"Battling Clean-Up and Striking Out" by Dave Barry - SOAPSTone

Subject
The subject of Dave Barry's "Battling Clean-Up and Striking Out" is that men and women have different ways of perceiving and doing things. Their differences are illustrated through Barry's use of heavy focus on how women seem to take cleaning and seeing dirt more serious than men, who only care for sports, apparently.

Occasion
"Battling Clean-Up and Striking Out" was written during the 1980s. The essay's time of creation is conveyed before the actual article, underneath the title. It says that the essay is from "Dave Barry's Greatest Hits (1988)" which may or may not point to it being written during 1988, but it was indefinitely written during the 1980s. Also, the World Series is mention, and though the World Series is still going on today, it was a bigger thing back in the 80s. The probable place of the essay's creation is Miami, Florida. Underneath "Dave Barry", it states that Barry lives in Miami with his family. Although it says he was born in Armonk, New York and graduated from Haverford College in Pennsylvania; it was written well after then, for he graduated in 1969. Therefore, he probably wrote it whilst at home.

Audience
Barry's specific audience for "Battling Clean-Up and Striking Out" is adult couples. The author's target audience is exhibited by his subject and tone for this piece. He chose to write about the difference between men and women and to include stories that relate to couples, or even mixed sex friend groups. The author's general audience for this essay is the adult population as a whole. This is shown through the same example as above.

Purpose
Barry's purpose in "Battling Clean-Up and Striking Out" is to inform and entertain about the differences in men and women. In the second paragraph he jokes about Pompeii and how "it was the custom for men to do the housework" and that they "never even noticed the ash until it had for the most part covered the children." Then in the third paragraph, he talks about how his wife told him to clean the bathroom, and when he cleaned the bathroom to his standards, she asked for him to do it again. It is both informative in these differences and it is entertaining through his sarcasm and his stories.

Speaker
Dave Barry, a journalist, believes in humor to soften other things. This value is illustrated by his own twist of a Poe story (The Tell-Tale Heart), where he states, "It was exactly like that story by Edgar Allan Poe where the murderer can hear the victim's heart beating louder and louder even though he (the murder victim) is dead, until finally he (the murderer) can't stand it anymore, and just hast to watch the World Series on television." He does not finish summarizing Poe's story, but instead adds in "watch the World Series" as it pertained to his issues and added humor as well.

Tone
Barry exhibits a sarcastic and humorous attitude about men and women. These attitudes are expressed by his word choices like "Windexed" and "zinging" and "I am a sensitive and caring kind of guy". "Windexed" and "zinging" portray this tone because first of all, Windexed is not a word, and then zinging barely sounds like one. They sound funny in between normal words. His phrase of "I am a sensitive and caring kind of guy" is sarcastic because you would automatically read it in a sarcastic tone. He is very obviously not a sensitive and caring kind of guy. This tone serves the purpose of the essay because it is entertaining, which helps hold your attention for the informative portion--where you hear about his ideas and beliefs, underlying all that sarcasm.

"American Tongues" - Voice in Literature

What is voice in literature?
Voice in literature is word choice, the personality of the speaker, and sentence structure a person uses when speaking to convey a topic.

Being mindful of word choice, tone, and sentence structure, write an example of something you would commonly say or write. Explain why and how this sounds like you.
"How interesting." Bad example, but it's hard to figure out something you say often that conveys you. It sounds like me simply because I am sarcastic.

According to the documentary, people in Eastern Kentucky talk around a subject. Identify a topic you would talk around, and explain why you would handle the topic in that manner.
I would talk around awkward situations, such as if someone has something stuck in their teeth. I would want to come straight out and tell them, but I wouldn't want to embarrass them, and then I would put myself in their place and decide on what I would want them to do and my head gets incredibly confused.

Why is voice important in nonfiction? What are some things we normally avoid in academic essays?
Voice is important because it helps identify the author. It gives the speaker personality. We normally avoid being boring or repetitive, irrelevant topics / tones, first person, weak vocabulary, slang, and fragments / run-on sentences.

What are some ways we can develop our own voices?
To develop your own voice, you have to first figure out what your personal voice is. Figure out word choices you commonly make, sentence structures you use, slang you may say, and other things as such. From there you can formulate your own voice. Once you write down something, say it out loud and see if it sounds like something you would say.

Eleanor Rigby: PAIN v. Beatles v. Dubstep

Which of these do you like better? Why?
The original. The Beatles are one of my favorite bands and no matter if I do or do not like dubstep/metal, nothing beats the original. The song in general is soothing and calm.
Which of these is more pleasing to listen to? Why?
In my biased opinion, I would choose the original as most pleasing to listen to, for the same reasons as above. However, I could also counteract that by saying the dubstep version is more pleasing to listen to. It incorporates the calm feel of the original yet it brings rhythm and interesting beats that seemingly wouldn't fit the song, but it was remixed almost flawlessly. Either or, it depends on who you ask, but my final answer would be the original.

Kandinsky v. Pollock

Which of these do you like better? Why?
I like Pollock's piece better. The colors are simple and neutral, yet all at the same time it is complex. Its composition stands out.
Which of these is more pleasing to look at? Why?
Kandinsky's piece is more pleasing to look at. It stresses many more characteristics of art. There is definite movement, bright, vivid colors, rhythm, shape, space, etc. It gives off a happy and exuberant vibe.

"Sign Language" - Short Film

• What single effect did you get from this short film?

Sentimental, happy, warm feeling. Very optimistic. Its message was "Appreciate the small things and take chances."

• Give 3 specific things that led you to that single effect.

1. When he talked about how the promotion was great, but he'll miss its job and its beauty.
2. The camerawork and how it seemed very personal.
3. The background music.

• If you could change one aspect, what would it be and how would it affect the film's single effect?

Had they set it in a sunny and warm place, the film might seem less optimistic. This is because it's set in the cold and wet but the main character is still optimistic through it all. Had they not done that, the main character could simply be in a good mood because the weather was nice.

Good Old Desk / Harry Nilsson

• Subject - a desk / dependable friend
• Occasion - 1972
• Audience - listeners of music
• Purpose - to inform
• Speaker - Harry Nilsson
• Tone - happy, comforting, affectionate
• What is he talking about?

He is talking about God and his religion. This is shown through the lines of "It's a pleasure to see it's waiting there for me to keep my hopes alive", "It's the friend I've got, a giant of all times", and "For when my heart's on the blow, I just open the drawer..."

Shooting an Elephant

The subject of George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" is literally, him having to make the decision to either shoot a mad and out-of-control elephant, or to leave it be. It's a symbol for the British Empire dying. This is illustrated with the sentence "[the towns people] had not shown much interest in the elephant when he was merely ravaging their homes, but it was different now that he was going to be shot." The elephant is the Empire--when it was merely declining no one seemed to care for it, but now that it's finally ending everyone suddenly had an opinion and cared very much for it.
"Shooting an Elephant" was written during 1935 when the British Empire was dying. Its time of creation is illustrated when the author comes straight out to say, in the second paragraph, that he "did not know the British Empire was dying." The place of this essay was Moulmein in Lower Burma, as indicated in the first sentence. The time and place influence this essay because it was the time of the British Empire dying.
Orwell's specific audience for "Shooting an Elephant" is those people who were not present during that time. The author's target audience is exhibited through his clear detail about the happenings of this time. This is because if he were to be writing for people who were present, he would not decide to include such depth of backstory in this essay.
His purpose is to inform those about the fiasco. His lesson is to learn from he past and to not repeat it. He is informing us because he is trying to create better conditions for us to build our governments on. Orwell states in the last few paragraphs the happenings afterward. He is teaching us to learn from the past through the sentence, "...it put me legally in the right and it gave me a sufficient pretext for shooting the elephant."
Orwell, also the author of Animal Farm and 1984, believes that imperialism is a horrible thing. It causes people to do what they do not want to do because of the pressure to please everyone. This is illustrated through the policeman's unwillingness to kill the elephant, but shooting it anyways, since that's what he thought was what the Burmans wanted.
The tone of "Shooting an Elephant" is unhappy and relatively hateful. It is used to explain the Burman's hate towards the British Empire. They so truly loathe its control over them and the illustration of the police officer and the Burmans story is a prime example to explain this.

"Across the Universe" - The Beatles

Identify 3 images in this song.

1. Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup
2. Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mind, possessing and caressing me
3. Which shines around me like a million suns

Are any of these images symbols in context? Explain.

• The water in the song is a symbol for cleansing, purity.
• Light is a symbol for good or love, which could indicate that had there been a mention of darkness in the song, that would symbolize bad and/or hate.

Explain one symbol that you know to be a symbol. What makes it more than an image?

• A heart is a symbol for love. It is more than just an image because people could think of other things for love, not just a heart. Also, a heart will always stand for love. Never will it stand for hate.

Rockwell's "The Runaway"

In America in the 1950s, things were simpler. Many times people find this time period to be idealistic and better than what we have now. In "The Runaway", there is a boy who appears to be a runaway sitting next to a policeman and chatting him up. This could indicate that that time was much safer, but it could be more of a metaphor towards Rockwell's style. The painting is much better than real life in the sense that everything seems to be alright in it. It seems like a staged photograph; it's too idealistic. Rockwell's "The Runaway" overlooks the fundamental rift that was rising in America throughout the 1950s--an emerging counterculture that was not concerned with how things were in America, but rather, how things are.