A STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF “A TALE OF TWO CHANCES” By Paulo Bedonia

I. About the essay

An essay of looking forward and making the most out of the author’s amazing chance, a chance for the author to spend precious time to his father – who had been recently saved from a near-death experience due to his critical condition. As well as letting his father feels how he loves him so much. In the essay, the author narrated how anxious he became when he first knew the news. He related the full story of how his father suffered and survived. He also included in his essay what he felt and how worried he was at that time.

The author is an OFW at Thailand, and he was never home for many years. He is looking forward for his vacation in the Philippines this summer, for he wants to grab the amazing opportunity to spend time with his father.

II. Analysis

It is obvious in the first paragraph that whenever it pertains to the father the first letter of the pronoun are on capital letter like the words He and Him. It was consistent throughout the first paragraph. This gives more emphasis to the author’s main topic who is his father. Though it may seem absurd but the author just used this technique at the first paragraph of his essay.

Another dominant word in the essay is the author’s used of the pronoun I, this only shows that the essay was written personally and that it gives more emphasis on the affectionate feelings of the author to his father.

The author also used different words to pertain to the word father.
Father

- old man (adjective)
(It was used on the fourth paragraph and on the last paragraph)

- patriarch (noun)
(It was used on the fourth paragraph.)

The author used different words for he sees his father differently. He used the word old man to emphasize his father’s pitiful condition and also to mean that he was one’s a husband. On the other hand, he used the word patriarch to show that his father was a good provider and leader of the family. And lastly, the word father to highlight that his father is the typical father.

For the last three sentences of the essay he dominantly used in every sentence the word “Let me.”

“Let me wash my guilt as I promise to pick those young pomelo leaves and have their aroma mixed with the lukewarm water I will personally prepare for my old man’s morning bath. Let me be there and make the most of my being there for him. Let me play my part in this amazing chance I shouldn’t miss.

The author used such word for emphasis that certainly he will make the most out of his amazing chance to love his father dearly. He repeated the word “Let me” three times, which as if he is promising with his whole heart and soul that he will use the amazing chance the good Lord gave to him fruitfully and wisely.

The author used different tenses of the verb. But the past tense is more dominant in the essay. The verbs that were used mostly on the past tense, since the author is narrating and looking back from the past experiences their family got through. The only future tense was on the last three sentences of the essay. When the author used the word “let me” because he is still looking forward for the day, he can do the things he wants to do to his father.

III. Conclusion

Analyzing and looking thoroughly on how the author wrote the essay makes me understand better the content of the essay. Making a simple stylistic analysis allows me to apply all the knowledge we acquired in class. It is a good thing that we are exposed with this kind of activity, because in making a stylistic analysis you can look deeply on the text and make inferences as to why t he author wrote that way and the reason behind those styles.