American Cheese, by Jim Daniels

In American Cheese, Jim Daniels uses a nostalgic and longing tone with the use of imagery and simile to show one’s memories of the past, the simplicity of one’s childhood, and how children can be pleased easily by simple things. When the author says his house was “built like a square of sixty four American Singles” he is showing his personal love for this certain food and he associates it with different items. When he would come home he would “crave--more than any home cooking”. He was pleased by such a simple thing and this is what he would look forward to when he came home also showing the simplicity of a child. The author is realizing how easy and simple his childhood was and enjoys that feeling of being a child again. He uses specifics of his memory like “Day-old Wonder Bread” and “Yellow Mustard” which shows how even a simple memory can be complicated and enjoyable to a person. Jim Daniels uses this tone with the use of imagery and simile to show how even simple memories are important to a person and how a child has no worries.