Pink has become the symbol of the 1950’s. Price uses sarcastic diction to show her irritation of the way people of America are acting towards these pink flamingos. The first is shown in her thought of why calling it a “pink flamingo” as if they can turn out a different color like blue or green. It is obvious that a flamingo is the color pink. The second to notice in the essay is Price’s aggravation of how some have used the words “plastic pink flamingo” and “natural” and how now the flamingos are perceived as a proper part of the countries culture.
This piece of literature is shown to be satirical from the title, and first few sentences. “The Plastic Flamingo: A Natural History” is the title of the excerpt and shows the sarcasm of Price. The comment on the “natural history” makes us think that the bird was originally made, although it was not, as it is referenced later in the excerpt that the bird became popular in other places around the world. Within the statement, “…It staked two major claims to boldness. First, it was a flamingo.”, the writer showcases more sarcasm and irony, and that is what the tone of the excerpt seems to be.
The Chicken in the Henhouse Humor is a rubber sword, which allows the writer to make a point without drawing blood. And this is what David Sedaris uses to strength his point about the difference between homosexuality and pedophilia in “Chicken in the Henhouse,” Sedaris’s writing style can be illustrated by the ideas in “Humor in Arguments,” edited by Andrea A Lunsford, John J Ruszkiewicz ,and Keith Walters. Readers can see how hilarious the author is. Actually, Sedaris uses his humor in 'Chicken in the Henhouse' to strengthen his argument, as it allows him to make himself likeable, to break down barriers of prejudice, and to open the readers’ eyes rather than to make them laugh. The First way that humor strengthens Sedaris’s argument is by making himself likable to the readers.
Fey makes choses to talk about the way women are treated in the entertainment industry with a joke on Betty White, which targets both sexism and ageism, which Fey repeatedly addresses, but with a softer approach through the use of humor. When Fey states “Science shows that fertility and movie offers drop off steeply for women after forty” she addresses both her ageing in the entertainment business and the concern that society places on women having a certain number of children by her age, but all centered around a funny tone in order to make her remark sound witty yet strong. The use of comedy made Fey’s argument regarding the negative portrayals of working women in the entertainment
Pink and Plastic In Jennifer Price’s essay entitled “The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History”, she uses rhetoric to convey her opinions of the emptiness of American culture. Price made it apparent through her usage of tone, satire, irony, juxtaposition, and diction. In her essay, Price varies her writing style as she varies the usage of rhetorical devices in this essay. She blatantly uses irony when she mentions that it is “…a little ironic, since Americans had hunted flamingos to extinction…” (Lines 13-14). Price mentions this historical fact to criticize that Americans are using the image of a bird that they had themselves once massacred with no serious thought behind it.
Thus, such use of strong diction helped emphasizing Price’s opinion that this new wave of American culture in the 1950s was rather abrupt and forceful. Furthermore, Price incorporates an anecdote in her essay to fortify her point. In the second paragraph, she narrates a story of Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and how he could successfully conjure the riches with flamingo hotels. This story tells us that flamingos in the middle of the desert were very conspicuous, and that this “conspicuousness” attracted the riches to come to this hotel. By accommodating this anecdote, Price implicitly claims that American culture was obsessed at things that really stood out, and
Fat is not a Fairytale”, by Jane Yolen, is an interesting poem showing informal diction. From a guys perspective it sounds like a fat girl trying to reach out and complain about the world not accepting her. It sounds like the author is jealous that all fairy tales are for the most part full of perfect skinny people. The author may be overweight and wishes society will except obesity as a great thing. Why did she pick fairytales to link obesity to?
Essay on ”Time and Distance Overcome” The deadly honest and almost cynical non-fiction essay, “Time and Distance Overcome”, by the American non-fiction writer, Eula Biss, is an eye-opener not yet seen alike. The essay deals with the American history in a way that would make any proud patriotic American look down on his feet, ashamed and regretful on behave of his forefathers. The boring and uncolored history reading is over. Biss plays with both the essay – as well as the historical genre when she writes about the painful faith of black Americans in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. The essay genre is known for its personal and reflecting touch.
Jacob Rosenbaum Mr. Dundon IB HL English 1 20/4/12 Word Count: 1300 The Form of The Sword: Humanity and Bad Apples There is a saying that one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. In the mind of Jorge Luis Borges, humanity is a bunch of apples, and any one person has potential to be that bad apple. In the collection of short stories titled Ficciones, Borges composes literature that bends the mind of the reader. He uses this distinct literary tactic to evoke profound thought about the world around him. A good example of using disorientation to express his ideology is the short story The Form of The Sword.
The phrases in which he describes the Monk could be considered circumstantial evidence rather than hard evidence of his blatant disregard for the monastery and its customs and laws. Instead of saying outright that the Monk eats poultry and roasts, he states that “ a fat swan loved he best of any roost” (I.206), which could also lend itself to meaning that it is a rare treat for him. Chaucer also gives us subtle contradictions in the description to further our understanding of how unfit he is for his title. He begins the description by telling the readers that the monk is “fair for the maistrye” (I.65), he goes on to tell us that he is an agent of the monastery and that he leaves the monastery to take care of their affairs but, he ends the sentence telling us that “he lovede venerye” (I.166). So, he wants the esteemed ranking of a Monk without abiding by the laws.