High and Low

I read the article “High and Low,” by Anthony Lane, in the magazine The New Yorker. During the beginning of the article I was very unsure of what the writer was trying to get across to me as the reader. Although the article started very slow, it all began to run together and I learned some very interesting facts about how cheap it is to fly in Europe. Flights to Trieste, if purchased in advanced, would only cost $17.50 and the return flight would only cost $1.40.
Throughout the article, the author used a few different versions of structure. The article started off as a story that did not give much reference to what the upcoming text would be about. Anthony Lane started telling about his adventure to Vitoria- Gasteiz, a city located in Spain. The authors tone showed that he was very confused and lost when he first ventured to the unknown city with him stating, “My destination was Vitoria-Gasteiz, a placed I had never hear of, whose grid reference, climate, cuisine, night life, fauna, and geological foundation I had made no attempt to discover.”
As the article continues on, the voice of the article becomes very objective with sarcastic remarks thrown in to add more personality to the text. To help do this, Anthony Lane changed the structure of the article to short paragraphs listing important information. The author went into great detail on a variety of topics including pricing of flights, different airline carriers, and some of the leading complaints by flyers. To increase the value of the text and humor the reader, he added in sarcastic tone which helped entertain the reader on a rather plain article. Some comments made like, “There is another, more thoughtful response to the charge of planetary indifference: sell your car and walk,” helped add a dry sense of humor to the article.
The authors diction in the article really helped develop the tone. He used high class vocabulary during important spots in the article to set a serious mood. He also used some very catchy lines like “avaricious eyes,” and “succumb to thirst” to catch the readers attention. Lastly, as the reader I was able to paint pictures in my head while reading this story with his great description. Lines like “A chipper, salty-haired fellow in jeans and sneakers…,”and “rickety stones shook the bones…” made me feel like I was part of the story.
During the beginning of this story I was very uninterested, but as the story progressed I learned many interesting facts about flying in Europe.