Friday, October 14, 2011

Figurative Language Analysis- Overstatement

Emily Matchar's "Why I can't stop reading Mormon housewife blogs," employs effective figurative language in order to get the audience onto the same page.  Her use of overstatement is extremely effective on the audience when she says, "And don’t even get me started on the Mommy Blogs, which make parenthood seem like a vale of judgment and anxiety, full of words like 'guilt' and 'chaos' and 'BPA-free' and 'episiotomy.'  Read enough of these, and you’ll be ready to remove your own ovaries with a butter knife." (Italics added in by me.)  Matchar makes this bold statement in order to shock the audience.  Of course she does not mean the sentence literally, but she it trying to get the point across that Mommy Blogs by other people other than Mormons tend to be depressing and stressful.  When Matchar states, "... you'll be ready to remove your own ovaries with a butter knife," she simply means that after reading those depressing blogs, the idea of having children  will seem like a nightmare.  her crude manner of putting that sentence also makes it more abrupt for the audience to read, making them ultimately reject the idea of reading the non-Mormon Mommy blogs; thus, fulfilling the goal of Emily Matchar in supporting the reading of Mormon blogs.

6 comments:

  1. Interesting, I have never read any mommy blogs, but it makes sense that non-mormons would have a more negative view of being a parent and raising children.

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  2. I think that the use of overstatement in that Mormon Mommy blog is perfect. While I haven't ever read a Mormon Mommy blog before, I do have an older sister who has mentioned many of those same "key words". I may not have any ovaries to cut out but after 5 or 6 times of hearing about such thing I would try anyways. (Not really.)

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  3. Ha I love that use of overstatement. I say that same thing every time I see a screaming child. :S But I can't wait to have kids! haha

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  4. hahaha That's a great example of overstatement! I agree that those blogs can be very depressing.

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  5. This was a great way of putting things; because it's so true the more horror and disappointment you hear the less you want to actually dive into a situation like that. Good analysis I think you're right on.

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  6. At first, only 2 guys commented on this and I was worried that girls could not relate to this piece of figurative language, which would be ironic... because "we were by a bus." haha!

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