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Gary Shteyngart's Sixty-Nine Cents Summary

Decent Essays

There was probably a time in your life where an acquaintance of some degree spoke a phrase, looked at you, and then said “You know what I’m talking about.” You probably did know what they were talking about. Even if you didn’t, you knew at that they meant something other than what they said. Often, when a person wants to explain something, they will use something that they believe to be more familiar to their audience, often as a story from their own life. A good example of this anecdotal format would be Gary Shteyngart’s “Sixty-Nine Cents,” where Shteyngart uses an anecdote to illustrate the cultural differences between America and Russia, as well as ideological differences between parents and their children. Shteyngart never actually states this is what he is …show more content…

It is an example of foreshadowing. Now, because the topic of comparison and the story are inextricably linked, we can apply this foreshadowing to our topic. It is, in a sense, a support to a point that has not necessarily been made yet. Shteyngart is preparing us for the summation of his argument. However, maybe you do not remember the previous points that he has made indirectly. Thankfully, Shteyngart is rather skilled in the fine art of summary, and he uses this next part of the story, where everyone is walking into the ever-important McDonalds, to bring to the forefront all of the points and differentiations he has made. He portrays his young incarnation fleeing into the restaurant, eager to partake in part of his dream. However, the parents bring in an ice-chest, full of well prepared Russian lunch food. Now there must be a decision. How similar is young Shteyngart to his parents? How rooted is he in his Russian heritage, despite his exposure to American culture? There is an entire paragraph where these questions are likely to arise in your mind as a somewhat despair-toned humour surrounds a grand description of a humble

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