“On Fire” Response Questions

1.       1. What process does Brown describe? 

     Brown uses process narrative to describe what it was like being a firefighter. The process narrative is used to describe a personal experience, so the process described is about Brown’s specific experience being a firefighter.

2. How is this essay unlike the typical process explanation, presented in strict chronological

order?  Why does this departure “fit” his subject matter/occupation? 

     This essay is unlike the process explanation because Brown is not describing how to do something, he is not providing instructions, but he is letting the reader know what it was like for him while he was a firefighter. This departure from the process explanation fits the subject matter because Brown describes firefighting as being an occupation that is unpredictable. So this way of writing, everything mixed together, no order, best matches his description of the job.

3. In the first paragraph, Brown uses a simile when he says that one of the things a firefighter

learns is that they “can burn like a candle.”  What other examples of figurative language does

he use?  How does such language enhance the essay?

     Brown describes himself as being human, made of flesh, not Superman. He compares himself to Superman to let the reader know that he does not have superpowers, that he is only human trying to do an extraordinary job. But Brown also compares his job to bagging groceries or painting houses, maybe to let the reader know that he is proud to have this extraordinary job; that it is well worth the dangers. I think that this language gives the reader different perspectives of the job. You think of Brown as just another guy with a different kind of job, one with a lot of responsibilities, but at the same time you think of him as a person that you could never connect with because he is a firefighter.

4. Throughout his essay, Brown repeatedly uses the second-person pronoun you. Why do you

think Brown uses the second-person perspective, instead of the more usual first- (I) or third-

person (he or she) in his essay? What effect does it have?

     I think that Brown uses the second-person pronoun while describing his experience as a firefighter because it helps the reader to picture themselves in his shoes. While reading the essay I could visualize the experiences that he described and I could therefore understand what it may be like to be a firefighter.

5. What overall impression(s) of firefighting do you think Brown wishes to convey?  How is this

purpose exemplified in his final paragraph?

     Brown wishes to convey to the reader that firefighting is a job that requires complete dedication and attention. He wants the reader to understand that not only is he responsible for human lives, but he is also responsible for many other jobs which ultimately help in saving lives. I think the most important message that he wanted to convey is that no matter what, no matter how tired he was or how scared, he had to be ready to do the job at any moment.