left the Champion office and sat in a hot taxi and looked at Lagosinching past, the hawkers pressing sunglasses against the window, the busesspitting out thick gray smoke, the cars stuck bumper to bumper in traffic.“See this stupid man! He wan scratch me!” my taxi driver said, gesturingto the car beside us. Then he stuck his head out and cursed in rapid Yoruba.
In this excerpt, the author uses vivid detail and dialogue as textual evidence to demonstrate elements of personal narrative. As the reader, I was able to imagine the sights and sounds the author experienced and it made me reflect on experiences I've had in life that were similar. I pictured myself sitting in my car on the busy streets of NYC during gridlock on a hot summer day feeling FRUSTRATED alongside many other frustrated drivers or in the back seat of the black and yellow taxi coming out of the airport and into the hustling metropolis of a very smoggy Santiago, Chile. The writer effectively incorporates these elements throughout the essay in an engaging well-structured manner therefore allowing the reader to envision and connect to the writers' words as they read along. I try to use these elements in my own work and writing because relatability and descriptive passages are highly effective ways to keep a reader captivated.