Wright Thompson wrote the article “Pretending to Be Okay” about the head women’s basketball coach of the UCONN Huskies. I have always been a fan of the UCONN Huskies so right away it had my attention. However, I have never liked reading long articles since I always got bored and uninterestedvery quickly once I started. The author was able to write the article in a way where I was drawn in it and wanted to keep reading to the end.
This is an effective piece because of the fact that it is easy to read and comprehend even though it’s long. It isn’t just one long article broken up by small paragraphs, but it is broken up by pictures and videos to give the reader a break every once in a while. It also has one-line dialogue of the converstation that was had that made it more interesting to read because it wasn’t the author talking about the coach the entire time. Instead there were snippets of the interview put into the article that sometimes wasn’t what I was expecting, but it made it all that more intriguing.
Within the piece, the writer included facts and information about Geno Auriemma and the team that may not have been known to the outside world. For example, he mentions how Geno stated that to everyone the team looks flawless and has a great time, when in reality they have always been extreamly focused on the game, on winning and getting the ring at the end, with the only emotion they have is relief at the end of the season that they never have fun.
Thompson also wrote with his own style without truly worrying about the audience like Zinsser states in his book, On Writing Well. Overall, the article was fascinating and kept me engaged in it from the beginning to the end.
Michaela Ganezer 