lunes, 2 de marzo de 2009

Entry nº 48: Comparative Commentary: Strawberry

Strawberries are usually connected to desire and this desire can have different connotations, like for example the connection of strawberries and the eating desire that these fruits provoke or strawberries and the aphrodisiac properties that are attributed to them which will provoke sexual desire. Each of these issues related to strawberries are dealt with in literature, some examples are an extract entitled ’Strawberries’ from the book The Farmers (Market Cookbook) by Nina Planch, and the poem ‘Strawberries’ from the book Collected Poems by Edwin Morgan. Although both texts share the same title, each of them deals with one of the issues already mentioned respectively.
On the one hand, the text in prose written by Nina Planch has the purpose of informing the readership about the characteristics of strawberries in relation with their culinary properties. In the first paragraph the writer begins with a quotation to exalt the flavour of the fruit ‘Doubtless God could have made a better berry,’ said Yeats. Within the same paragraph the author, following the same purpose, refers to Wimbledon as being associated with the summer season in which strawberries are at their peak, that is properly mature: ‘Strawberries are at their peak in June and July. It is no accident that Wimbledon is associated with strawberries,’ In the same way, the description of a strawberry at its peak provokes on the reader the desire of eating the fruit as in lines: ‘A strawberry should be dense and juicy, red to the core, fragant and sweet’ (second paragraph). ‘A perfectly ripe strawberry is firm, almost crisp. It should slice easily ’ (third paragraph). In contrast, the description of the overripped fruit has the opposite effect and informs the reader about the period of time in which strawberries can be consumed: ‘ They’ll ripen within a day, while a ripe strawberry begins to go mushy and ferment in the same period. An overripped berry is purple, not red, and dull, not shiny.’ (third paragraph). Finally, the last paragraph is devoted to provoke the desire of eating the fruit by giving different ways of flavouring it: ‘The strawberry’s classic partner is rhubarb, at its peak in May or June. Italians sprinkle fine balsamic vinegar on sliced berries. Black pepper and fresh orange juice are also nice with them.’
On the other hand, the poem Strawberries by Edwin Morgan deals with the sexual desire provoked by strawberries when eating them as an aphrodisiac fruit. The purpose of the persona in this case is highly achieved by the use of different literary devices, one of them is the use of words like sultry, feast, eager and heat, among others, with a sexual connotation as in the following lines: ‘ that sultry afternoon’ (line 3), ‘not hurrying the feast’ (line 13), ‘from your eager mouth’ (line 22) and ‘the heat intense’ (line 30). The idea of remembrance of a unique occasion associated with strawberries is provided in the first lines: ‘There were never strawberries /like the ones we had /that sultry afternoon’ (lines 1 to 3)
As well as in the previous text, the summer season is associated with strawberries in their peak to provoke desire: ‘the strawberries glistering /in the hot sunlight’ (lines 9 and 10) /‘the heat intence /and summer lightning’ (lines 30 and 31)
The visual and sensory images described through out the poem are also quite effective in provoking the sense of desire onthe reader, for example: ‘the blue plates in our laps /the strawberries glistering /in the hot sunlight /we dipped them in sugar’ (lines 8 to 11) /‘and I bent towards you /sweet in the air’ (lines 18 and 19) /‘from your eager mouth /the taste of strawberries /in my memory’ (lines 22 to 29)
Another interesting device present in the poem is the parallelism in the use of the ing form of verbs like sitting,facing, glistering, looking and not hurrying; connecting the past events with the present. Similarly, the use of let constructions give a sense of coming back in time to revive that desire, that unique occasion, as in lines: ‘let me love you /let the sun heat /on out forgetfulness’ (lines 26 to 28) /‘let the storm wash the plates’ (line 33).
In conclusion, different aspects of a same topic can be described in literature, depending on the type of text and on the purpose that each text has. This is the case of the topic of strawberries and the different kinds of desire that these fruits can provoke. In this case two different text, a text in prose and a poem deal respectively with the desire of eating strawberries and with the sexual desire that strawberries, as an aphrodisiac fruit, can provoke. And making use of different literary devices both authors achieve quite effectively their purposes.

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