The Hassle That Comes with Living in Montreal

Question 1

I - Montreal

A - Audrey Hepburn

1) Polished Exterior

2) Personality Quirks

II - People cutting in line to get onto the bus

A - Bundling up for the cold

1) Waiting in long lines

2) Mexican beaches

B - Line jumpers

1) Packed busses

C - Kill or be killed behavior

1) Admission to such a crime

III - The language thing

A - Francophone's

1) Recognizing English accents

B - Anglophones

IV - Motorists not stopping for pedestrians at pedestrian crossings

A - Accidents caused by jaywalkers

B - Accidents caused by aggressive drivers

C - Methods of crossing sidewalks

1) Connection with one motorist

Question 2

Topic: The hassle that comes with living in Montreal.

Author's Purpose: Goldstein's purpose is to illustrate through the comparison and contrast method how hectic daily living in Montreal actually is. From the minute one has to leave for work, to running errands in the community; the city never dies.

Main Idea: Goldstein's love and hate relationship with the City of Montreal. Once love, now more hate, and admission to the hate is number one to admitting that Goldstein has a problem.

Summary: In this essay Goldstein illustrates and informs the reader about the hassle that comes with living in the City of Montreal. Goldstein focuses on the negative aspects, rather than, the positive, which most people are already familiar with. The essay particularly outlines a typical day in Montreal. Goldstein uses the example of waiting in line for the bus on a wintery day. To illustrate people's behavior, she uses symbolic language, such as; 'kill or be killed behavior.' Secondly, the language barrier between Francophone's is demonstrated as people try to go about their daily errands. The solution to not having to take the bus, is to walk, although the dangers that come with being a pedestrian is not necessarily enjoyable either. Escaping the language barrier is solved by escaping Montreal - only to come back and realize it is all still the same.

Question 3

The primary rhetorical mode of this essay is comparison and contrast. First, Goldstein has a love and hate relationship for Montreal. This is displayed throughout the essay by the various examples she uses. This feeling itself is a contrast feeling. Throughout the essay, there are a total of seven excellent comparison and contrast examples. Goldstein compares or contrasts her experiences with things that occurred in a movie, in places across the world, or with sarcastic humor. In the introduction, the reader is asked to compare and be familiar with a Hollywood actress. In my opinion, this is the best comparison given; "I see it as the Audrey Hepburn of cities: pretty, stylish and full of character. Just like Hepburn in the role of Holly Golightly, Montreal is good at keeping up appearances, but underneath the polished exterior are little personality quirks."

A contrast example is used in paragraph 2. "Patiently, you wait in the long cold line of fellow public-transit-takers and close your eyes. For a fleeting moment, you manage to block it all out by picturing yourself sipping a strawberry daiquiri on a Mexican beach..." Here, the reader is asked to feel the difference between a cold wintery day and a beautiful day down south.

Goldstein uses the compare and contrast method to help paint the picture of busy Montreal. For people who have never been to Montreal, she does a great job of comparing the city with examples that people are familiar with or experience on a regular basis. This mode is very successful, because even though not everyone has visited Montreal, the reader is able to agree with Goldstein's feelings due to an experience they have had in another large city across the world. This particularly works in paragraph 5. Even though, many people may not have experienced 'the language thing' with Francophone's, people will be able to relate due to an experience they have had in a foreign country, while on vacation, for example.

Question 4

Another rhetorical mode used in this essay is the cause and effect mode. In paragraph 8, Goldstein uses the following: "According to a recent Radio-Canada report, about 4,000 pedestrians are hit by cars every year in the province of Quebec. Apparently, 47% of those accidents are caused by jaywalkers. I'm no math expert, but I guess that means that the other 53% are caused by aggressive drivers plowing down the city streets with no regard for people's safety." This mode is very productive in Goldstein's essay, specifically in paragraph 8, as it a great introduction and transition into her final argument point about Montreal. The introduction that Goldstein uses is filled with facts, which makes the reader confident that the author is reputable. Goldstein also uses the process of elimination to come to a conclusion; that over half of accidents in Montreal are caused by aggressive drivers. Both the reader and Goldstein can prove the statistics given, by comparing these statistics to other Canadian cities. Even though, this specific example is predominantly cause and effect, it also still entails the central rhetorical mode of comparison and contrast. Goldstein is challenging the reader to think about a city they are familiar with and comparing it to Montreal. Goldstein's purpose with these listed facts makes her arguments more believable. This is important near the end of her essay, as the beginning few points were more on the sarcastic side. This facts and results paragraph brings the reader back to reality.

The second rhetorical mode used in Goldstein's essay is persuasion. In paragraph 9 she talks about visiting Edmonton