My Reflection on "Why Don't We Complain" by William F. Buckley Jr. and "On Compassion" by Barbara Lazear Ascher

In class, we read the non-fiction pieces, "Why Don't We Complain" and "On Compassion."  I found these to be very different essays, though there is one similarity in particular that I found effective.  This similarity was a very strong part of each essay: the use of real-life examples.  In "Why Don't We Complain", the temperature on the train, the tray table in the airplane, and the movie theater were instances that I could relate to, especially because I have a father who does complain during these situations.  Barbara Lazear Ascher uses similar examples when she describes situations with the homeless people (the woman offering the homeless man money and the French bakery owner giving the other homeless man food), which we have all seen firsthand.  As far as the differences between these two pieces of writing, the main difference is the way that each is written.  The author of "Why Don't We Complain" was trying to be more persuasive, while the author of "On Compassion" wrote a more contemplative piece that questioned how we react to the homeless in society.  I personally found "Why Don't We Complain" to be a stronger piece of writing because of this persuasiveness and the way the author integrates politics to highlight his point, but "On Compassion" to be more relatable.  We have all thought about whether we give money to the homeless because of fear or because we pity them and even if we should give money at all, but the politics that William F. Buckley Jr. uses in his piece are more distant for most of us.  The style in which each of these pieces was written was also different.  "On Compassion" used many metaphors, similes, examples of imagery, and rhetorical questions to showcase the meaning of the text which "Why Don't We Complain" did not have.  I think that this effective language made the essay more interesting to read, but the main point was not as clear.  Overall, I enjoyed both pieces as they left me thinking after I read them, but they did have different styles and different purposes.