Scott A. Carpenter, II WRT 1010 Section #8 October 5, 2013 The People Next Door by Jonathan R. Gould, Jr.

The People Next Door by Jonathan R. Gould, Jr. is a small student essay that details the type of neighbors Mr. Gould has come across in his life. He sums it up by saying that each neighbor he has met fit into one of four categories of neighbors: too friendly neighbors, unsociable neighbors, irate neighbors, and finally the just right neighbors. He goes into detail and carefully explains the quality of each breed of neighbors and puts his own experiences between them in the process. I think I speak for everyone when I say that this short story literally speaks for everyone. Over time, I have come across the just right neighbor. When I was about 6, my family and I had this beautiful elderly lady, named Frida, who whenever I saw her, was always tending her flower garden. Even though she lived right next door to me, she didnt always come over. She made small talk with my brothers and me whenever we came outside to play in our backyard. She was really cool with my parents. My parents has been over her house a couple of times, however she never came over ours. I was really sad when we moved when I turned 7. I never saw or heard from her or about her again. Over the years, I have come across some unruly neighbors. They would either have their music blasting out loud from their cars or houses. Sometimes it would be so loud you could hear their music from their basement- with the doors closed! Luckily, in the same neighborhood, there was another just right neighbor. Imagery is used in this essay, as Gould is able to paint a fairly clear picture on the stereotypical unsociable, irate, too friendly, and just right neighbors. What helped his cause was to make this essay a descriptive one. He uses the first person to tell the reader HE has come

across these breeds of neighbors. Its good that he did the story in this manner because not everyone comes across these different neighbors. Another reason is that many people may have their own terminology upon identifying these neighbors. Who knows, there may be people that may have a preference for irate neighbors over too friendly neighbors.