The Chase

The author did an excellent job of portraying an event from her childhood. I didn't want to stop reading once the driver of the black Buick got out of his car and began chasing the kids. It's amazing the amount of detail Annie Dillard put into the chase scene of the essay. She really made it sound like they ran across the entire town.

There are a few questions I would have like to have answered in the reading. Who was the child that hit the Buick on the windshield with the snowball? What did the man say to the children when he caught up to them? Why had the man exerted himself so much in order to have a word with children who were throwing snowballs? How on Earth did he find his way back to his car?

Aside from the questions, this was a great essay which portrayed the emotions of a child running from danger, which in this case was an angered driver of a black Buick.

P: The purpose of the author's writing is to illustrate a life experience from the view of a child, or more specifically, an event from the author's childhood.

T: The topic of the essay is about a girl at the age of seven who hung out with boys older than her. They did things that boys would typically do: play football, baseball, and throw snowballs.

I: They had been hitting the windshields of cars with snowballs until they hit the windshield of a black Buick. The driver had enough time on his hands to get out of his car and begin pursuing the children. No matter where Annie ran, the driver was close behind.

C: The daring escape the author made from this driver was the hardest thing she had ever done. She was exasperated from all the running she had done and feared the worst from the angry driver. To her surprise, all the driver wanted was to have a few words with her.