A Clear, Logical Organization: Creating Closure

Printed Page 146
 Analyze 
Use the basic features.

Patricia Lyu refers to British psychologist John Bowlby near the beginning and the end of her paper. In paragraph 2, she introduces the concept of attachment as a survival strategy, and then in paragraph 11, she notes Bowlby’s assessment of attachment as “intertwined” with fear. With these two references to Bowlby, Lyu creates a sense of closure, a sense that readers have come full circle. Cain also uses this strategy.

ANALYZE & WRITE

Printed Page 147

Write a paragraph or two analyzing how Cain creates a sense of closure in her article, Shyness: Evolutionary Tactic?:

  1. Skim paragraphs 1–8 and 25–28 to remind yourself of how Cain begins and ends the reading selection. What image does she start with? What image does she end with? How does she make sense of this image for her readers? What context does she put it in?
  2. Notice the pronouns she uses: she, we, us, they, I. How does the shift—from talking about the shy, the introverted, the “sitters,” in the third person (she/he/they) to talking about them in the first person (I/we)—change the context in which the Zoloft ad is presented? How does this shift in the pronouns Cain uses add or detract from the sense of closure?

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