The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History

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The author of “The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History”, Jennifer Price, uses connotation and sentence staging to create a specific tone in order to illustrate a cynical and judgemental view on the topic of culture in the United States.
Her jaundiced views are clearly shown when stating “the bird [becoming] synonymous with wealth and pizzaz” as “ironic, since Americans had hunted flamingos to extinction”, which implies that Americans are greedy and flashy (2.7). This appositive portrays Americans as careless and merely out to please themselves regardless of the costs; only liking flamingos when they meant wealth and ability to cause awestike . However the connotation of the term “ironic” is what explicitly state her disapproving tone, allowing the audience to read the passage in a sarcastic and judgemental tone, rather than meaning unexpected, as some would assume, the context of the passage shows that ironic is used as a scoff towards the Americans actions. Additionally, the “cachet of leisure and extravagance” that attracted Americans implies that they desire an easy life of extravagance, where they are viewed with …show more content…
Abetting this scoff is the use of the terms such as “flamboyant”, as well as “flashy” as adjectives (2.21, 2.32). These descriptors leave the audience with the impression of trashy and over the top persons through the degrading connotations, which work to further the disenchanted tone. Similarly, this tone is demonstrated through the inquisition as to “why ... [Americans] call the birds “pink flamingos”- as if they could be blue or green-” (2.46). The use of this parenthesis utilizes rhetorical question to convey the cynical tone, as the connotation of “as if” has a disbelieving and passive aggressive voice, working as a snide remark, calling into question the choices of Americans and how they represent this through
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