Week 5 Reading Journal

Reading Journal Questions:

The first author, Benvenuto Cellini, was very focused on explaining the facts of his story, as opposed to an emotion or feeling that came across in the Andre Aciman piece. Both appeared to have different reasons for writing these pieces, Benvenuto’s being more of an old man looking back on his life and making sense of it, and looking for meaning. He “name dropped” quite a bit, attempting to make himself and his family appear well connected and important. Andre’s piece, on the other hand, was quite the opposite, he specially detailed the misfortune of his family and how he didn’t have enough money to afford the apartment. It was obvious that the purpose and focus of his story was entirely different, that Andre wanted you to get a feeling from his explanation of Rome, and the fact it was written from his perspective and with his personal input meant that it was simply easier to relate to. Thus, Benvenuto’s piece was more aware of the reader’s presence because he was clearly attempting to leave a legacy, and an impression. Andre’s piece was more convincing and believable because it was more personal and less forced, and I guess just easier for me to relate to overall because it was considerably more recently written.