Modes of exspression

     The essay I chose to write about for modes of expression is "Shooting Dad" by Sarah Vowell. In "Shooting Dad" the many modes of expression that were included were narrative, internal monologue and dialogue. Below I will show you some examples.
     I will first start off telling you about the narrative mode. This mode is like storytelling. Most of Sarah's essays contain the narrative mode. "Shooting Dad" is an exceptional example of narrating. Throughout the whole essay Sarah tells a story about her dad and her not having something in common because of his passion for firearms, and the events taking place in are also told in a story like way. In the start of the essay Sarah writes "If you were passing by the house where I grew up during  my teenage years and it happened to be before election day, you wouldn't have needed to come inside to see that it was a house divided." You see that is no normal way to start an essay, unless you are writing a narrative essay, in which Sarah Vowell is. Another example is when Sarah is describing her life "I was eleven when we moved into that Bozeman house. We had never lived in town before, and this was a college town at that." Again, Sarah is telling a story in her essay. The narrative part of the essay really sticks out from the others because it is such a difference from other essays.
   Next we have the dialogue part of the essay. Most essays do contain dialogue, but Sarah Vowell's contain more than usual. Vowell tends to use dialogue as an extra in "Shooting Dad" because she feels that having dialogue will help the readers understand this essay better. Some examples of dialogue in this essay is   at the end of the essay when her dad is explaining what to do when he dies, "You get to drag this thing up on top of the Gravellies on opening day of hunting season. And looking off at Sphinx Mountain, you get to put me in little paper bags. I can take my last hunting on opening season." Another example is when Sarah is approached by a hiker he says to her "So you work for the radio and that's your dad?" Like I said Vowell likes to use some short and long dialogue to help her readers understand the essay "Shooting Dad" better.
    The last mode of expression I thought Vowell used well in "Shooting Dad" was internal monologue. Internal monologue really helped me read the essay without it being confusing. A really great example in "Shooting Dad" is when Sarah is thinking to herself "I will do it, too. I will have my father's body burned into ashes. I will pack these ashes into paper bags. I will go to the mountains with my mother, my sister, and the cannon. I will plunge his remains into the barrel and point it into a hill so that he doesn't take anyone with him. I will light the fuse. But I will not cover my ears. Because when I blow what used to be my dad into the earth, I want it to hurt." That example of internal monologue really stuck out to me.
    Overall Sarah Vowell's "Shooting Dad" essay contained a lot of modes of expression. I think that really helped put the essay together in a better way. It also helped communicate better with the audience!