TOW #27 "Lost and Found" (written)

Lost and Found by Colson Whitehead is a short memoir about living in New York City, New York, and being a New Yorker. "History books and public television documentaries are always trying to tell you all sorts of facts about New York. That Canal Street used to be a canal. That Bryant Park used to be a reservoir" (para. 5). Whitehead argues that these are not things you need to know about New York City, and also may or may not be true at all. The overall tone is fairly casual and uses slang, contractions, and the voice comes across as very "New York" to the reader. It also seems a bit instructional to the reader because the author uses second person and seems to be talking to the audience, and almost directing them through a day in the Big Apple. The sentences are mainly kept on the shorter side making it seem more conversational as well. Very few of them are longer than 10 or so words. Whitehead also includes little moments of dialogue into the memoir. At the start, it had seemed the author held a negative light towards the grand city and was going to end up trashing it throughout the memoir. However, instead, int he end the author finishes up with the feeling of pride for ones own city, and even all of its little flaws.