Blog Three

                Different types of garbage are thrown into a garbage can.  Slimy and gooey liquids leak from cans and bottles that still have remnants of their original materials.  Sticky unknown substances cling to the sides of the can.  Leftover meals, never eaten, grow hairy mold.  The filthy smell of the trash is atrocious, and you gag as you inhale the odor.  As trash day nears, you excitedly push the garbage can out to sit on the side of the road, as far away from your house as possible.  You roll each can out, holding them by the tips of your fingers, doing your best to touch as little as possible.  When the garbage men arrive, they chuck all of the bags of rotting food, broken items and other miscellaneous ingredients into the back of the truck, where it will soon be compacted.  As the bags of trash get thrown into the truck, bits and pieces of debris fall from holes in the bags.  The trash man must retrieve these dirty and disgusting items with his shovel and return them to the truck to be destroyed. 

Many of us treat mealtime as a chance to stuff our bodies with food that is unhealthy, wasting much in the process and leading to a disgusting overindulgence.  The food we put into our bodies is garbage, unnecessary substances we pile onto our plates, or garbage cans.  We place our plates full of food on the table, where we anxiously await to throw it into our mouths and destroy it with our chewing.  Any food that we can’t consume with our fingers with shoved into our mouth with different utensils, similar to the garbage man’s shovel.  Our overindulgence of food, especially during the holiday season, is just as disgusting as the trash we throw out once a week.  

In these two paragraphs, I used comparison in order to parallel two usually unrelated things.  The reason I chose to compare overindulging food with garbage was to create a sense of disgust.  When the audience reads about garbage and pictures this in their mind, they envision dirty, filthy and unwanted things.  Although the reader at first thinks that this description has nothing to do with them personally, they soon realize that this is actually something they partake in often and are soon disgusted with themselves as well.

Blog Two, Learning Outcome Three

          
The short story titled “Las Medias Rojas” written by Emilio Pardo Bazán brings to life the reality of hardships throughout northern Spain during its progressive era in the 19^th century.  The story is about a daughter named Ildara and her father.  The two of them have always lived a life of poverty.  Ildara is determined to move to the New World (America) in order to start a new and better life.  Her father, though, does not approve of her moving and beats her in order to keep her from leaving.  The story ends with Ildara realizing she will never be able to obtain her dream because of the facial disfigurement caused by her father.

The story “Las Medias Rojas” has cultural aspects that influence the language and meaning of the story.  The story takes place in Galicia, Spain, which is in the northernmost area of the country.  In Galicia, Spaniards speak the language Gallego, which is a mixture of Spanish and Portuguese.  In the late 1800’s, Gallego was the official poetic and short story language, and therefore Bazán used words and phrases in her story from this language.  Not only does the language follow the expectation of that time period, but it also provides a setting for the story.  Although the majority of the piece is written in Spanish, parts are written in Gallego.  This is demonstrated at the beginning of the story “Cuando la rapaza entró, el tío Clodio no levantó la cabeza.”  In this sentence, Bazán uses two Gallego words.  Instead of using the word “niña” which means girl, the author uses the Gallego word “rapaza.”  Also, the author uses the word “tío” to reference the father.  In Spanish, “tío” means uncle, but when this word is used in northern Spain, it means father.  These are two examples of how the author allows language to be influenced by the setting of the story.

            Another important aspect to understand while reading the story is the historical context of progressive Spain.  Throughout Spain in the 19^th century, and especially in northern Spain, the majority of the population was poor.  Only rich and powerful people owned land while the middle class and lower class people worked under them.  At several different instances, Bazán uses binary opposition to show contrast between the two classes.  By doing this, the author also educates the reader on the separate classes in society during this time period.  An example of Bazán comparison is seen when she writes “La rapaza, quien acababa de merodear en el monte del señor amo, entró y el tío Clodio no levantó la cabeza, entregado a la ocupación de picar un cigarro con uñas y córneas de color de ámbar oscuro.”  This quote describes the father’s physical state by describing the dirty color of his fingernails and his tired eyes from so much work.  Right before this description, we learn that the daughter had just returned from visiting the owners of their land, who live up on a hill in a large house.   

Blog One, Learning Outcome One

            In the movie review titled “Deflating That Big, Puffy White Gown” written by Manohla Dargis, the movie Bridesmaids is described using language and content that is affected byt the audience who will be reading the review.  The review is written to pertain specifically to women and it addresses the idea that women aren’t perfect, although this is a common expectation throughout movies.

            The author of the review refers to a common belief by stating “In most wedding movies an actress may have the starring part (though not always), but it’s only because her character’s function is to land a man rather than to be funny.  Too many studio bosses seem to think that a woman’s place is in a Vera Wang.”  This quote directly addresses the stereotype that men take on the important role while women stand on the sideline, though most women would disagree.  Dargis uses a sarcastic tone in this passage in order to pull in women and address women’s thought processes.  The sarcasm tone allows the female readers to see that the author of the review is on their side and agrees that not all women belong in a “picture perfect” role.  

            The author also uses descriptions that give equality to women in a quote saying “Lillian and Annie laugh, cry, hurl, and board a plane to Vegas to test the bonds of friendship en route to a hangover of their own.”  This text compares the movie Bridesmaids to the movie The Hangover.  The Hangover is a movie centered on the irresponsible and mischievous behaviors of men.  This comparison puts women at the same level as men and emphasizes that women aren’t perfect.    

            This movie review is written specifically for women and shows how the movie Bridesmaids unexpectedly switches the roles of men and women in the movie.  The review gives a sense of power and superiority to women.