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 The comment on the “natural history” makes us think that the bird was originally made, although it was not, as it is referenced later in the excerpt that the bird became popular in other places around the world.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.
In Jennifer Price’s essay entitled “The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History,” she discusses the history of the flamingo, and its trendy color, pink. Price explains how the United States culture is selfish, and criticize Americans for their lack of acknowledgement to elegance. As Price makes her argument she appeals to many literary devices throughout her essay. Beginning with the title, and throughout the first two paragraphs Price appeal to irony. As the reader(s) examines the title, “The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History,” instantly the statement is considered impossible considering the fact for something to be “natural” it can not be made or caused by humankind.
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.
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
In the third and final stanza, the use of violence is shown as “Someone had used a knight/Or something to stab right through” giving the reader as image of death, whilst the addition in the moustache could be seen as an aggressive desexualisation or cancellation of her womanliness. After only a “hand and some blue” being left from the vandalising of the poster, we see that it is replaced by one saying “Fight Cancer” suggesting that this is now something that fits better into society. Similarly in “A Study of Reading Habits” even though primarily not being based on women, Larkin use of language to describe and towards women presents disturbing views for the reader. This is shown when he talks about his brutal sexual fantasies as he “broke them up like meringues” and “clubbed” women with “sex!” Both poems highlight how Larkin sees women as a sex object and shows no intimate relationship with them or deeper feelings that could have been influenced by his own personal experiences. However, Abse in the poem “Two Photographs” talks about the existence of two women in his life; his grandmothers, Annabella and “formidable” Doris.
In a nutshell, this novel may very well had some clear love expressions however it was meant to be interpreted as a mocking of the American ways. It expresses how the women were known to think and act, as well as the different ways and views between the rich and the poor
After all, a woman's charm is 50% illusion.” Shows that she hides the truth to make herself appear better in the eyes of other’s. Blanche: “What I mean is — he thinks I'm sort of — prim and proper, you know! I want to deceive him enough to make him — want me.” Showing how she deceives her victims. Relationship with other characters Blanche says to Stella: “I want to be near you, got to be with somebody, I can't be alone!” Showing that she is a needy character that needs others to take care of her especially he sister Mitch: “You need somebody. And I need somebody, too.
In Paradise Lost, John Milton dramatically changes Eve's character from the well-established Renaissance stereotype to an intelligent, humble, and majestic woman. Traditionally, Eve has been condemned for causing mankind's sinful state. Yet Milton rejects such damning views and praises Eve as a heroic individual who defines the Christian doctrines of grace and redemption. In doing so, Milton puts Eve in direct opposition to the only other female in the epic poem, Sin. In this thesis, I propose that Eve and Sin have a distinct relationship: Sin represents the stale stereotypes of the prelapsarian Eve that Milton has rejected.
Although, it has been disputed that Duffy's poetry is misandrist due to her dismissive persona towards men. This dismissive persona that Duffy adopts may be used as a vehicle to place significance on the autonomy of women as Deryn Rees-Jones argues that she moves beyond 'a straightforwardly feminist poetry' and show the difficulties that patriarchy presents to both men and women.' Therefore, Duffy can be said to explore the gender restrictions for men as well as women through her depiction of male power. Duffy's reversal of gender roles in Little Red Cap challenges the view of the woman as 'cute but essentially helpless' through repositioning the reader’s understanding of feminine qualities, separating females from their male counterparts. Initially, Little Red Cap takes a domineering role throughout the poem, adopting the cultural stereotype of an 'immoral and dangerous seductress' which successfully reverses the socially constructed gender roles of woman as being 'naturally timid' and subverts the reader's expectations of the typical damsel in distress, 'a pursued maiden'.