie Dillard, who both wrote a two-paragraph piece about their experiences observing birds. However, they differ in how they do this. While Audubon used a tone of fascination with learning about the birds. Dillard utilized a tone of mystification and enrapturement in the movements of …show more content…
Both authors showed how they came to be interested in the birds, but they were obviously interested in them for different reasons. Audubon watched the birds to learn more about them, as shown through his continuing use of a tone of fascination with learning. Dillard, however, seemed to be mystified by the birds; she watched them and wondered about them in an other-worldly way, tried to understand and imagine what the birds are thinking, and made her observations and event for the enjoyment of the reader, rather than a sort of report, as Audubon had. Audubon and Dillard both used simile, but Dillard used many more similes in order to show her deep thoughts about the birds, rather than scientific descriptions. Audubon utilized imagery to, again, seem to contribute to a scientific effort. Dillard used brief repetition to show her mystification and enrapturement with the flocks. In these ways, Audubon and Dillard focused on the birds in similar ways, but do so in a way that resulted in different outcomes and was for different reasons. Audubon, for instance, wrote his piece as he did so that anybody can learn about the birds, while Dillard wrote her piece to explain the deep emotional connections that she felt to the birds. They both, however, contributed to nature writing. Writing about nature is a major genre in the writing community, as it is a topic that any person can relate to. In this way, it can be observed that both Audubon and Dillard want to connect with a lot of people through their