Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver. Post 2

Précis-

In the novel, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (2007), written by Barbara Kingsolver, between chapters seven through fourteen, she continues to make arguments to why people should switch to the traditional way. She uses a lot of logic to get her point across. She uses statistics, and puts together many logical arguments. However, she does get personal with her piece. By the way she writes, her choice of diction, and style, the reader can tell she has pride for what she has done. She’s proud that she has her own garden, and grows her own food. She doesn’t have to rely on grocery stores, or any other provider, to get what she needs. She writes using logic, but she does get personal, and uses a bit of humor now and then. Her purpose is get people to see the benefits, of living a life like this. She seems to have anyone opposed to this life style in mind, because are arguments are directed towards them.

Vocabulary-

Botanical- (adj.) of, pertaining to, made from, or containing plants: botanical survey; botanical drugs.

Eccentric- (adj.) deviating from the recognized or customary character, practice, etc.; irregular; erratic; peculiar; odd: eccentric conduct; an eccentric person.

Proletarian- (adj.) pertaining or belonging to the proletariat (which is a noun that means the class of wage earners, especially those who earn their living by manual labor or who are dependent for support on daily or casual employment; the working class).

Collaterally- (n.) security pledged for the payment of a loan: He gave the bank some stocks and bonds as collateral for the money he borrowed.

Tedious- (adj.) marked by tedium;  long and tiresome: tedious tasks; a tedious journey.

Artichokes- (n.) a tall, thistle like composite plant, Cynara scolymus,  native to the Mediterranean region, of which the numerous scale like bracts and receptacle of the immature flower head are eaten as a vegetable.

Tone-

The tone is logical, informative, and still somewhat personal.

Rhetorical Strategies-

Example/Irony- “The majority of Americans buy bottled drinking water, for example, even though water runs from the faucet at home for a fraction of the cost, and government quality standards are stricter for tap water than for bottled.” (pg. 115)

Facts/Statistics- “The incidence of obesity-associated diabetes has more than doubled since 1990, with children the fastest growing class of victims.” (pg. 116)

Analogy- “Insisting to farmers that our food has to be cheap is like commanding a ten year old to choose a profession and move out of the house now.” (pg.  116)

Humor- “Oh, how we try to behave like baby cows” (pg. 138)

Listing- “Laura was her name, ultimately known as Nonnie, and I suppose she’d have loved to see us on a summer Saturday making mozzarella together: daughter, grandson, great-granddaughters, and me, all of us laughing, stretching the golden rope as far as we could pull it.” (pg. 141)

Discussion Questions-

Did Kingsolver not appreciate that her family and friends got her plants as a present? 

Does Kingsolver use many logical arguments to appeal to everyone, or is that just her writing style?

Does Kingsolver truly feel this way about reverting back to traditional ways? How can one give up the convenience of typical life today?

Memorable Quote-

“Whoa. To convince ourselves this was not a social hallucination, we did it again. And again. Hooting every time, so pleased were we with our antics. It’s grand state of affairs, to fool a million brainless creatures all at the same time. After five or six rounds the fireflies seemed to figure out that we were not their god, or they lost faith, or at any rate went back to their own blinky business.” (Pg. 167)