Dave Barry, who is a columnist for a newspaper called The Miami Herald, wrote this passage.
This passage basically talks about how attractive women and men feel they are. The author says that men are convinced that they are extremely attractive even if they have a huge belly or no hair. On the other hand, women are never satisfied. Even though they are perfectly fine, they dig in to find physical flaws in themselves. There are no significant characters in this excerpt. It’s just referring to men and women in general. However Don Johnson has been brought in as a comparison to how men think they look.
He also talks about fashion models expressing his view on them. He refers to them as “cruel genetic experiments performed by fashion designers”. He feels that they lack hips and bosoms and around 10 feet tall. The author uses excessive exaggeration especially while describing the features of fashion models.
This passage is set in the modern times and we can infer this from the passage because this kind of thought wouldn’t have even existed in previous times. The author discussed a very common aspect that Is prominent in today’s world. Looks somehow seem to matter more than anything else.
Dave Barry’s writings are usually humorous just like this one. He uses a very subtle and dry sense of humour. He is more into exaggerated humour. He made the smallest problem seem like the end of the world. Another observation was that his sentences are quite long. He uses many descriptive words in one sentence making it funnier. So, the main literary devices he used are farce and hyperbole.
Barry’s style of writing is very simple and witty. It is extremely easy to understand and is a smooth reading. He uses common, daily language. He uses more adjectives than required. He makes ordinary things seem hilarious. His theme is strange but pertains to daily life.
I liked that he used a sort of anecdote in the midst of the passage. He used an example of his