TOW #14- Me Talk Pretty One Day (essay)

The worst situation I can imagine is being harshly judged for not understanding what someone is saying. This is exactly what David Sedaris had to go through in his short essay Me Talk Pretty One Day. At 41 years old Sedaris went to school in France in hopes of learning the language. He was timid because all of the students were under 25 and amazing at French. Just to make things worse, he was thrown into a class with a professor who had mistaken her job for making the students lives a living hell. Almost every day the students were scolded for their mistakes, in French, which Sedaris understood in bits and pieces. He successfully uses exaggeration and pathos to convey a comedic tone to his essay. This comedic tone contributes to his purpose, which is simply that something good comes out of everything. Exaggeration is used discretely. At first, I thought this was serious but then realized it was for comedic purposes. For example, the students did not really have to worry about the teacher punching anyone, or throwing chalk. Also, I highly doubt the teacher actually “masterminding a program of genocide,” but the hyperbolized claim makes the situation comedic. These claims contribute to the fear and unpredictability of the class. Also, Sedaris pokes fun at not only the students, but also himself. He described how he himself felt “not unlike Pa Kettle trapped backstage after a fashion show.” The fact that he can make fun of himself adds humor to the essay. It comes across as witty but not pretentious, clever but not conceited. It adds a feeling of trust for the author’s humor not to be too rude. Overall, this essays meaning came through clear and concise using humor in exaggeration and pathos.

TOW #13- The Body Shop, Meet Alex

            Many people think that sexism has gone distinct, however, that is not the case. Some people’s brains are hard-wired to think of things in a sexist way. Surprisingly, common beliefs like men not being able to hit girls is still a form of being sexist. This ad by the Body Shop mainly targets sexism against women. It shows a young boy showing his muscles and a girl laughing along side him. The words say, “Meet Alex- future sport star, prime minister, inventor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist… (shown here with her brother Chris).” The point is that when reading the text and looking at the picture you are suppose to believe that it is referring to the boy. However, when you read what is in the parentheses it is clarified that the text is talking about the girl. The Body Shop uses the text and the photograph to convey a message of stereotypes in humans brains that they cannot help. The text shows Alex, a common boy but also girls name, along with many jobs. The jobs are suppose to lead you to believe it is referring to the male, however it proves that not only men can do these jobs and be advertised and successful. When the viewer reads the text in parentheses it leaves them with either a guilty and heart warmed feeling. Also, the image shows the boy showing his muscles up, hence boys are always stronger which is another misconception, and the girl laughing by his side. I think the boy is in the limelight of the photo, which is why most people just look assumes it is him. To make the ad better both children should have an equal space on the screen. Overall, the message of stereotypes and sexism is simple yet strong in this advertisement.

TOW #12 Bossypants (IRB)

Never before did I think it was possible to genuinely laugh out loud at a book. I thought that words in the form of a book were not capable of striking me as funny. However, reading Bossypants by Tina Fey completely changed my mind. My sense of humor is more on the sarcastic side. Cliché jokes are more of an annoyance to me than an enjoyment. It’s not only the humor that caught me in this book but also the skill of her rhetoric. She weaves in meaning through all of her anecdotes and illustration. All of chapters have a reoccurring theme of feminism, which plays into Feys overall purpose. Her purpose was to show women that they are beautiful even if they are not like the girls in Hollywood. She does this by making the reader have a humorous attitude towards her own life and weaving in light-hearted stories with lessons. Fey creates a humorous story through anecdotes and an informal tone. The whole book is bursting with Fey’s personal experiences. From someone stealing her boyfriend to stealing her job, she is more then willing to laugh at herself, which makes the read ten times more enjoyable. For example, in the middle of a story about her wishes for her daughter she says that you could “be able to pick me out of a sea of highlighted blonde women with fake tans because I’m the one with the thick ponytail and the greenish undertones in my skin” (Fey 23). She also has an apparent informal tone. it gave the feeling that she was there with you and that she is one of your friends. The specific diction as well as the overall picture of the stories she includes creates an intimate setting between Fey and her audience. Every line of this story is comedic gold and I read it with a broad smile across my face. Not only did I learn to think of myself as beautiful but also important life lessons. For example, whoever has the best your mama joke wins. It is a fair and easy way to settle an argument.