Close Reading #2

Your Key to Happy Sailing
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/18/v-fullstory/2397129/your-key-to-happy-sailing.html

Dave Barry has a very distinctive style of writing, and one that lends itself quite nicely to a close reading. He writes this to parody the style of an informative and instructive guide to sailing. He mirrors the structure with his opening sentences: "First, you'll need a boat." "The second feature is very important." "Once you're on the boat..." etc. However, it is clear that despite these syntactic parallels he is not in earnest, as one finds that he uses contradicting diction and details to create a tone of incompetence and frivolity.

His diction incorporates a wide variety of nautical terms when he lists the names of boats and describes a potential way to get a ahold of a boat, but this is harshly contradicted by details suggesting an utter lack of knowledge about seafaring; his instructions are inane, like when he advises one to "check to make sure that the wind is blowing in the right direction (horizontally)" or recommends that the best way of getting into port is to tell your crew to take you into port.

Barry uses imagery very specifically; only once in the piece does he delve into a sensory experience, and it's at a point when he's recalling a memory rather than advising readers in the ways of boating. He describes a disgusting plate of food, recounting himself and the crew "watching it congeal under the Florida sun." This technique brings about revulsion in readers, causing us to look into his advice about sailing with a clear idea of Barry's true thoughts on the subject.