Analysis of Joy Williams' Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp
Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp is an essay written by Joy Williams, about the overwhelming complacency that todays culture shows towards nature.Williams argues in a very satirical way, that todays culture has all but completely lost touch with what nature really is, and that unless we as a nation change our morals regarding the role that nature plays in human existence, we may very well be witnessing the dawn of our own destruction.
An Evaluation of: Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp
Williams is very satirical in the presentation of her topic, and the way that she addresses the reader from the very first paragraph is very interesting inasmuch as she is almost
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Although many would agree that Williams has a very good point, her writing style belies conflict even in her own views. For instance, she attempts to use her satire as a way of shocking the reader into feeling her personal pain regarding the issue. However, if she truly felt as strongly as she would lead one to believe, then it stands to reason that she would much rather have written an essay which touched personal points in the lives of those who are percived to be the overindulgent, complacent, and disrespectful citizens of our decadent culture. In this way she may have accomplished what she set out to do in the beginning with this essay, which was to convince the target culture they need to change their ways before it?s too late.
The overwhelming feeling througout the entire essay is that, ?This lady is on a rant?, and it is apparent in the closing paragraphs of the essay that this was her intention, but the essay ends there, and seems to come up short of a punchline. While most self-proclaimed environmentalists would say that Williams did a wonderful job jabbing our glutenous culture where it hurts, those of a more dedicated banter would wonder just how much of a bite does this author take during her turn at the plate. It would seem that she places herself outside of this realm of over-utilization to the point where one can only imagine her standing in a loin cloth eating bannanas all day. Take her affront on the
The authors use of pathos in the essay is well planned and is used effectively. The see proof, the reader would have to look no further than the title of the essay: The Logic of Stupid Poor People. The word ‘stupid’ can be seen as a strong word towards someone or a group of people which stirs up emotion into some readers before they even start reading. It grabs interests and makes people want to hear what she has to say. When the author recalls of her past of being raised in a poor family, the author could also be using her stories to make the reader feel sympathy for her and understand the pressure that poor people are put under for them to be able to be considered for certain benefits and help in general. Another example of the author trying to appeal to the readers emotional side was how she concludes the essay with disregarding and opinions others have about the choice of poor people if they were not poor themselves. She states, “You have no idea what you would do if
The origin of modern day whales, a mystery that has puzzled paleontologists for years, may have just been solved with the discovery of an ankle bone. This discovery might sound simple and unimportant, but the bones of these ancient animals hold many unanswered questions and provide solid proof of origin and behavior. The relationship between whales and other animals has proven to be difficult because whales are warm-blooded, like humans, yet they live in the sea. The fact that they are warm-blooded suggests that they are related to some type of land animal. However, the questions of exactly which animal, and how whales evolved from land to water, have remained unanswered until now.
The website for SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment is speaking towards anyone that has seen the documentary BlackFish, or anyone who thinks that SeaWorld is abusing or mistreating the orcas or other animals by keeping them in captivity. They also attract the corporate side of SeaWorld as a business. The website gives information about what the business does to give back to the community, how their animals are treated and shows their credibility to draw in customers. The tab titled “The truth about Blackfish” states multiple points about how the producers of the documentary were lying about their facts or over exaggerating to appeal to multiple viewers. The purpose is to fight back against
“ The story of the whale is so remarkable, that were there not so many witnesses, I would not venture to tell it, lest I be accused of exaggeration.”
Herman Melville, in his epic novel Moby-Dick, utilizes the symbolism of the color of the Great White Whale to demonstrate his theme of duality. However, Captain Ahab tragically had a single mind set towards Moby Dick, as he believed that the whale was the symbol of the world's evil and had to be destroyed. On the other hand, Ishmael sees that the color white can mean many various and opposing things. It would be dangerous to settle upon any one single meaning. In the chapter, The Whiteness of the Whale, Melville explains the importance of duality of meaning in the world, as opposed to man's (and Ahab's) desire to see only one meaning in any one thing. Melville utilizes the symbol of the
When it comes to things like gender equality, and feminism people are going to have their own feelings and opinions about these certain subjects. It could bring strong, sympathetic, angry, or uninterested. Either way, it brings you some type of emotion to create pathos. She also uses words like “we” and “us” to involve herself with the audience to make feel what she’s feeling. One thing she states that “If we want to live as women, some separatism is forced upon us: Mills College is a wise embodiment of that separatism. The war-games world wasn’t made by us or for us; we can’t even breathe the air there without masks” (1).
David Kirby’s book describes the complex issues of whales in captivity. The death of a SeaWorld trainer brought up many objective reasons of the training practices of this business were not effective at keeping trainers safe in the water. Currently this debate is still being tested in a court of law. OSHA claims that even with the precautions that SeaWorld tries to use, it still cannot guarantee the safety of trainers in the water. This cultural topic has been gaining ground, and recently prompted a movie based off this book titled, Blackfish. The audience of this book includes animal activists, followers of David Kirby, and people that are interested in the topic of killer whales in captivity. Rob Grom was contracted to create a book
Williams demonstrates his cognizance, and skills as a writer, as this book is a well-written piece of literature, touching upon historical
A Perfect Day For Bananafish was written in 1948 by the American writer Jerome David Salinger. This was just three years after the ending of World War II, where Salinger was stationed in Berlin, Germany. From further analysis of the short-story I have come to the conclusion that Seymour is Salinger’s role model. Seymour has just returned from World War II, as well as Salinger had when he wrote the story. Seymour returns to his native country very confused, dysfunctional and with some psychic issues.
Killer whales are one of the most fascinating displays of ocean life. The killer whale has characteristics that are important to its survival in the ocean. It is interesting to know that killer whales have a plentiful diet. It is astounding to see how killer whales behave in the ocean. I plan to tell you about the killer whale, its characteristics, its diet, and its behavior in the ocean as well as the predation of the orca.
He goes off on a tangent telling a story about bartenders and tries to build up to the purpose of his essay. As the reader continues the purpose of the use of bartenders in his essay comes to light. Williams’ uses this tactic to draw in the middle class, hard working people of less power. He later includes other classes, but there is an undertone by starting off in this manner. This undertone creates a feeling that Williams’ is on the side of citizens not the politicians.
Eden Robinson’s Monkey Beach incorporates words and phrases from the Haisla language in an effort to reflect the protagonist’s culture while also satiating the cultural curiosity of a non-indigenous audience. The incorporation of Haisla is one of the mechanics of the Glorious Northern Gothic novel, as it provides a reformation of traditional Gothic conventions through an Indigenous lens. The Haisla language is presented through the protagonist’s narration and is usually introduced in an instructional tone or story. Italics mark most of the language in the text; however in some instances the words are not italicized or are only implied. It is through this process of marking that the use of Haisla language moves beyond a mode of integrating the protagonist’s culture into the story and provides a critique on Non-Indigenous Canadians’ appetite for Indigenous stories: what language the text contains and what language is omitted defines what parts of the culture Non-Indigenous Canadians have already consumed or are permitted to consume.
Unfortunately, the words themselves are not a perfect fit for the duality of the readership. For our purposes, we will say that most of the Gourmet readers are probably in the “optimist” crowd, but they are also the omnivores typical of the Standard American Diet: they will eat anything so long as it is expertly prepared and tasty. The “pessimists” are the segment of Wallace’s readership who are actually most receptive to his arguments. The reasons behind any particular reader’s membership in this group are numerous: the reader may be a vegetarian, or opposed to the typical method of lobster preparation, or may just be opposed to commercial fishing and/or commercialized food festivals. The specific reasons are not important; what is important is that Wallace does not have to fight to keep this audience: he just has to keep from alienating them. It is the optimists for whom he must fight.
Norway currently (2008) allows 1,052 minke whales to be hunted commercially for meat each year. Norway has killed over 8,100 whales since the whaling ban began; Japan currently (2008) kills 1,415 great whales from six species each year, for ‘scientific research. The IWC has condemned this as unnecessary and called on Japan to stop their hunts in over 20 separate Resolutions, Iceland killed 200 minke whales between 2003 and 2007 for 'scientific' purposes (WSPA). This is a very disturbing fact because these creatures have as much of a right to be on this beautiful planet earth as much as any human does and we are killing them senselessly and for no real good reason. The products that people use that they make like whale oil and whale blubber
Though, in overseeing the pursuit of this whale, Captain Ahab had evinced his customary activity, to call it so; yet now that the creature was dead, some vague dissatisfaction, or impatience, or despair, seemed working in him; as if the sight of that dead body reminded him that Moby Dick was yet to be slain; and though a thousand other whales were brought to his ship, all that would not one jot advance his grand, monomaniac object. Very soon you would have thought from the sound on the Pequod 's decks, that all hands were preparing to cast anchor in the deep; for heavy chains are being dragged along the deck, and thrust rattling out of the port-holes. But by those clanking links, the vast corpse itself, not the ship, is to be moored. Tied by the head to the stern, and by the tall to the bows, the whale now lies with its black hull close to the vessel 's, and seen through the darkness of the night, which obscured the spars and rigging aloft, the two- ship and whale, seemed yoked together like colossal bullocks, whereof one reclines while the other remains standing.*