In his
article I’m Not Leaving until I Eat This
Thing, author John Edge describes his experience of eating pig lips in a
small bar in Louisiana. In it, he includes a photo of the head of a pig,
particularly the face and the snout. In analyzing the photo, I will discuss why
he likely included this particular photo, as opposed any other, and the reason
he included a photo in the first place.
As for why
Edge included the picture of a pig head rather than anything else, one must
first consider the purpose of the article, the likely audience, and the
background of the author. Though he goes into great detail about the supplier
of the pig lips (Farm Fresh Food Supplier) and the bar where he ate them
(Jesse’s Place), Edge is a food critic, and the purpose of the article is to
describe his experience of eating pig lips for the first time. Because of this,
and considering the source of the article (the Oxford American), it seems unlikely
that his audience would be more interested in a rural bar or a farm supply company
than the pig lips. For that reason, it
makes more sense to include an image relating to his experience than one
related to the bar or company.
Another
question is why Edge included the photo of a pig snout rather than an entire
pig or a picture of the prepared pig lips. First off, it seems pointless to
include a photo of an entire pig rather than just the head, if he is only
talking about the lips of the pig.
Additionally, Edge states directly in the article that “[pig lips] look
more like candy than like carrion”, so a photo of the lips cooked and prepared
lips would likely have detracted from the visual he was trying to create of them
as a bizarre, almost nauseating food.
Finally, the
issue arises of why he included a photo in the first place. Though most readers
know what a pig looks like, it’s unlikely most people are familiar enough with
pig anatomy to be able to clearly visualize pig lips in their minds. In this
photo in particular, the contrast of the pig’s snout against the darker
background highlights the lips as well, and draws the reader’s attention to
that part of the image. Additionally, the tone of the article is very lighthearted
and humorous, and the pig (which looks happy, almost as if it were smiling) adds
to the lighthearted tone of the article.
3 comments:
The first thing i thought of when starting this was that you should have had the picture from the article on the bottom. All you did was bash the writer just for the picture with no real connection to the writing. People could imagine what the pig lips look like but seeing the actual picture of the pigs head adds onto his idea of making it seem like something that is really gross, and a picture of just the cooked lips would not suffice.
Michael Curtis from the Dirtybirdys
I really enjoyed reading this post. The thesis is clearly stated and explained with details. I also enjoyed the picture at the end of the post. It entertained the reader and relates back to the post and article being analyzed. The details about the original article are also helpful to the reader. Great work!
-Melisa Bell
Peter- i like how you give the name of the supplier and the bar so people who didn't read the essay knew where the lips came from and where the setting was. You also give detail about the picture, so the reader knows exactly what the picture looks like, without having to have the essay in front of them. :)
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