Jerry Rockwood's reflective essay "Life Intrudes" is effective because of the way in which he has constructed the piece. He uses the four Reflective Strategies that are derived from Reading Critically, Writing Well by Axelrod and Cooper. The strategies are; Particular Occasion, Developing the Reflection, Topical Coherence, and Engaging the Reader. It is because of Rockwood's strong and correct usage of these strategies that his essay is effective at persuading the reader to believe in his thoughts on raising children, more namely boys. In addition, Rockwood's essay is also effective at getting the reader to reflect on their own personal experiences that are relative to the subject of raising children.

The first of the four reflective strategies, Particular Occasion, is "the main experience that started the writer thinking" (A&C p123). The key to this strategy is to present the occasion in a manner that entices the reader to know more about what the writer is thinking. Rockwood uses this strategy in paragraphs one and two when he vividly describes his own childhood and refers to his "squelched a

The final of the four reflective strategies Engaging the Reader. This strategy is used to make the reader reflect on their own experiences. This is done by making "surprisingly apt examples, comparisons and contrasts." (A&C p126). Rockwood makes excellent use of this strategy in his final three paragraphs. He questions, "are we wrong in presenting only half the picture?" This question causes the reader to think for a moment, but he immediately follows his question with an analogy which rhetorically answers his previously stated question. The analogy is "Do you train a sailor by showing him how to tie the ropes and neglect to tell him about wind direction and tides?" These questions are effective at causing the reader to realize the idea that Rockwood is presenting.

The third of the four reflective strategies is Topical Coherence. Topical Coherence is the veritable glue that holds reflective essays together. It is the "assurance that the reader senses that all parts of the essay seem relevant to the topic." (A&C p124). Rockwood's essay presents several different situations, but he ties them together by showing their relativity through examples. Rockwood

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Approximate Word count = 791
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)