Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver. Post 3

Précis-

                In Barbara Kingsolver’s Narrative nonfiction, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (2007), she still goes with that story telling style of writing. She talks about her experience in Italy with her husband. She continues to talk about the experience of living on a farm. That’s basically the whole purpose of the book. And by using works from her family members, she gives the reader not only a point of view from the author, but also her kids, and her husband. Her whole purpose of her book is to give people, well American in general, the choice of going back to traditional agricultural ways. She gives multiple arguments to why it’s better. She clearly wants the people of America to change. You can tell by how passionate she writes and uses her words. This non-fiction book isn’t just about telling people about her experience, it’s much more than that. It’s about exposing the truths about food today. It’s about telling people about this new option, well not new, but this better option of quality food. She basically has Americans in mind, and her tone is still very personal, but factual as well.

Vocabulary-

Equatorial- (adj.) of, pertaining to, or near an equator, especially the equator of the earth.

Adorn- (v.) to decorate or add beauty to, as by ornaments: garlands of flowers adorning their hair.

Muster- (v.) to assemble (troops, a ship's crew, etc.), as for battle, display, inspection, orders, or discharge.

Lateral- (adj.) of or pertaining to the side; situated at, proceeding from, or directed to a side: a lateral view.

Pageantry- (n.) spectacular display; pomp: the pageantry of a coronation.

Comestible- (adj.) edible; eatable.

Inclination- (n.) a disposition or bent, especially of the mind or will; a liking or preference: Much against his inclination, he was forced to resign.

Tone-

Personal, but factual and formal as well.

Rhetorical Strategies-  

Dialogue- “‘She has babies,’ I said” (pg. 351)

Dashes- “I probably spent some years denying the good in that, mostly subconsciously-devoutly refusing the Thanksgiving pie, accepting the stigma my culture has attached to celebrating food, especially for women my age.” (pg. 288)

Parentheses’- “I harbored some doubts that our family of four could actually consume (or give away as gifts) this dollar-value of food in a year.” (pg. 306)

Listing- “In mudroom and root cellar we had three bushels of potatoes, another two of winter squash, plus beets, carrots, melons, and cabbages.” (pg. 303)

Rhetorical Questions- “Was it true? A mistake or a hoax? Was it just one bird, or a few, maybe even enough for the species to survive?” (pg. 345)

Discussion Questions-

What was the best thing about her trip to Italy?

Why does she use so many rhetorical questions, dashes, and parentheses?

What is the best thing about owning your own farm, growing your own food?

Memorable Quote-

“Something can happen for us, or through us, that will stop this earthly unraveling and start the clock over. Like every creature on earth, we want to make it too. We want more time.” (pg. 346)