SOAPSTone 2

SOAPSTone Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out

Subject

                The subject of Dave Barry’s Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out is the difference in men and women concerning their sensitivity to certain subjects. The disconnect between the two sexes is illustrated through Barry’s amusing anecdotes about his cleaning his son’s bathroom and his wife not recognizing the importance of a World Series game. With the bathroom anecdote the audience is able to compare Barry’s idea of dirt and how that applies to cleaning with his wife’s idea. The second anecdote is used to express the contrasting way men and women view the importance of sports. Barry examines a subject that men are much more aware of and women typically treat more flippantly.

Occasion

Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out was written during 1988. The essay’s time of creation is displayed by the introductory blurb at the beginning of the article that explicitly states the year it was published. Without this information the exact year or even decade the essay was written in would be difficult to difficult to distinguish. The audience would have been able to assume that the piece was written with the last 20 or 30 years based upon the language, technology mentioned, and the interactions between men and women.

                The time and place of the essay’s creation influence the essay in regard to how Barry writes about men and women. In the essay Barry tell the story of how his wife asked him to clean the bathroom and how their views of clean differed. From this bit of information we are able to see that men doing “women’s” was no longer an extremely taboo subject to discuss. Because of this shift in public values per say, Barry is liberated to talk freely about the fundamental differences that exist among men and women.

Audience

                Dave Barry’s specific audience for Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out was middle aged men. The author’s target audience is exhibited by taking a sympathetic tone towards the men in the story. Barry does not attack women, but he focuses more on men and portrays the difference of the sexes as having a negative impact on men in particular.

                Dave Barry’s general audience for the essay was individuals who can relate to having different outlook than those of the opposite sex. The author’s general audience is communicated with the fairness that each sex is treated with. Barry does not chastise either sex; instead, he merely points out distinctions between their behaviors. In doing so he creates a piece that is able to be read by both men and women and no one sex feels as if they have been pushed up against a wall.

Purpose

                Dave Barry’s purpose in Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out is to illustrate that men and women approach situations in life differently but harmony is attainable. The possibility for peaceful cohabitation is manifested by: “Soon all four of us [four male friends] were in there, watching the Annual Fall Classic, while the women prattled away about human relationships or something.” This quote from the text illustrates the harmony that is possible despite the stark contrasts between men and women. The harmony that developed was separate but that was a result of the realization that satisfaction came in different forms for both parties.

Speaker

                Dave Barry, possibly the funniest man in America, believes that a difference exists between men and women which influences the way they view life. The value is illustrated by the way Barry describes the reactions of men and women to different situations and stimuli. According the Barry, men are less perceptive to dirt while women are less interested in the world of sports. Both qualities are exemplified through the personal anecdotes.

                Dave Barry’s use of irony is evident in: “[The men of Pompeii] never even noticed the ash until it had for the most part covered the children.” Barry’s writing is somewhat representative of the peace that can be obtained between men and women. Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out deals with the touchy topic of gender differences but it does so in a manner that is both humorous and light hearted. Barry used his humor to show that harmony can exist between conflicting ideas in addition to making the attack of a serious subject seem less serious.

Tone

                David Barry shows a light-hearted and interested attitude about men and women’s different sensitivity levels toward certain subjects in Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out. These attitudes are expressed through the use of phrases that are unnecessary but add humor, such as: “Hey! the men [of Pompeii] said (in Latin).” These phrases are used to add a light hearted air to the essay. The language of the men is unimportant but the addition of it is comical. Barry’s tone is useful to the topic of the essay because it allows Barry to discuss gender difference without offending anyone.