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Brad Manning -- from Arkansas, born in 1967, went to Harvard for uni and studied religion and history

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written for a composition course

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author and his father always arm wrestled and communicated physically -> distanced from father, no verbal communication

now he is an adult who has reflected on his relationship with his father, and he is noticing a changed dynamic

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his professor

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people have different forms of communication, and ur relationship with others develops over time

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share a story about his unique bond with his father

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Manning develops a reflective and bittersweet tone throughout this memoir. Much of the passage is a recounting of how he interacted with his father throughout his childhood. He discusses "how he felt for a number of years" (Manning, par 2) and delves into how and why his "feelings have changed" (Manning, par 5). By using strong descriptive words such as "white perfect teeth" (Manning, par 5), he establishes a sense of awe towards his father.

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Manning's repetitive use of "I"

highlights the personal aspect of the message and RHS

give the reader a sense of closeness to Manning while reading, as it almost reads like a conversation with the author

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continued metaphor - arm wrestling

it is the title narrativeidea

ties into the context of manning and his father's relationship and the ritualistic nature of their bonding and affection for each other as the stories circles back to it repeatedly, just as they did

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intensive description of physical intereaction with his dad

in doing so, manning furthers his message of the weight carried by these interactions

shows how deeply these seemingly surface level interactions affect the two of them.

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"Perhaps at that point I could have given up, letting my father win. But it was so fast and absorbing. How could I have learned so quickly how it would feel to have overpowered the arm that had protected and provided for me all of my life? His arms have always protected me and the family. Whenever I am near him I am unafraid, knowing his arms are ready to catch me and keep me safe, the way they caught my mother one time when she fainted halfway across the room, the way he carried me, full grown, up and down the stairs when I had mononucleosis, the way he once held my feet as I stood on his shoulders to put up a new basketball net. My mother may have had the words or the touch that sustained our family, but his were the arms that protected us. And his were the arms now that I had pushed to the carpet, first the right arm, then the left." (Manning, pg. 3)

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"Perhaps at that point I could have given up, letting my father win. But it was so fast and absorbing. How could I have learned so quickly how it would feel to have overpowered the arm that had protected and provided for me all of my life? His arms have always protected me and the family. Whenever I am near him I am unafraid, knowing his arms are ready to catch me and keep me safe, the way they caught my mother one time when she fainted halfway across the room, the way he carried me, full grown, up and down the stairs when I had mononucleosis, the way he once held my feet as I stood on his shoulders to put up a new basketball net. My mother may have had the words or the touch that sustained our family, but his were the arms that protected us. And his were the arms now that I had pushed to the carpet, first the right arm, then the left." (Manning, pg. 3)