The author, Robert Fulghum, has a unique sense of writing style throughout his writings. In “Dinner Dandruff”, Fulghum uses multiple techniques to portray his style. His use diction or his word choices, as well as syntax are used in the essay . Fulghum also uses forms imagery to help the readers better picture what is taking place in the essay . He uses all these techniques to represent his special style of writing and create the humorous tone depicted throughout the essay .
Fulghum uses distinct word choices, also known as diction, to emphasize the style of his writings. The author writes, “sterilized by the high heat of cooking” along with “toxic waste–deadly poison–a danger to health” and “lethal gunk” to help the readers understand his humorous style. Fulghum could have easily used other word phrases to same the same thing, such as cleaned by the heat of the cooking method or food particles. Instead, he used uncommon words that sound overdramatic, to again produce this comical style.
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Syntax is the way a sentence is structured, in “Dinner Dandruff” the author uses various different lenghts to his sentences as another way to show his style.
Fulghum writes, “A rational, intelligent, objective person would say that this is simply a mixture of food particles too big to go down the drain, composed of bits of protein, carbohydrates, fats, and fiber.” and “In the bottom of the sink.”. These two sentences are completely different, the first one is a fully thought out, very long sentence while the second one an incomplete sentence and much shorter than the first. These two varying lengths create this humorous or amusing style because they are formal and informal. The tone of the writing, such as formal and informal, are techniques used to build the style the author is trying to
achieve. Lastly, the use of imagery is a necessity to show Fulghum’s style of writing. Fulghum uses overly detailed sentence to help the reader picture the scenario. Some examples of this imagery is “I saw her reach into the wet garbage bag and fish around in there looking for a lost teaspoon BAREHANDED ― a kind of mad courage” and “ she gave me her my-son-the-idiot look…”. These two examples generate the exact picture of the situation in the mind of the reader. This style skill is a great way to illustrate not only the plot of the essay but also the melodramatic style that the essay has. In conclusion, the author of “Dinner Date” Robert Fulghum has created an overly dramatic and comical mood. He uses an array of techniques to build this style. Such as diction and syntax, which both fixate of the words he uses and the way he puts those same words together. While imagery is the way Fulghum illustrates the actions taking place in the essay . Robert Fulghum is a talented artist whose style is unique to him, making all his writings humorous and intriguing.
I was happy with my t-shirt, but my jeans were a bit crapola. & I was thinking, I wish I hadn't worn these shoes, cos they're a bit old” (Lee, pg. 164). This statement of Lee’s gives the audience insight into the way his mind operates and his personality. By his use of colloquial language such as ‘crapola’ and ‘cos’ as well as his use of ampersands and beginning sentences with ‘but’ and ‘&’ establish his writing as non standard and very alike his thought processes, all the thoughts and feelings that Lee has are demonstrated in his story. “Whoa, that is serious. I mean, she was really cute. Way cuter than anyone I think I'd ever seen. But cute isn't even the right word. She's beautiful.” (Lee, pg. 164) The character voice that Roy has used in these sentences is consistent to the rest of Lee’s story, his use of repetition of the word ‘cute’ demonstrates his infatuation with Briony as well as his inability to filter his
One of the biggest determinants for the success of a writer is engaging and maintaining the interest of a variety of readers. While there are endless approaches to telling a story, as well as many writing styles, the most effective writings are the ones that successfully impress a diverse audience. The essays Eating Chili Peppers and Conforming to Stand Out: A Look at American Beauty are two different styles of essays that unveil a similar search for self-gratification. While the essays cover different topics and the authors use different writing styles and approaches to engage the reader, they both unveil a similar underlying message of a search for self-gratification.
"Unit 2: Reading & Writing About Short Fiction." ENGL200: Composition and Literature. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. 49-219. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
The author utilizes concrete diction when she describes Mac’s condition before he died. She explains how the nurses had to “suction the lung fluids that threatened to drown him, clean the feces that burned his skin like lye, poor the liquid food down the tube attached to his stomach, put pillows between his knees to ease the bone-on-bone pain,...and change his gown and linen every two hours” (Huttmann 420-421). The awfulness of this scene is depicted using concrete diction so that the reader is left with no question as to Mac’s suffering. Huttmann could have simply written that that the nurses had to “clean him up,” but by describing the entire operation, she paints a clear picture of Mac’s condition, justifing to her audience why he needed the right to
Updike, John. "A & P." Literature: Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. Ed. Robert DiYanni. 5th ed. New York: McGraw, 1998. 27-31.
The repetition of the word “nasty,” demonstrates the narrator’s resentful attitude towards his masters. In the text the author states that his masters “dabbled in nasty mud” and, “dabbled in nasty science.” This statement shows that the narrator is disgusted with the work that his masters are doing because he himself can’t do experiments or play with mud because he is, “forced to work,” because his class is lower than his masters, but also conveys that he thinks he is better because he does not do those things. Furthermore the narrator states,
clean, quick, sure; nothing to rot later. Antibiotic, aesthetic, practical” (Bradbury 115). At the beginning of Part 3, Burning Bright, Beaty explains to Montag why fire is the best way to cause destruction without making a mess. Unfortunately, Montag hates Beaty to the point of wanting to kill him, and with a sadistic twist, uses Beaty’s own wisdom to kill him with flames. This connects to the overall theme, because when too many things are censored and destroyed, then someone is eventually going to use the “censor’s” advice against him....
Abrams, M. H. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York; W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1993.
I frankly confess that I have, as a general thing, but little enjoyment of it, and that it has never seemed to me to be, as it were, a first-rate literary form. . . . But it is apt to spoil two good things – a story and a moral, a meaning and a form; and the taste for it is responsible for a large part of the forcible-feeding writing that has been inflicted upon the world. The only cases in whi...
In the first lines of "What's That Smell in the Kitchen?" the author makes her point that women are burning dinners all over America. This gives us a general idea of what the poem will be about, yet it makes us want to read on to see why this would be happening; in other words, it triggers our curiosity. The author goes on to describe foods that are common to certain cities in the United States, bringing about a very gustatory and olfactory image in the mind of the reader. Following this, the author uses repetition to emphasize her introductory statement yet again, and adds an additional phrase, ". . . women are burning/food they're supposed to bring with calico/smile on platters glittering like wax." This statement is somewhat ironic, because it conveys an image of a very "false" woman, something like a mechanical doll or robot, or even like the flawless "model mom" figure of June Cleaver of the television series "Leave it to Beaver." Not only do we picture a woman in an apron with an artificial smile but Piercy alludes...
5. I thought Sedaris’s first essay “chipped beef” was a hilarious arrangement of considedness and make believe. Although this essay is not arranged with the perverted humor featured in some of his other essays, he had a very effective way in making the readers laugh
The description of the smell in the meat house was a horrible experience to the reader who actually did not witness the insident"it is an elemental odor, raw and crude, it is rich, almost sensual and strong.
admiration for the beauty and harmony and also acknowledge the disgrace for the reckless destruction caused by chemical pesticides. The use of children in the third paragraph brings the mood and meaning to a new level in the novel, although the children are said to be “at
The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Sixth Edition Volume1. Ed. M.H.Abrams. New York: W.W.Norton and Company, Inc., 1993.
Abrams, M.H., ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 1993.