Dodson Response--Afterword

In Bill Dodson's conclusion, I liked how he addressed not just his previous topics throughout his book, but he reiterates the main challenges of China.  In more of a summary, Dodson narrows down China's trends and makes implications on how they can improve as a country.  I think Dodson makes too many implications on how China's primary issues can be solved, but he doesn't include enough of his own personal accounts to share with the readers.  I think Dodson could have included some of his opinions, likes and dislikes, and ultimately, anything he learned from the subject.  For my essay, however, I do want to reiterate my question and address solutions for my topic as Dodson did, but I also want to include personal references and my experiences as well.  I also don't want to leave my audience with a high expectancy to address another topic.  At the end of his afterword Dodson writes, "But that's a whole other story completely" (236).  That statement didn't feel as complete to his topic as I hoped it to be and I felt that it was unnecessary to bring up another topic if it was totally different from his original topic.  In my conclusion, I hope to wrap up my discussion with my question answered for myself and the readers and to include personal references, and a concluding sentence revolving around my main focus.

Dodson Afterword Reflection

Throughout  China Inside Out, I felt as if there was a disconnect between the author and the book.  Although this may have been intentional (as to not pose a bias in the information presented), I still feel that it only weakened the overall appeal of the book.  When it came to his conclusion, Dodson was no different; presenting hardly a personal touch.  However, the author makes it clear that the information in this section is his opinion, stating that “Perhaps one of China’s greatest contributions to the world, then, is . . .” (Pg. 227), which made me wonder WHY he wouldn’t then discuss his personal account of this research process (which is obviously one he is deeply committed to and impacted by).  Another thing I noticed about Dodson’s conclusion, or “Afterword” was his nice job of summarizing the past chapters.  Although this got to be a bit lengthy, I think that in his final paragraph, he did a nice job of recounting the issues discussed and analyzed (Pg. 236).  Perhaps I can take from him, if anything, his ability to (very) accurately recap what has happened in a piece of literary work.  It is in this way that I hope to give my reader a full and complete understanding of the topics I cover.