Tow #10 The Story of My First and Favorite 'No'

In Shonda Rhimes's "The Story of My First and Favorite 'No'", she uses descriptive details and references to historical events that use the word 'no', to portray her support for the weaponary word 'no' and that it is a very tough weapon to deploy. Many teenagers are excited to receive their licenses, some say the process of driving with an instructor is the most nerve-wrecking of the whole experience. Rhimes captures these nerve-wrecking experiences with descriptive details that help the reader image the event. "Butterflies zipping around my stomach, I looked at the instructor. Patient and kind, a little balding, he was known as a nice man. He smiled at me, reassuring. I smiled back and asked what he wanted me to do" (para. 4), without even having a conversation, the reader can sense the nervous atmosphere. Now that the stage is set, Rhimes uses her descriptive details to help move the scene along. Now moving to when she is actually driving. Once driving, Rhimes explains when she drove on the freeway for the first time as "I [she] had been scared literally out of my [her] mind" (para 5). Later on questioning her actions, "When the driver's ed instructor told me to turn onto the ramp that led to the freeway, why didn't I put my foot on the brake and put the car in park and look at him and say that one word that would have changed everything?" (para 5). It is not until she mentions Rosa Park's historical actions, during the Civil Rrights Movement when she said 'no' to a white man demanding to sit in her seat, that Rhimes reminds herself how important and impactful this word ‘no’ is as that it eventually lead to equal rights for people of color and women. Shonda Rhimes is the head runner, creator and executive producer of Grey's Anatomy and other tv shows (Scandal), her audience is from all ages. With her descriptive details and historical background, she was successful in letting people know the true power of the word 'no'.


Url used: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shonda-rhimes/the-story-of-my-first-and-favorite-no_b_8591188.html