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Morgan Sisson

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The Best American Essays 2016: A Bold Anthology of Risk-Taking Literary Nonfiction Selected by Jonathan Franzen

by Robert Atwan

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Morgan Sisson said: " So far I have only read the first essay in The 2016 Best American Essays, called Bajadas by Fransisco Cantú. In my AP Comp class we were assigned to read and analyze this essay, and I thought it was an interesting read that was informative and eye op So far I have only read the first essay in The 2016 Best American Essays, called Bajadas by Fransisco Cantú. In my AP Comp class we were assigned to read and analyze this essay, and I thought it was an interesting read that was informative and eye opening. Cantú presents this essay through the format of several journal enteries about experiences that he goes through during his time at the Academy where he is training to become a boarder control cop. His second entry is from Christmas time when his mother flew out from Arizona to come visit for christmas. Over their time together she express her concern for her son wanting to work for the government as she worked for it for her whole life and she thinks he can do better. However, this passion that he has for wanting to really get to know the boarder, over weighs his mothers concerns that she has for him and Cantú reassures his mother that he is going to be just fine. Throughout his entries, it is clear to see that Cantú is faced with a moral dilema working as a boarder cop. His caring and light hearted personality sometimes gets the best of him when he captures people trying to cross the boarder, but he then realizes he has to do his job and send them back for deportation. This is a decision that doesn't come easy for Cantú because of some of the connections he would make with the people he caught. It is interesting to read and see how Cantú's character changes throughout the essays and to also see how Cantú's character differs from all of the other guys working with him. After a few incidents that Cantú encounters, this job started to have an effect on him in a way that I didn't even think about until now. He started to have nightmares of dead bodies, burning fires, and his hands shaking at the wheel which would come back to haunt him every now and then. His essay closes the same way in which it opened, with and entry from the next Christmas which he again spends with his mom. All together, I enjoyed reading this creative essay that touched on a topic that was new and eyeopening for me. I am looking forward to reading more essays in the book. ...more "

Sep 24, 2017 05:58PM · see review