Alice Walker's Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self reads like a personal narrative. She spends the first part emphasizing how cute and pretty she was, which in turn allowed her to get almost whatever she wanted. She then goes on to talk about her transformation after the "accident" and how she copes with her changed eye.
             As reflected in the story, when Walker was young her outer, physical beauty was the most important thing to her. She felt by being cute she had the upper hand on everyone else, attracting everyone's attention which she very much enjoyed. As she got older, she was no longer the cute girl in the cute dresses, but a tomboy, hanging out with her brothers, playing rough, which eventually led to a BB being shot into her eye. After the accident, she spends many years hiding never raising her head. She is very insecure, which shows in school, when she fails to get the grades she usually earns. When she is fourteen she finally get the glob taken out, and is left with a bluish scar, and a wandering eye. She is self conscious even in her adult age, but with the help of her daughter she soon realizes that beauty comes from the inside. What attracted people attention when she was younger all along was her confidence. After the accident, her confidence was gone, and she felt ugly, but once she regained it again she was "beautiful" again.
             Walker's use of language is very effective in portraying her message. She repeatedly uses the phrase "I am" to begin her paragraphs. This phrase is used effectively by plainly describing each changing setting. The phrase, along with the constant shifting of settings, created a back and forth, rocking rhythm. Walker's diction also contributed to her message. She is descriptive, clearly recounting how she felt before the accident, after the accident, and after her acceptance and realization that her scar only adds to her beauty. The autho...