Tanya Maria Barrientos starts her essay with an anecdote to make her writing more credible, emotional, and appealing. Clearly, the use of the first-hand experience always makes it seem more credible as people tend to believe personal accounts rather than anonymous stories. Apart from making people believe her, Barrientos uses the anecdote to reach the reader’s heart. Starting the story with the anecdote makes it very emotional and personal or even intimate.
The author does not write about problems certain groups of people face in the contemporary American society but reveals her own sorrows and hardships, which makes the reader more engaged. The anecdote brings back similar memories every reader has as all people have had some issues that shape their personalities or remain a significant burden for them. Interestingly, the author’s personal experience makes the story appeal to a very wide audience including Latino Americans, bilingual people, and any individual living in any part of the modern globalized world. Barrientos’ decision to place the anecdote at the beginning of her writing has proved to be effective as the story makes readers reflect on important issues.