Kendrick Shetron
29 February 2012
AP Lang
Harmon
We’re late. What’s new?
In his article Time Out!, Dave Barry’s sarcastic; whit displays his frayed depiction of men and woman. He uses rhetorical styles such as hyperbole and ethos to convey animosity towards the habits of women.
Barry uses Ethos to relate to the male readers. He takes events every man has been through and reminds them of the painstaking habits women have when it comes to time management. He talks about the “husband being a nervous wreck”, because his wife is causing them to be late. The husband is diligent in his attempts to get her to leave. Barry relates something most men have been through, and depicts it flawlessly. When he gives the image of the husband “jingling his keys”, to make his wife hurry, it reminds men of past events. Barry’s ability to relate to the reader, hooks them to the article.
He also uses hyperbole several times in the article. When talking about his wife being late for a plane he says that, “she’d stand at the end of the runway”, and have a “hook” catch her and carry her away. This exaggeration draws out how his wife is always late. He later exaggerates how in Cuban weddings, “the phrase “2 p.m.” is translated to, “possibly this weekend””. This statement on culture, pinpoints the difference in the upbringing of his wife and himself, and how it formed habits in their lives. He also talks about how his wife uses, “450 coats of beauty products”. He accesses this to express how women are too concerned with appearance and this causes them to be late. This also goes back to the Ethos and how all men can relate.
Dave Barry is a master of rhetorical devices, and his ability to use them to hook a reader is simply magnificent. His use of Ethos and hyperbole in Time Out! draws the reader in and never lets them go.
