In Quindlen’s essay, “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide,” the purpose of her essay is to demonstrate the vast differences between the two sexes. She exhibits the purpose successfully by using anecdotes throughout the essays, in many places throughout, all holding relevance to the differing mindsets of the sexes. She also utilizes syntax and diction to further emphasize her point. The thesis that is purported is, despite the differences that are astoundingly immense that separates the sexes, they will continue to attempt to mingle about, with these differing roles and standards serving as obstacles. Quindlen uses an anecdote in the introduction of her essay to set the tone and theme of the piece. When she uses the anecdote of middle school
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She first sets up the paragraphs with her personal commentary, such as “Yet isn’t it odd that I feel the prejudice is somehow easier to deal with than the simple difference?” or “The amaryllis bulb haunts me” before proceeding onward to talking about her point. Afterwards, she then proceeds with the anecdote or more further commentary with involvement of the differences, such as “I explained that I was not an onion but an amaryllis bulb and that soon it would grow into fabulous flowers. ‘What is that thing in the bathroom?’ his father said later the same day. Impatiently I explained again. A look flashed between them, and then the littlest boy, too” or “On the telephone a friend and I will be commiserating about a failure of our husbands to listen when we talk, or their inexorable linear thinking, or their total blindness to the use and necessity of things like amaryllis bulbs” (242). The ending of the paragraphs dismisses the subtopic but still have its point proven, such as how when she writes, “Mom. Weird. Women.” or “Is it any wonder that our relationships are so often riddled with misunderstandings and disappointments?” With this system of formatting her paragraphs, she is able to prove her purpose of the essay by having it set up, and then have an anecdote in the center, with the inane observations, and finally the conclusion for the paragraph, …show more content…
An example of her using diction to help support the purpose is in the quote, “Very soon, he got the idea: us and them, him and her” (242), in which the words “us” has the connotations of being familiar and accustomed to already, while the word “them” has the connotations of being different, alien, and foreign. Her usage of the contrasting words “us” and “them” helps serve her purpose by exemplifying the gap between the sexes and just how differing they are. Quindlen also had utilized figures of speech in her prose to serve for her purpose by allowing the message to come off with details that ordinary words and sentences cannot convey. An example of Quindlen using figurative language is the metaphor in the very last sentence of the essay, “Between them the floor already stretches, an ocean to cross before they can dance uneasily in one another’s arms”, in which an image of two people that cross a vast ocean to come across each other for a reunion. This serves the purpose as it allows her point to be seen more vividly than just plain
She first sets up the paragraphs with her personal commentary, such as “Yet isn’t it odd that I feel the prejudice is somehow easier to deal with than the simple difference?” or “The amaryllis bulb haunts me” before proceeding onward to talking about her point. Afterwards, she then proceeds with the anecdote or more further commentary with involvement of the differences, such as “I explained that I was not an onion but an amaryllis bulb and that soon it would grow into fabulous flowers. ‘What is that thing in the bathroom?’ his father said later the same day. Impatiently I explained again. A look flashed between them, and then the littlest boy, too” or “On the telephone a friend and I will be commiserating about a failure of our husbands to listen when we talk, or their inexorable linear thinking, or their total blindness to the use and necessity of things like amaryllis bulbs” (242). The ending of the paragraphs dismisses the subtopic but still have its point proven, such as how when she writes, “Mom. Weird. Women.” or “Is it any wonder that our relationships are so often riddled with misunderstandings and disappointments?” With this system of formatting her paragraphs, she is able to prove her purpose of the essay by having it set up, and then have an anecdote in the center, with the inane observations, and finally the conclusion for the paragraph, …show more content…
An example of her using diction to help support the purpose is in the quote, “Very soon, he got the idea: us and them, him and her” (242), in which the words “us” has the connotations of being familiar and accustomed to already, while the word “them” has the connotations of being different, alien, and foreign. Her usage of the contrasting words “us” and “them” helps serve her purpose by exemplifying the gap between the sexes and just how differing they are. Quindlen also had utilized figures of speech in her prose to serve for her purpose by allowing the message to come off with details that ordinary words and sentences cannot convey. An example of Quindlen using figurative language is the metaphor in the very last sentence of the essay, “Between them the floor already stretches, an ocean to cross before they can dance uneasily in one another’s arms”, in which an image of two people that cross a vast ocean to come across each other for a reunion. This serves the purpose as it allows her point to be seen more vividly than just plain