The presentation of women essay plan and quotes

Examine the presentation of women in ‘AHWOSG’

Overview, quotes and plan

Throughout the memoir, Eggers uses a range of linguistic features, terminology and carefully picked words to express his feelings about women. From this, we also understand what ‘Dave’ is like as a person, how he treats others and most importantly his views on women. I believe Eggers deliberately portrays women the way he does in this memoir to reflect his personality which in times can be seen as controversial and ultimately sexist which is surprising considering his mother’s circumstances. I notice at the beginning of the memoir Dave is very careful with how he talks and acts with his mother however this respect is lost later on in the memoir when Dave is left to live on his own and therefor finds comfort in women.

 

Blue = Terminology

Pink = Meaning

 

 Page 8 – ‘I am holding the nose’ declarative, short sentence, dynamic verb, care, protectivness over mothers illness, respect, love

Page 11 – ‘Her skin is smooth, brown’ – Adverbs, short sentences, caesura to emphasize its continuous and used through an asyndetic list, shows respect for his mother, precious, caring, notices little details

Page 38 – ‘I expected someone so sweet and normal looking to find me out soon enough’ complex, expectation of others, secrecy of Dave, unreliable author, description of woman

Page 57 – ‘I don’t want to be friends with these women anyway’ Harshness, unsocial, jealousy, anger

Page 60 – ‘There better be some very impressive nude women down there’

Page 69 – ‘Busty women stop and stare’ alliteration, direct description of expectations of women, focused on looks

Page 74 – ‘the woman was not wearing any rings’ automatic assuming, only thinks about status and using the woman for a place to live, fantasy

Page 75 – ‘maybe she had a boyfriend…that secure look’

 Page 98 – ‘I was looking to score’ Dysphemism, expects a relationship, expects women to like him

Page 98 – ‘the mother and I will go upstairs and screw around while the kids play outside’

Page 98 – ‘most of the women are old enough to have mothered me’

Page 105 – ‘Kirsten and I are taking a break…meaning we (ostensibly) date other people’

Page 106 – ‘eventually we will go home together, to her apartment’ fantasising, hoping, has nights planned out, dreams of what he could be doing                

Page 107 – ‘A bad person’ assuming every woman who doesn’t follow their rules or doesn’t so a specific thing is a bad person

Page 112 – ‘I was ready to be horrified’ hyperbole, description of woman’s body      

 

 

Essay Plan

Examine the presentation of women in ‘AHWOSG’

Points to make in the essay:

• Beginning of memoir Dave is caring and respectable of his mother and he illness
• Gets defensive and jealous when at football club with mothers, can’t relate and feels everyone judges
• Takes Toph to a nudist beach for personal satisfaction, for Dave’s own entertainment, exploits Toph to the world of sex
• All about sex and looking to score a woman for himself out of desperation for a home and to feel youthful, fantasies about them all living together

Introduction

Talk about the theme of love and relationships, how it develops and mind set changes, loses respect, mother isn’t there to control or guide him with making good choices and keeping respect for women. Women are presented differently in every stage of the memoir after Dave and Toph go through a new experience. Eg. Mother’s death and moving house

Paragraph one

How the mother gets treated, there is respect for the illness and mother’s needs. Dave notices and comments on details of the mother’s appearance and actions. Here Dave clearly respects women and loves his mother very much. Page 8 – ‘I am holding the nose’ Page 11 – ‘Her skin is smooth, brown’ Relate back to theme of women commenting on how so far he seems genuine and very caring towards women, including his sisters.

Paragraph two

Meets the mothers when watching Toph at football, isn’t what he expected, reality, doesn’t want to seem like a parent like the other mothers. Doesn’t want to be friends with them, wants to be in a relationship, can’t find anyone at the places he expects to. Page 57 – ‘I don’t want to be friends with these women anyway’ relate to theme of woman as he doesn’t want to make friends, has high expectations of living on his own. Doesn’t want to accept he’s playing a parent, wants to be young still and act like a teenager. Decline in respect.

Paragraph three

Personal satisfaction and selfishness is shown. Irresponsible for Toph. Goes to a nudist beach and tries to reassure himself it’s for ‘educational purposes’ Expresses the fact Dave is only concerned about appearance and sexual fantasy. Page 60 – ‘There better be some very impressive nude women down there’ Page 69 – ‘Busty women stop and stare’ stereotypical image of a woman. Own entertainment. Relates back to theme as there’s no respect, expects woman to look how he wants, high expectations, typical young male personality, bad role model for Toph.

Paragraph four

Relates to the theme of ‘home’ also. Daves jumps too far ahead, unrealistic in finding a partner to live with. Desperation to find somewhere to live and have a happy life. Feels he needs to find someone for Toph. Page 106 – ‘eventually we will go home together, to her apartment’ Page 107 – ‘A bad person’ Page 112 – ‘I was ready to be horrified’

Conclusion

How the presentation of women changes throughout the memoir, loss of respect, bad influence on Toph, wants to act young and not step up to a parent role, jealous of other relationships, aims for sex.