Bite Me! (Or Don’t)

Bite Me! (Or Don’t)

The use of different Style, Tone, Syntax, Diction, and also Rhetorical Techniques helps in the communication and delivery of an author’s message to his/her readers. These different forms of writing help an author air out their feelings and views on a much deeper and personal level. This paper focuses on Christine Seifert’s use of all these writing styles. This paper continues to focus on how writing styles have been used by Siefert to express and persuade her readers. She tries to express her views on how Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series book’s abstinence porn does not uplift women; instead, it subjects them to the control of men.

Christine Seifert’s slang-filled and profane diction description of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series shows that her intended audience is youthful. Seifert employs Oxymoron literary device by using contrasting words like abstinence being sexy in describing Meyer’s twilight book. Bite me! (or Don’t) By Christine Seifert focuses on the fictional characters of the Twilight series. Starting with her title, Seifert draws curiosity from the readers.

Taking an informal tone, this article tries to create a fun experience to be enjoyed by the reader. Vampires being the main focus of the twilight series are the mythical being who drink blood, mostly humans, have fangs, and are unable to see their reflection in a mirror. (Katharina, PG 577) says, It is believed that vampires can be weakened with garlic and also killed using a stake to the heart.

Euphemism can also be found in Seifert’s work as she tries to explain in a much politer way how Hally Potter series has been outdone by the twilight series. She states, “the twilight books have knocked Harry Potter off its pedestal.” This use of idioms in her works also helps make her work feel more enjoyable.

Seifert’s Bite me! (Or Don’t) employs the 5As in the organization of the article. For the first A, which stands for Ask, Seifert Identify and also document Meyer’s twilight series storyline. She bases her findings and compares them to her feminist views. Through this, she states her ideas on how the twilight’s new Genre; Abstinence Porn negatively portrays women and also supports these claims.

The second A of the 5As, which is Advise; Seifert employs a Persuasive style while reacting to Meyer on how his vampire-human romantic books’ abstinence porn is not uplifting to women as some proponents seem to believe. Following a teenage girl called Bella and a vampire hero called Edward, the twilight books take us through their love story. Throughout their dating period, this odd couple struggles with keeping their lust in check. The main reason for their abstinence is the fact that Edward, a vampire, is afraid of being consumed by his bloodthirst and killing Bella by accident if they consummated. ( Leonard The blood is the life) States that vampires are able to survive only through nutrition found in human blood. According to Seifert, Bella is portrayed as weak since her vampire lover influences everything about her.

For the third A, which is Asses, Seifert looks at the fan base of the twilight book series. Taking a keen interest in why the twilight series has many fans, Seifert describes the twilight’s abstinence love story had the fans captivated. Siefert Employs the use of Compound-complex sentences in some of her explanations. “The Twilight series has created a surprising new sub-genre of teen romance: It’s abstinence porn, sensational, erotic, and titillating,” Seifert expresses her opinion on why may teenagers were hooked to the books.

The fourth A, Assist, breaks down why most of the twilight fans were disappointed with the fourth sequel of the book. Christine Seifert describes the mood of the twilight fans by portraying their frustration through some of their dialogues to Meyer. When Seifert states (“We were your faithful fans…,” the petitioners write. “We are the people that you asked to come along with you on this journey, and we are disappointed.”) she wants to portrays an upset tone. The use of imagery and symbols is also used by the author to help in telling the story; this is seen when she states, “Perhaps some of this bitter disappointment stems from book four’s departure into adult territory, where Bella becomes a traditional—and boring—teenaged mom.” Here she uses the word stem to mean the source.

For the last A, meaning Arrange, Seifert lists her own opinion at the same time supporting them. By using a wordy punctuation style, we get to understand the level of emphases Seifert is trying to deliver. “Such disappointment suggests something about the desire readers have for abstinence messages; it may also suggest readers’ belief that pre-sex, Edward, and Bella were the perfect couples.”

Christine Seifert, throughout her article, uses a Pathos rhetorical device, as she bases her appeal through emotion. Seifert accomplishes this by invoking sympathy and pity to the readers. She also makes the audience angry, and by this, she aims to inspire action and also try to change the minds of the reader. We see this when she explains that the twilight series puts Bella’s (who represent the women in the society), whole life under Edward (who represent the male in the community).

Christine Seifert’s way of writing portrays all emotion meant to be felt as her persuasive style is simple to follow, unlike Anthea Taylor’s article. Anthea Taylor uses jargon (Taylor pg. 33) diction words and expresses himself using professions and one-groups terms that are impossible for every reader to understand. Seifert’s use of slang and placement of vulgar diction like the use of the word “Dick” creates a freer reading environment, unlike Anthea’s article. Anthea follows a more formal tone and style with its uniform paragraphing and correct punctuation.

Lydia Kokkola and Siefert’s style feels more similar. The two follow a not so formal approach than Anthea’s article and communicates in a freer style manner. Involving the use of wordy, complex sentences (Kokkola pg. 166), both Kokkola and Siefert express their opinion intending to be felt.

Anthea Taylor and Siefert’s main standard comparison lies with their expression of feminism ideas. Feminism (Stevi. Pg. 39) states, is a belief in the economic, political, and social equality of genders. Mainly originating from the West, feminism has now manifested all over the world. Today is supported by many institutions that are committed to act and support all women’s rights.

In conclusion, this paper has focused on Christen Siefert’s use of style, syntax, tone, diction, and rhetoric techniques to communicate her ideas and view to her reader on Meyer’s abstinence porn. This paper has broken down Siefert’s work, and from the introduction, Siefert has employed an informal tone. The use of slang, wordy sentences, and the mixed-use of both simple and compound sentences can be found in Siefert’s work. Siefert has also used the 5As arrangement in order to present her argument in an orderly and understandable manner. Changing tones throughout her article, Siefert can express her feelings to her readers. In so doing, her messenger is understood better. This paper has elaborated on the importance of Pathos rhetorical device used by Siefert throughout her article. Still, on the Pathos rhetoric device used, Siefert has also incorporated the use of persuasive style, which uses emotion to express an opinion. Comparison in writing between Siefert and other authors has been looked at. Among those authors is Anthea Taylor, whose only similarity with Siefert is having shared ideas. Their writing styles differ in that one is informal and uses slang while the other is formal and uses complex sentences. Finally, this paper focusses on the other author, Lydia Kokkola’s writing, and compares it to Siefert. Kokkola’s way of writing and expression is more similar to that of Siefert.

REFERENCE

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jg6L-Zjys3HYhMWRf4laM2WGVJ_J0zIj/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NcW9L1R3DTmSSbTHFt4JWlxrhbRQqyKw/view?usp=sharing

Heldreth, Leonard G., and Mary Pharr, eds. The blood is the life: vampires in literature. Popular Press, 1999.

Jackson, Stevi. “Love and romance as objects of feminist knowledge.” Making connections: Women’s studies, women’s movements, women’s lives (1993): 39-50.

Wilson, Katharina M. “The History of the Word “Vampire.” Journal of the History of Ideas 46.4 (1985): 577-583.