Why Jerry Rockwood's Essay "Life Intrudes" is Effective
             Jerry Rockwood's reflective essay "Life Intrudes" is effective because of the way in which he has constructed the piece. He uses the four Reflective Strategies that are derived from Reading Critically, Writing Well by Axelrod and Cooper. The strategies are; Particular Occasion, Developing the Reflection, Topical Coherence, and Engaging the Reader. It is because of Rockwood's strong and correct usage of these strategies that his essay is effective at persuading the reader to believe in his thoughts on raising children, more namely boys. In addition, Rockwood's essay is also effective at getting the reader to reflect on their own personal experiences that are relative to the subject of raising children.
             The first of the four reflective strategies, Particular Occasion, is "the main experience that started the writer thinking" (A&C p123). The key to this strategy is to present the occasion in a manner that entices the reader to know more about what the writer is thinking. Rockwood uses this strategy in paragraphs one and two when he vividly describes his own childhood and refers to his "squelched aggression", and how his bottled up anger helped him when he was acting. When he describes the situation that made him begin to reflect, it causes the reader to want to read more. The reader becomes curious and wants to know the reflections of the experience. Therefore, by presenting the particular occasion Rockwood effectively captures the reader's attention.
             The second reflective strategy that Rockwood effectively uses is Developing the Reflection. Developing the reflection is a used to explore the subject that is introduced by the Particular Occasion. This includes "both ideas about self and society and development of these ideas." (A&C p124). Rockwood does this by giving examples of the C
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