The city of Tuscaloosa has a deep history that is rooted in tradition and pride. While some of these traditions are positive things in the views of many, Tuscaloosa also has extremely racist and elitist traditions embedded in the history of the city and the University of Alabama. This is displayed by comparing two essays, “City Cafe,” by Anna L. Jones, and “A Wash with UA’s Machine,” by Janna Hood. In “City Cafe,” Jones explores the history and her own personal experience with the restaurant located in downtown Tuscaloosa. Her essay is in stark contrast with Hood’s “A Wash with UA’s Machine” in tone and genre. Jones’s essay is a personal and historical narrative, while Hood’s is an argumentative research essay. These two essays together both speak about a certain aspect of Tuscaloosa’s history or social community. Jones’s and Hood’s essays share similar topics, but they differ in tone, genre, and overall structure. First of all, Jones’s and Hood’s essays differ strongly in tone. “City Cafe” is a positive view of the restaurant and how it impacted the author’s life. In “A Wash with UA’s Machine,” the author uses an argumentative, condemning tone that seeks to expose the organization called “the Machine” that controls campus politics. Hood says “The racism on campus will not stop until the members of the organization…show more content… They both explore different aspects of the city’s social and political background. But they differ in their tone, where Jones’s is a softer, more optimistic tone, while Hood’s is shaming and accusatory. They also differ in the genre, where Jones’s is a personal narrative while Hood’s is a research article. Structure is also different in the two essays, as their ideas flow in different ways. Anna Jones’s and Janna Hood’s essays offer two contrasting perspectives of Tuscaloosa and the University of Alabama that highlight our strengths and our weaknesses in our
