"The American Male at Age Ten"

 I chose this picture because this is
what I think Colin looks like as a ten
 year old, also he said he likes candy
so I thought this image was perfect for him.

The American Male at Age Ten by Susan Orlean is a cute, funny and interesting article about a ten year old boy named Colin Duffy.  The story put me into the mind of an average ten year old boy, it brought back memories of my elementary school days and made me laugh.  The story also showed that if you can actually get a ten year old to open up and talk to you about his life, there could be things that go on in his head that will surprise you.  I really enjoyed reading this story.

I think the thing that makes this story good is that Orlean used so many great details to describe Colin, his friends and what goes on in his daily life that it brought the story to life for me while I was reading it.  The quotes that she used also made the story a better read for me because it wasn't just paragraph after paragraph, she added the Q & A affect to the story that she used while talking to Colin. 

Something that also makes it a good story is that she goes farther with her details, like the sign on the black board in Colin's classroom and also the conversation between Colin and his friend about Street Fighter II Championship Edition.  My favorite quote from the story is, "The best candy is Skittles and Symphony bars and Crybabies and Warheads.  Crybabies are great because if you eat a lot at once you feel so sour." After reading this quote I legitimately laughed out loud at it.  I think that all the quotes about Colin's world views were the best part of the story. 

Orlean approached the story by using an anecdotal type story, which is her telling a story of how her life with Colin would be if they were to get married, I think that it was a good way to start the story because it gives information about Colin before she goes into the rest of the story.  I think that Orlean wrote a great story and went about doing it in the right way.