29. St. Patrick... Just the facts.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/assessment/2000/03/st_patrick.html

On March 16, David Plotz writes an article about St. Patricks day, and claims they are all "Just the Facts." As an intro, an annonomous writer, says that Plotz "strips the myth away from St. Patricks. Plotz begins his article by presenting his main idea. Plotz begins his article by saying how people raise green glass to someone who got rid of snakes, didn't compare Trinity to the shamrock and wasn't even Irish. He goes on to say how there are very few facts about St. Patricks, and most of them come from the autobiographical Confession and the indignant Letter to slave-talking marauder, he had written. He also says that Patrick was born in Britain, and was the son of a Roman official. Plotz goes on about Patricks story life, how he was captured by seafaring riders, then after he had a vision he ran away, but then he had another dream in which the Irish folks asked him to come back, so he did and spent the rest of his 30 years there. Plotz says how the Irish people have celebrated their patron saint for over centuries, about 1,000 years ago. The United States, though, turned it into a boozy spectacle. Irish imigrants used to celebrate St. Patricks first in Boston, 1737. The first parade was held in New York City in 1762. Plotz ends his article by saying just like everyone else, Americans think that St. Patricks are part of them.

In this article Plotz, ends any kind of myth that St. Patricks has. Although it ends the fairytale of it all, he shows the facts and the reality of the myth. Plotz uses allusions throughout his article. He states various of books Patrick himself wrote, and some other books. His diction is very strong, and he goes straight to the point, by showing the side of reality. Since his diction is very strong, it makes his arguments stronger, and easy to understand. He uses easy and not so formal words to make his audience understand his point of view. Plotz says "The scarcity of facts about St. Patrick's life has made him a dress-up doll," he also says in the last sentence of his article, " We Americans, like everyone else, think St. Patrick is one of ,us." In these two sentences you can hear a disappointing tone. Which describes his whole attitude towards how people view St. Patricks and ends his article with a very strong point.