Recipe
is an essay in which I can read and eat the words off of the page. Every piece
of the puzzle is in detail, outlining the intricate taste within. Although Recipe is a recipe, its manipulation of
language portrays a lot more than is taken into account within the few minutes
that this series of instructions is executed.
Through
many of Baker’s essays, he uses a minute period of time and explores the
intricate details that go unnoticed otherwise. Baker’s intended audience in Recipe is the general population with a
special respect to bakers. Bakers know how to make a special chocolate sauce by
these instructions and they may even have their own recipe. However, at times
even the baker doesn’t take time to realize the beauty of his craft. Baker uses
pathos to evoke an emotional response out of the reader by using colorful and
descriptive words such as “smear”, “tappable”, and “reliquify”. The reader has
a closer emotional connection by involving their senses as well as their minds.
Baker establishes ethos by explaining each step of the process by applying a
logical result of every action. For example, “the butter will melt faster than
the chocolate.” He establishes ethos here because if the baker is able to
experience the same thing that Baker describes, he will believe Baker in the
future. Baker lastly establishes logos by showing a result of the process. To
get this “metal detector” you must follow the steps above.
Baker’s
argument unfolded in steps. A little bit of information was given to the reader
to grasp on to and then the reader was constantly fed more and more. The author
wastes no time in jumping into his essay because he assumes that his audience
is in the right place and looking for a cooking recipe, not a review of one.
His argument is simple cause and effect. If you put the butter and the
chocolate in the pan, the butter will melt faster. When there is excess
un-melted chocolate, it is to be chopped up. Simple yet strong argument. The
arrangement of Baker’s argument is in steps as well. The essay wouldn’t make
sense any other way than in steps because for the reader to get the intended
meaning of the essay, they must read it based on the arrangement by the author.
Baker’s
style is very interesting as he leads the reader to the finished product. He
uses colorful words, as mentioned above along with short commands such as “stir
idly” and “sprinkle accordingly”. These short commands are intended to help the
reader. If the author had said “take thy spoon and whip it through thine
mixture,” the reader would get the same meaning; let alone it sounds too unnecessary.
More prattle than anything else. Not only is the author rather straightforward,
he uses implications to convey deeper meaning that requires the reader thinking
beyond what’s being written. A metal detector attracts metal. Why would the
author call it this? Instead of stating “you will be enticed every time you
open your fridge” the author can just say “metal detector”. Overall it was a
great essay that, when you look deeper, conveys a deeper significance that even
bakers tend to miss.
I agree and believe that Baker’s essay Recipe is full of small intricate details that let the reader know that he is really passionate about the art of baking and genuinely enjoys it. He makes a great use of rhetorical appeals with ethos as he truly knows and cares about the sauce’s quality. After reading this recipe, anyone would be able to infer that the author knows what he is talking about, because it includes so many miniscule details that people usually just overlook. These fine details gave him much credibility as he tells the reader with great confidence how to make this great chocolate sauce, also he tells the reader to go out and use the best and finest ingredients, which all show his knowledge and credibility about this subject, building up his ethos. Baker uses pathos with a carefree tone that is also funny and quirky. He has such a “sparkle of language” that really evokes emotions from the reader, as they would enjoy reading this article then going out and making this sauce. Also he uses logos, because he uses facts of how exactly to make this recipe in a step-by-step process. These rhetorical appeals all add up to a more credible argument.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Baker wastes no time in stepping right into his essay. He has a very carefree tone throughout this essay and doesn’t even have any structure, as there aren’t any paragraphs, it is just a long continuous passage. I don’t necessarily agree that his mode of argument is in cause and effect form, I believe that it is more of a process analysis which is a type of essay that functions to inform the readers of how something works and “how a sequence of actions lead to a particular result”. This directly describes the mode as all Baker does is list steps of how to create this chocolate sauce with a desirable result.
I agree with and like your point about how Baker’s usage of simple words conveys a much deeper meaning. Throughout this whole essay, Baker was very specific and describes exactly how he himself makes this chocolate sauce. I believe that he was writing it for himself. I believe that this chocolate sauce is a simple pleasure for him. All these little details add up so that he can create the best thing possible. Overall, I think that Baker wrote this essay in a carefree tone to change the form of a typical essay and convert it into a recipe with a deeper meaning that outline the minutiae in life.
The "small and intricate details," as Shivani put it, really gave life to Baker's Recipe. He took a style of instructions and made it into literature. Recipes are usually just simple lists with ingredients, measurements, and other boring stuff. Baker finds a way to breathe life into the style. He takes it and makes it his own by simply expressing himself through his tone and word choice.
ReplyDeleteHe uses words like ingot, silver bar, veloute, refrigerator flavor, and trelliswork to give his writing flavor. It's almost how you said Wesley; You can "eat the words of the page," because the word choice and flow of the writing brings a reality and a tangibility to the recipe style that the normal listed steps form doesn't. It captivates the reader and makes them genuinely interested in reading about chocolate sauce how-to instructions. In this way, it appeals to pathos. It gives off a certain carefree and lighthearted feel to the recipe, that puts the reader in the same state and thus makes them more receptive to the writing overall.
Baker creates a carefree and lighthearted tone that makes Recipe seem like less of an instruction guide and more of entertainment. He presents himself as being genuinely happy and interested in something so small and insignificant as making chocolate sauce. He has fun with it, and that factor edges its way into his recipe and onto the reader. That's the purpose. Regardless of whether something is simplistic or appears insignificant, as long as one enjoys the process then the action becomes beautiful in its simplicity. Because it is so simple, one can find true beauty and happiness within the action. From this stems both Baker's word choice and his tone that the word choice conveys. He enjoys the activity, and his writing mimics that feeling. For example, he revels in the reheating of the chocolate sauce, because in its frozen state one can pick it up by the spoon and "brandish the whole solidified disk of chocolate." He also explains how he enjoys "pushing" the "chunks of butter around with the tip of the butter knife."