Outside Reading-Essay

Egypt: The Cultural Revolution

By ROBYN CRESWELL

Published: February 10, 2011

Essay

When first reading this piece it is impossible to ignore the author’s own excitement about what is happening in Egypt. Although the author is not outright celebrating, the happiness is there, and it is sustained through out the piece. Overall the tone of this author is optimistic for the most part, but at times is criticizes and seemingly mocks the former government of Egypt and its former president. The opening paragraph of this piece helps create this tone by the use of heavy imagery; the author is trying to paint this scene of joy in the readers head. Creswell uses this technique through out the piece, thought not quite as heavily as in the first paragraph. He also used it to help outsiders understand part of the Egyptians fear of what may come “for too many Egyptians “modernization” means endless traffic jams and gated suburbs; “democratic reform” means bribery and fraudulent elections; and “social order” means the policeman’s club, or the interrogator’s electric prod.” This technique is so important tot his piece because most of us are so accustomed to living with traffic jams, social order and democracy; we have become blinded to its faults.

            Along with imagery Creswell favors diction as another tool to create his view of Egypt, past and present. Creswell uses diction to describe his view on the old regime, “Mubarak exploited this monopoly for his own needs.” This technique is again used to draw the reader in and try to help them imagine what the Egyptians lives were, and are like. Off of this use of diction springs the use of details. As I read this piece it occurred to me that Creswell was always adding, small, seemingly insignificant details. But it was these details that made the people he was talking about seem more human, then just a brief description on a page. When he described people important to the revolution, he not only described what they were doing for Egypt, but what small parts of their lives were like. He talked of a struggling writer, who was also a dentist, who also spoke out for the public in speeches and on this blog. It is these details that connected the reader even more to the piece, which overall made it a success in my mind. As for an AP Essay this piece would definitely work, it is in first person, plain style, and it has a strong base to back it up.