"Geben Sie mir Kaffee, dann mache ich Phänomenologie daraus." (Give me my coffee so that I can make phenomenology out of it.)
-- Edmund Husserl
Monday, December 01, 2014
AP Lang and Comp Studies: Rhetorical Analysis
Read pages 128-130, "Between the Sexes, A Great Divide" and write a summary rhetorical analysis for review and discussion next class. Please post your analysis in the comments section below.
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“Between the Sexes, a Great Divide”, an essay written by Anna Quindlen, addresses the problematic abyss that exists between males and females. The author reflects upon this question: how can one cross the divide? Or, can one ever really cross the divide at all? Beginning with the very first sentence, the author utilizes a nostalgic tone, “Perhaps we all have the same memory of the first boy-girl party we attended. The floors were waxed, the music loud, the air thick with the smell of cologne” (128). By compelling readers to recall past memories, she begins to create a familiar image in their minds and appeals to their emotions. Shortly after this, the author makes a sharp transition from nostalgic memories to a current and real issue, “The boys stood on one side of the room and the girls on the other…none of us would consciously know it then, but what we were seeing, that great empty space in the center of the floor as fearful as a trapdoor, was the great division between the sexes” (128). The change in tone snaps readers back into reality and quickly illuminates the metaphor at hand. The repetition of the metaphor throughout the essay, as in paragraphs 5, 11, and 12, is the author’s way of continually bringing the reader back to her main point—the issue of the chasm, the space between girls and boys on the dance floor, that exists. By the fourth paragraph the author begins establishing her credibility, “I’ve always been a feminists, and I’ve been one of the boys as well, and I’ve given both sides a pretty good shot” (128). In this instance, Quindlen is demonstrating that although she is knowledgeable about and has tried to understand both sides of the abyss—men as well as women. She uses specific examples as evidence that the great divide between males and females is, “not because of the big differences among us, but because of small ones” (129). One example is that of the amaryllis bulb. After describing the incident the author repeats choppy fragments of opposing adjectives to demonstrate the contrast between the sexes, first writing, “Mom. Weird. Women” (129) and several lines later, “Husband. Strange. Men” (129). The essay comes to a close as the author once again ties her metaphor into the very last sentence. Reflecting upon her young son and his best friend (a female), Quindlen writes, “Between them the floor already stretches, an ocean to cross before they can dance uneasily in one another’s arms” (130). The author thus reinforces that the gap between female and male is inevitable—but crossing it is not. Through the idea of the “dance”, Quindlen establishes that coming together is not impossible, but rather just precarious.
Anna Quindlen’s essay “Between the Sexes, A Great Divide”, explores the issue that has arisen over the years which is, the inevitable gap between the male and female gender. The great divide as outlined in the title of the essay is used as a large metaphor in which the whole piece of writing is based. By appealing to the memory in the beginning few paragraphs, and instilling a feeling of nostalgia in her readers, the more relatable her argument became, especially by talking about the first “Boy-girl party” (128) we’ve attended, which appeals the readers to draw out their own memories and apply it to the text. The jump from the memory to reality in the third paragraph, demonstrates that large divide between past and present in a literal sense, in a way comparing it with that of the opposite genders. As a writer, she establishes by mentioning that “[she] was always a feminist, and [she’s] been one of the boys as well” (128), as a way to affirm her argument by proving that she’s had a fair amount of experience with both sides of the topic, and her opinion is not as bias as it seemed before. She then debunks any other argument by stating that she’s “spent a lot of time telling [herself] that men and women are fundamentally alike” (129) and again compels the reader to empathize with her and understand that although she has this singular opinion, it’s because she’s exhausted all others. She then progresses to distinctly portray the stereotypes she sees within the genders by listing some adjectives consecutively in a fragmented way, for example, “Mom. Weird. Women.” (129), and “Husband. Strange. Men” (129) in an attempt to compare the both as well as contrast it. By doing this, not only does she strengthen her critical analysis, but it also refers back to the metaphor referred to in the beginning. This ties the essay back into its path of answering the question of how to breach the complex divide, the burning question of how one crosses the divide. Quindlen finishes the essay in the present and in the context of the current generation. Instead of completely classifying the gender divide as an infinite partition, her comparison of her observations of the past with the things she’s experiencing in the present with her children, suggest that the answer to the metaphor and purpose of the essay, is that although there is an evident divide, it can be progressively closed with time.
There is a divide between genders, not just biologically, but also socially. In Between the Sexes, a Great Divide Anna Quindlen discusses “the divide” that has always been and will always be between females and males. Quindlen proposes and addresses a question regarding this divide of whether or not it can be crossed. She does so through an evocative tone, historical narrative, unbiased perspective and a controlling metaphor. In the first three paragraphs, Anna Quindlen provides a nostalgic tone, which helps her bring emotion to the essay for her reader. Specifically, Quindlen makes the reader recall his or her memory by discussing the memory of the first boy-girl party “we” attended. This introduction with a nostalgic tone also creates a common ground for the reader and the author, since it is about a topic the reader can relate to. As part of her nostalgic tone, Quindlen incorporates a historical narrative, which exemplifies the divide between sexes and also shows how the divide can be crossed. Quindlen tells a story of an awkwardly divided boy-girl party where “the floors were waxed, the music loud, the air thick with the smell of cologne.”(128)—Very narrative. She goes on describing the awkwardness of the event and the girl who “would brave the divide to start a conversation on the other side,” showing that the divide can be crossed. Quindlen also makes her knowledge on the “divide” credible by having a neutral perspective—not favoring the men or women. In order to make her essay credible for the reader, Quindlen must prove she is unbiased. In paragraph four she does so by stating, “I’ve always been a feminist, and I’ve always been one of the boys as well, and I’ve given both sides a pretty good shot.” (128) This makes her an unbiased and well-rounded author that the reader can take seriously. Lastly, Anna Quindlen’s metaphor “a great divide” serves to resemble the separation of the sexes that Quindlen concentrates on. Not only is this metaphor of a divide seen throughout the essay, but also it is present in the title. Quidlen’s nostalgic tone, historical narrative of a boy-girl party, credibility, and metaphor of the divide all serve to discuss the division between the sexes and to prove that this age old division can be crossed.
Anna Quindlen’s essay, “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” addresses the natural gap between males and females. The first three paragraphs stimulate memories in the readers, which gives the beginning of the essay and tone of nostalgia. This tone is implemented in the very first sentence, which says, “Perhaps we all have the same memory of the first boy-girl party we attended.”(128). This memory connects to and sparks an interest in the readers through emotions of reminiscences. The author then uses the nostalgic tone to transition into the problem. She does this in the third paragraph by saying, “None of us would have consciously know it then, but what we were seeing, that great empty space in the center of the floor as fearful as a trapdoor, was the great division between the sexes.” (128). This transition causes the reader to realize the reality of their memories. The essay, at this point, has not become about memory, but it has become about crossing the divide between the sexes. As a way of showing that she is not intending to speak from a biased perspective, the author claims, “I’ve always been a feminist, and I’ve been one of the boys as well, and I’ve given both sides a pretty good shot.” (128). Using personal accounts of her family, the author states that the divide in her family is notable “not because of the big differences among us, but because of the small ones.” (129). The two fragments, “Mom. Weird. Women” and “Husband. Strange. Men”, are strategically placed in the middle paragraphs to represent a typical view of the genders. These fragments also show the stereotypes through the words chosen. “Women” and “Men” relate, and so do the words “Weird” and “Strange”, but “Mom” and “Husband” aren’t the same in this context. Instead of saying, Mom and Dad or Husband and Wife, the author chooses words that the genders are most commonly associated with.
Quindlen's purpose in writing "Between the Sexes, a Great Divide" is to explore whether or not crossing the divide between male and females is possible, and, if it is, how. The overall tone of the essay is very nostalgic and reflective, rather than definitive. The reader is free to explore whether or not the conclusion made by the author is applicable to his or her own life. She begins by recalling a memory that may be familiar to the reader. This both establishes a commonality and sense of solidarity with the reader and begins the metaphor that is used in the text as the divide between the sexes. As Quindlen connects the metaphor to real life, she establishes her credibility as someone who has pondered the subject for some time saying, "I've given both sides a pretty good shot." She then goes back to the metaphor and reenforces a tone of solidarity. When she adds in a segment about her own life, she again establishes her credibility as a woman who lives with her two sons and her husband. Her examples from her life and her eventual conclusion reflect her view that while crossing the divide between the sexes isn't impossible, it isn't comfortable either.
Anna Quindlen uses tone, diction, imagery, definition, and organization in “Between the Sexes, A Great Divide” to convey the chasm that grows between men and women by employing those strategies to relate to the reader and convince him or her to agree with her point. She starts off the essay setting a familiar, sentimental tone, claiming, “Perhaps we all have the same memory of the first boy-girl party we attended,” following it closely with absolute phrases, “the floors were waxed, the music loud, the air thick with the smell of cologne,” used to extenuate the scene, create the nuance, and draw the image in the reader’s mind (or perhaps jog a memory of a similar event). The author uses distance-creating words and phrases like “chasm,” “great empty space,” and “other side” to announce the “division between the sexes.” There is an abrupt change going into the fourth paragraph. The mood cuts from reminiscent to present and unapologetic, Quindlen abandoning the talk of a dance to testify: “…I’ve written some lovely things about men, and some nasty things too, and I meant them all.” The author creates her own definitions to increase the gravity of a word, as she does for “other,” stating, “being other has meant being symbols of divinity, evil, carnal degeneration, perfect love, fertility and death…”or create contrast as she does for “prejudice” and “difference,” explaining, “prejudice is evil and can be fought, while difference simply is.” She uses a simplified and similar three one-word sentence structure, “Mom. Weird. Woman” and “Husband. Strange. Men,” in the middle of her essay to show how comparable both sexes are in their misunderstandings of one another. The author ends the piece by picking up on her train of thought where she left off at the beginning of the essay. She again talks of her memory of distance, but now the uncrossable “chasm” is not how it was previously described. She says, “I must never forget, I suppose, that even in the gym, with all that space between us, we still managed to pick partners and dance;” the situation to “pick a partner and dance” is a devise used to represent an eventual close of the gap, which can bee seen again when she admits that when dancing with a man, she has “never learned to follow.” The “dance” is used to connote a relationship between both sexes, which brings the ideas of unity into sight when she says in the final paragraph, “I have just met the dance downstairs,” when talking about her son and his best friend who is a girl.
Anna Quindlen in her essay “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” addresses the inevitable divide between genders and the question of how it might be crossed. She does this by creating a strong and prevalent metaphor, relating to her audience, and creating similarities in diction. The “Great Divide” between the sexes is introduced in the title and first paragraphs and is consistently referred to in later parts of the essay. The metaphorical gap between the sexes exists in society and always has. Quindlen refers to an awkward boy-girl party to describe not only the physical gap but also the psychological gap that exists between men and women even though “None of us would consciously know it then, but what we were seeing, that great empty space in the center of the floor… was the great division between the sexes” (128). Later in the essay Quindlen applies the metaphor to the lack of understanding between her sons, husband, and herself as “they are gazing across a divide at me” (129) and she does this to emphasize the massive gap between the sexes. Quindlen establishes a relationship with her audience through her nostalgic tone and relatable experience. Her audience, consisting of people in their mid teens to adulthood, has experienced their first boy-girl party at some point in their lives, thus allowing to the situation in which “the boys stood on one side of the room and the girls on the other” (128). In not only this physical gap but also the metaphorical “Great Divide” Quindlen relates to her audience to demonstrate the divide between the sexes. However, Quindlen clarifies that the sexes are not divided “because of big differences among us, but because of small ones” (129). Quindlen sets up a parallel between the genders by using short fragmented sentences, ““Mom. Weird. Women.” (129), and “Husband. Strange. Men” (129) to describe both genders from the opposite sex’s perspective. By using identical sentence structure she demonstrates how similar the two sexes are, but are different in the small ways just as these two set of sentences are identical in structure, and only differentiate very slightly in meaning.
Anna Quindlen’s “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” depicts the unavoidable gap between the sexes that has and continues to be present in society. The first three paragraphs of this essay establish a nostalgic tone as Quindlen incorporates a personal narrative about “the first boy-girl party” (128) that creates a common ground for her audience--adults. This narrative illustrates the idea of a divide between the sexes that continues even into the meeting rooms at work. This metaphor is carried throughout the entire essay, always referring back to the “great division between the sexes.”(128) as she incorporates what she has learned. Quindlen uses the symbols of women found over the course of human history-- “weakness, dependency, and emotions” (129)--to contrast the idea that “men are the other” (129). However, she makes a point that there is a divide “not because of the big differences among us, but because of small ones” (129). She exemplifies the small differences with the use of short choppy fragments such as “Mom. Weird. Women.” and “Husband. Strange. Men.” (129). The words weird and strange are synonyms, therefore, confirming her claim that there are small differences. However, the words mom and husband have a bigger difference, that imply the societal roles that men and women play that cause this divide. Quindlen’s nostalgic tone, personal narrative, symbols, and short choppy fragments serve to prove that crossing the great divide will take some time as it is very much ingrained in society.
In “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” Anna Quindlen addresses the inevitable divide between the male and female. She begins with an anecdotal tone to evoke interest in the reader by recalling an adolescent memory that immediately takes the reader back to his or her past, provoking some type of feeling. With this historical narrative, Quindlen also introduces one of the greater metaphors of the piece, which is the waxed dance floor that represents the divide. The memory of the “first boy-girl party” ends, and a personal reflection laced with a maternal tone begins. The employment of the self analysis is used to impart the ultimate question: is the great divide between the sexes crossable? Even though the memory ended in the first few paragraphs, personal narratives are still used throughout the piece, not necessarily to create common ground between the audience and author like the memory had, but to add to the maternal tone. The anecdote of the “amaryllis bulb” (129) opens up her role as a mother and the immense differences between her and her sons and husband. She explains this story not with a contemptful tone, but with a tone of acceptance, like she already knew the men in her life would not understand. She also uses short choppy sentences such as, “Mon. Weird. Women.” and “Husband. Strange. Men.” (129) to reveal the very apparent differences, which are facts about the two genders. With the short sentences, there is no room for inferences; it is what it is. The amaryllis bulb anecdote answers the question of is the great divide between the sexes crossable, with a no, but that is only limited to her generation. It imposes on the reader a reflection upon their own life and then the desire to change Quindlen’s proposed answer to the ultimate question of sexes.
"Between the Sexes, a Great Divide" addresses the social divide between male and female. In the first two paragraphs of this essay, Anna Quindlen uses the metaphor of a dance floor to convey this divide. She establishes a nostalgic tone by making the readers recall the first "boy girl party" (128) they had. The readers recall the nervousness and awkwardness of that first encounter. She uses the word "chasm" (128) to describe the empty floor and space between the two sexes. She repeats the metaphor of the dance floor and the "chasm" over and over again in this essay to really emphasize the great divide between men and women. She uses this metaphor to make the divide more tangible. If she does not use it, it would be more difficult to get her point across. She would have to use more abstract words and phrases to describe the divide. That would make it difficult to see how obvious this divide actually is. Anna Quindlen also connects this divide to her children and friends. She discusses how her friend and she talk over the phone about things their husbands did (129). She discusses how her son is quickly learning the idea of "him and her" (129). She uses these to examples to connect to a greater audience. She mentions her son to show how young people start learning the divide between the sexes. She mentions her friend to show that the divide continues even after marriage. Quindlen uses a nostalgic tone, a tangible metaphor, and real life examples to show how relevant the battle between the sexes really is.
“Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” by Anna Quindlen seeks to express her lament for the utter divide between man and woman while exposing her reader to the different complexities of the matter—the simple differences between males and females versus the prejudice ones. Quindlen does so by introducing her reader to a familiar scenario, one that they might call upon with bashful embarrassment and fond memories—our first boy-girl party. She calls upon imagery to revive this memory for the reader, “the floors were waxed, the music loud, the air thick with the smell of cologne” (128). Once Quindlen has tapped into her reader’s familiarity and sense of nostalgia, she presents her metaphoric prose, “boys stood on one side of the room and girls on the other” (128). Quindlen next uses slightly contradicting statements to show the reader the complexities of crossing the great divide. She first interjects with a statement to affirm her metaphor as an accurate representation of the real life chasm between male and females in paragraph 3. However, two sentences later, she makes a looser interpretation of her already stated metaphor by backtracking and saying, “maybe that’s going to happen sometime in my lifetime, but I can’t say I know when” (128). Moreover, Quindlen then examines the complexities with comparing the two sexes, the point of the previous contradictions was to further attest to this comparison. She exhaults that although men and women are fundamentally alike, they are in the most simple terms…different. She then ponders, “Yet isn’t it off that I feel that prejudice is somehow easier to deal with than the simple difference? Prejudice is evil and can be fought, while difference simply is” (129). She then presents the reader with 3 personal examples to attest to the simple facts of life that show how naturally different male and females are.
Anna Quindlen’s essay, Between the Sexes, A Great Divide, discusses the large, evident gap between males and females. She begins her essay with an experience that everyone has had happen to them at one point or another in their lives. It forces the reader to think back and reflect on how “The floors were waxed, the music loud, the air think with the smell of cologne, the boys stood on one side of the room and the girls on another” had so much symbolism. She uses a nostalgic tone to connect with the reader and describe the space that divides the sexes “as a fearful as a trapdoor” (128) to show that it is somewhat of a mystery that no one wants to find the answer to. She demonstrates ethos in the next paragraph when she says, “I’ve always been a feminist, and I’ve been one of the boys as well, and I’ve given both sides a pretty good shot” (128) to show that this is not a biased essay. It is strictly an essay that analyzes the question, how do you cross the divide between the sexes? This makes the essay much more effective because it views the divide as a whole and not just from one side. Both males and females can read and understand the point of this essay equally because of this. She also uses a parallel to show their equivalence when she says, “Mom. Weird. Women.” (129) and “Husband. Strange. Men.” (129) after sharing two different stories. Once again this parallel establishes her neutrality on the subject. She ends the essay by using the metaphor of “the dance.” The entire essay has been about the “great divide” until she brings up the connection between the sexes– the dance. She says “It’s the dance that’s important, not the difference.” In the very first memory when she is describing the great space in between the boys and the girls on the dance floor, dancing is the only thing that will fill that empty space and Quindlen brings it all together beautifully at the end of the essay. She uses the example of her son and his friend and she says, “Between them the floor already stretches, an ocean to cross before they can dance uneasily in one another’s arms” (130) in order to reinforce the struggle that the great divide between the sexes brings.
In her essay “Between the Sexes, A Great Divide”, Anna Quindlen argues that there is a separation between the male and female sexes and she addresses the question how this separation can be crossed, if it can at all. The metaphor of a coed dance paints a picture of the divide Anna is trying to get her reader to see and understand, the physical divide. On the dance floor, between the male group and the female group is a “great empty space, the great division of the sexes”(128). By using this metaphor, Anna creates a clear picture in the reader’s mind of the physical division in how boys and girls do not easily interact with one another, hence the divide. However, at the end of Anna’s essay, she answers her question on if the divide can be crossed, and the answer is yes because the “dance downstairs”(130) did indeed occur. The metaphor of the dance physically occurring refers to the fact that males and females can indeed interact and come to understand each other. Quindlen’s son’s best friend is a girl, and together they act as if they are one of the same, neither boy nor girl. This is the dance without division Quindlen is talking about, the physical and psychological divide between the two, different gendered kids was crossed and no longer existent. The use of personal experience is a device that Quindlen uses to further explain that a physical and psychological separation between males and females is evident. The anecdote that elicits the physical separation is when her son is in the supermarket, “demanding that I tell him which genital category they fell in…he got the ide: us and them, him and her”(129). Another personal experience that Quindlen explains that exemplifies that men and women differ psychologically is when Anna is “on the telephone with a friend…commiserating about the failure of our husbands to listen when we talk, or their inexorable linear thinking…”(129). These women do not mentally relate to their husbands, making it hard to cross the divide from women to men or men to women. Quindlen uses choppy sentences and the overuse of “and” to prove her point that she has put time into her reasoning for her idea of the divide between men and women. “I’ve though about this for some time, because I’ve written some loving things about men, and some nasty things too, and I meant them all. And I’ve always been a feminist, and I’ve been one of the boys as well….”(128). The choppy sentences and the overuse of “and” means that the sentences do not flow smoothly, giving off a tone that exemplifies the reader is trying to get a point across, the point that she has given thought into her reasoning. Lastly, Quindlen uses personal pronouns and talks in the first person to draw her reader in and make the reader feel like he or she is experiencing the problem as well. Through the use of “we”(128) and “I”(129), the author gets personal with the reader, which in turn can lead the reader to agreeing with the author’s point of view. The rhetorical devices Anna Quindlen uses helps her argue her point, the point in which there is a physical and psychological divide between males and females.
In her essay Between the Sexes, A Great Divide, Anna Quindlen writes to demonstrate the great division between the male sex and the female sex that has continuously been presented in society. Immediately she begins with a recollection of first time boy-girl parties. She writes in first person plural using the word “we” to incorporate the audience into recalling their own memory of their first boy-girl party experience, creating a sense of solidarity and common ground between the author and the reader, “Perhaps we all have the same memory of the first boy-girl party we attended” (128). Quindlen does this in order for the reader to inspect their own lives to see if there is a barrier between sexes. She further makes her point by using a metaphor of the empty space in a gym where “the boys stood on one side of the room and the girls stood on the other” (128) to symbolize the barrier between the sexes in our lives. She then begins to show how she sees this divide in sexes in her life by using real life situations concerning the people in her life. Quindlen describes current relationships between herself, her sons and her husband, her son and people of the opposite sex, as well as her friend and her husband to present the fact that the pressing issue of the divide between the sexes is indeed still an ongoing issue in our present society. She talks about how she realizes her two sons and husband sometimes “are gazing across a divide” (129) at her and explains this with a short anecdote about how they did not understand the amaryllis bulb that she had put in the bathroom and thus hinted the idea that women did weird things – the divide they were gazing across. Continuing on, she talks about how her and her friend would talk on the phone “commiserating about the failure of [their] husbands” (129) as well as how her eldest son learned at a young age the idea of “us and them, him and her” (129). The use of recollection, a nostalgic tone, a metaphor of the great divide, and the current relationships between males and females in her life demonstrates the ongoing division between the sexes.
Anna Quindlen's purpose for writing "Between the Sexes, A Great Divide," was to describe the gender gap between males and females present in society from early on in life. Writing in the first person, she pulls the reader in to recalling memories from their childhood, and further expresses her point that this communication gap is felt by everyone. She used the metaphor of "The Great Divide" to portray the vastness of the problem and to show how widespread it is. Her first three paragraphs serve to invoke memories and emotions within the reader, causing inevitable nostalgia. She uses the "first boy-girl party" as her main scene to demonstrate the first gap-crossing because this is a common memory in that all readers will remember and can relate to. After providing the readers with a personal reflection, she poses the question: can this divide ever really be crossed? She closes her piece with her "modern dance;" she talks about her son, how he is learning about the significance of "him and her" (129), and how his best friend is a girl. She emphasizes that her son, while aware of the gap between the sexes, doesn't focus on it, which is how Quindlen believes the world should operate.
Anna Quindlen’s essay “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” discusses the fundamental separation between males and females and questions the possibility of crossing the metaphorical “chasm.” Introducing her piece, the author illustrates her proposal with deep imagery and depicts the scene of school dance in which “the floors were waxed, the music loud, [and] the air thick with the smell of cologne.” Quindlen’s vivid details and nostalgic tone transport the reader into memories of his or her own school dances. Creating a bond with the reader over shared experiences, the author is better able to convey her question of crossing the divide with the reader in her shoes. Quindlen’s juxtaposition of the words “divinity, evil, carnal degeneration, perfect love, fertility and death” establishes the idea that although males and females are practically “different species,” we are all subject to the same character traits and cannot be separated as universally distinguished by one representation over the other. The author also interposes anecdotes of examples from her life as in conversations on the phone with friends, the amaryllis bulb, and her walks through the supermarket with her son to connect the issue of the great divide to contemporary time and how this gulf is alive even to this day. Noting how although both her son and his female best friend were “raised in egalitarian households,” she exposes a sense of uncertainty of whether or not humanity will ever be able to span the “great divide”.
Anna Quindlen, an author for the New York Times from 1981 to 1994, wrote her essay, “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide”, specifically for her audience. Her essay was published in the “Hers” column of the Times in 1988 for her target audience - adult women of egalitarian households in the 1980s. In a nostalgic tone, Quindlen calls to attention an unforgettable experience in a woman’s life - the first “boy-girl party” she attended (128). By touching on memories, whether happy or sad, Quindlen evokes relatable emotions out of her reader. She uses the memories of a shared experience in order to convey her own thoughts. Quindlen’s purpose in writing this essay is to ask the readers whether it is possible or not to subdue the already existing division between male and female. This division between male and female is referred to in a few ways including, a “chasm”, “a great empty space”, “a trapdoor”, and “an ocean to cross” (128-131) throughout the essay. Each of these words have a physical aspect to them. In reality, one can see a chasm, one can see an empty space, one can find a trapdoor, and one can physically enjoy and experience the ocean. These visible objects are used in order to provide the reader with a clear image in her head. Each of these words and phrases serve as metaphors for the overall image of the “great divide” (128). To transcend the boundaries between men and women is not unheard of; however, it is a “big move” (128). Quindlen mentions this fact to her “egalitarian” (130) audience to remind women of the reality that this division can be weakened and occasionally is. Another way Quindlen communicates this belief is by relating gender relationships to a dance shared between a male and a female. She expresses that gender division is overcome when “we still manage to pick partners and dance” (130). But, she states that we can only “dance uneasily in one another’s arms” (130), meaning that the gap between genders cannot be completely erased. She uses sharp contrasts such as “us and them” and “him and her” (130) to prove to her audience that gender is one of the ways to “classify the world” (129) and we continue to further the divide between female and male.
In Between the Sexes, a Great Divide Anna Quindlen uses the metaphor of “a great divide” appeal to an individual’s thought process and way of living. In the first part of the passage, Quindlen uses a call to nostalgia by recalling a memory that is common in the childhood of many individuals. By appealing to this nostalgia and memory, the author engages the reader in the topic. In order to introduce her purpose she creates the image of the first girls and boys party and connects it to her life now. Quindlen also goes into detail about her family life, which appeals to the reader’s sense of community and family. This helps the reader to feel more comfortable with the topic that the author is presenting in her essay. The author also uses excessive periods to emphasize her purpose; that men and women are completely different even though the same species. “Husband. Strange. Men.” and “Mom. Weird. Women.” are both examples of such emphasis. At the end of her essay she indicates that times have changed slightly, but she also connects it to the beginning of her essay. By stating that her son has no issue with having a girl best friend and vice versa. She connects it to the beginning of the essay by depicting the image of her son chasing the girl with a toy spider. This connects to the idea that men and women are of similar creation but almost a completely different species.
In Anna Quindlen’s Between the Sexes, a Great Divide, the author uses the metaphor of the gym dance and her personal accounts to show how men and women are fearful of interacting with one another and form prejudices due to a lack of understanding. The “memory of the first boy-girl party” is a metaphor for how both sexes struggle to relate to one another. The girls and boys are on opposite sides of the gym with the “chasm” or “trapdoor” in the middle. Only the “brave” have the courage to cross the “great division between the sexes”. This metaphor’s purpose is to provide an example of how girls and boys struggle to interact because they do not understand one another, which is shown through the segregation on the dance floor. The “great divide” is even harder to cross because those that do are often put up to ridicule and prejudice. Only the “better-looking boys” can cross, and the girls that cross are immediately judged. Quindlen uses the metaphor to give a perfect and easily relatable picture of how interactions with males and females play out through misunderstanding and prejudice. The implications of her metaphor are also seen throughout her personal examples of the “amaryllis bulb,” the failure of her husband “to listen,” and her child at the supermarket. The first two examples end up with the opposite sex coming to the conclusion that not only is the person in reference to “weird” or “strange”, but imposes that judgment on all of the “”women” or “men”. The failure of the husbands to listen or the queerness of the amaryllis bulb are a result of a lack of understanding between the two sexes, and prejudices tbat soon begin to form broaden over the whole gender. In the example with the author’s child, he feels the need to categorize people into the two gender categories. His tendency shows that this divide begins at a young age and is something engrained in each person, making it almost uncrossable. Quindlen accomplishes that through showing how her son will inevitably experience the gym dance and how he too will have “an ocean to cross before they can dance uneasily in each other’s arms”.
In Anna Quindlen’s Between the Sexes, a Great Divide she applies the use of an extended metaphor to show her readers that the relationship between men and women is divided in a way that will never change. She writes, “all I can see is that great shiny space in the middle of the dance floor where no one ever meets” (129). She connects the relationship between the sexes to a middle school dance, boys on one side girls on the other, the divide being the dance floor. While one or two may make their way to the middle of the dance floor, “make the big move across the chasm”, that divide never is truly crossed in the story. Quindlen uses the first part of her essay to call upon the past in order to arouse memories of childhood in her readers, drawing them into her story before making her major, somewhat difficult main point: the division may never be crossed. If she had simply started with her major message, the readers would have been less likely to agree. She establishes pathos through recalling of memories in order to attach the reader to her story then finishes the historic tone after the third paragraph and takes a more reflective stance where she addresses her present condition, that still exists with the divide. Quindlen then transfers to the future in her final paragraphs by applying her metaphor to her children, saying “the floor already stretches” between her kids and their friends of the opposite sex. By addressing past, present, and future, Quindlen effectively establishes her point that the divide that exists between those of the opposite sex is unlikely to ever change.
In Anna Quindlen’s essay “Between the Sexes, A Great Divide”, she structures her essay in a way that represents the divide between males and females. She starts her essay with a common ground that most people can relate to. This common ground creates a sense of “comfort” for the reader because they are familiar with the setting. This replicates how the boys and girls were split at the dance because they were comfortable with their same-sex friends. She then continues her essay with her unbiased thoughts about the division between the sexes. She states “And I’ve always been a feminist, and I’ve been one of the boys as well, and I’ve given both sides a pretty good shot” (128). A couple paragraphs after this, she writes “Mom. Weird. Woman.” and “Husband. Strange. Men.” (129). Both of these quotes shows her unbiased point of view and this is what makes it an effective essay. With her neutrality of opinions on each sex, the reader can read the essay without having to worry about being persuaded to favor one of the “sides” and both men and women can relate to the essay since she wrote the essay to apply to a range of audience. Everything thus far has been used as a “base” for what she next talks about: division of sexes at a young age. She ends her essay by connecting the division of sexes to the division of friends and children. By making these additional connections to the division of people, Quindlen is connecting to a new audience of “children” as well. She ends the essay by talking about how these children from a young age are, from a young age, exposed to the division of sexes. Anna Quindlen extended the metaphor of her essay by giving several examples of division in her essay.
Anna Quindlen’s essay “Between the Sexes: A Great Divide” addresses the issue of gender equality with the use of metaphor and tone. She opens the narrative with a metaphor described in a sentimental tone, bringing the reader in and evoking memories that would be common to anyone who has ever attended a school dance. She uses the symbol of the “great empty space in the center of the floor” at a school dance to reflect the “great division between the sexes” (128). Her tone shifts from the nostalgic tone of the opening paragraphs to a more informational one when she describes her views on men (128). She addresses an opposing viewpoint by stating that she has been a feminist and has given both sides “a pretty good shot” (128). By addressing this counter viewpoint, she is establishing credibility, since she is essentially saying that both sides have valid points, but the one she stands on is that one that she feels is the more valid. She then goes into family life, which again evokes feelings and memories that could be common to anyone who has lived with their family. In the closing paragraphs of the narrative, she returns to the metaphor of the great empty waxed floor, stating that even though there is a great divide between the sexes, it is not the divide that matters; it is the dance. Quindlen’s narrative effectively points out that gender inequality is not the issue, but gender differences and society’s inability to distinguish between differences and inequality.
The essay “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” by Anna Quindlen discusses the widely-known and age-old issue of gender separation. Her exploration of the gender issue raises the question of whether or not the metaphorical “divide” can be crossed. To immediately establish a nostalgic and relatable tone, Quindlen intrigues the reader by offering a general story that evokes the each person's own memories and similar experiences. Her use of the plural first person “we” especially allows the reader to feel that they are connected to the author. With the reader fully engaged through the narrative story, she goes on to discuss her relationship with her husband and therefore her understanding of the female-male differences. While she does prove her experiences, she does not favor or have a bias towards women or men. This creates a sense of reliability as both female and male readers will be able to identify with the story. The actual metaphor of the gender “divide” is furthered through diction such as “ great empty space” and “chasm”. By offering the visual of a crossing the divide to show the separation and difference in gender, she furthers her sentimental and reliable tone. Quindlen’s sentence structure also often parallels the divide when she says “Mom. Weird. Women.” and “Husband. Strange. Men”. This exemplifies her desire for readers to understand that it is the small differences that create the greater gender divide, rather than the more obvious differences. Each of these essay characteristics allows readers to reflect upon Quindlen’s proposed question of sexes and form their own opinion with the help of her anecdotal stories and credibility establishment.
Anna Quindlen’s “Between the Sexes, A Great Divide” articulates the apparent and seemingly never-leaving divide between women and men. Her primary method in explaining the nature of such a divide is through the metaphor of a school dance. She first depicts a childhood party where boys and girls are separated by a “chasm” of which they must cross in order to interact with each other. This “great division between the sexes” on the dance floor serves a larger purpose- one that highlights the great division between the two genders generally in society. Later in the essay, Quindlen extends her metaphor of the dance floor further as she talks of her son, who is spending time with a good female friend. As he chases her around with a spider, the author reflects on the idea that they are being exposed to the idea of “him and her.” Even though the children identify as close friends, they are already experiencing gender divisions. And while the extended metaphor is the main way that Quindlen establishes effective rhetoric, she also establishes her point of view of the large divide between the genders with abrupt, one-worded sentence structure. In an encounter with her sons and husband, Quindlen is set into a category of “Mom. Weird. Woman,” while she sets her husband into a category of “Husband. Strange. Men.” In doing this, Quindlen is supporting her overall metaphor with personal anecdotes. Quindlen’s tone throughout the essay is an understanding one, as she recognizes that the genders have inherent differences, yet that both genders can still dance in a harmonious manner. Through an extended metaphor, accepting tone, terse sentence structure, and personal anecdotes, Anna Quindlen effectively persuades her readers that the great divide between the genders is and will continue to be ever-present.
Anna Quindlen provides an extended metaphor in order to point out a great conflict that we were all introduced to as children and continue to struggle with throughout our lives—that is “the great division between the sexes”(128). Through the metaphor of “the first boy-girl party we attended”(128), Quindlen establishes a common ground that the reader can relate to. Quindlen’s use of imagery generates a scene in which the reader is clearly able to envision, as she writes, “the floors were waxed, the music loud, the air thick with the smell of cologne”(128). Her technique of omitting conjunctions creates a hurried pace that ultimately reflects the nervous nature of the situation. Quindlen accentuates this nervous nature when figuratively saying, “that great empty space in the center of the floor was as fearful as a trapdoor”(128). Quindlen organizes the essay well by bringing up the “trapdoor” throughout her text. When speaking of the differences between men and women she claims, “all I can see is that great shiny space in the middle of the dance floor”(129) and as these differences are seen within her family she sees her sons and husbands, “gazing across a divide at me”(129). These references allow the reader to focus back to the main point of the essay, that being “the great division between the sexes”(128). Quindlen explains that we judge one another because “prejudice is somehow easier to deal with than the simple difference”(129). She than personifies prejudice as something “evil” that can be “fought”(129). This personification brings “prejudice” to life revealing to the reader that it is prejudice is stopping us from simply accepting differences. Nevertheless, Quindlen is able to bring the story back around full circle stating, “it’s the dance that’s important, not the difference”(130). Such organization is what makes the essay clear and relatable.
Anna Quindlen employs various rhetorical strategies in “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” to discuss the evident gap that segregates the two sexes. Right off the bat, the author appeals to the audience's emotions by broaching that "same memory of the first boy-girl party we attended" (128). By doing so, Quindlen is making this essay personal to the reader by forcing them to think back to that first awkward coed party they all onced survived. She goes on to create a scenario of "one of the taller, better-looking boys" making "the big move across the chasm" while "one of the girls would brave the divide" causing her girlfriends to"immediately develop a certain opinion of that girl" (128). By creating this situation, Quindlen is allowing the author to understand that scary process of dissolving the divide by envisioning this example. The author takes this event and immediately converts it into a symbol, turning "that great empty space in the center of the floor" into a "fearful...trapdoor" (128) How does the author know this divide is a "fearful trapdoor"? She knows because she's "always been a feminist and...one of the boys as well" (128). Quindlen is establishing her personal credibility and arguing how she understands how this divide is a scary thing for both sexes because she's "given both sides a pretty good shot" (128). In the sixth paragraph, the author digs deep into why that divide between the sexes persists : men and women both view one another as "the other" (129). Quindlen defines "the other" as being a constant symbol for a range of things like "divinity, evil, carnal degeneration, perfect love, fertility and death, to name a few" (129). By listing all of the various associations of what it means to be other, the author is emphasizing the irony of it all: both sexes are the other. Through the personal connection, scenario, metaphor, personal credibility, and definition that she develops, Anna Quindlen persuades the reader to see the capability of breaking this elephant in the room at every boy-girl party and to see the beauty of dancing right on top of it.
Anna Quindlen’s “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” addresses the perpetual social division between males and females. The author’s use of the pronoun we, allows the reader to feel as if he or she is conversing with the author, exemplified when Quindlen remarks that “we all have the same memory”(128). This simple word choice throughout the narrative creates a very informal and evocative tone and also creates a connection between the reader and the author, allowing the reader to empathize with the author. Furthermore, Quindlen uses a metaphor throughout her narrative that many people can relate to, a person’s “first boy-girl party”(128) in order for her readers to understand that the division between men and women is just like the division at one’s first boy-girl party when “the boys stood on one side of the room and girls on the other”(128). Further describing this great division at the boy-girl party, she refers to the gender gap as “a great empty space” that is “fearful" and like a “trapdoor,” helping readers remember the past but also imagine how the gender gap between the sexes is still present. Quindlen establishes her credibility by stating that she’s “given both sides[male and female] a pretty good shot”(128) but has come to the conclusion that while "men are the other,” women “are the other too”(129). Being a woman, she doesn’t advocate that women are the superior, but criticizes her own gender as well by calling both males and females “other.” Quindlen defines the word other as ”symbols of divinity, evil…perfect love, fertility and death…weakness, dependency, and emotions”(129). She goes on to give personal examples of how the men in her life have criticized her and how she has criticized them and describes differences and inequalities that each gender suffer from. By doing so, she implies that men and women both look at each other differently because of the differences in priorities and preferences that each hold important. Her going back between descriptions and criticisms of men and women create parallelism within her narrative allowing her readers to easily see that it’s not one gender’s fault for the divide, it is both genders’ faults due to various reasons. Continuing her reasoning as to how prevalent the problem of gender division is, she uses the example of her son demanding to know “which genitalia category they(cartoon characters) fell in”(129). Anna Quindlen uses many examples to show how great “the great divide” really is, but never gives a clear solution on how to fix the great divide. Her use of word diction, tone, organization, definition, metaphors and her lack of a conclusion allows her readers to be exposed to the position that both men and women hold on this subject and how this problem will persist for eternity.
Anna Quindlen starts"Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” by writing with a sentimental, familiar tone when she writes “Perhaps we all have the same memory of the first boy-girl party we attended.” By writing “we,” Quidlen is evoking awkward, funny and even uncomfortable memories that presumably her reader has from their own childhood. The present tense brings the reader into the moment that “the boys stood on one side of the room and the girls on the other,” right next to Quidlen. She does so to bring the reader to her topic, that being “the great division between the sexes.” By bringing the reader to that place in her memory and creating the image of “the center of the floor, as fearful as a trapdoor” the division becomes a tangible object, as if it really did exist. Then she jumps from a familiar “we,” to “I” and that is significant. “We” to “I” is a division— a division between the author and the reader and that is a metaphor for the great division between sexes. At first, the reader was made welcome and was brought into Quidlen’s memory but then the reader is shut out. When Quidlen recalls the how the “boys stood on one side and the girls on the other,” she is referring to a literal divide between the two sexes but then she draws parallels between the sexes to make the reader question whether there really is a great divide. Quidlen relates the sexes by stating “men are the other” and following right after, “we are the other too.” Then she writes in the exact same fashion “Mom. Weird. Women.” and “Husband. Strange. Men.” to illustrate how similar the two sexes truly are. Quidlen talks about a metaphorical divide, much like the equator (something we talk about, imagine, believe in, yet cannot see or touch), when she said “they are gazing across a divivd at me.” Although Quidlen and her sons and husband live together, they are divided metaphorically because of their sex, but “not because of big differences among us, but because of small ones.” Quidlen hints at this when she mentions what “other has meant” through contrasting symbols such as “divinity, evil, carnal degeneration, perfect love, fertility, and death.” Quidlen is extremely contradictory to the idea of a “great divide between sexes” when she states at the end of the essay “two children, raised in egalitarian households” claiming that her son is raised in a house where all people are equal. That is not the case because she is metaphorically divided from her husband and sons because of their sexes. By making that the second to last sentence, I believe Quidlen is essentially trying to get the reader to ponder upon the question of equality and if that really is an achievable concept, or if equality even exists at all.
In Anna Quindlen’s “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide,” she uses a long metaphor, which she carries throughout essay to reveal “the great divide” between male and female. With the metaphor of a dance floor, which you can physically see, “the great divide” becomes more realistic. This metaphor is introduced in the first sentence with the author speaking directly to the reader – “perhaps we all have the same memory of the first boy-girl party we attended” (128). By speaking directly to the reader and writing “we all” instead of “I,” Quindlen makes the reader think about their own first boy-girl dance and forces the reader to remember “the great divide” in his experience. This makes the divide real to the reader’s world, and Quindlen references the metaphor of the first boy-girl dance several times throughout the essay to consistently remind the reader that what she says applies to the reader himself. She establishes that she is not biased toward one sex when she writes, “I’ve always been a feminist, and I’ve been one of the boys as well, and I’ve given both sides a pretty good shot” (128). Quindlen then goes on to recount some of her own personal experiences with a nostalgic town to emotionally connect to the reader. She explains the prejudice between her and her father and sons. She also explains the prejudice between her and her friend and their husbands. This applies “the great divide” to more relationships and age groups than boys and girls at their first dance. Anna Quindlen uses an extended metaphor, a nostalgic tone, and personal experiences to both make the reader realize divide between male and female and to emotionally connect the reader personally to the divide.
Quindlen makes use of a lot of modern archetypal imagery to evoke emotional response in the reader and, additionally, layers her essay with a variety of devices— repetition, tense change, simple sentence structure, satire, anecdote, and rhetorical questioning—largely to emphasize particular points or ideas and tie together the flow of her argument. In the beginning of the essay Quindlen creates in the mind of the reader the somewhat stereotypical awkward boy-girl event: a dance with a gaping space between boys and girls. By doing this, the author already creates emotional response to the reader and makes them call to memory personal experiences of similar events; even if the reader has never attended an event like the one described in the beginning of the essay, one where “boys stood on one side…and girls on the other” (128), the event is one so often portrayed in film and story that the reader is most likely able to identify with the experience that may not be his or her own. Thus Quindlen establishes emotional investment in the piece from the top, and carries that same sympathy through the essay using a series of anecdotal experiences, which are easily pictured in the readers’ mind.
The author repeatedly uses the word “other”—“Men are the other,” “we are the other,” “we want to believe…there are no others at all”—to emphasize the idea that there is an alienation that exists between sexes, that “we are a different species” (129). This same assertion is first and further emphasized by the dramatic tense change that occurs between the 4th and 5th paragraphs, where Quindlen switches quite abruptly from speaking in past tenses to the present: “and then something happens…all I can see is…the space…where no one ever meets” (129). This not only provides a shift in tone from something somewhat light and anecdotal to a serious topic that holds weight, but it calls attention to this next “something” that happens: division. She further elaborates on this point which becomes the main topic of the essay by employing satire, simple sentence structure, and rhetorical questioning within the anecdotes she uses to progress the ‘argument.’ By shortening sentences or using fragments, Quindlen calls attention to such words as “weird” and “women” or “men” (129) and supports this estranged feeling created by the words by satirically explaining ‘the woman’s’ reasoning for an amaryllis bulb, mocking men for “their inexorable linear thinking, or their total blindness to the…necessity” (129) of the amaryllis bulb. Anyone reading the passage can logically understand that amaryllis bulbs are not necessary, but it emphasizes a stereotypical view of thought patterns and differences between men and women. Thus the division continues to be emphasized. Quindlen also uses rhetorical questioning to emphasize the reasoning for division: “Yet isn’t it odd that…prejudice is somehow easier…than the simple difference?” (129). This again evokes emotional response in the reader and allows her to set up, by pointing out that the divide exists “not because of big differences…but because of small ones” (129), her shift in argument, and really her thesis, which comes near the end of the essay: “It’s the dance that’s important, not the difference” (130). So, by emphasizing the importance and the gravity of the ‘division’ between sexes through numerous devices, Quindlen sets her claim up to have that much more of an impact—shattering everything that was priorly emphasized, making it seem trivial and unimportant in the grand scheme (her purpose all along).
Speaking to the American society that is seemingly egalitarian and is closing the gaps between sexes, Anna Quindlen boldly denied the idea utilizing allegory, anecdotes, imagery, dictions, and symbols to persuade the readers the ubiquity and unresolvable nature of the inherent differences between genders that has been imposed on us since birth. In the first three paragraphs, the author employs an allegory that appears throughout the article as a motif to follow. Quindlen adopted heavy imagery such as “air thick with smells of cologne (128)” that evokes emotional connection of the readers from their memories by aiding them to recreate the sceneries. The tone of the author shifts from inviting the readers to come into a shared memory, to a sense of frustration because of her inability to find a solution since “prejudice is evil and can be fought, while difference simply is (129)”, from her perspective as a feminist and as a mother. By claiming that she had written both “loving things (128)” and “nasty things (128)” about men and considered for “both sides (128)”, Quindlen asserted her expertise in the field. Throughout the article she incorporated the anecdotes serving as evidence and philosophies that support her purpose to keep the readers entertained. By providing sceneries of the divide between male and female in different age groups, adults, teenagers, and children, the author points out the divide’s prevalence regardless of age and evidence of this divide between family members all add to its significance. The symbols that the author provided of “divinity, evil, carnal degeneration, perfect love, fertility and death (129)” are all extreme epitomes that things are forced to be classified in, just like the author is classified as “Mom. Weird. Women(129)” and her husband as “Husband. Strange. Men(129)”. In contrast, the sexes are not clear enough to have an obvious divide when we are young as the author indicates that she had to “tell [her son] which genitalia category” people fall in. And ever since that we are aware the differences, between “us and them (130)” and “him and her (130)”, the world is automatically classified like Quindlen’s son did to use appearance to “classify the world (130)”. Moreover, Quindlen emphasized the importance of “small” differences and “the dance” instead of the difference to indicate that the conflict between sexes resides everywhere when you can look at the trivial events that exposes the conflicts instead of the vague concept of difference. Lastly, the article ended with an imagery that recalls the allegory of the dance where the author helplessly watched “the floor stretches (130)” and forms “an ocean to cross (130)” between her own son and a girl.
Quindlen begins her essay with a description of a general memory that many people share. She evokes an emotional response, likely an uncomfortable or humorous one, in the reader by triggering their memories of their childhood. In doing so, she grabs the readers attention and sheds light upon and issue that the reader was likely not aware was present so early in their life. The author made a strategic decision to point out an aspect of human nature in an experience that most people can relate to rather than presenting an array of scientific facts, and this strategy is effective due to the emotional response it evokes. The author established a common ground with her audience, anticipating that members of both genders are reading the essay. She describes that has been both “a feminist” and “one of the boys” and that she’s “given both sides a pretty good shot” (128). The author is conveying to the reader that she has attempted to see the issue of the division of the sexes from both sides, not just her own gender, in order to establish fairness. Later, Quindlen presents a rhetorical question in order to get the reader thinking and keep his or her interest. “Yet isn’t it odd that prejudice is somehow easier to deal with than the simple difference?” (129). Presenting this thought in a question causes the reader to think about it more than he or she would if it had been presented as a statement, which was likely the author’s intention. Quindlen’s uses parallel structure when describing what the sexes do not understand about the other and their differences when she writes, “Mom. Weird. Women.” and “Husband. Strange. Men.” (129). Though she does not explicitly say it, her use of parallel structure, paralleling what each sex thinks of the other, shows that though the sexes are different, they are similar in that they think the other is different.
Quindlen effectively uses the establishment of pathos and ethos along with word choice and the use of literary devices in order to convey to her audience the difference between male and female relations in her essay Between the Sexes, a Great Divide. Quindlen opens the essay with a metaphor of a coed party with boys and girls standing at opposite sides of the room. This scenario registers with the read, creating an emotional tie to the essay. There is a tone change at the fourth paragraph when Quindlen begins to reflect on her time spent thinking about gender interactions. Quindlen establishes authority explaining how she has spent time reflecting on both sides of male and female roles in society. Later, Quindlen states “Mom. Weird. Women” and “Husband. Strange. Men” as a way of showing the similarities of the opposite sexes while bringing the reader’s attention to the phrases. Quindlen concludes her essay with the metaphor of “it’s the dance that’s important, not the difference”, appealing to the reader’s memory of childhood once again.
"Between the Sexes, a Great Divide," by Anna Quindlen, attempts to answer the question that has been entrenched in society for ages: how can one cross the 'great divide' between boy and girl? Quindlen employs a nostalgic tone and uses examples from her own life to prove the age of the dilemma. "Perhaps we all have the same memory of the first boy-girl party we attended," (128) she writes, making the reader look back upon their own, relatable experience. Quindlen is very good at appealing to the reader through shared experience. She makes the reader reflect upon his or her own experiences. She also employs rhetorical questioning - "Is it any wonder that our relationships are so often riddled with misunderstandings and disappointments? - in order to make the reader connect with the experience of the 'great divide,' making them feel as if the only answer possible is "of course not." Furthermore, Quindlen also draws a similarity between the experiences of the sexes through opposing language. She first writes “Mom. Weird. Women” (129) and then, several lines later, “Husband. Strange. Men” (129) This is to show how the 'great divide' is indeed a universal experience of both sexes.
Author Anna Quindlen organizes her essay “Between the Sexes, A Great Divide” in an effect way so that she can convince her readers how different men and women are, and that this gap is something that will be difficult to conquer. Along with this purposeful organization, Quindlen also uses rhetorical strategies, such as tapping into her readers’ emotions and using literary devices, to succeed in her goal. To begin her essay, she begins with a relatable scenario that a majority of people have personally participated in or have at least seen in a movie. Describing the awkward situation of the first middle school dance taps into her readers’ emotion because they most likely have witnessed something like it; it causes them to replay those memories and think about the different emotions they had experienced. Beginning with this story was a good decision because the memories this scenario evoke most likely involve awkwardness and a member of the opposite sex, so by beginning with this story, Quindlen has already partially convinced her readers that there is a natural gap between boys and girls. This scenario also turns into a metaphor later in the essay. At the end of her essay, Quindlen relates back to the school dance by using it as a metaphor to further develop her claim. First, she describes the gap between the sexes as the middle of the gym floor that nobody dared to cross until one brave boy asked a pretty girl to dance. So to make her point, Quindlen compares this dance to mending the “great divide” that is currently between men and women when she says, “It’s the dance that’s important, not the difference” (p. 130). She wants to express that it’s ok to acknowledge that boys and girls are very different, and it’s not the difference that is important; it’s how men and women look past those difference and learn to live together. Ending with a metaphor that was created from the beginning scenario was a great way to relate everything that Quindlen discussed while successfully getting her point across. The purposeful organization of the essay along with the rhetorical strategies contributed to the success of Quindlen’s essay.
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“Between the Sexes, a Great Divide”, an essay written by Anna Quindlen, addresses the problematic abyss that exists between males and females. The author reflects upon this question: how can one cross the divide? Or, can one ever really cross the divide at all? Beginning with the very first sentence, the author utilizes a nostalgic tone, “Perhaps we all have the same memory of the first boy-girl party we attended. The floors were waxed, the music loud, the air thick with the smell of cologne” (128). By compelling readers to recall past memories, she begins to create a familiar image in their minds and appeals to their emotions. Shortly after this, the author makes a sharp transition from nostalgic memories to a current and real issue, “The boys stood on one side of the room and the girls on the other…none of us would consciously know it then, but what we were seeing, that great empty space in the center of the floor as fearful as a trapdoor, was the great division between the sexes” (128). The change in tone snaps readers back into reality and quickly illuminates the metaphor at hand. The repetition of the metaphor throughout the essay, as in paragraphs 5, 11, and 12, is the author’s way of continually bringing the reader back to her main point—the issue of the chasm, the space between girls and boys on the dance floor, that exists. By the fourth paragraph the author begins establishing her credibility, “I’ve always been a feminists, and I’ve been one of the boys as well, and I’ve given both sides a pretty good shot” (128). In this instance, Quindlen is demonstrating that although she is knowledgeable about and has tried to understand both sides of the abyss—men as well as women. She uses specific examples as evidence that the great divide between males and females is, “not because of the big differences among us, but because of small ones” (129). One example is that of the amaryllis bulb. After describing the incident the author repeats choppy fragments of opposing adjectives to demonstrate the contrast between the sexes, first writing, “Mom. Weird. Women” (129) and several lines later, “Husband. Strange. Men” (129). The essay comes to a close as the author once again ties her metaphor into the very last sentence. Reflecting upon her young son and his best friend (a female), Quindlen writes, “Between them the floor already stretches, an ocean to cross before they can dance uneasily in one another’s arms” (130). The author thus reinforces that the gap between female and male is inevitable—but crossing it is not. Through the idea of the “dance”, Quindlen establishes that coming together is not impossible, but rather just precarious.
Anna Quindlen’s essay “Between the Sexes, A Great Divide”, explores the issue that has arisen over the years which is, the inevitable gap between the male and female gender. The great divide as outlined in the title of the essay is used as a large metaphor in which the whole piece of writing is based. By appealing to the memory in the beginning few paragraphs, and instilling a feeling of nostalgia in her readers, the more relatable her argument became, especially by talking about the first “Boy-girl party” (128) we’ve attended, which appeals the readers to draw out their own memories and apply it to the text. The jump from the memory to reality in the third paragraph, demonstrates that large divide between past and present in a literal sense, in a way comparing it with that of the opposite genders.
As a writer, she establishes by mentioning that “[she] was always a feminist, and [she’s] been one of the boys as well” (128), as a way to affirm her argument by proving that she’s had a fair amount of experience with both sides of the topic, and her opinion is not as bias as it seemed before. She then debunks any other argument by stating that she’s “spent a lot of time telling [herself] that men and women are fundamentally alike” (129) and again compels the reader to empathize with her and understand that although she has this singular opinion, it’s because she’s exhausted all others. She then progresses to distinctly portray the stereotypes she sees within the genders by listing some adjectives consecutively in a fragmented way, for example, “Mom. Weird. Women.” (129), and “Husband. Strange. Men” (129) in an attempt to compare the both as well as contrast it. By doing this, not only does she strengthen her critical analysis, but it also refers back to the metaphor referred to in the beginning. This ties the essay back into its path of answering the question of how to breach the complex divide, the burning question of how one crosses the divide. Quindlen finishes the essay in the present and in the context of the current generation. Instead of completely classifying the gender divide as an infinite partition, her comparison of her observations of the past with the things she’s experiencing in the present with her children, suggest that the answer to the metaphor and purpose of the essay, is that although there is an evident divide, it can be progressively closed with time.
There is a divide between genders, not just biologically, but also socially. In Between the Sexes, a Great Divide Anna Quindlen discusses “the divide” that has always been and will always be between females and males. Quindlen proposes and addresses a question regarding this divide of whether or not it can be crossed. She does so through an evocative tone, historical narrative, unbiased perspective and a controlling metaphor. In the first three paragraphs, Anna Quindlen provides a nostalgic tone, which helps her bring emotion to the essay for her reader. Specifically, Quindlen makes the reader recall his or her memory by discussing the memory of the first boy-girl party “we” attended. This introduction with a nostalgic tone also creates a common ground for the reader and the author, since it is about a topic the reader can relate to. As part of her nostalgic tone, Quindlen incorporates a historical narrative, which exemplifies the divide between sexes and also shows how the divide can be crossed. Quindlen tells a story of an awkwardly divided boy-girl party where “the floors were waxed, the music loud, the air thick with the smell of cologne.”(128)—Very narrative. She goes on describing the awkwardness of the event and the girl who “would brave the divide to start a conversation on the other side,” showing that the divide can be crossed. Quindlen also makes her knowledge on the “divide” credible by having a neutral perspective—not favoring the men or women. In order to make her essay credible for the reader, Quindlen must prove she is unbiased. In paragraph four she does so by stating, “I’ve always been a feminist, and I’ve always been one of the boys as well, and I’ve given both sides a pretty good shot.” (128) This makes her an unbiased and well-rounded author that the reader can take seriously. Lastly, Anna Quindlen’s metaphor “a great divide” serves to resemble the separation of the sexes that Quindlen concentrates on. Not only is this metaphor of a divide seen throughout the essay, but also it is present in the title. Quidlen’s nostalgic tone, historical narrative of a boy-girl party, credibility, and metaphor of the divide all serve to discuss the division between the sexes and to prove that this age old division can be crossed.
Anna Quindlen’s essay, “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” addresses the natural gap between males and females. The first three paragraphs stimulate memories in the readers, which gives the beginning of the essay and tone of nostalgia. This tone is implemented in the very first sentence, which says, “Perhaps we all have the same memory of the first boy-girl party we attended.”(128). This memory connects to and sparks an interest in the readers through emotions of reminiscences. The author then uses the nostalgic tone to transition into the problem. She does this in the third paragraph by saying, “None of us would have consciously know it then, but what we were seeing, that great empty space in the center of the floor as fearful as a trapdoor, was the great division between the sexes.” (128). This transition causes the reader to realize the reality of their memories. The essay, at this point, has not become about memory, but it has become about crossing the divide between the sexes.
As a way of showing that she is not intending to speak from a biased perspective, the author claims, “I’ve always been a feminist, and I’ve been one of the boys as well, and I’ve given both sides a pretty good shot.” (128). Using personal accounts of her family, the author states that the divide in her family is notable “not because of the big differences among us, but because of the small ones.” (129). The two fragments, “Mom. Weird. Women” and “Husband. Strange. Men”, are strategically placed in the middle paragraphs to represent a typical view of the genders. These fragments also show the stereotypes through the words chosen. “Women” and “Men” relate, and so do the words “Weird” and “Strange”, but “Mom” and “Husband” aren’t the same in this context. Instead of saying, Mom and Dad or Husband and Wife, the author chooses words that the genders are most commonly associated with.
Quindlen's purpose in writing "Between the Sexes, a Great Divide" is to explore whether or not crossing the divide between male and females is possible, and, if it is, how. The overall tone of the essay is very nostalgic and reflective, rather than definitive. The reader is free to explore whether or not the conclusion made by the author is applicable to his or her own life. She begins by recalling a memory that may be familiar to the reader. This both establishes a commonality and sense of solidarity with the reader and begins the metaphor that is used in the text as the divide between the sexes. As Quindlen connects the metaphor to real life, she establishes her credibility as someone who has pondered the subject for some time saying, "I've given both sides a pretty good shot." She then goes back to the metaphor and reenforces a tone of solidarity. When she adds in a segment about her own life, she again establishes her credibility as a woman who lives with her two sons and her husband. Her examples from her life and her eventual conclusion reflect her view that while crossing the divide between the sexes isn't impossible, it isn't comfortable either.
Anna Quindlen uses tone, diction, imagery, definition, and organization in “Between the Sexes, A Great Divide” to convey the chasm that grows between men and women by employing those strategies to relate to the reader and convince him or her to agree with her point. She starts off the essay setting a familiar, sentimental tone, claiming, “Perhaps we all have the same memory of the first boy-girl party we attended,” following it closely with absolute phrases, “the floors were waxed, the music loud, the air thick with the smell of cologne,” used to extenuate the scene, create the nuance, and draw the image in the reader’s mind (or perhaps jog a memory of a similar event). The author uses distance-creating words and phrases like “chasm,” “great empty space,” and “other side” to announce the “division between the sexes.” There is an abrupt change going into the fourth paragraph. The mood cuts from reminiscent to present and unapologetic, Quindlen abandoning the talk of a dance to testify: “…I’ve written some lovely things about men, and some nasty things too, and I meant them all.” The author creates her own definitions to increase the gravity of a word, as she does for “other,” stating, “being other has meant being symbols of divinity, evil, carnal degeneration, perfect love, fertility and death…”or create contrast as she does for “prejudice” and “difference,” explaining, “prejudice is evil and can be fought, while difference simply is.” She uses a simplified and similar three one-word sentence structure, “Mom. Weird. Woman” and “Husband. Strange. Men,” in the middle of her essay to show how comparable both sexes are in their misunderstandings of one another. The author ends the piece by picking up on her train of thought where she left off at the beginning of the essay. She again talks of her memory of distance, but now the uncrossable “chasm” is not how it was previously described. She says, “I must never forget, I suppose, that even in the gym, with all that space between us, we still managed to pick partners and dance;” the situation to “pick a partner and dance” is a devise used to represent an eventual close of the gap, which can bee seen again when she admits that when dancing with a man, she has “never learned to follow.” The “dance” is used to connote a relationship between both sexes, which brings the ideas of unity into sight when she says in the final paragraph, “I have just met the dance downstairs,” when talking about her son and his best friend who is a girl.
Anna Quindlen in her essay “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” addresses the inevitable divide between genders and the question of how it might be crossed. She does this by creating a strong and prevalent metaphor, relating to her audience, and creating similarities in diction. The “Great Divide” between the sexes is introduced in the title and first paragraphs and is consistently referred to in later parts of the essay. The metaphorical gap between the sexes exists in society and always has. Quindlen refers to an awkward boy-girl party to describe not only the physical gap but also the psychological gap that exists between men and women even though “None of us would consciously know it then, but what we were seeing, that great empty space in the center of the floor… was the great division between the sexes” (128). Later in the essay Quindlen applies the metaphor to the lack of understanding between her sons, husband, and herself as “they are gazing across a divide at me” (129) and she does this to emphasize the massive gap between the sexes. Quindlen establishes a relationship with her audience through her nostalgic tone and relatable experience. Her audience, consisting of people in their mid teens to adulthood, has experienced their first boy-girl party at some point in their lives, thus allowing to the situation in which “the boys stood on one side of the room and the girls on the other” (128). In not only this physical gap but also the metaphorical “Great Divide” Quindlen relates to her audience to demonstrate the divide between the sexes. However, Quindlen clarifies that the sexes are not divided “because of big differences among us, but because of small ones” (129). Quindlen sets up a parallel between the genders by using short fragmented sentences, ““Mom. Weird. Women.” (129), and “Husband. Strange. Men” (129) to describe both genders from the opposite sex’s perspective. By using identical sentence structure she demonstrates how similar the two sexes are, but are different in the small ways just as these two set of sentences are identical in structure, and only differentiate very slightly in meaning.
Anna Quindlen’s “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” depicts the unavoidable gap between the sexes that has and continues to be present in society. The first three paragraphs of this essay establish a nostalgic tone as Quindlen incorporates a personal narrative about “the first boy-girl party” (128) that creates a common ground for her audience--adults. This narrative illustrates the idea of a divide between the sexes that continues even into the meeting rooms at work. This metaphor is carried throughout the entire essay, always referring back to the “great division between the sexes.”(128) as she incorporates what she has learned. Quindlen uses the symbols of women found over the course of human history-- “weakness, dependency, and emotions” (129)--to contrast the idea that “men are the other” (129). However, she makes a point that there is a divide “not because of the big differences among us, but because of small ones” (129). She exemplifies the small differences with the use of short choppy fragments such as “Mom. Weird. Women.” and “Husband. Strange. Men.” (129). The words weird and strange are synonyms, therefore, confirming her claim that there are small differences. However, the words mom and husband have a bigger difference, that imply the societal roles that men and women play that cause this divide. Quindlen’s nostalgic tone, personal narrative, symbols, and short choppy fragments serve to prove that crossing the great divide will take some time as it is very much ingrained in society.
In “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” Anna Quindlen addresses the inevitable divide between the male and female. She begins with an anecdotal tone to evoke interest in the reader by recalling an adolescent memory that immediately takes the reader back to his or her past, provoking some type of feeling. With this historical narrative, Quindlen also introduces one of the greater metaphors of the piece, which is the waxed dance floor that represents the divide. The memory of the “first boy-girl party” ends, and a personal reflection laced with a maternal tone begins. The employment of the self analysis is used to impart the ultimate question: is the great divide between the sexes crossable? Even though the memory ended in the first few paragraphs, personal narratives are still used throughout the piece, not necessarily to create common ground between the audience and author like the memory had, but to add to the maternal tone. The anecdote of the “amaryllis bulb” (129) opens up her role as a mother and the immense differences between her and her sons and husband. She explains this story not with a contemptful tone, but with a tone of acceptance, like she already knew the men in her life would not understand. She also uses short choppy sentences such as, “Mon. Weird. Women.” and “Husband. Strange. Men.” (129) to reveal the very apparent differences, which are facts about the two genders. With the short sentences, there is no room for inferences; it is what it is. The amaryllis bulb anecdote answers the question of is the great divide between the sexes crossable, with a no, but that is only limited to her generation. It imposes on the reader a reflection upon their own life and then the desire to change Quindlen’s proposed answer to the ultimate question of sexes.
"Between the Sexes, a Great Divide" addresses the social divide between male and female. In the first two paragraphs of this essay, Anna Quindlen uses the metaphor of a dance floor to convey this divide. She establishes a nostalgic tone by making the readers recall the first "boy girl party" (128) they had. The readers recall the nervousness and awkwardness of that first encounter. She uses the word "chasm" (128) to describe the empty floor and space between the two sexes. She repeats the metaphor of the dance floor and the "chasm" over and over again in this essay to really emphasize the great divide between men and women. She uses this metaphor to make the divide more tangible. If she does not use it, it would be more difficult to get her point across. She would have to use more abstract words and phrases to describe the divide. That would make it difficult to see how obvious this divide actually is. Anna Quindlen also connects this divide to her children and friends. She discusses how her friend and she talk over the phone about things their husbands did (129). She discusses how her son is quickly learning the idea of "him and her" (129). She uses these to examples to connect to a greater audience. She mentions her son to show how young people start learning the divide between the sexes. She mentions her friend to show that the divide continues even after marriage. Quindlen uses a nostalgic tone, a tangible metaphor, and real life examples to show how relevant the battle between the sexes really is.
“Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” by Anna Quindlen seeks to express her lament for the utter divide between man and woman while exposing her reader to the different complexities of the matter—the simple differences between males and females versus the prejudice ones. Quindlen does so by introducing her reader to a familiar scenario, one that they might call upon with bashful embarrassment and fond memories—our first boy-girl party. She calls upon imagery to revive this memory for the reader, “the floors were waxed, the music loud, the air thick with the smell of cologne” (128). Once Quindlen has tapped into her reader’s familiarity and sense of nostalgia, she presents her metaphoric prose, “boys stood on one side of the room and girls on the other” (128). Quindlen next uses slightly contradicting statements to show the reader the complexities of crossing the great divide. She first interjects with a statement to affirm her metaphor as an accurate representation of the real life chasm between male and females in paragraph 3. However, two sentences later, she makes a looser interpretation of her already stated metaphor by backtracking and saying, “maybe that’s going to happen sometime in my lifetime, but I can’t say I know when” (128). Moreover, Quindlen then examines the complexities with comparing the two sexes, the point of the previous contradictions was to further attest to this comparison. She exhaults that although men and women are fundamentally alike, they are in the most simple terms…different. She then ponders, “Yet isn’t it off that I feel that prejudice is somehow easier to deal with than the simple difference? Prejudice is evil and can be fought, while difference simply is” (129). She then presents the reader with 3 personal examples to attest to the simple facts of life that show how naturally different male and females are.
Anna Quindlen’s essay, Between the Sexes, A Great Divide, discusses the large, evident gap between males and females. She begins her essay with an experience that everyone has had happen to them at one point or another in their lives. It forces the reader to think back and reflect on how “The floors were waxed, the music loud, the air think with the smell of cologne, the boys stood on one side of the room and the girls on another” had so much symbolism. She uses a nostalgic tone to connect with the reader and describe the space that divides the sexes “as a fearful as a trapdoor” (128) to show that it is somewhat of a mystery that no one wants to find the answer to.
She demonstrates ethos in the next paragraph when she says, “I’ve always been a feminist, and I’ve been one of the boys as well, and I’ve given both sides a pretty good shot” (128) to show that this is not a biased essay. It is strictly an essay that analyzes the question, how do you cross the divide between the sexes? This makes the essay much more effective because it views the divide as a whole and not just from one side. Both males and females can read and understand the point of this essay equally because of this. She also uses a parallel to show their equivalence when she says, “Mom. Weird. Women.” (129) and “Husband. Strange. Men.” (129) after sharing two different stories. Once again this parallel establishes her neutrality on the subject.
She ends the essay by using the metaphor of “the dance.” The entire essay has been about the “great divide” until she brings up the connection between the sexes– the dance. She says “It’s the dance that’s important, not the difference.” In the very first memory when she is describing the great space in between the boys and the girls on the dance floor, dancing is the only thing that will fill that empty space and Quindlen brings it all together beautifully at the end of the essay. She uses the example of her son and his friend and she says, “Between them the floor already stretches, an ocean to cross before they can dance uneasily in one another’s arms” (130) in order to reinforce the struggle that the great divide between the sexes brings.
In her essay “Between the Sexes, A Great Divide”, Anna Quindlen argues that there is a separation between the male and female sexes and she addresses the question how this separation can be crossed, if it can at all. The metaphor of a coed dance paints a picture of the divide Anna is trying to get her reader to see and understand, the physical divide. On the dance floor, between the male group and the female group is a “great empty space, the great division of the sexes”(128). By using this metaphor, Anna creates a clear picture in the reader’s mind of the physical division in how boys and girls do not easily interact with one another, hence the divide. However, at the end of Anna’s essay, she answers her question on if the divide can be crossed, and the answer is yes because the “dance downstairs”(130) did indeed occur. The metaphor of the dance physically occurring refers to the fact that males and females can indeed interact and come to understand each other. Quindlen’s son’s best friend is a girl, and together they act as if they are one of the same, neither boy nor girl. This is the dance without division Quindlen is talking about, the physical and psychological divide between the two, different gendered kids was crossed and no longer existent. The use of personal experience is a device that Quindlen uses to further explain that a physical and psychological separation between males and females is evident. The anecdote that elicits the physical separation is when her son is in the supermarket, “demanding that I tell him which genital category they fell in…he got the ide: us and them, him and her”(129). Another personal experience that Quindlen explains that exemplifies that men and women differ psychologically is when Anna is “on the telephone with a friend…commiserating about the failure of our husbands to listen when we talk, or their inexorable linear thinking…”(129). These women do not mentally relate to their husbands, making it hard to cross the divide from women to men or men to women. Quindlen uses choppy sentences and the overuse of “and” to prove her point that she has put time into her reasoning for her idea of the divide between men and women. “I’ve though about this for some time, because I’ve written some loving things about men, and some nasty things too, and I meant them all. And I’ve always been a feminist, and I’ve been one of the boys as well….”(128). The choppy sentences and the overuse of “and” means that the sentences do not flow smoothly, giving off a tone that exemplifies the reader is trying to get a point across, the point that she has given thought into her reasoning. Lastly, Quindlen uses personal pronouns and talks in the first person to draw her reader in and make the reader feel like he or she is experiencing the problem as well. Through the use of “we”(128) and “I”(129), the author gets personal with the reader, which in turn can lead the reader to agreeing with the author’s point of view. The rhetorical devices Anna Quindlen uses helps her argue her point, the point in which there is a physical and psychological divide between males and females.
In her essay Between the Sexes, A Great Divide, Anna Quindlen writes to demonstrate the great division between the male sex and the female sex that has continuously been presented in society. Immediately she begins with a recollection of first time boy-girl parties. She writes in first person plural using the word “we” to incorporate the audience into recalling their own memory of their first boy-girl party experience, creating a sense of solidarity and common ground between the author and the reader, “Perhaps we all have the same memory of the first boy-girl party we attended” (128). Quindlen does this in order for the reader to inspect their own lives to see if there is a barrier between sexes. She further makes her point by using a metaphor of the empty space in a gym where “the boys stood on one side of the room and the girls stood on the other” (128) to symbolize the barrier between the sexes in our lives. She then begins to show how she sees this divide in sexes in her life by using real life situations concerning the people in her life. Quindlen describes current relationships between herself, her sons and her husband, her son and people of the opposite sex, as well as her friend and her husband to present the fact that the pressing issue of the divide between the sexes is indeed still an ongoing issue in our present society. She talks about how she realizes her two sons and husband sometimes “are gazing across a divide” (129) at her and explains this with a short anecdote about how they did not understand the amaryllis bulb that she had put in the bathroom and thus hinted the idea that women did weird things – the divide they were gazing across. Continuing on, she talks about how her and her friend would talk on the phone “commiserating about the failure of [their] husbands” (129) as well as how her eldest son learned at a young age the idea of “us and them, him and her” (129). The use of recollection, a nostalgic tone, a metaphor of the great divide, and the current relationships between males and females in her life demonstrates the ongoing division between the sexes.
Anna Quindlen's purpose for writing "Between the Sexes, A Great Divide," was to describe the gender gap between males and females present in society from early on in life. Writing in the first person, she pulls the reader in to recalling memories from their childhood, and further expresses her point that this communication gap is felt by everyone. She used the metaphor of "The Great Divide" to portray the vastness of the problem and to show how widespread it is. Her first three paragraphs serve to invoke memories and emotions within the reader, causing inevitable nostalgia. She uses the "first boy-girl party" as her main scene to demonstrate the first gap-crossing because this is a common memory in that all readers will remember and can relate to. After providing the readers with a personal reflection, she poses the question: can this divide ever really be crossed? She closes her piece with her "modern dance;" she talks about her son, how he is learning about the significance of "him and her" (129), and how his best friend is a girl. She emphasizes that her son, while aware of the gap between the sexes, doesn't focus on it, which is how Quindlen believes the world should operate.
Anna Quindlen’s essay “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” discusses the fundamental separation between males and females and questions the possibility of crossing the metaphorical “chasm.” Introducing her piece, the author illustrates her proposal with deep imagery and depicts the scene of school dance in which “the floors were waxed, the music loud, [and] the air thick with the smell of cologne.” Quindlen’s vivid details and nostalgic tone transport the reader into memories of his or her own school dances. Creating a bond with the reader over shared experiences, the author is better able to convey her question of crossing the divide with the reader in her shoes. Quindlen’s juxtaposition of the words “divinity, evil, carnal degeneration, perfect love, fertility and death” establishes the idea that although males and females are practically “different species,” we are all subject to the same character traits and cannot be separated as universally distinguished by one representation over the other. The author also interposes anecdotes of examples from her life as in conversations on the phone with friends, the amaryllis bulb, and her walks through the supermarket with her son to connect the issue of the great divide to contemporary time and how this gulf is alive even to this day. Noting how although both her son and his female best friend were “raised in egalitarian households,” she exposes a sense of uncertainty of whether or not humanity will ever be able to span the “great divide”.
Anna Quindlen, an author for the New York Times from 1981 to 1994, wrote her essay, “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide”, specifically for her audience. Her essay was published in the “Hers” column of the Times in 1988 for her target audience - adult women of egalitarian households in the 1980s. In a nostalgic tone, Quindlen calls to attention an unforgettable experience in a woman’s life - the first “boy-girl party” she attended (128). By touching on memories, whether happy or sad, Quindlen evokes relatable emotions out of her reader. She uses the memories of a shared experience in order to convey her own thoughts. Quindlen’s purpose in writing this essay is to ask the readers whether it is possible or not to subdue the already existing division between male and female. This division between male and female is referred to in a few ways including, a “chasm”, “a great empty space”, “a trapdoor”, and “an ocean to cross” (128-131) throughout the essay. Each of these words have a physical aspect to them. In reality, one can see a chasm, one can see an empty space, one can find a trapdoor, and one can physically enjoy and experience the ocean. These visible objects are used in order to provide the reader with a clear image in her head. Each of these words and phrases serve as metaphors for the overall image of the “great divide” (128). To transcend the boundaries between men and women is not unheard of; however, it is a “big move” (128). Quindlen mentions this fact to her “egalitarian” (130) audience to remind women of the reality that this division can be weakened and occasionally is. Another way Quindlen communicates this belief is by relating gender relationships to a dance shared between a male and a female. She expresses that gender division is overcome when “we still manage to pick partners and dance” (130). But, she states that we can only “dance uneasily in one another’s arms” (130), meaning that the gap between genders cannot be completely erased. She uses sharp contrasts such as “us and them” and “him and her” (130) to prove to her audience that gender is one of the ways to “classify the world” (129) and we continue to further the divide between female and male.
In Between the Sexes, a Great Divide Anna Quindlen uses the metaphor of “a great divide” appeal to an individual’s thought process and way of living. In the first part of the passage, Quindlen uses a call to nostalgia by recalling a memory that is common in the childhood of many individuals. By appealing to this nostalgia and memory, the author engages the reader in the topic. In order to introduce her purpose she creates the image of the first girls and boys party and connects it to her life now. Quindlen also goes into detail about her family life, which appeals to the reader’s sense of community and family. This helps the reader to feel more comfortable with the topic that the author is presenting in her essay. The author also uses excessive periods to emphasize her purpose; that men and women are completely different even though the same species. “Husband. Strange. Men.” and “Mom. Weird. Women.” are both examples of such emphasis. At the end of her essay she indicates that times have changed slightly, but she also connects it to the beginning of her essay. By stating that her son has no issue with having a girl best friend and vice versa. She connects it to the beginning of the essay by depicting the image of her son chasing the girl with a toy spider. This connects to the idea that men and women are of similar creation but almost a completely different species.
In Anna Quindlen’s Between the Sexes, a Great Divide, the author uses the metaphor of the gym dance and her personal accounts to show how men and women are fearful of interacting with one another and form prejudices due to a lack of understanding. The “memory of the first boy-girl party” is a metaphor for how both sexes struggle to relate to one another. The girls and boys are on opposite sides of the gym with the “chasm” or “trapdoor” in the middle. Only the “brave” have the courage to cross the “great division between the sexes”. This metaphor’s purpose is to provide an example of how girls and boys struggle to interact because they do not understand one another, which is shown through the segregation on the dance floor. The “great divide” is even harder to cross because those that do are often put up to ridicule and prejudice. Only the “better-looking boys” can cross, and the girls that cross are immediately judged. Quindlen uses the metaphor to give a perfect and easily relatable picture of how interactions with males and females play out through misunderstanding and prejudice. The implications of her metaphor are also seen throughout her personal examples of the “amaryllis bulb,” the failure of her husband “to listen,” and her child at the supermarket. The first two examples end up with the opposite sex coming to the conclusion that not only is the person in reference to “weird” or “strange”, but imposes that judgment on all of the “”women” or “men”. The failure of the husbands to listen or the queerness of the amaryllis bulb are a result of a lack of understanding between the two sexes, and prejudices tbat soon begin to form broaden over the whole gender. In the example with the author’s child, he feels the need to categorize people into the two gender categories. His tendency shows that this divide begins at a young age and is something engrained in each person, making it almost uncrossable. Quindlen accomplishes that through showing how her son will inevitably experience the gym dance and how he too will have “an ocean to cross before they can dance uneasily in each other’s arms”.
In Anna Quindlen’s Between the Sexes, a Great Divide she applies the use of an extended metaphor to show her readers that the relationship between men and women is divided in a way that will never change. She writes, “all I can see is that great shiny space in the middle of the dance floor where no one ever meets” (129). She connects the relationship between the sexes to a middle school dance, boys on one side girls on the other, the divide being the dance floor. While one or two may make their way to the middle of the dance floor, “make the big move across the chasm”, that divide never is truly crossed in the story. Quindlen uses the first part of her essay to call upon the past in order to arouse memories of childhood in her readers, drawing them into her story before making her major, somewhat difficult main point: the division may never be crossed. If she had simply started with her major message, the readers would have been less likely to agree. She establishes pathos through recalling of memories in order to attach the reader to her story then finishes the historic tone after the third paragraph and takes a more reflective stance where she addresses her present condition, that still exists with the divide. Quindlen then transfers to the future in her final paragraphs by applying her metaphor to her children, saying “the floor already stretches” between her kids and their friends of the opposite sex. By addressing past, present, and future, Quindlen effectively establishes her point that the divide that exists between those of the opposite sex is unlikely to ever change.
In Anna Quindlen’s essay “Between the Sexes, A Great Divide”, she structures her essay in a way that represents the divide between males and females. She starts her essay with a common ground that most people can relate to. This common ground creates a sense of “comfort” for the reader because they are familiar with the setting. This replicates how the boys and girls were split at the dance because they were comfortable with their same-sex friends. She then continues her essay with her unbiased thoughts about the division between the sexes. She states “And I’ve always been a feminist, and I’ve been one of the boys as well, and I’ve given both sides a pretty good shot” (128). A couple paragraphs after this, she writes “Mom. Weird. Woman.” and “Husband. Strange. Men.” (129). Both of these quotes shows her unbiased point of view and this is what makes it an effective essay. With her neutrality of opinions on each sex, the reader can read the essay without having to worry about being persuaded to favor one of the “sides” and both men and women can relate to the essay since she wrote the essay to apply to a range of audience. Everything thus far has been used as a “base” for what she next talks about: division of sexes at a young age. She ends her essay by connecting the division of sexes to the division of friends and children. By making these additional connections to the division of people, Quindlen is connecting to a new audience of “children” as well. She ends the essay by talking about how these children from a young age are, from a young age, exposed to the division of sexes. Anna Quindlen extended the metaphor of her essay by giving several examples of division in her essay.
Anna Quindlen’s essay “Between the Sexes: A Great Divide” addresses the issue of gender equality with the use of metaphor and tone. She opens the narrative with a metaphor described in a sentimental tone, bringing the reader in and evoking memories that would be common to anyone who has ever attended a school dance. She uses the symbol of the “great empty space in the center of the floor” at a school dance to reflect the “great division between the sexes” (128). Her tone shifts from the nostalgic tone of the opening paragraphs to a more informational one when she describes her views on men (128). She addresses an opposing viewpoint by stating that she has been a feminist and has given both sides “a pretty good shot” (128). By addressing this counter viewpoint, she is establishing credibility, since she is essentially saying that both sides have valid points, but the one she stands on is that one that she feels is the more valid. She then goes into family life, which again evokes feelings and memories that could be common to anyone who has lived with their family. In the closing paragraphs of the narrative, she returns to the metaphor of the great empty waxed floor, stating that even though there is a great divide between the sexes, it is not the divide that matters; it is the dance. Quindlen’s narrative effectively points out that gender inequality is not the issue, but gender differences and society’s inability to distinguish between differences and inequality.
The essay “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” by Anna Quindlen discusses the widely-known and age-old issue of gender separation. Her exploration of the gender issue raises the question of whether or not the metaphorical “divide” can be crossed. To immediately establish a nostalgic and relatable tone, Quindlen intrigues the reader by offering a general story that evokes the each person's own memories and similar experiences. Her use of the plural first person “we” especially allows the reader to feel that they are connected to the author. With the reader fully engaged through the narrative story, she goes on to discuss her relationship with her husband and therefore her understanding of the female-male differences. While she does prove her experiences, she does not favor or have a bias towards women or men. This creates a sense of reliability as both female and male readers will be able to identify with the story. The actual metaphor of the gender “divide” is furthered through diction such as “ great empty space” and “chasm”. By offering the visual of a crossing the divide to show the separation and difference in gender, she furthers her sentimental and reliable tone. Quindlen’s sentence structure also often parallels the divide when she says “Mom. Weird. Women.” and “Husband. Strange. Men”. This exemplifies her desire for readers to understand that it is the small differences that create the greater gender divide, rather than the more obvious differences. Each of these essay characteristics allows readers to reflect upon Quindlen’s proposed question of sexes and form their own opinion with the help of her anecdotal stories and credibility establishment.
Anna Quindlen’s “Between the Sexes, A Great Divide” articulates the apparent and seemingly never-leaving divide between women and men. Her primary method in explaining the nature of such a divide is through the metaphor of a school dance. She first depicts a childhood party where boys and girls are separated by a “chasm” of which they must cross in order to interact with each other. This “great division between the sexes” on the dance floor serves a larger purpose- one that highlights the great division between the two genders generally in society. Later in the essay, Quindlen extends her metaphor of the dance floor further as she talks of her son, who is spending time with a good female friend. As he chases her around with a spider, the author reflects on the idea that they are being exposed to the idea of “him and her.” Even though the children identify as close friends, they are already experiencing gender divisions. And while the extended metaphor is the main way that Quindlen establishes effective rhetoric, she also establishes her point of view of the large divide between the genders with abrupt, one-worded sentence structure. In an encounter with her sons and husband, Quindlen is set into a category of “Mom. Weird. Woman,” while she sets her husband into a category of “Husband. Strange. Men.” In doing this, Quindlen is supporting her overall metaphor with personal anecdotes. Quindlen’s tone throughout the essay is an understanding one, as she recognizes that the genders have inherent differences, yet that both genders can still dance in a harmonious manner. Through an extended metaphor, accepting tone, terse sentence structure, and personal anecdotes, Anna Quindlen effectively persuades her readers that the great divide between the genders is and will continue to be ever-present.
Anna Quindlen provides an extended metaphor in order to point out a great conflict that we were all introduced to as children and continue to struggle with throughout our lives—that is “the great division between the sexes”(128). Through the metaphor of “the first boy-girl party we attended”(128), Quindlen establishes a common ground that the reader can relate to. Quindlen’s use of imagery generates a scene in which the reader is clearly able to envision, as she writes, “the floors were waxed, the music loud, the air thick with the smell of cologne”(128). Her technique of omitting conjunctions creates a hurried pace that ultimately reflects the nervous nature of the situation. Quindlen accentuates this nervous nature when figuratively saying, “that great empty space in the center of the floor was as fearful as a trapdoor”(128). Quindlen organizes the essay well by bringing up the “trapdoor” throughout her text. When speaking of the differences between men and women she claims, “all I can see is that great shiny space in the middle of the dance floor”(129) and as these differences are seen within her family she sees her sons and husbands, “gazing across a divide at me”(129). These references allow the reader to focus back to the main point of the essay, that being “the great division between the sexes”(128). Quindlen explains that we judge one another because “prejudice is somehow easier to deal with than the simple difference”(129). She than personifies prejudice as something “evil” that can be “fought”(129). This personification brings “prejudice” to life revealing to the reader that it is prejudice is stopping us from simply accepting differences. Nevertheless, Quindlen is able to bring the story back around full circle stating, “it’s the dance that’s important, not the difference”(130). Such organization is what makes the essay clear and relatable.
Anna Quindlen employs various rhetorical strategies in “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” to discuss the evident gap that segregates the two sexes. Right off the bat, the author appeals to the audience's emotions by broaching that "same memory of the first boy-girl party we attended" (128). By doing so, Quindlen is making this essay personal to the reader by forcing them to think back to that first awkward coed party they all onced survived. She goes on to create a scenario of "one of the taller, better-looking boys" making "the big move across the chasm" while "one of the girls would brave the divide" causing her girlfriends to"immediately develop a certain opinion of that girl" (128). By creating this situation, Quindlen is allowing the author to understand that scary process of dissolving the divide by envisioning this example. The author takes this event and immediately converts it into a symbol, turning "that great empty space in the center of the floor" into a "fearful...trapdoor" (128) How does the author know this divide is a "fearful trapdoor"? She knows because she's "always been a feminist and...one of the boys as well" (128). Quindlen is establishing her personal credibility and arguing how she understands how this divide is a scary thing for both sexes because she's "given both sides a pretty good shot" (128). In the sixth paragraph, the author digs deep into why that divide between the sexes persists : men and women both view one another as "the other" (129). Quindlen defines "the other" as being a constant symbol for a range of things like "divinity, evil, carnal degeneration, perfect love, fertility and death, to name a few" (129). By listing all of the various associations of what it means to be other, the author is emphasizing the irony of it all: both sexes are the other. Through the personal connection, scenario, metaphor, personal credibility, and definition that she develops, Anna Quindlen persuades the reader to see the capability of breaking this elephant in the room at every boy-girl party and to see the beauty of dancing right on top of it.
Anna Quindlen’s “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” addresses the perpetual social division between males and females. The author’s use of the pronoun we, allows the reader to feel as if he or she is conversing with the author, exemplified when Quindlen remarks that “we all have the same memory”(128). This simple word choice throughout the narrative creates a very informal and evocative tone and also creates a connection between the reader and the author, allowing the reader to empathize with the author. Furthermore, Quindlen uses a metaphor throughout her narrative that many people can relate to, a person’s “first boy-girl party”(128) in order for her readers to understand that the division between men and women is just like the division at one’s first boy-girl party when “the boys stood on one side of the room and girls on the other”(128). Further describing this great division at the boy-girl party, she refers to the gender gap as “a great empty space” that is “fearful" and like a “trapdoor,” helping readers remember the past but also imagine how the gender gap between the sexes is still present.
Quindlen establishes her credibility by stating that she’s “given both sides[male and female] a pretty good shot”(128) but has come to the conclusion that while "men are the other,” women “are the other too”(129). Being a woman, she doesn’t advocate that women are the superior, but criticizes her own gender as well by calling both males and females “other.” Quindlen defines the word other as ”symbols of divinity, evil…perfect love, fertility and death…weakness, dependency, and emotions”(129). She goes on to give personal examples of how the men in her life have criticized her and how she has criticized them and describes differences and inequalities that each gender suffer from. By doing so, she implies that men and women both look at each other differently because of the differences in priorities and preferences that each hold important. Her going back between descriptions and criticisms of men and women create parallelism within her narrative allowing her readers to easily see that it’s not one gender’s fault for the divide, it is both genders’ faults due to various reasons. Continuing her reasoning as to how prevalent the problem of gender division is, she uses the example of her son demanding to know “which genitalia category they(cartoon characters) fell in”(129). Anna Quindlen uses many examples to show how great “the great divide” really is, but never gives a clear solution on how to fix the great divide. Her use of word diction, tone, organization, definition, metaphors and her lack of a conclusion allows her readers to be exposed to the position that both men and women hold on this subject and how this problem will persist for eternity.
Anna Quindlen starts"Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” by writing with a sentimental, familiar tone when she writes “Perhaps we all have the same memory of the first boy-girl party we attended.” By writing “we,” Quidlen is evoking awkward, funny and even uncomfortable memories that presumably her reader has from their own childhood. The present tense brings the reader into the moment that “the boys stood on one side of the room and the girls on the other,” right next to Quidlen. She does so to bring the reader to her topic, that being “the great division between the sexes.” By bringing the reader to that place in her memory and creating the image of “the center of the floor, as fearful as a trapdoor” the division becomes a tangible object, as if it really did exist. Then she jumps from a familiar “we,” to “I” and that is significant. “We” to “I” is a division— a division between the author and the reader and that is a metaphor for the great division between sexes. At first, the reader was made welcome and was brought into Quidlen’s memory but then the reader is shut out. When Quidlen recalls the how the “boys stood on one side and the girls on the other,” she is referring to a literal divide between the two sexes but then she draws parallels between the sexes to make the reader question whether there really is a great divide. Quidlen relates the sexes by stating “men are the other” and following right after, “we are the other too.” Then she writes in the exact same fashion “Mom. Weird. Women.” and “Husband. Strange. Men.” to illustrate how similar the two sexes truly are. Quidlen talks about a metaphorical divide, much like the equator (something we talk about, imagine, believe in, yet cannot see or touch), when she said “they are gazing across a divivd at me.” Although Quidlen and her sons and husband live together, they are divided metaphorically because of their sex, but “not because of big differences among us, but because of small ones.” Quidlen hints at this when she mentions what “other has meant” through contrasting symbols such as “divinity, evil, carnal degeneration, perfect love, fertility, and death.” Quidlen is extremely contradictory to the idea of a “great divide between sexes” when she states at the end of the essay “two children, raised in egalitarian households” claiming that her son is raised in a house where all people are equal. That is not the case because she is metaphorically divided from her husband and sons because of their sexes. By making that the second to last sentence, I believe Quidlen is essentially trying to get the reader to ponder upon the question of equality and if that really is an achievable concept, or if equality even exists at all.
In Anna Quindlen’s “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide,” she uses a long metaphor, which she carries throughout essay to reveal “the great divide” between male and female. With the metaphor of a dance floor, which you can physically see, “the great divide” becomes more realistic. This metaphor is introduced in the first sentence with the author speaking directly to the reader – “perhaps we all have the same memory of the first boy-girl party we attended” (128). By speaking directly to the reader and writing “we all” instead of “I,” Quindlen makes the reader think about their own first boy-girl dance and forces the reader to remember “the great divide” in his experience. This makes the divide real to the reader’s world, and Quindlen references the metaphor of the first boy-girl dance several times throughout the essay to consistently remind the reader that what she says applies to the reader himself. She establishes that she is not biased toward one sex when she writes, “I’ve always been a feminist, and I’ve been one of the boys as well, and I’ve given both sides a pretty good shot” (128). Quindlen then goes on to recount some of her own personal experiences with a nostalgic town to emotionally connect to the reader. She explains the prejudice between her and her father and sons. She also explains the prejudice between her and her friend and their husbands. This applies “the great divide” to more relationships and age groups than boys and girls at their first dance. Anna Quindlen uses an extended metaphor, a nostalgic tone, and personal experiences to both make the reader realize divide between male and female and to emotionally connect the reader personally to the divide.
Quindlen makes use of a lot of modern archetypal imagery to evoke emotional response in the reader and, additionally, layers her essay with a variety of devices— repetition, tense change, simple sentence structure, satire, anecdote, and rhetorical questioning—largely to emphasize particular points or ideas and tie together the flow of her argument. In the beginning of the essay Quindlen creates in the mind of the reader the somewhat stereotypical awkward boy-girl event: a dance with a gaping space between boys and girls. By doing this, the author already creates emotional response to the reader and makes them call to memory personal experiences of similar events; even if the reader has never attended an event like the one described in the beginning of the essay, one where “boys stood on one side…and girls on the other” (128), the event is one so often portrayed in film and story that the reader is most likely able to identify with the experience that may not be his or her own. Thus Quindlen establishes emotional investment in the piece from the top, and carries that same sympathy through the essay using a series of anecdotal experiences, which are easily pictured in the readers’ mind.
The author repeatedly uses the word “other”—“Men are the other,” “we are the other,” “we want to believe…there are no others at all”—to emphasize the idea that there is an alienation that exists between sexes, that “we are a different species” (129). This same assertion is first and further emphasized by the dramatic tense change that occurs between the 4th and 5th paragraphs, where Quindlen switches quite abruptly from speaking in past tenses to the present: “and then something happens…all I can see is…the space…where no one ever meets” (129). This not only provides a shift in tone from something somewhat light and anecdotal to a serious topic that holds weight, but it calls attention to this next “something” that happens: division. She further elaborates on this point which becomes the main topic of the essay by employing satire, simple sentence structure, and rhetorical questioning within the anecdotes she uses to progress the ‘argument.’ By shortening sentences or using fragments, Quindlen calls attention to such words as “weird” and “women” or “men” (129) and supports this estranged feeling created by the words by satirically explaining ‘the woman’s’ reasoning for an amaryllis bulb, mocking men for “their inexorable linear thinking, or their total blindness to the…necessity” (129) of the amaryllis bulb. Anyone reading the passage can logically understand that amaryllis bulbs are not necessary, but it emphasizes a stereotypical view of thought patterns and differences between men and women. Thus the division continues to be emphasized. Quindlen also uses rhetorical questioning to emphasize the reasoning for division: “Yet isn’t it odd that…prejudice is somehow easier…than the simple difference?” (129). This again evokes emotional response in the reader and allows her to set up, by pointing out that the divide exists “not because of big differences…but because of small ones” (129), her shift in argument, and really her thesis, which comes near the end of the essay: “It’s the dance that’s important, not the difference” (130). So, by emphasizing the importance and the gravity of the ‘division’ between sexes through numerous devices, Quindlen sets her claim up to have that much more of an impact—shattering everything that was priorly emphasized, making it seem trivial and unimportant in the grand scheme (her purpose all along).
Speaking to the American society that is seemingly egalitarian and is closing the gaps between sexes, Anna Quindlen boldly denied the idea utilizing allegory, anecdotes, imagery, dictions, and symbols to persuade the readers the ubiquity and unresolvable nature of the inherent differences between genders that has been imposed on us since birth. In the first three paragraphs, the author employs an allegory that appears throughout the article as a motif to follow. Quindlen adopted heavy imagery such as “air thick with smells of cologne (128)” that evokes emotional connection of the readers from their memories by aiding them to recreate the sceneries. The tone of the author shifts from inviting the readers to come into a shared memory, to a sense of frustration because of her inability to find a solution since “prejudice is evil and can be fought, while difference simply is (129)”, from her perspective as a feminist and as a mother. By claiming that she had written both “loving things (128)” and “nasty things (128)” about men and considered for “both sides (128)”, Quindlen asserted her expertise in the field. Throughout the article she incorporated the anecdotes serving as evidence and philosophies that support her purpose to keep the readers entertained. By providing sceneries of the divide between male and female in different age groups, adults, teenagers, and children, the author points out the divide’s prevalence regardless of age and evidence of this divide between family members all add to its significance. The symbols that the author provided of “divinity, evil, carnal degeneration, perfect love, fertility and death (129)” are all extreme epitomes that things are forced to be classified in, just like the author is classified as “Mom. Weird. Women(129)” and her husband as “Husband. Strange. Men(129)”. In contrast, the sexes are not clear enough to have an obvious divide when we are young as the author indicates that she had to “tell [her son] which genitalia category” people fall in. And ever since that we are aware the differences, between “us and them (130)” and “him and her (130)”, the world is automatically classified like Quindlen’s son did to use appearance to “classify the world (130)”. Moreover, Quindlen emphasized the importance of “small” differences and “the dance” instead of the difference to indicate that the conflict between sexes resides everywhere when you can look at the trivial events that exposes the conflicts instead of the vague concept of difference. Lastly, the article ended with an imagery that recalls the allegory of the dance where the author helplessly watched “the floor stretches (130)” and forms “an ocean to cross (130)” between her own son and a girl.
Quindlen begins her essay with a description of a general memory that many people share. She evokes an emotional response, likely an uncomfortable or humorous one, in the reader by triggering their memories of their childhood. In doing so, she grabs the readers attention and sheds light upon and issue that the reader was likely not aware was present so early in their life. The author made a strategic decision to point out an aspect of human nature in an experience that most people can relate to rather than presenting an array of scientific facts, and this strategy is effective due to the emotional response it evokes. The author established a common ground with her audience, anticipating that members of both genders are reading the essay. She describes that has been both “a feminist” and “one of the boys” and that she’s “given both sides a pretty good shot” (128). The author is conveying to the reader that she has attempted to see the issue of the division of the sexes from both sides, not just her own gender, in order to establish fairness. Later, Quindlen presents a rhetorical question in order to get the reader thinking and keep his or her interest. “Yet isn’t it odd that prejudice is somehow easier to deal with than the simple difference?” (129). Presenting this thought in a question causes the reader to think about it more than he or she would if it had been presented as a statement, which was likely the author’s intention. Quindlen’s uses parallel structure when describing what the sexes do not understand about the other and their differences when she writes, “Mom. Weird. Women.” and “Husband. Strange. Men.” (129). Though she does not explicitly say it, her use of parallel structure, paralleling what each sex thinks of the other, shows that though the sexes are different, they are similar in that they think the other is different.
Quindlen effectively uses the establishment of pathos and ethos along with word choice and the use of literary devices in order to convey to her audience the difference between male and female relations in her essay Between the Sexes, a Great Divide. Quindlen opens the essay with a metaphor of a coed party with boys and girls standing at opposite sides of the room. This scenario registers with the read, creating an emotional tie to the essay. There is a tone change at the fourth paragraph when Quindlen begins to reflect on her time spent thinking about gender interactions. Quindlen establishes authority explaining how she has spent time reflecting on both sides of male and female roles in society. Later, Quindlen states “Mom. Weird. Women” and “Husband. Strange. Men” as a way of showing the similarities of the opposite sexes while bringing the reader’s attention to the phrases. Quindlen concludes her essay with the metaphor of “it’s the dance that’s important, not the difference”, appealing to the reader’s memory of childhood once again.
"Between the Sexes, a Great Divide," by Anna Quindlen, attempts to answer the question that has been entrenched in society for ages: how can one cross the 'great divide' between boy and girl? Quindlen employs a nostalgic tone and uses examples from her own life to prove the age of the dilemma. "Perhaps we all have the same memory of the first boy-girl party we attended," (128) she writes, making the reader look back upon their own, relatable experience. Quindlen is very good at appealing to the reader through shared experience. She makes the reader reflect upon his or her own experiences. She also employs rhetorical questioning - "Is it any wonder that our relationships are so often riddled with misunderstandings and disappointments? - in order to make the reader connect with the experience of the 'great divide,' making them feel as if the only answer possible is "of course not." Furthermore, Quindlen also draws a similarity between the experiences of the sexes through opposing language. She first writes “Mom. Weird. Women” (129) and then, several lines later, “Husband. Strange. Men” (129) This is to show how the 'great divide' is indeed a universal experience of both sexes.
Author Anna Quindlen organizes her essay “Between the Sexes, A Great Divide” in an effect way so that she can convince her readers how different men and women are, and that this gap is something that will be difficult to conquer. Along with this purposeful organization, Quindlen also uses rhetorical strategies, such as tapping into her readers’ emotions and using literary devices, to succeed in her goal. To begin her essay, she begins with a relatable scenario that a majority of people have personally participated in or have at least seen in a movie. Describing the awkward situation of the first middle school dance taps into her readers’ emotion because they most likely have witnessed something like it; it causes them to replay those memories and think about the different emotions they had experienced. Beginning with this story was a good decision because the memories this scenario evoke most likely involve awkwardness and a member of the opposite sex, so by beginning with this story, Quindlen has already partially convinced her readers that there is a natural gap between boys and girls. This scenario also turns into a metaphor later in the essay. At the end of her essay, Quindlen relates back to the school dance by using it as a metaphor to further develop her claim. First, she describes the gap between the sexes as the middle of the gym floor that nobody dared to cross until one brave boy asked a pretty girl to dance. So to make her point, Quindlen compares this dance to mending the “great divide” that is currently between men and women when she says, “It’s the dance that’s important, not the difference” (p. 130). She wants to express that it’s ok to acknowledge that boys and girls are very different, and it’s not the difference that is important; it’s how men and women look past those difference and learn to live together. Ending with a metaphor that was created from the beginning scenario was a great way to relate everything that Quindlen discussed while successfully getting her point across. The purposeful organization of the essay along with the rhetorical strategies contributed to the success of Quindlen’s essay.
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