Essay packet one

While reading the essay packet there was a few of them I liked but I would say the one that stuck out the most to me would be Mute Dancers: How to Watch a Hummingbird. When I first started to read it I thought it would be a dumb piece of writing on a hummingbird and what they do, or how they do things. Turns out it was a piece of writing all about hummingbirds, but I have never been so interested in a hummingbird in all my life. It was the way she would describe and compare each thing a hummingbird does to something else, in great detail.

For example when she says, “Like a small fury of iridescence, a hummingbird spends the day at high speed, darting and swiveling among thousands of nectar-rich blossoms”. She made that sentence so I don’t know loaded in words which made it more interesting. She could have just said hummingbird’s hummingbirds fly fast going to each flower for nectar, instead she gave it a little oomph to make it come to life, so you as the reader can picture it. Also she compares the hummingbird to a cat, saying they drink the nectar like a cat would milk but faster. I enjoyed the way she kept my attention, but I also like how I learned so much about a hummingbird without being bored.

Ackerman describes these tiny little creatures as if they are the most interesting thing on earth. She makes them out to be an engine almost, like the birds’ heart beats 36 times a minute while sleeping and then in the morning has to get it to 500 beats. That’s kind of like a car engine, when it’s not in use (sleeping) the engine obviously isn’t working hard, but when it’s time to go somewhere and you start it up the engine starts working fast.  Ackerman said hummingbirds usually die in their sleep because they go from 36 beats to 500, this would be extremely difficult for anyone to do. That goes back to the car engine as well, if the car is older or just is having problems starting it is hard to get the engine going and eventually the engine dies.

Another thing I enjoyed about this reading is the stories Ackerman told about her friend being on “their” property, or her walking in the rain forest.  It gave to piece that personal touch it needed instead of just all facts laid out on a piece of paper.