Journal 3- Hodgman

                                                                                    Name: Brian Cadden

Journal Assignment #3

“No Wonder They Call Me a Bitch” – Ann Hodgman

(The Norton Sampler p.77)

Read the selection and write a one paragraph response to the following questions.

1.  Cite three specific examples of Hodgman’s descriptive imagery that you find to be particularly effective. 

In Ann Hodgman’s “No Wonder They Call Me a Bitch” Hodgman has used many descriptive images to help her readers visualize the food she was eating. Some examples I found particularly effective were:

 “I gagged my way through can after can of stinky, white flecked mush and bag after bag of stinky, fat-drenched nuggets.”

“A lumpy, frightening, bloody, stringy horror is a sign of high quality-lots of meat.”

“Chunky chicken? There were chunks in the can, certainly-big purplish-brown chunks.”

2.  What do you think Hodgman’s purpose was in writing this essay?  What overall message/meaning do you take from the essay?  

I believe the author’s purpose of writing this essay was to subtly mock the food critics and how serious they take their jobs on food reviews. The way she describes the dog food with such detail as if she is actually taking her review of dog food seriously seems to be a satire of food critics reviewing regular food. It is also trying to show that lots of dog food marketing is targeted towards owners who may or may not know what food is best for their dogs.