For this discussion I chose "Are the Rich Happy?" written by Stephen Leacock (1916) for my narrative essay and “Homeless” written by Anna Quindlen (n.d.) for my descriptive essay. In this essay discussion, I will compare/contrast the author's purpose, intended audience, and the impact on the reader that each author intended to achieve through the essay they wrote; I also intend to demonstrate that the descriptive essay communicates the author's point of view in a superior way than the narrative essay. In the narrative essay, Leacock (1916) wanted the narrator to be a sage to show with his words and through his own experiences what rich people think are problems, who are not rich, they are “pinched” (p2), and that they trust money and possessions more than people, which makes them bitter over time. Leacock (1916) shows an example of this when he tells of how Mr and Mrs Fowler were losing their butler, and it seems that this was due to the way he was being treated; although Mr Fowler promptly stated that it wasn't their fault, but was because their butler didn't like them (p16). Leacock went on to say that the Fowlers should deal with the situation and get a suite with ten rooms and four bathrooms (1916). While the purpose of Anna Quindlen's (n.d.) descriptive essay “Homeless” was written to show that people generalize the homeless as a group of people, not as homeless individuals (n.d., p10). Quindlen goes on to say “you are where you live (nd, p2)” showing that Ann, the homeless woman Quindlen had met, is at home homeless at this time in her life; Ann had a house once and to her she wasn't actually homeless, because that house in the picture she showed Quindlen would always be... middle of paper... things for the granite that the poor love, and as a result the poor feel satisfied by the little things in life that the rich take for granite. In contrast, in Quindlen's descriptive essay (n.d.) he used bold details to achieve a completely different impact on his readers. He wants to show the reader: “It's not the homeless. They are people who have no home” (ndp10). The impact Quindlen (nd) wanted to have on his readers was to touch their hearts and inspire them to help people who are homeless. (ndp10)Works Cited2.Leacock, S. (1916). Are the rich happy? In R. Nordquist (Ed.), About.com Guide to Grammar and Composition. Retrieved from http://grammar.about.com/od/classicessays/a/Are-the-Rich-Happy-by-Stephen-Leacock.htm3.Quindlen, A. (n.d.). Homeless. Retrieved from http://pers.dadeschools.net/prodev/homelesstext.htm