SWA #11

The use of nostalgia is a major factor throughout the article in making the author seem trustworthy to the audience.  He speaks of the "geek culture" of the 1980's, bringing up games such as Dungeons & Dragons, books written by Stephen King, and even movies or TV shows like Monty Python.  He tells of the cliques created by these things, the cliques that received the title of "nerd" or "geek" but claims that those were "thin descriptors."  Oswalt incorporates many movies, games, and books in order to speak to those people who enjoyed the same things, bring about a feeling of happiness in remembrance of those times, and to pull the reader into a trust that can only be forged through the knowledge that both have gone through similar experiences.  It can also cause a feeling of trust because, although he states he had no shortage of friends, some readers could have only gotten through their adolescent years by immersing themselves in the "geek culture."  However, there can also be a downside to his reminiscing of the past: while he pulls some readers into a feeling of trust through happiness of past times, he can also push some away because those times might have caused unhappiness for them.  Some might look back on those times with contempt and cause them to stop reading.