Drinking Coffee Elswhere

ZZ Packer's, "Brownies," had a lot of telling details for all the characters which was what made her fictional story came alive. The story was about young girls from a brownie troop that experience a camping trip for their first time. Each girl had their own special personality and appearance which Packer describes very well. "Usually people were quiet after Arnetta spoke. Her tone had an upholstered confidence that was somehow both regal and vulgar at once. It demanded a few moments of silence in its awake, like the ring of a church bell or the playing of taps." She uses such graphic words like regal and vulgar that helps readers visualize the character more and it also helps them to get a sense of what kind of person she is. You can tell that Arnetta is the leader of the group by her strong and intimidating personality. Another great description, "The belt layered with feathers was uncanny enough, but I was more disturbed by the realization that I had never actually seen a baby pigeon." I thought it was a pretty interesting and at the same time it had some humor to it, coming from a little girl's thoughts. She uses such high vocabulary for her age, as if she's an adult which amazes me, but her humor shows that she is a child. I really enjoyed reading this chapter it got me to reminisce my fun and free- willed childhood experiences.