This is an essay from a recent issue of The New Yorker magazine looking at the recent racial controversy in Jena, LA. This essay has components of cause/effect, compare/contrast and even some persuasion, but mostly it's about analyzing a controversial situation to try to make some sense of it.
This essay examines the ending of the first Spider-man movie in terms of the current controversy over Catholic priests and their vows of celibacy. It sounds like a weird combination, but this author does what analysis is supposed to do: he helps us see something that we THINK we know and understand (the story of Spider-man) in a new, and interesting, way. You aren't supposed to necessarily agree with the author's analysis, just think about it.
