Critical Response 4: Matt Carroll

Colleen Mundy
Dr. Tony Barnstone
ENGL 302
March 17, 2009

Critical Response to Matt Carroll
“My Short Story About The Homecoming Dance (Too Long of a Title?)”
I like how the idea of questioning the writing is brought up right away in the title. Asking whether or not the title is too long brings the reader into the idea of being addressed right away. I also like the irony of making the title being “My SHORT Story” when the title is so long, and then calling yourself out on the length. That really pulls the reader into the meta narrative.
My only real problem with the way that this story is set up is that the meta narrative sections are used, or at least have the effect on me, as being more of a personal debate for the author. It seems that he is questioning his own writing more than addressing the reader at many points. He questions punctuation and word choice and makes it seem like he is really just talking to himself about his writing.
For me, the strongest points are when the author is being cynical and sarcastic. In these moments, for example talking about what kind of character he is being turned into and the Nicolas Sparks references, the author shows more interaction with the reader. I think the best revisions to this story would be to use more of these kind of techniques and less about the punctuation and actual writing.