Renewal by Pizza
There are circumstances in everyday life that can make people long for the peace renewal can bring. The same everyday life, filled with social rules and norms, can make renewal difficult to achieve. Elizabeth Gilberts “The Best Pizza in the World” uses imagery,juxtaposition , and pathos to show how she transcended her old self-perception and achieved renewal during a trip to Naples, Italy.
Gilbert’s use of imagery emphasizes the wild, vibrant, energetic nature of the city of Naples. It becomes clear that, In Gilbert’s eyes, Naples is a city unlike any other. The author writes, “An anthill inside a rabbit warren, with all the exoctism of a Middle Eastern bazaar and a tough of New Orleans voodoo” (Gilbert 175). This shows
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us how Gilbert sees Naples better than if she had chosen to describe the city detail by painstaking detail. Gilbert combines aspects of places in other countries in a way that gives the reader a clear image of Naples overall atmosphere. Gilbert writes, “The city is all decorated with the laundry that hangs from every window and dangles across every street; everybody’s fresh-washed undershirts and brassiers flapping in the wind like Tibetan prayer flags” (175). This description also makes Gilbert’s description all the more brilliant. Everybody’s laundry hangs free; no one pays it any mind. This only adds to Gilberts impression of the city; free-spirited and unconcerned with the opinions of outsiders. The people of Naples are a big part of its imagery.
Their quirky and eccentric ways are part of what makes Naples so unique in Gilbert’s eyes and Gilbert’s first experience with the people of Naples is what really brings this point home. Gilbert writes, “…That punk little grammar school girl on the back of her older cousin's motorbike, who flipped me the finger and a charm' ing smile as she drove by, just to make me understand, ‘Hey, no hard feelings, lady. But I'm only seven, and I can already tell you're a complete moron, but that's cool-I think you're halfway OK despite yourself and I kinda like your dumb-ass face. We both know you would love to be me, but sorry-you can't. Anyhow, here's my middle finger, enjoy your stay in Naples, and ciao!’” (Gilbert 175). This Neapolitan girl makes a gesture that in any other context would be considered offensive but Gilbert understands and embraces the girl’s gesture. Gilbert understands it well and she is welcoming of the curt openness of the Neapolitans. The author writes, “The accent in Naples is like a friendly cuff on the ear. It’s like walking through a city of short-order cooks, everybody hollering at the same time” (175). One can conclude from this that the people of Naples are loud and short while talking to anyone. Oddly enough Gilbert seems to like their curt way of speaking. This description gives the reader a good idea of what interactions with the people of Naples is …show more content…
like. The Pizzeria da Michele’s image is just as important, if not more so, then the image of Naples itself. The author writes “Pizzeria da Michele is a small place with only two rooms and one non-stop oven.” (Gilbert 176). That small section of text gives an almost complete picture of the place; it’s the rough equivalent of an American Ma and Pa family restaurant. It’s not a fancy place, and for the purpose it serves, it does not have to be a spectacular place cosmetically. The atmosphere of the pizzeria is what makes this place so special. Gilbert writes, “By 1:00 PM, the streets outside the pizzeria have become jammed with Neapolitans trying to get into the place, shoving for access like they're trying to get space on a lifeboat.” (Gilbert 176). This pizzeria gets busy early on in the day. Once can infer, based on that textual example alone, that the pizza this pizzeria serves is simply divine. The imagery of the pizza is by far one of the most important things Gilbert describes. The author writes, “Thin, doughy, strong, gummy, yummy, chewy, salty pizza paradise” (Gilbert 177). Gilbert’s description allows the reader to imagine what eating pizza with that kind of crust would be like. This allows Gilberts readers to immerse themselves in her story which is crucial to the effectiveness of her story. The author writes, “On top, there is a sweet tomato sauce that foams up all bubbly and creamy when it melts the fresh buffalo mozzarella, and the one sprig of basil in the middle of the whole deal somehow infuses the entire pizza with herbal radiance” (Gilbert 177). Gilbert uses pathos to show how this pizza played a part in changing her self-perception. Gilbert writes, “I love my pizza so much, in fact, that I have come to believe in my delirium that my pizza might actually love me, in return” (Gilbert 176). This gives the reader something they can relate to emotionally, everyone has had or longs for an experience like that, which makes it easy for the reader to step into the authors' shoes. The author writes, “Sofie is practically in tears over hers, she’s having a metaphysical crisis about it, she’s begging me, ‘why do they even bother trying to make pizza in Stockholm? Why do we even bother eating food at all in Stockholm?’” (Gilbert 176) This gives Gilbert’s story even more emotional appeal than if she had just described her own reaction. Sofie and Gilbert have the same reaction to the pizza which gives Gilbert’s story more emotional credibility. Gilberts most profound use of pathos, though, is towards herself. The way she chooses to depict her transformation makes her story emotional and allows the reader to feel the same twinge of triumph she does towards the end of the story. The author writes, “Still, when I look at myself in the mirror of the best pizzeria in Naples, I see a bright-eyed, clear-skinned, happy and healthy face. I haven’t seen a face like that on me for a long time” (Gilbert 177). This is something that everyone can sympathize with. People have rough days, weeks, or even years, and all they want to see at the end of it all is proof that they can be happy again even after the toughest of tragedies. This example of such a happy ending appeals to the reader emotionally. The author receiving the gift of renewal and happiness is proof that this is possible for the reader, too. Gilbert writes, “My body is turning a blind eye to all my misdoings and my over indulgences, as if to say, ‘OK, kid, live it up, I recognize this is just temporary. Let me know when your little experiment with pure pleasure is over, and I’ll see what I can do about damage control.’” (Gilbert 177). The purpose of Gilbert’s personification of her own body is clear; it symbolizes her own acceptance of what she is doing to herself. More important than the author’s personification, though, is Gilbert’s acceptance. Emotionally, people can sympathize with Gilbert Gilbert’s story uses juxtaposition to show the reader what her life was like before Naples and contrast that with what it is like now.
The author writes, “In my real life I have been known to eat organic goat’s milk yoghurt sprinkled with wheat germ for breakfast” (Gilbert 177). Gilbert clearly cared about her health while she was living in the real world. The way she describes her choice in breakfast makes it clear that this was a dietary, health related choice, not one she made because she liked goat yoghurt. It implies that she was concerned with her weight, not only for the sake of her self-perception, but because she was worried about what others think about her appearance. Gilbert writes. “I am doing such rude things to my body here in Italy, taking in such ghastly amounts of cheese and pasta and bread and wine and chocolate and pizza dough” (177). This paints a picture that contrasts sharply with her pre-Naples diet.. Clearly, something has changed for the author, allowing her to guiltlessly eat anything she wants. This is one of the signs that her self-perception has changed radically from what it used to
be. The difference in the Gilberts and her friend’s opinion on her new lifestyle is brought out with juxtaposition. The author writes, “Back in America, my friend Susan is telling people I’m on a ‘No Carb Left Behind’ tour” (Gilbert 177). Gilbert’s friend in America clearly does not approve of the authors' new lifestyle. The author seems to know that as well; yet she simply observes this fact without malice. Gilbert writes, “A word about my body. I am gaining weight every day, of course” (177). The author’s observation about her weight is casual and matter of fact; this suggests she sees her weight gain as nothing more than a product of her stay in Naples. Furthermore, one can see that she does not care about anyone else’s opinion, as she shows no regret whatsoever about what she is doing to herself. Elizabeth Gilbert’s “The Best Pizza in the World” uses pathos, juxtaposition, and imagery to show her readers how a trip to Naples changed and renewed her self perception. The imagery of the city and its inhabitants sets the scene for Gilbert’s transformation in a way that her readers can vividly picture. The authors use of pathos in regards to herself and the pizza add a great deal of emotional appeal to her tale. The use of Juxtaposition in Gilbert’s story allows the reader to compare the authors life before and after Naples, along with providing valuable insight into her new perception. Altogether, these rhetorical strategies come together to show just how much an enlightening experience can change someone’s life.
Her background gives her the ability to be creative in her writing. Her professional and assertive style of writing gives her the credibility for readers to believe her even if the facts weren’t true. She regularly uses scientific research, in ways to help the reader understand what is occurring without using scientific terminology that is too difficult to understand. With the use of unique structure, it aids to communicate her argument better, as it helps build her ethos, and keep the reader interested and well informed. Her use of ethos makes the readers want to continue to keep reading. The fact that she has actually visited and can give details about the island, Castello Argonese, as well gives her creditability instead of second hand knowledge. One can infer the validity of her travels in the way she describes the location of Castello Argonese. “Eighteen miles west of Naples, it can be reached from a larger island of Ischia via a long, narrow stone bridge” (111). If you know what something smells, or looks like, you are going to care more, and ultimately be more interested. The author’s use of visual rhetoric is astonishing. It allows the reader to latch on and create an image to break up the monotony, and gives familiarization with the comparisons of things related to common knowledge. She uses this example, “Coralline algae organisms that grow in colonies that looks like a smear of pink paint” (121). This example sells us on the how the ocean is, and what you can distinguish the colonies to look
Baxandall, Michael. “Conditions of Trade.” Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-century Italy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
When presenting ‘A Place in Tuscany’ the perspective changes to that of a young man. Compared to the house in Brisbane, more use is made of the conversation and there is a more sophisticated and advanced vocabulary and knowledge of the area. This gives the reader a more adult insight into the area.
They stifle me with ridiculous rules and regulations they have brought with them from Europe… There’s always something that shouldn’t be said or done. There are always jobs I have to learn because all good Italian girls know how to do them, and one-day ill need them to look after my chauvinistic husband. There’s always someone I have to respect. (Pg. 38)
In “Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating” by, Mary Maxfield (pp.442-447), she affirms a bright argument about how food is not moral or immoral. Therefore, you can eat whatever you desire and not suffer any negative side effects, which she ignores. Her key points including stated facts such as “Culturally,we resist these scientific findings,” that people can be fat and healthy, “in favor of a perspective that considers fatness fatal and thinness immortal.”(pp.445) The main point to Maxfield’s claim in healthy eating, is being active and living a fit lifestyle. In “Escape From The Western Diet” (pp.420-427)by Michael Pollan, his argument is to help the American community be enlightened with
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According to Pollan the question “what to eat” is complicated but “to guide us we have culture” (The American Paradox). Culture influences food likes and dislikes. Culture creates food preferences which make patterns of food choices, making everyone 's selection different. Whoever the influence of our culture has been changing throughout the years, with the food industry taking over the markets. Now we do not necessarily eat what our grandparents or even what our parents used to eat, instead we have this new massive produced packaged products. This is the reason why Americans food habits are changing, now more than ver we see people consuming products not because hey are part of their culture but because is what the media tells you to consume. The 21st century has a new obsession which is body image, now more than ever people is caring about the way they look due to all the advertisement about having a perfect body. Now America is obsess with making every product beneficial to your body but how many chemicals do they use to make that diet yogurt so it can be fat free, sugar free and still have some natural ingredients in it. This is the exact point pollan is trying to make in his article we are obsess with being healthy that we forget to check what are we really eating and where ir comes
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When Americans greet one another a handshake and smile will do, this is similar in Italian culture, when meeting a stranger or business acquaintance. However, when family and friends greet each other, a hug and kiss is usually in order. In American culture, it is very rare to see two gentleman hug, even if they are related; in Italian culture, that is the customary greeting between male family members and friends. Air kissing is another tradition in Italy, in America, no one air kisses, and most kissing is only done in intimate relationships (Reavis, 2014). It is also a part of the Italian culture for many households to take a nap between the hours of 1 PM and 3 PM. The Italian culture is also laid back, and most Italians are not in a hurry. It is the Italian way to slow down and enjoy life (Miller, 2015). This is definitely not the American lifestyle, maybe we should slow down and pay attention to the
Unless you are a wealthy Italian, you live a much humbler lifestyle. A lot of Italians homes are meager, and the material goods Americans want and vie for, aren’t as important to them. I realized how fortunate I was for all the belongings I took for granted. Some Italians would view the home I grew up in as a mansion compared to their own. They seemed so much happier and it was humbling to see them content by having a lot
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In this paper I will discuss the cultural factors and economic conditions within the territory of Italy and specifically within the island of Sicily which led to the rise and every day common need for an institution such as the Sicilian Mafia. Following my explanation of the Sicilian Mafia’s origins in the context of local culture and its pervasive role in Sicilian society I will discuss the various ways in which the Mafia’s activities have at times greatly preserved and also crippled the economic potential for growth in the areas it operated in and the reasons why this underdevelopment aided it. Lastly I will examine the causes of the Sicilian Mafia’s decline and discuss the future solutions to preserving a Sicily free from overt Mafia control.
Baxandall, Michael. “Conditions of Trade.” Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-century Italy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
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