“I Want a Wife”

Rhetorical analysis sample essay- college freshman

for 2006 prompt

College vs. high school18 week semester divided into 3 6 wk periods

Progress report each 3 wks

18 grades each six weeks

10 daily

5 HW

3 Mjr

Total grades= 54 + final exam

18 week semester divided into 2 periods

No progress report, possibly a midterm report

All major grades

1 sample curriculum

2 rhetorical analysis essays ( 1 over a novel)

2 argumentative essays (1 over a nonfiction book)

2 synthesis essays

Midterm- modes of discourse project

Final exam- timed write on an assigned novel

Total grades= 8

Thursday you will write on the 2006 “Pink Flamingos” prompt. As an example of what your essay should look like,

let’s take the 2006 prompt and adapt it to “I Want a Wife”• The passage below is an excerpt from

Judy Syfer’s essay “I Want a Wife” published in Ms. Magazine in 1972. Read the passage carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze how Syfer crafts the text to reveal her view of male and female relationships.

Deconstruction of prompt- • Big Question- What is Syfers’s view of

male and female relationships?• Little Question- Analyze how she crafts

her text to reveal her view of male and female relationships

• TAG- • Title- “I Want a Wife”• Author- Judy Syfers• Genre- essayBackground- Published in Ms. Magazine in

1972.

Introduction- Context, TAG, thesis (Context ) A hundred years ago women were

considered second-class citizens. The first wave of the feminist movement in the 1920's began to equalize opportunities between the sexes by granting women the right to vote. The second wave of the feminist movement in the seventies focused on granting women equal opportunities and payment in the workplace. But women also wanted better treatment at home. (TAG) Judy Syfers’s satirical essay “I Want A Wife” (thesis= subject + opinion) intertwines sarcasm and irony to persuade the general public of the unreasonable demands that husbands place on their wives. All the underlined parts need to be proven in this essay.

Craft- Audience, POV, arrangement

A first glance at the title “I Want a Wife” might lead the reader to believe that the author is a man, but this is merely Syfers showing her confidence that her readers are alert and observant. (topic sentence) She expects that they noticed her name beneath the headline and after reading her first line, “I belong to that classification of people known as wives,” expects that they will realize the article is written from the first person point of view. She anticipates these astute purchasers of Ms. Magazine will question why a women is writing that she wants a wife. Thus the title and first line work together to hook the readers’ curiosity forcing them to read paragraph after paragraph to determine why a woman wants a wife. This a key strategy Syfers employs to hint that marriage is not as fulfilling to women as it is for men. (closing sentence)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------Purple- devices black- analysis of devicesRed- text evidence/ quotesThe last sentence ties back to unreasonable

demands. The rest deals with the writer’s craft.

Craft continued- sarcasm, detail, repetition, stereotypes, irony, characterization

• Her subtle irony and sarcasm is enough to prove her point of view regarding the selfishness of men towards women. She is constantly using sarcasm to describe a wife’s role. ”I want a wife who takes care of the children when they are sick, a wife who arranges to be around when the children need special care, because, of course, I cannot miss classes at school.” In Syfers’s stereotypical marriage, the wife is a round character with many responsibilities and jobs. The husband, on the other hand, is a flat character who is only concerned with himself and has no depth. This is proven through the constant use of specific details describing why a person would want a wife. “I want a wife who will keep my clothes clean, ironed, mended, replaced when need be, and who will see to it that my personal things are kept in their proper place so that I can find what I need the minute I need it.” She is frequently describing what the wife does for the husband, but ironically never describes what the husband does for the wife. She uses this repetition of all the wife’s activities as a strong building block in her paper. Without using this, she would not have accomplished her message that a wife is always giving and that a husband expects a wife to meet all of these traditional standards when he ironically is not even meeting his role of provider.

Conclusion- audience, arrangement, style, purpose, satire, tone, diction

Syfers’s tone is mocking but not offensively so. In fact the entire set up of the article is used to provoke change as gently as possible. How would this same article look if Syfers had a vivid image of women activists marching down the street with banners and signs up in protest? That would make the article look more hostile which is not the point of satire. The point is that her audience, which is educated enough to understand words such as “nurturant”, “replenished”, “adherence”, and “monogamy”, is also perceptive enough to grasp how selfish the traditional roles of marriage are, with the goal of trying to make both men and women feel guilty enough to possibly make a change. Syfers's persuasive style beckons for an action or reaction from the readers within their minds. She wants the readers to agree with her that wives do too much for their husbands to be replaced by a sexier, newer “more suitable” model later on. If women will do it all with no appreciation, "My God, who wouldn't want a wife?"

Here is the thesis again.

Judy Syfers's satirical essay “I Want A Wife” intertwines sarcasm and irony to persuade the general public of the unreasonable demands that husbands place on their wives.

Did the writer prove the thesis?

Do not feel that you need to include as many elements in your essay as the sample rhetorical analysis did.

Focus on • 1. answering the big and little question of the prompt• 2. writing a clear thesis that responds to the prompt• 3. proving that thesis with specific, clear evidence• 4. giving your analysis of the evidence you choose-

CDM- connect the device (craft, rhetoric) to the author’s meaning or purpose in using it.

Remember- There should always be more analysis than there are quotes. Happy writing !

Notice here that the topic sentence and concluding sentences echo info given in the thesis. • Thesis- Judy Syfers's satirical essay “I Want A Wife”

intertwines sarcasm and irony to persuade the general public of the unreasonable demands that husbands place on their wives.

• TS 1-A first glance at the title “I Want a Wife” might lead the reader to believe that the author is a man, but this is merely Syfers showing her confidence that her readers are alert and observant.

• CS 1-This a key strategy Syfers employs to hint that marriage is not as fulfilling to women as it is for men. (closing sentence)

TS 2-Her subtle irony and sarcasm is enough to prove her point of view regarding the selfishness of men towards women.

CS 2- Without using this, she would not have accomplished her message that a wife is always giving and that a husband expects a wife to meet all of these traditional standards when he ironically is not even meeting his role of provider.

CS- If women will do it all with no appreciation, "My God, who wouldn't want a wife?“ closing method- rhetorical question from the passage