The American Male at Age Ten

The most striking paragraph of “The American Male at Age Ten” for me was the first full paragraph of the third page. This paragraph struck out to me because of the juxtaposition of the naive fifth graders with horrifying content, such as the AIDS virus and abortion. One sentence in particular highlights this notable combination, “Before class began,  there was a lot of horsing around, but there were also a lot of conversations about whether Magic Johnson had AIDS or just HIV and whether someone falling in a pool of blood from a cut of his would get the disease.” Before discussing Magic Johnson, Orlean starts the sentence with “horsing around” which connotates a casual, playful atmosphere which is abruptly contrasted with the content of the boys’ conversations. Even so, their conversations are not entirely morbid; the fact that they may believe in falling into a pool of Magic Johnson’s blood may transmit HIV/AIDS belies their naivete. Afterwards, Orlean provides a succinct summarization of these boys conversations, “These jolts of sobriety in the midst of rank goofiness are a ten-year-old's speciality.” The phrase “jolts of sobriety” points to the sometimes solemn content of these boys’ conversations and how they are shocking to an outsider listener since they bring the listener back to reality from the boys’ usual playfulness. The use of “rank” in “rank goofiness” is appropriate since “rank” can be used as a synonym for “utter”, and these boys are truly utterly goofy. Additionally, “rank” could also be used to referred to the boys themselves, who probably stink since they love to frolic outside and even mingle with undomesticated animals. Orlean continues the paragraph by contrasting a mundane conversation with Colin about horses or dogs with his sudden inquiry into the most eco-conscious way of eliminating waste, continuing the pattern of boyish innocence interrupted by serious questions about worldwide problems. Finally, Orlean concludes this paragraph by ending it with the most shocking combination of all. After being taunted by the boys, Orlean states that she wants only female children. Colin asks her then if she would abort any possible male child. This question is particularly disconcerting since Colin is unaware of sex, yet knows about abortions and thinks it appropriate to mention casually. Additionally, this combination is the most potent since it mentions the most serious consequence, death.