At the Gym

684 Words2 Pages

At the Gym, written by Mark Doty, dramatizes the conflict within the mind of a bodybuilder and his desire to change who and what he is. The speaker observes the routines of the bodybuilder bench-pressing at a local gym, and attempts to explain the driving force that compels him to change his appearance. The speaker illustrates the physical use of inanimate objects as the tools used for the “desired” transformation: “and hoist nothing that need be lifted” (5,6). However, coupled with “but some burden they’ve chosen this time” (7), the speaker takes the illustration beyond the physical use of the tools of transformation and delves into the bodybuilder’s mental state. The speaker ends by portraying the bodybuilder as an arrogant, muscular being with fragile feelings of insecurity.

Similar to a church altar where baptisms take place, the speaker begins by depicting the bench press as an altar of change and transformation. Illustrating the setting in this manner suggests that the speaker begins to wonders what drives the bodybuilder to lift an inanimate object repeatedly w...

Show More
Related

  • Eating Chili Peppers And Conforming To Stand Out Analysis

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    MacClancy states, “Wrenched out of normal routines by the continuing assault on their mouths, they concentrate on the sensation and ignore almost everything else” (287-288). On the topic of body art, Ruggia states, “The skinny obsession is spiraling out of control as more people risk death to be thin through diet pills and gastric bypass surgery” (318). These statements support that the essays both unveil an underlying message of the endless human search for self-gratification. Using diferent writing styles, the authors similarly impress their person opinion on the

    Read More

  • Summary Of At The Gym By Mark Doty

    1245 Words  | 3 Pages

    bond we share as human beings. The paths we take in life can be of great distress, but the outcome will determine the will of who we are. These paths are a “sign of where we’ve been” (line 11). Doty challenges us how to balance the weight of the world through self-confidence and consideration of others for guidance. According to Doty, this guidance can be found in common places.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of 'Too Close To The Bone'

    1074 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the article, “Too ‘Close to the Bone’: The Historical Context for Women’s Obsession with Slenderness,” Roberta Seid goes in depth on the emotionally straining and life altering trials women take on to try to portray society’s “ideal” body over time. She delves far into the past, exposing our culture’s ideal body image and the changes it has gone through over time. The article brings to light the struggles of striving to be the perfect woman with the model body. On the other hand, in the article “Rethinking Weight”, author Amanda Spake, details the many differing views of obesity. Spake voices her opinion on the idea that being overweight, and not losing weight, is caused by laziness. “Too Close to the Bone” and “Rethinking Weight” both deliberate about weight issues that are

    Read More

  • The Death Of Benny Paret Rhetorical Analysis

    773 Words  | 2 Pages

    Novelist, Norman Mailer, in his narrative essay, “The Death of Benny Paret,” recounts his experience as he witnesses a first-hand account of the tragic death of the boxer, Benny Paret. Mailer’s purpose is to convince the audience that boxing is inhumane through the use of many rhetorical devices, such as simile, animalistic diction and syntax.

    Read More

  • Commentary On The Essay 'Workers' By Richard Rodriguez

    1066 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rodriguez believed that although he experienced a drastic physical changed, his mental state stayed the same. He states that, “After that summer, a great deal-and not very much really-changed in my life. The curse of physical shame was broken by the sun; I was no longer ashamed of my body. No longer would I deny myself the pleasing sensations of my maleness.” Richard Rodriguez has finally accepted himself as who he is after his hard work at his summer job. In his essay, he uses imagery to show who he became when he wrote, “The torso, the soccer player’s calves and thighs, the arms of the twenty-year-old I never was, I possess now in my thirties.” He urges the reader to indulge in their body work and to change their body for their personal likings and not for others. Rodriguez depicts a moment in life when he visited a school in the ghetto. He says that, “Ghetto girls mimic high-fashion models. Their dresses are of bold, forceful color; their figures elegant, long; the stance theatrical. Boys wear shirts that grip at their overdeveloped muscular bodies… Bad nutrition does not yet tell.” He states this to show how the youth are taking advantage of what they were born with and have yet to accept themselves without being flashy or trying to mimic others that they believe look better than

    Read More

  • Origins of Pilates and Joseph Pilates

    1275 Words  | 3 Pages

    Joe began to get involved in various body movement art studies as a young person such as martial arts, yoga, Roman Regimes, boxing, and ancient Grecian. He was determined to become healthy like his peers. From his various studies based on the intensified understanding between his body and mind of what could not be validated to the combination of both, Joe continuously developed the body and mind together. He did this through a combination of increased spiritual with increased bodily arts. Joe realized that the instinct that generated the method was already operational in his mind. He came to this conclusion through remembering his study of a book on the topic of anatomy as a young boy, his observation of his body muscles, and by watching animals as they move in the forest (Therapy Directory, 2014).

    Read More

  • Gym Ethnography Essay

    1701 Words  | 4 Pages

    The gym is a place where a typical American college student goes to work out their bodies. Based on the fact that I personally could be considered a gym rat, a stereotypical name for someone who spends a lot of time in the work out area. This is partially by choice being on the swim team requires the strength training equipment that is available to our disposal in the gym. While I have been to the gym many times I haven’t really taken the time to take in the other people around me. Within this ethnographic exercise I will explore the college gym norms within Roger Williams University.

    Read More

  • I Found Myself at Wrestling Camp

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    When we first arrived I’d thought we’d taken a wrong turn and went to a traveling gypsy convention by mistake. The whole field outside the school was filled with tents of various sizes and colors. 200 wrestlers, about thirty of which were girls, filtered about the area. As my soon-to-be teammates and I headed to the first practice, anxiety gnawed at my stomach like a dog with a bone (FL). I wanted to impress everybody, and prove that I could make it in this sport. Before we started, the coach patted me on the shoulder. “I’ve got your back all right.” he told me. I smiled and nodded. At least one person was looking out for me.

    Read More

  • Gabby Douglas: The First African-American Female Gymnast

    955 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fraser, Allen. “What a great gymnastics movie should be.” The New Yorker. conde Nast, n.d. May. 17 Feb. 2014

    Read More

  • The Troubled Life of Boys; The Bully in the Mirror

    611 Words  | 2 Pages

    Over the years even action figures have gotten larger muscles, so much so that they are to proportions physically impossible to obtain. Every time you turn the corner, your eyes are drawn to some advertisement that shows a man with his shirt off, muscular and defined. “There is no way to plug popular culture into an equation and see what effect it has on mass psychology, of course, but there is widespread sentiment that these provocative images of buff males have really upped the ant...

    Read More

  • The Media's Effect on Women

    1110 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mackler, Carolyn. Body Outlaws: Rewriting the Rules of Beauty and Body Image. Ed. Ophira Edut. Emeryville, CA: Seal, 2004. Print.

    Read More

  • The Disturbing Sexualization of Young Girls

    2257 Words  | 5 Pages

    The "Body Image" - "The Body Image" Readings for Writers. 14th ed. of the year. Boston: Monica Eckman, 2013. 310.

    Read More

  • Real Life Experiences Of Transgender Women By Michelle Castillo

    1469 Words  | 3 Pages

    She shares the reader a story of a transgender women named Chloie Johnson -who was denied admission to a female CrossFit fitness competition due to her sexual orientation. The letter that CrossFit sent Chloie Johnson stated that she was not allowed to compete due to the fact that she was “… born, genetically - as a matter of fact - with an X and a Y chromosome and all of the anatomy of a male of the human race. Today, notwithstanding any hormone therapy or surgeries, Chloie still has an X and Y chromosome.” Due to the fact that Chloie Johnson had been born as a male, she was denied the opportunity to compete in the CrossFit strength competition. By sharing this story, Castillo gives the readers a chance to pity Chloie Johnson and to feel anger towards the close-mindedness and discrimination of the CrossFit company due to Chloie Johnson’s biological sex.

    Read More

  • In a Grove

    394 Words  | 1 Pages

    It is a story that provides the ultimate explanation of how two different people who are witnesses to a crime give completely different psychological recollections of the same event. The author reminds us that truth depends on the telling. Someone must step forward and tell that truth.

    Read More

  • The Gym

    964 Words  | 2 Pages

    The gym where I train and workout, the Dubuque Martial Arts Group, is a place where I know who I am. It is a place I can go to escape my problems for a while and release some stress. It's not the actual physical building, but rather the events that have occurred there over the years. It's where I have formed some of my closest friendships. It is the place I have invested years of hard work for many of my accomplishments. To some it may seem odd that a place associated with sweat, blood and physical pain mean so much to someone. However, in my eyes it's almost like a second home.

    Read More

More about At the Gym

Open Document