English 101-11
Instructor:
Response paper on “The Last Stop”
Date: 1-18-2012
“The Last Stop” is a profile essay written by Brian Cable when he was in his first year of college. The main idea of this profile was to portrait the funeral home Goodbody Mortuary. It is a good, valid example of a well written profile. I think cable does a good job overall by following all the basic features of this writing genre. He has done an extensive job by collecting interviews and background information on the subject. He profiled a very peculiar and touchy subject with respect and even some humor, which I thought to be a very good approach. Showing his perspectives and reactions to his experiences as a visitor to the mortuary house was very important as most of us never walked in such establishment; as well as all the detailed information he provided about the place itself. In my opinion, the only thing I’d change in this great profile essay would be the amount of details he gives the reader in certain occasion like, for example, when he describes the funeral director’s facial features. I feel like he could cause the same impression in a more effective way. I like things a little more practical, I’m also afraid the reader will lose interest if a text became excessively detailed. Other than that, the general details he provides along the text are of great help to understand a little better the composition of the place. In addition, he uses very good quotations and does an excellent job describing the nature of the services offered. He also offers a good amount of interesting information he received from the interviewees. In conclusion, he was able to profile a somewhat obscure business activity in a well-detailed nice way. He gave us a sincere spectator perspective with some bites of good