ENGL 111 Composition 1

Low-Stakes Writing Assignment

Critical Reading: Rat Pack, by Aaron Smith
This essay was written by Aaron Smith while he was a student at a community college
in Michigan. Among other things, it shows us what an undergraduate writer may be
capable of.
Since we are thinking and talking about critical readingcareful, active, thoughtful
readingit makes sense to ask questions about the content of the essay:
1. Why did Smith bring the rats home? Do you think he fully understood what
taking care of them would involve? Why do you think that?
Smith brought the rats home because he wanted to ensure that they lived out their full
life span; he was fearful that his teacher would dispose of them in a manner he didnt
see fit. When reading what his thought process was, he seemed to rationalize the
keeping of the rats by thinking, rats only live a couple of years, and they were nearly a
year old anyway, so how difficult could four rodents be? This shows his thinking along
the lines of time, and not necessarily thinking about the care and money involved in
owning them. It seemed he was consumed with the idea that they might not be treated
properly unless he took them, and that fueled his need to save them from whatever
enigmatic fate they were headed towards.

2. What would you say is Smiths purpose in this essay? Is it primarily to

entertain readers with the antics of his rats? Or does he seem to have
another purpose as well? How can you tell?
Although the story is very entertaining, I do not think that the purpose of the story is to
entertain the reader with rat antics. He saved the rats from a scary fate and although he
got more than he bargained for, everything worked out in the end. He stuck with the rats
and enjoyed them; he enjoyed their intelligence, company, and personality. This leads
me to think that the purpose of the story is to show that while some decisions (and
people) seem simple, the reality is that things arent always what they seem to be.
3. Smith does not directly state a thesis, a main point that his essay is making.
In your own words, what is the controlling idea of his narrative? (The
controlling idea is the thesis: the central idea of the essay; the idea or point
that everything in the essay relates to.)

Smiths thesis would be something along the line of keeping with his purpose,
seemingly simple things are often complex. He uses rats, an animal that is not high up
on the average persons list of most intellegient or worthy things, and gives them a voice
and shows their personalities. This deepens the idea and his thesis of seemingly simple
things arent as simple as they appear.
adapted from The Bedford Reader, p. 119

Your response will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

____ valid answers to the questions
____ justification (reasons why) provided for the answers
____ adequate development of responses (you say enough to cover the
question)
____ evidence from the text cited in the answer
____ clarity of ideas and expression