"Lydia's Story"

1. In my opinion, Jan Brideau's main point is that with some hope and determination, you are able to get through anything, even in the worst of times. For example, whether you just broke up with someone, someone close to you has passed away, or even a natural disaster has taken away everything you know and love as the story tells, you are able to get through it and persevere. This is indicated in the last sentence of the story, "But Lydia's story that stays with me most, probably because it represents the essence of hope and determination in the face of terrible adversity".

2.The primary point of view in "Lydia's Story" would be a third person point of view. As a reader, it made me feel like I was actually there watching Lydia as she experiences these difficulties. It made   me experience some of the same anxiety as the water rose and it made me feel empowered as she made her way out of the house and was saved.

3. Jan Brideau makes her narrative come alive by being very descriptive and using very descriptive words. The story had a great deal of descriptive words such as illuminated, slender, cackle, soft-spoken, tender, windowless, soaking, poured, swept up, bulky, heavy, rocking, spurted, waded, cramped, and enormity. These descriptive words help paint a picture for a reader, one sentence that painted an image in my mind was a sentence about the VFW hall, "The hall had no windows; only fluorescent lighting illuminated the large space".

4. According to the book, "Health Affairs is a journal of health policy thought and research". This brings me to believe that the audience would most likely be medical professionals, psychologists, scientists, or just random people who find health policy thought and research interesting. With this in mind, Brideau uses a perfect formal and informative tone for the audience. For example, Brideau writes " Lydia was soft-spoken but eager to have her tooth examined", Beideau could have wrote something lazy and not descriptive such as "Lydia wanted her tooth examined" but instead she formally describes the situation making her look professional and respectable.