In a variety of different texts an audience or reader can have their opinions about a certain food changed, simply through the language and imagery used by the author of the text. For example one writer may describe a food such as a pomegranate as a super food, and boasts about its high nutritional content making the reader want to eat one, but another may state that the fruit is over-rated and you are better off gaining your vitamins and minerals from different fruits or foods such as oranges or carrots. In this assignment I will choose two articles from the Unit 1 anthology, both of which contrast from each other in the way they portray food and will write about how the imagery created by language, grammar and word choice alter or improve a reader’s thoughts on a certain type of food. The texts I will write about in this assignment include text 1 (The Butcher’s Shop) and text 5 (The Coming of Yams and Mangoes and Mountain Honey).
In the poem of ‘The Butcher Shop’ written by Angela Topping food is talked about in a negative way through the use imagery that is portrayed in the poem. Although there are no physical images in the poem the author uses descriptive language to create images in the reader’s head helping them gain a clear idea of the message the poem is trying to send across. The imagery in the poem helps create a negative approach to the food written about, which in this case is freshly butchered meat by using contrast between life and death. For example an image is created through the line: ‘All the way home your cold and soggy paper parcel bleeds’. This sentence creates an image to the reader of a piece of meat which is still covered in blood being carried in a paper parcel like it was never part of a living being before its slaughter. The imagery created is almost showing the reader how the animal is ‘crying’ through its blood dripping out in ruby red floods out of the paper bag, which will cause the reader to imagine the animal’s last moments alive as it was hacked to death by a butcher, while it screamed out in pain unable to escape, its life in the hands of a inhumane human being who was taking its innocent life for the sake of someone having a meal to enjoy at home.
Unlike text 1 text 5 written by Caribbean native James Berry, creates positive imagery through language, which helps make the reader feel the food talked about in the poem which in this case is tropical fruit is the most appetizing and humane food given to us by nature. Like text 1 there is no physical imagery included in the poem the use of language by the author helps build up the positive images inside the readers head and this is done through using descriptive language. One example of a use of descriptive language in the poem which helps create a positive image about food in the reader’s mind is this following line: ‘Handfuls hold hidden sunset’. This line helps create an image of warm colored tropical fruits such as mangoes which the reader will be attracted to because of the beauty of the color of the fruit, which is described as being like a hidden sunset. The imagery created causes the reader to think that fruits are beautiful in that they all show different colors, designs and have different smells which can sensualize the person’s senses, and make them crave the fruit even when they are not hungry. This contrasts with the first text in that the food is portrayed as ‘cold and bloody’ making the reader feel they would not want to eat the meat, which may cause them to revert to being a vegetarian which may be the initial intention of the author.
Grammar is used in text 1 to help make the poem appear as if it is to be taken seriously, because it is written out in the form you would find a newspaper article’s headlining news written in. The sentences of the poem are not placed into neat paragraphs, instead being written in a way which shows the author did not care for the physical presentation of the article, because they mostly cared of the emotional presentation of the article in which they hoped to get a message across to the reader. The sentences which include complex declarative sentences are written in small, yet closely placed together paragraphs which the reader would need to read slowly so they would take in the information of the text. One example of a declarative complex sentence which shows the grammar in the poem includes: ‘The pigs are strung in rows, open mouthed, dignified in martyr’s death. They hang stiff as Sunday manners, their porky heads voting Tory all their lives, their blue rosettes discarded now’. The way this sentence has been laid out shows the reader that the author is describing the sight of the dead animals hung from the ceiling from personal experience, and uses comparison between the animals and the humans to show that the animals are equal to the humans, even though this is ignored. For example the author states the pig’s severed heads vote for Tory which is comparing the pigs to the members of the Tory party, stating they are greedy and pig like even though they are human.
In contrast to text 1 text 5 uses grammar to help show the positivity of the food being talked about, and this is done by the author writing their sentences in structured yet small paragraphs consisting of 5 sentences each. In these sentences grammar is used to help get the author’s opinion across, and one example of a sentence which shows this includes: ‘Sun’s alphabet drops out of branches’. This sentence portrays fruit as the sun’s own alphabet in that the different colors of the fruits vary on the amount of sun they receive while they are growing and ripening on the tree. With the sentences being written in small structured sentences the poem appears almost like a song, where the sentences can be read with a tune to make it sound more positive, almost as if the author is singing praise about the fruits he or she has included in their work.
In text 1 word choice made by the author helps to bring out the negative point of view of slaughtering innocent animals for food, by using negative words and sentences which would tug at the heart strings of the reader causing them to think twice about eating meat. The words used by the author in text 1 help show the contrast between life and death in the butcher shop, and the author uses language that would deliberately make the reader feel saddened by what they are picturing in their head. One line which shows the negative word choices the author has made is this: Smug, woolly cattle and snowy sheep prance on tiles, grazing on eternity, cute illustrations in a children’s book.’ This sentence tells the reader that the tiled walls of the butcher shop have child -like images of the animals which have been slaughtered on the wall, appearing happy and healthy like they were before they were sent to their deaths. This helps show the contrast of life and death to the reader by stating that the animals on the tiles are frozen in time, in an artificial state of happiness which is man-made, where the actual animals themselves are frozen in time as slabs of bloody, red meat ready to be cooked at home.
Text 5 however uses positive words in the poem to help show the positive opinion of the author on fruit. Words which compare beautiful colors, rare beauty and the aura of nature help build up a positive image in the reader’s head which will give them a positive opinion on the consumption of fruit which is classed as nature’s gift by many. One sentence which shows the positive word choices the author has made includes: ‘Open up a papaw like pumpkin you get the brightness of a macaw’. In this sentence the author is stating if you cut open a papaya fruit you will witness a bold, beautiful golden color which has the same beauty of a macaw parrot whose feathers are made of a bold and colorful bloom which shows the tropical colors of the world.
In conclusion different texts can alter or improve a reader’s opinion on food, and can convince them to eat or not eat a certain type of food through the language and descriptive words written by the author. Negative words and language can cause a reader to be repulsed by the thought of eating meat, whereas positive words can help a reader be blissfully happy to consume the food written about because of the positive images created in the readers mind.
In the poem of ‘The Butcher Shop’ written by Angela Topping food is talked about in a negative way through the use imagery that is portrayed in the poem. Although there are no physical images in the poem the author uses descriptive language to create images in the reader’s head helping them gain a clear idea of the message the poem is trying to send across. The imagery in the poem helps create a negative approach to the food written about, which in this case is freshly butchered meat by using contrast between life and death. For example an image is created through the line: ‘All the way home your cold and soggy paper parcel bleeds’. This sentence creates an image to the reader of a piece of meat which is still covered in blood being carried in a paper parcel like it was never part of a living being before its slaughter. The imagery created is almost showing the reader how the animal is ‘crying’ through its blood dripping out in ruby red floods out of the paper bag, which will cause the reader to imagine the animal’s last moments alive as it was hacked to death by a butcher, while it screamed out in pain unable to escape, its life in the hands of a inhumane human being who was taking its innocent life for the sake of someone having a meal to enjoy at home.
Unlike text 1 text 5 written by Caribbean native James Berry, creates positive imagery through language, which helps make the reader feel the food talked about in the poem which in this case is tropical fruit is the most appetizing and humane food given to us by nature. Like text 1 there is no physical imagery included in the poem the use of language by the author helps build up the positive images inside the readers head and this is done through using descriptive language. One example of a use of descriptive language in the poem which helps create a positive image about food in the reader’s mind is this following line: ‘Handfuls hold hidden sunset’. This line helps create an image of warm colored tropical fruits such as mangoes which the reader will be attracted to because of the beauty of the color of the fruit, which is described as being like a hidden sunset. The imagery created causes the reader to think that fruits are beautiful in that they all show different colors, designs and have different smells which can sensualize the person’s senses, and make them crave the fruit even when they are not hungry. This contrasts with the first text in that the food is portrayed as ‘cold and bloody’ making the reader feel they would not want to eat the meat, which may cause them to revert to being a vegetarian which may be the initial intention of the author.
Grammar is used in text 1 to help make the poem appear as if it is to be taken seriously, because it is written out in the form you would find a newspaper article’s headlining news written in. The sentences of the poem are not placed into neat paragraphs, instead being written in a way which shows the author did not care for the physical presentation of the article, because they mostly cared of the emotional presentation of the article in which they hoped to get a message across to the reader. The sentences which include complex declarative sentences are written in small, yet closely placed together paragraphs which the reader would need to read slowly so they would take in the information of the text. One example of a declarative complex sentence which shows the grammar in the poem includes: ‘The pigs are strung in rows, open mouthed, dignified in martyr’s death. They hang stiff as Sunday manners, their porky heads voting Tory all their lives, their blue rosettes discarded now’. The way this sentence has been laid out shows the reader that the author is describing the sight of the dead animals hung from the ceiling from personal experience, and uses comparison between the animals and the humans to show that the animals are equal to the humans, even though this is ignored. For example the author states the pig’s severed heads vote for Tory which is comparing the pigs to the members of the Tory party, stating they are greedy and pig like even though they are human.
In contrast to text 1 text 5 uses grammar to help show the positivity of the food being talked about, and this is done by the author writing their sentences in structured yet small paragraphs consisting of 5 sentences each. In these sentences grammar is used to help get the author’s opinion across, and one example of a sentence which shows this includes: ‘Sun’s alphabet drops out of branches’. This sentence portrays fruit as the sun’s own alphabet in that the different colors of the fruits vary on the amount of sun they receive while they are growing and ripening on the tree. With the sentences being written in small structured sentences the poem appears almost like a song, where the sentences can be read with a tune to make it sound more positive, almost as if the author is singing praise about the fruits he or she has included in their work.
In text 1 word choice made by the author helps to bring out the negative point of view of slaughtering innocent animals for food, by using negative words and sentences which would tug at the heart strings of the reader causing them to think twice about eating meat. The words used by the author in text 1 help show the contrast between life and death in the butcher shop, and the author uses language that would deliberately make the reader feel saddened by what they are picturing in their head. One line which shows the negative word choices the author has made is this: Smug, woolly cattle and snowy sheep prance on tiles, grazing on eternity, cute illustrations in a children’s book.’ This sentence tells the reader that the tiled walls of the butcher shop have child -like images of the animals which have been slaughtered on the wall, appearing happy and healthy like they were before they were sent to their deaths. This helps show the contrast of life and death to the reader by stating that the animals on the tiles are frozen in time, in an artificial state of happiness which is man-made, where the actual animals themselves are frozen in time as slabs of bloody, red meat ready to be cooked at home.
Text 5 however uses positive words in the poem to help show the positive opinion of the author on fruit. Words which compare beautiful colors, rare beauty and the aura of nature help build up a positive image in the reader’s head which will give them a positive opinion on the consumption of fruit which is classed as nature’s gift by many. One sentence which shows the positive word choices the author has made includes: ‘Open up a papaw like pumpkin you get the brightness of a macaw’. In this sentence the author is stating if you cut open a papaya fruit you will witness a bold, beautiful golden color which has the same beauty of a macaw parrot whose feathers are made of a bold and colorful bloom which shows the tropical colors of the world.
In conclusion different texts can alter or improve a reader’s opinion on food, and can convince them to eat or not eat a certain type of food through the language and descriptive words written by the author. Negative words and language can cause a reader to be repulsed by the thought of eating meat, whereas positive words can help a reader be blissfully happy to consume the food written about because of the positive images created in the readers mind.