Questions on Rhetoric and Style

1. Ehrenreich opens the selection with “Picture a fat person’s hell . . .” (para. 1). What is the intended effect? Does she want to shock or disgust the reader? Is she being humorous?

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   Chapter 7 - from Serving in Florida - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: Ehrenreich opens the selection with “Picture a fat person’s hell . . .” (para. 1). What is the intended effect? Does she want to shock or disgust the reader? Is she being humorous?
2. Ehrenreich describes the kitchen in terms of bodily organs and functions. What response is she trying to evoke? Is she successful? (See paragraphs 1 and 2.)

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   WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=

   Chapter 7 - from Serving in Florida - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: Ehrenreich describes the kitchen in terms of bodily organs and functions. What response is she trying to evoke? Is she successful? (See paragraphs 1 and 2.)
3. Ehrenreich provides fairly extensive commentary in footnotes. What is the effect of this strategy? In the footnotes, is her tone different from the one used in the body of the piece? Explain.

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   WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=

   Chapter 7 - from Serving in Florida - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: Ehrenreich provides fairly extensive commentary in footnotes. What is the effect of this strategy? In the footnotes, is her tone different from the one used in the body of the piece? Explain.
4. Ehrenreich uses lively, emotionally charged language throughout. Identify one passage and analyze the diction, especially the connotations of the words. Suggestions: the paragraph beginning “Now, the Industrial Revolution is not an easy transition . . .” (para. 3) or “I make friends, over time, with the other ‘girls’ who work my shift . . .” (para. 11).

   Question

   WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=

   Chapter 7 - from Serving in Florida - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: Ehrenreich uses lively, emotionally charged language throughout. Identify one passage and analyze the diction, especially the connotations of the words. Suggestions: the paragraph beginning “Now, the Industrial Revolution is not an easy transition . . .” (para. 3) or “I make friends, over time, with the other ‘girls’ who work my shift . . .” (para. 11).
5. Ehrenreich occasionally uses crude expressions. Are they appropriate? What is her intended effect in shifting to diction that is not only informal but, some would say, crass?

   Question

   WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=

   Chapter 7 - from Serving in Florida - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: Ehrenreich occasionally uses crude expressions. Are they appropriate? What is her intended effect in shifting to diction that is not only informal but, some would say, crass?
6. In this selection Ehrenreich is both outsider and insider; that is, she is the writer observing the environment in which she is playing a role. How does she make this narrative stance work? Does she shift abruptly between describing what is going on and commenting about it, or does she move smoothly between the two? Discuss by citing specific passages.

   Question

   WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=

   Chapter 7 - from Serving in Florida - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: In this selection Ehrenreich is both outsider and insider; that is, she is the writer observing the environment in which she is playing a role. How does she make this narrative stance work? Does she shift abruptly between describing what is going on and commenting about it, or does she move smoothly between the two? Discuss by citing specific passages.
7. Discuss specific instances of humor in this selection. Is it primarily ironic humor? Aggressively sarcastic? Affectionately amusing? Cite specific passages in your response.

   Question

   WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=

   Chapter 7 - from Serving in Florida - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: Discuss specific instances of humor in this selection. Is it primarily ironic humor? Aggressively sarcastic? Affectionately amusing? Cite specific passages in your response.
8. What elements of fiction does Ehrenreich employ? Consider such elements as figurative language, dialogue, narrative commentary, and description of people and settings.

   Question

   WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=

   Chapter 7 - from Serving in Florida - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: What elements of fiction does Ehrenreich employ? Consider such elements as figurative language, dialogue, narrative commentary, and description of people and settings.
9. In this selection, Ehrenreich does not state a thesis or indicate directly what her purpose is; instead, she works by inference and implication. What is her purpose? State it directly in a sentence that begins, “In this selection, Ehrenreich . . .”

   Question

   WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=

   Chapter 7 - from Serving in Florida - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: In this selection, Ehrenreich does not state a thesis or indicate directly what her purpose is; instead, she works by inference and implication. What is her purpose? State it directly in a sentence that begins, “In this selection, Ehrenreich . . .”
10. At times, Ehrenreich seems to raise tangential issues. When she describes her coworker smoking, for instance, she writes: “Because work is what you do for others; smoking is what you do for yourself. I don’t know why the antismoking crusaders have never grasped the element of defiant self-nurturance that makes the habit so endearing to its victims—as if, in the American workplace, the only thing people have to call their own is the tumors they are nourishing and the spare moments they devote to feeding them” (para. 2). What is the effect of this commentary? What is its relevance to Ehrenreich’s overall purpose?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=

    Chapter 7 - from Serving in Florida - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: At times, Ehrenreich seems to raise tangential issues. When she describes her coworker smoking, for instance, she writes: “Because work is what you do for others; smoking is what you do for yourself. I don’t know why the antismoking crusaders have never grasped the element of defiant self-nurturance that makes the habit so endearing to its victims—as if, in the American workplace, the only thing people have to call their own is the tumors they are nourishing and the spare moments they devote to feeding them” (para. 2). What is the effect of this commentary? What is its relevance to Ehrenreich’s overall purpose?
11. How does Ehrenreich establish her ethos in this selection? What part does her relationship with George play in her appeal to ethos?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=

    Chapter 7 - from Serving in Florida - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: How does Ehrenreich establish her ethos in this selection? What part does her relationship with George play in her appeal to ethos?
12. Who is Ehrenreich’s audience? Base your answer on the tone you detect in specific passages.

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=

    Chapter 7 - from Serving in Florida - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: Who is Ehrenreich’s audience? Base your answer on the tone you detect in specific passages.