Man Sized Job
Man-Sized Job was written by Sharlot Hall
(1870-1943). It is a poem that defines
a woman’s work from a man’s point of
view. Poems like this were uncommon in
the late 1800’s – early 1900’s,
especially if women wrote them. The two
aspects of this poem that I would
like to analyze are the vocabulary used and
the male chauvinistic
point-of-view. If it weren’t for these two exaggerated
aspects, the poem
would not have as strong of a meaning. The vocabulary used in
this poem is
far form proper. It is an exaggeration used to make men sound
less
intelligent than they think they are. Sharlot Hall wants men to sound
less
intelligent in this poem because the poem is from a man’s point of view
on
what a woman’s work should be. It is obvious to anyone that reads this
poem
that Hall is completely disagrees with the typical male point of view on
what
women should and should not do. Another reason for the language that is
used is
to make the men sound uneducated. Hall is hinting to her audience
that women are
actually smarter than men. Although she is taking a playful
shot at men, the way
she goes about it makes this poem enjoyable for both
sexes. The chauvinistic
point-of-view in this poem is obvious. It is greatly
exaggerated so that Hall
can get her point across to her audience clearly.
She also uses it to get the
audience on her side of the issue. This is a
powerful tool that can be used.
When someone reads a poem and they take
they authors point-of-view on a subject,
the poem becomes that much more
interesting. This adds to the entertainment
value of the poem. After all, the
purpose of a poem should be to entertain and
catch the interest of an
audience. Hall uses this technique to her advantage.
Her use of the
chauvinistic point-of-view is probably the key to this poem being
great. The
two aspects of this poem that I analyzed in this paper were essential
to the
success of this poem. Both the vocabulary used by Hall and the
male
chauvinistic point-of-view expressed were essential in getting her point
across
to her audience. Although both tools were exaggerated dramatically, it
was
necessary for the reason behind the poem. In my opinion, this poem was
written
for one reason. This reason is to simply make fun of men and their
attitudes.
Hall did an excellent job.