Compare and Contrast Between Quindlen and Lutz After reading and examining two essays, "Life under the chief doublespeak officer" a short story by William Lutz and "Homeless", a descriptive of Anna Quindlen , I firmly believe that Quindlen is a favorite essay because of the gravity of its topic, greater personal relevance, and that its material allows the reader to sympathize with the topic. William Lutz's essay addresses the growing tendency in corporate America to mask actions with words and/or phrases that mask the company's intentions. In Lutz's essay it says: “In ambiguous language, banks do not have 'bad loans' or 'bad debts'; have “bad assets” or “bad loans” that are being “rolled over” or “rescheduled.” Businesses never lose money; they simply experience “negative cash flow,” “increasing deficits,” “net income revenue shortfalls,” or “negative contributions to profits.” (Lutz, n.d.) Lutz's point is well taken, however the cynicism noted distances any sincere attempt to gain sympathy from the reader. Quindlen, however, tackles a weighty topic that deserves more than just a cursory read, and that is being homeless. Immediately in the essay, Quindlen introduces the reader to Ann, a tramp who has been “passing through” for two weeks. In their conversation, Ann pulls out a photograph from which Quindlen says: “They weren't photos of family, or friends, or even of a dog or a cat, with red-brown eyes in the flash light. They were photos of a house. It was like a thousand houses in a hundred towns, not suburbs, not cities, but somewhere in between, with aluminum siding and a chain-link fence, a narrow driveway leading to a one-car garage, and a patch of yard. The house was the focus of the paper…I liked both essays. Lutz's narrative essay was full of humor and irony that gave me insight into the corporate world. His work flowed and caught my attention, especially because I work in that world he wrote about. Quindlen, however, opened a new door to perception with his descriptive essay. She wrote her story beautifully which allowed me to connect with her emotions and those of her friend Ann. Quindlen's essay drew me in with the gravity of its topic, unlike Lutz's work which relies on tongue-in-cheek humor. Quindlen's work created a deep sense of sympathy and opened my eyes to understand and see homelessness through different lenses. Works Cited Quindlen, A. (n.d.). Homeless. Retrieved from http://pers.dadeschools.net/prodev/homelesstext.htmLutz, W. (n.d.). Life under the dual-language chief officer. Retrieved from http://dt.org/html/Doublespeak.html