Diction: lighthearted description of stealing, bittersweet reflection, complex combination of  . . .

Topic Sentences: Content and style together (a few examples)

• Soto’s bittersweet depiction of stealing a pie complexly mixes a light-hearted humor with an undertone of guilt. As the narrator stands in front of the rack of pies, he literally salivates. Debating between the . . .

• Soto depicts his childhood self with an almost barbaric desire as he shovels the pie into his mouth.

• Soto’s precise diction forms a complex image of innocent pleasure and disgusting excess.

Model Paragraph

Although Soto does convey an undertone of guilt, the primary focus of the pie-eating passage is one of ravenous pleasure. As he describes himself “clawing a chunk” and “pushing” it into his “cavern,” the reader sees the gluttonous delight of this moment. Even though he appears almost animal-like in his frenzy, Gary enjoys the moment so thoroughly, so purely, so innocently, that we cannot frown on him. Instead, we hunger alongside him. We too will feel the guilt of excess.

Soto careful engineers this reaction in order to . . .