.. In Ocean Vuong’s book, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, language functions as both a
border that has put a lot of the characters in the story into dangerous situations, and a gap of
consciousness, creating other situations that make the characters targets of discrimination.
In 2-3 pages, please analyze the following passage from the text. Close read all elements of the
passage (structure, style, thematic content, literary devices, etc.) and make an argument for the
ways in which Vuong uses different themes and images to explore the importance of love as acts
of service or care.
Please remember not only limit your understanding or argument to identifying themes, but also
consider grammar and punctuation marks, as well as the structure of the passage (how it is
written).
PASSAGE: We try to preserve life, even when we know it has no chance of enduring its body.
We feed it, keep it comfortable, bathe it, medicate it, caress it, even sing to it. We tend to these
basic functions not because we are brave or selfless but because, like breath, it is the most
fundamental act of our species: to sustain the body until time leaves it behind… This agency for
evolution, which once made me proud… now betrays me. (198-199).