"Fat" by Raymond Carver

Anyway, I’m getting hungry, let’s grab something to eat,” Charonda suggested. “There is a place next door we can get something quick. Let’s have a light lunch so that we can pig out at Duane’s party tonight. I just love the Caribbean food he serves!” Elizabeth replied. “I’ll order. What do you want?” Charonda asked. “I love cheeseburgers! I gotta watch my weight and my cholesterol level now. Looks like the pounds came on over winter. What are you having? I’ll follow your example, skinny girl,” Elizabeth observed. “Two slices of cheese pizza, a large garden salad, and an iced tea,” Charonda replied. “A diet ice tea, I bet,” remarked Elizabeth. “Nah, artificial sweeteners taste awful,” Charonda replied. “Yeah, nothing like the real stuff. I’ll have the same, but I like spicy. Two slices of pepperoni pizza, a taco salad, and a grape soda for me. I love ranch dressing, but don’t bring any for me … too many calories,” Elizabeth requested. As they sat down to eat, Elizabeth looked around at the other diners and observed. “Crowded huh; salads seem to be popular today.” “Yeah, that time of the year. Doesn’t hurt to lose the few pounds gained over winter—swimsuit season coming up,” Charonda opined. “Looks like I have to do that too. You know, I tried several times to lose weight but it is so hard,” confessed Elizabeth. “Yeah, I know it’s tough,” agreed Charonda. “Look at that lady with the two kids in the corner table. Her plate is loaded with fried chicken and fries and

Throughout the chapter, Bourdain mentions listening to songs such as “House of the Rising Sun”, “Whiter Shade of Pale”, and “These Boots Were Made for Walking” and watching films such as Boeing Boeing (393, 397). He mentions these songs in order to set the time period in the 60s for the audience and connect them to the experience. He then tells the story of eating his first oyster, calling it “the proudest moment of my young life,” he claims (398). He discusses how his family seemed disgusted by the oyster, but he enjoyed it. Bourdain allows the reader to see this moment in his life in order to show the exact time that he truly realized that “food had power” (399). Bourdain’s use of his childhood memories connects the reader to the reason why and how he came to love food.

The short story What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, by Raymond Carver, is about two married couples drinking gin and having a talk about the nature of love. The conversation is a little sloppy, and the characters make some comments which could either be meaningless because of excessive alcohol in the bloodstream, or could be the characters' true feelings because of excessive alcohol in the bloodstream. Overall, the author uses this conversation to show that when a relationship first begins, the people involved may have misconceptions about their love, but this love will eventually die off or develop into something much more meaningful.

The Short Story “My Father’s Life,” by Raymond Carver illustrates the difficult task of a son trying to find his own sense of identity and individualism while watching his father’s life unravel. Carver explores the relationships of his parents and his own struggle with sharing the same name with his father and the similarities and differences between them.

She uses food and memories to keep her anchored. “Food nourishes the soul. I believe that everyone deserves a hand prepared meal. People need to slow down and eat. Food is a blessing that helps build community in the sharing of well prepared food.”

In his article “How Junk Food Can End Obesity,” first published in 2013, David Freedman interprets how junk food can end obesity. Some people talk about junk food as one of the worst possible substances to put inside the human body. The number of calories, carbohydrates, and sodium in junk food products is massive, but “health food” can be just as bad. In David H. Freedman’s article, “How Junk Food Can End Obesity,” he explains the many pros and cons to both junk food and health food. Throughout the article, there are many uses of repetition, contrast, anomalies, and literary devices that all work together to correlate Freedman's point. Even though Freedman states that junk food could not end obesity, it is evident that Freedman believes

In the Introduction to “Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating”, Mary Maxfield argues that food and the way we consume it is not something that should define the obesity epidemic in America. A controversial issue discussed has been whether we should have theories or ideas where diet works best to increase weight loss or whether we should have any diets to begin with. On one hand, Maxfield argues against the Health Professor Michael Pollan, who proposes a diet idea to reduce the problem of unhealthy eating in America. While also reprimanding scientists and health doctors who suggests their own different diets. On the other hand, she introduces that food is just food and does not need to be differentiated since one may seem

In Don’t Blame the Eater, David Zinczenko composes his opinion on the fast food industry’s absence of nutritional information and more. Zinczenko starts his piece by giving his own life experience. He recalls his childhood trying to find food and that fast food was “the only available options for an American kid to get an affordable meal” (Zinczenko 462). By giving his own life experience, Zinczenko relates to the reader and grabs their attention.

In two passages of Toni Morrison’s novel, Beloved, she describes a party at 124. Everyone become so full from the food that flows endlessly that they become angry at Baby Suggs extravagance. Baby Suggs thinks it was this overfullness that caused them all to not notice the coming of Schoolteacher and his sons. The narrator of one passage is Stamp Paid and he recounts to Paul D. what happened at the party – what they ate and how it made everyone feel.

“The Cato Institute’s” Policy analyst, Radley Balko, in his article “What You Eat Is Your Business,” talks about the idea of obesity and whose fault it is. Balko’s purpose is to convey the idea that obesity is the individual’s responsibility, not the government’s or anyone else’s for that matter. Ultimately, Balko’s “What You Eat Is Your Business” has a strong hold on ethos, pathos, and logos, making for a successful and persuasive article.

In the Introduction, to “Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating”, Mary Maxfield argues that food and the way we consume it isn’t something that should define the obesity epidemic in America. A controversial issue discussed has been whether we should have theories or ideas on which diet works best to increase weight loss or whether we should have any diets to begin with. On one hand, Maxfield argues against the Health Professor Michael Pollan, who proposes an idea to reduce the problem of unhealthy eating in America, when he himself chastises scientists and other health doctors who suggests different diets. On the other hand, she introduces that food is just food and doesn’t need to be differentiated since one may seem

The purpose of this paper is to study the social aspect of obesity and an individual's personal experience of being fat. I understand obesity as a socially and politically meaningful divergence that is analogous to other significant differences based on the body, for example: disability, gender, and ethnicity (ef. Cooper, 1997&1998; Young, 1990). In my research, I approach obesity as a discursive category that is created, produced and reproduced through various social practices, such as: medicine and health care system, school, religion, and the media (e.g. Foucault, 1979).

The short story “The Fat Girl” by Andre Dubus teaches readers about a real life struggle that is commonly faced by others. The main character of the story is Louise, a young teenage girl who deals with the issues of being overweight. Her mother worries about her weight and tries to control it by feeding her on a diet. While Louise is around others she tries to eat salads and healthy food so it does not appear as if she has a problem. When no one is watching, Louise binge eats and sneaks sandwiches, candy, and other unhealthy snacks that her mother would not approve of. One of the main struggles she faces from being overweight is the fact that no boys are interested in her. She starts going to an all-girl college and befriends her roommate, Carrie. Louise and Carrie help get Louise on the right

Tommy Anderson, a pudgy young boy, casually walked home from school. As he rounded a corner, a large billboard with four obese children staring down at him caught his attention. The words “Fat kids become fat adults” written in bold text near the bottom gripped him tightly. Tommy glanced down at his own, bulging stomach; shame oozed its way into his body. He looked back up at the ad, and met the stare of the children displayed on the billboard. The shame flooded out, quickly replaced by a sense of defiant determination. Tommy decided he did not want to be a fat kid any longer. This moment, though he did not know it at the time, would change his entire life. That night, Tommy went home, talked with his parents, and started a diet and

Obesity has become an epidemic in today’s society. Today around 50% of America is now considered to be over weight. Fast-food consumption has been a major contributor to the debate of the twenty-first century. Chapter thirteen, titled “Is Fast-Food the New Tobacco,” in the They Say I Say book, consists of authors discussing the debate of fast-food’s link to obesity. Authors debate the government’s effects on the fast-food industry, along with whether or not the fast-food industry is to blame for the rise in obesity throughout America. While some people blame the fast food industry for the rise in obesity, others believe it is a matter of personal responsibility to watch what someone eats and make sure they get the proper exercise.