The Old Man Isn’t There Anymore was written by Kellie Schmitt. In this essay Schmitt documents some of her experiences in China. Kellie lived in China for two years and was a reporter for CNNgo. (Faigley pg.107) Kellie Schmitt specifically touches on one specific experience in China where she attends a Chinese neighbors funeral. Through out this essay Schmitt uses enticing story telling techniques and purposeful tone. Schmitt also uses imagery to further help the reader see what was going on before, after and during the funeral. Since Schmitt used all of these components one can get a good feel for what it is like at the funereal and how some of the customs differ from America. Schmitt's use of story telling is very effective because it …show more content…
In The Old Man Isn’t There Anymore Schmitt gives the underlying tone of peacefulness. However, we do not see this right away. There is a major tone shift from the beginning to the end of the essay. At the beginning we see the tone is uncomfortable. Schmitt describes that she lived in a Shanghai apartment for at least a year and she had not made any strong connections with the people around her. (Schmitt par.8-10) We still see this uncomfortable tone through the funeral service for one of her neighbors. Schmitt describes how the family was insistent on her coming to the actual funeral and cremation services.However, at the same time we see the change in tone start when she is invited to the funeral. (Schmitt par.19) Since the family was so welcoming into such a personal part of their lives Schmitt was given an opportunity to find a deeper bond with the family of the deceased man. Schmitt began to connect to the family on a new level this intern gave her that underlying peace she was searching for. The uncomfortable and peaceful tones are appropriate because the convey how hard it is to adjust to a different culture but the peace when you finally break down the walls and see that we are not all that different. The best example of Schmitt discovering this is where she