The state of Maine is a huge tourist spot known for it’s rocky coastline and seafood cuisine, especially lobster. Annually, the state holds the “Maine Lobster Festival” every summer, and is a popular lucrative attraction including carnival rides and food booths. The center of attention for this festival is, unsurprisingly, lobster. The author of the article “Consider the Lobster”, David Foster Wallace, mainly uses logos and pathos, and explores the idea of being put into the lobsters perspective by describing how the cooking process is done and informing us on the animal’s neurological system in a very comprehensible way. He effectively uses these persuasive devices to paint a picture for the audience and pave way for the reader to conjure …show more content…
Wallace uses Pathos as an persuasive device in his article as he describes the catching and cooking process of the lobster. Using his words, he gives the audience the idea that the lobster is not just an item for consumption, but also a live creature. “They come up alive in the traps, are placed in containers of seawater, and can, so long as the water’s aerated and the animals’ claws are pegged or banded to keep them from tearing one another up under the stresses of captivity, survive right up until they’re boiled (Wallace, 60). He mentions that the lobster is in fact boiled alive to maintain it’s freshness and describes the boiling process. “[The lobster] comes alarmingly to life when placed in boiling water. The lobster will sometimes try to cling to the container’s sides or even hook its claws over the kettle’s rim like a person trying to keep from going over the edge of a roof” (Wallace 62). He compares the lobster during the cooking process to a human in terror of falling to their death. This gives the audience something to relate to on an emotional level based on the simile he presents to us. Based on this evidence and the words the author chooses to present to the reader, it is suggested that …show more content…
“Taxonomically speaking, a lobster is a marine crustacean of the family Homaridae, characterized by five pairs of jointed legs, the first pair terminating in large pincerish claws used for subduing prey…. Moreover, a crustacean is an aquatic arthropod of the class Crustacea, which comprises of crabs, shrimp, barnacles, lobsters, and freshwater crayfish” (Wallace, 55). This is an example of Logos since the author uses scientific facts to convey the message he wants to communicate in an objective way. Wallace also uses logos as a persuasive device by presenting facts on the science of the lobster’s neurological system and its ability to feel pain. The Maine Lobster Promotion Council states “The nervous system of a lobster is very simple, and is in fact most similar to the nervous system of a grasshopper. It is decentralized with no brain. There is no cerebral cortex, which in humans is the area of the brain that gives the experience of pain”. Wallace counter-argues this statement by mentioning the fact that since lobsters have a simpler nervous system compared to humans, they are unable to produce their own natural opiates. “One can conclude that lobsters are maybe even more vulnerable to pain, since they lack mammalian nervous systems’ built-in analgesia, or, instead, that the absence of natural opioids implies an absence of the really intense
T.C. Boyle’s “Top of the Food Chain” is a narration about man’s selfish mistakes. The narrator's tone is used to show man’s disregard for organisms that have little to no benefit to them or are considered a nuisance. “The thing was, we had a little problem with the insects…” The narrator’s tone is quickly shown as selfish and works for only his comforts and is indifferent to the chaos that his choices make.
whales, the toothed whales. Two sides of the argument were strongly represented in this article, along with the common practices of dismissing the opposite opinion. Instead of building off each others opinion and research, scientists are quick to dismiss the opposing opinion as false or incredible. Without an understanding of the other conclusions, working together and analyzing each other's evidence along with yours, minor set backs are relied on to keep us moving forward.
For my project, I chose to reconstruct my rhetorical analysis essay in the form of a commercial or public service announcement posted to YouTube. My rhetorical analysis essay analyzed David Foster Wallace’s “Consider the Lobster” which concerned the morality of cooking and utilizing lobsters for food. Because of this, I decided to turn my analysis into a video advocating for an end to the slaughter and consumption of lobsters. Video is a common form of media for this type of advocacy, since it is easily accessible to people and doesn’t require the audience to put much effort into consuming the information. I chose to upload this video to YouTube since it is one of the most common places on the internet to share videos and has a large user base. Posting the video
It plays a big role in his argument because he his arguing about a person’s preference to eat lobster(s). He also uses preference in a few different ways throughout his argument. First, when he is discussing the ways to prepare a lobster he talks about the different “preferences” that people have. He states how some chefs cut the lobster in half before boiling it, others microwave it, and the obvious one boiling. These are all preferences based on the person doing the cooking. Secondly, on page 469, when talking about the lobsters he brings up a theory that the lobsters have preference(s). In this case, he is using preference to mean instinct. Their preference can lead them to “detect changes in water temperature.” Another way he talks about lobsters having a preference is when they are in the ocean “lobsters will always congregate in whatever part is darkest” (Wallace, 470). They also have a fondness for space “they clearly dislike the crowding that’s part of their captivity in tanks”. Which is a reason why “lobsters’ claws are banded [when captured] is to keep them from attacking one another under the stress of close-quarter
The purpose of the essay is to give some light on the Maine Lobster Festival. Being held every year in late July, thousands of people are in attendance to the states festivities. One descriptive writing that is used in this essay is descriptive language. They focus on ideas that are coinciding with their thesis. I believe the writer uses descriptive language as he describes the story in which he is telling to his readers. In, Consider the Lobster, Wallace (2004) states,"The point is that lobsters are basically giant sea-insects.3
This appeals to surprised and saddened emotions of the audience by stating “whales are stored for 2/3 of their life in a small dark area”. The trainers “would deprive them food to make them go into the box” and this resulted in “whales covered in rakes and blood”. The music slows to a wistful tune as the former trainers discuss how “it didn’t feel right to store them there” in order to draw the audience in to empathize with them. The use of these heartbreaking scenes exhibits a sympathetic tone that proves to the audience that whales should not be kept in captivity. Blackfish uses reasoning to explain that an orca is a very intelligent creature and aware of its environment and interactions. “Whales have a part in their brain humans don’t have, they can process emotions. They live emotional lives”. The film uses this claim in order to emphasize that orcas in captivity suffer mentally. Blackfish confirms this statement by explaining that orcas have a limbic system that is more complex compared to humans. It then displays a scene reviewing an MRI that proves that researchers found a development in the brain of an orca that cannot be fully explained. By examining the brain first hand it is proof for the audience that allows them to understand this concept. The film states that mental stress and irritation can occur when
Next, in Monster Goldfish the problem is causing pain for nature and in Pigs on the Loose the problem is causing pain for humans. For example in Monster Goldfish the goldfish are only eating the fish and animals of the sea. As a conclusion Goldfish or hurting nature not humans. Another example is that the problem is causing lots of hard work and effort for us for Pigs on the Loose. Also, nature cleaned up some of the messes for Monster Goldfish but it is up to us to clean up the Pigs on the Loose mess. Finally, wild boars are very smart and have learned how to avoid their predators, while goldfish are not as smart but still just swim around in a body of water. This is how the two articles: Monster Goldfish and Pigs on the Loose are different and the
The Maine Lobster Festival is supposed to be a celebration inviting anyone and everyone to celebrate the delectable lobster, but Wallace uses it to shed some light on the welfare of the animal when cooking and eating it. He does a great job at analyzing the festival as well as challenging the meaning of food based on how we define the animals we consume. This includes the substitution of words, people’s ignorance, and the scientific language. The way we identify food can all be supported by these three main influences.
"The Loss of the Creature" starts off with the definition of beautiful, which is a key point throughout his essay. Next, he moves in to his example of a family of tourists, and their experience (through his eyes) at the Grand Canyon. He describes his theory of the sightseer, and the discoverer; "Does a single sightseer, receive the value of P, or only a millionth part of value P" (pg 1) Value P, being the experience, and the beauty in which that person collected. Following the sightseers was a couple who stumbled upon an undisturbed Mexican Village. The couple thoroughly enjoyed their first experience, but could not wait to return with their friend the ethnologist. When they did return with him, they were so caught up in what his reaction would be; there was a total loss of sovereignty. Due to their differences of interest in the village, the couples return trip was a waste. The second part of the essay includes a Falkland Islander who comes across a dead dogfish lying on the beach. Furthermore, he explains how a student with a Shakespeare sonnet, has no chance of being absorbed by a student due to the surrounding's or package of the class room. The two students are receiving the wrong messages, on one hand we have the biology student with his "magic wand" of a scalpel, and on the other hand the English student with his sonnet in its "many-tissued package". Both students are unaware of the real experience they could undergo, and the teacher might as well give the dogfish to the English student and the sonnet to the biology student because they will be able to explore and learn more within the different setting, and without the surroundings and expectations (pg 6).
In the article "Consider the lobster" by David Foster Wallace, begins by explaining a festival, is held every late July in the state’s midcoast region, meaning the western side of Penobscot Bay, the Maine Lobster Festival. In the next few paragraphs, he talks about the festival, and what they do on the festival. The author follow this with the characteristics of a lobster, from the history of how it was back then a food for poor people, and now in days is like the steak of s...
One indicator that the lobster interpretation exists at the level below the surface of the poem is the yellow fog that fills the "... sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells" (Eliot L. 7). The persona describes "The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window panes / ... Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains" (Eliot LL. 15&18). The yellow fog from the passage is the steam from a restaurant's lobster pot that boils and cooks the lobsters. The yellow fog receives its color from the dim yellow lighting of...
The second half of this article centers all around the question of whether or not lobsters are treated with the dignity that they may or may not deserve. Humans everywhere associate bold feelings when faced with the word “pain,” and that is why this method is most effective in persuading a group of people to try to understand something that they have never, and will never, actually experience, (i.e., being boiled alive). He states that there are two main differences of pain; “... (1) pain as a purely neurological event, and (2) actual suffering.” Actual suffering has to do with the awareness of pain being an unpleasant feeling, and having a preference to not feel it, which involves having some sort of emotional component. In contrast, he brings in the fact that there is a very high chance that lobsters, in fact, do have preferences, as they can detect water change and choose to migrate a certain way. Thanks to Wallace’s strategies, readers may argue back and forth as to what they choose to
Conscious omnivores, also known as conscious meat eaters, believe taste is not just something that brings pleasure but rather is an art form and thus needs to be appreciated and treated as so. Next, one’s diet forms part of their identity and changing this, for example the addition or removal of eating meat, would be an alteration of ones identity and character. And finally, a meaningful omnivore’s specific diet prompts engagement in reality making them conscious of the processes that have occurred from farm to fork (Ciocchetti
“Consider the Lobster” is an essay written by David Foster Wallace, and published in a Gourmet Magazine. This essay was developed with the purpose of raising the awareness of the society, with respect to the mistreatments suffered by the lobsters. He started by describing the Maine Lobster Festival, which seems to be the major event related to lobster. It happens annually and it serves as a mean to sustain the economy of that region; which besides of the lobsters relies on the tourism to maintain its economy. Just to have an idea of the magnitude of this event, in 2003 the audience surpassed the mark of 80,000 and were cooked more than 25,000 pounds of fresh lobster, according to Wallace.
Lao Tzu once said, “Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides.” This quote is saying that death is an inevitable definiteness in life. In Virginia Woolf’s essay The Death of the Moth, there is a struggle of life and death, which is delineated as a battle that is not ever won. Woolf utilizes fragmentation within the narration, metaphors to convey the message, and a feeling of pity. As the essay goes on, her metaphors and stylistic choices strengthen the idea that death cannot be beaten.