Compassion

Compassion is a trait that I believe everyone posses to some extent. It’s just human nature to care for someone else. My belief in this is why I choose to write about On Compassion by Barbara Lazear. Compassion by definition means to feel sympathy for another. I think this essay is one of the best essays I have ever read! I learned from it but I also confirmed my beliefs.

The first writing technique I noticed in this essay was how amazingly the essay flowed. It was very well put together and structured. There were no “choppy” spots or places where I had to re-read the sentences. Reading this essay was a pleasure because I didn’t have to think so hard about why it was written a certain way. By that I mean it was written very simply. It is also pleasing to the eye. The sentences were varied in length, from short to long.

Another technique that Barbara Lazear used, amazingly, was her word choice. Her choice of words was intellectual but not to the extent that it made me feel dumb. She used common words that got the point across. She extended a lot of information this way. Barbara told about her feelings of compassion and how her experiences of seeing the homeless has made her a more compassionate person When she talked about her own experiences I was more drawn in to the story.

I also loved how she used imagery so much in this essay! She really brought this essay to life with her description of the homeless, children being shielded and store owners giving out free food. The imagery that really got me was when she described the homeless man trying to cross the street and a woman with a child, shielding the child from the man and trying to pass him money. The imagery she used made me feel for the homeless. When I read a story, essay or book I like to be able to “feel” and “see” what is happening in the sentences. Imagery is one of the main reasons I love to read. Being able to “see” something without even seeing it is magical.

Barbara Lazear used compare and contrast in this essay. She compared how she would have treated a person to how other people treated a person. I think it’s very unique that she wrote about her own experience compared to other peoples. If she was the woman on the street she would have been kinder to the man then the women with the child who just wanted him to leave.

In conclusion, On Compassion was the best essay I read in this book. Not only was the writing superb, the topic was well chosen! Since I love reading about human behaviors I was really interested in the essay. I would recommend it to anyone who is compassionate, caring or just wants to learn. Barbara Lazear did an excellent job of writing this essay she included almost every main technique!