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Retrospective Narration of “Orientation”

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Brian S. Ekasala ENC1102-170861 Professor Martin-Buchanan May 29, 2013 Journal Response #2 Retrospective Narration of “Orientation” “Orientation” written by Daniel Orozco (McMahan 454) was to me, mostly a comical read. I have that dark sense of humor I guess. I liked the way the story was presented. By using primarily first person narration, I felt as if I was the one being shown around the office on my first day of work. I found myself conjuring up question after unanswered question as I was being pulled into a story line about yet another employee. I became less interested in the particulars of who exactly was the narrator, the intended audience, or the office itself; and more interested in the inner workings of the office …show more content…

For example, immediately following the quick background about Anika Bloom having her palms bleed and foretelling Barry Hackers’ wife’s death, you’re told not to talk to her or you may end up like Colin Heavey; who became doomed after having talked to Anika. This effectively stopped me in my tracks; no wonder Daniel Orozco has gained so much notoriety for this short story, there’s so much depth to it. Anytime the storyline started to become boring the author would interject something so contrast that it demanded attention. To go from describing the benefits plan and showing the kitchenette into a description of how Barry Hackers’ wife is now haunting the office. To go from a description of the Supplies Cabinet and Gwendolyn Stich’s penguins into a very detailed description of Kevin Howard, a known serial killer, in such a callous way was shocking! I was left with a view of what I believe is San Francisco. A description of the view from the photocopier room mentioned, “It overlooks the park, where the tops of those trees are. You can see a segment of the bay between those two buildings over there” (McMahan 457). I did a little research on the author and found in an interview he mentioned “his worst job and growing up in San Francisco” (KQED). I found it amusing that one of the very

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