Lydia's Story, Response

1. What is Brideau's main point, and where in the essay is it located?
After Brideau finishes telling Lydia's story, the end of the article describes the author's feelings towards the devastation left after the hurricanes. She describes how Lydia's story "represents the essence of hope and determination." Sharing that hope is the point of writing down Lydia's experience.

2. What is the primary point of view from which Brideau narrates "Lydia's Story"? What impact does that point of view have on you as a reader?
The story is primarily told from third person, describing what happened to Lydia. This point of view made me imagine watching what was happening, waiting for what would happen next. It's told like how Brideau would have heard it from Lydia, which I think made the story sound more real.

3. How does Brideau make her narrative "come alive"? List of description words:
Toxic, terrible, humid, devastated, precarious, terrified
The descriptive words used mostly have a negative connotation, to impress upon the readers how awful the situation in Louisiana really was. These words really make the readers try to understand and sympathize with what happened to Lydia, and lots of other people in this tragedy.

4. Who would be the audience for this piece, and how does Brideau's tone suit those readers?
The readers of Health Affairs are probably interested in helping people, or at least want to know how people are doing in other parts of the country or world. Lydia's struggle is a really good way to call interested people into action, to volunteer or donate to hurricane victims. The way Brideau describes Lydia makes people want to help her; the author specifically points out Lydia's past as an overly sympathetic nurse, and how the only thing she tries to save is her photo album of her family. Such  an overly human story pulls on the heartstrings of its readers, and makes us want to help those in need.