“Why I Want a Wife”
a satirical essay by Judy Brady
Class analysis
Analysis of Rhetorical
Questions and Anaphora
Arun and Juan
Rhetorical Questions
Definition:
A question asked for effect to emphasise a
point. No answer is expected.
Rhetorical Questions (RQ)
"Why do I want a wife?" – End of the 1st
paragraph
"My God, who wouldn't want a wife?" - End
of the text
The author uses RQ's to further emphasise that this piece is
a satire. To ask something she already knows is quite
ironic and possibly humorous. Also RQ is used to be
interactive in a sense that it is getting its female readers
to think about themselves.
Anaphora
Definition:
Repetition of a word or expression at the
beginning of successive phrases, clauses,
sentences or verses especially for
rhetorical or poetic effect.
Anaphora
"I want a wife"
"my wife"
The author uses anaphora to keep the idea in the readers
heads. It's like repetition in the fact that it is used as a
tool to memorise the purpose of the text. Using anaphora
the author emphasises the point that they really want a
wife.
Satire & Irony
By Chris and Sam
Tone & Purpose
•
Satire – The satire that the author conveys is used to
ridicule society’s standards that are set for women. The
reason the tone is set as being satirical is because Judy
Brady has been able to take a relevant sexist matter and
suggest that, if this is the set standard, then of course
everybody would want a wife ‘My God, who wouldn’t
want a wife?’ – also showing the injustice or neglect for
women’s rights by excluding their emotion (through out
the text) and simply listing requirements or expectations
of the wife.
Satire: Influence on The
Audience
• The influence on the target audience
(Women/housewives, younger girls) is effective
because by the end of the text, the reader is able
to realize that it points out the ridiculous
expectations and that fulfilling this wouldn’t be
the preferred option unless you want to attain a
systematic, or almost robotic lifestyle. This
encourages other women to see the inequality in
gender roles and push for a more equal
standard.
Hyperbole
Zach and Julie
-Extreme exaggeration of a point to make it
more clear.
-In this text, the author uses hyperbole to
exaggerate the unfairness of the wife’s
role.
-“I want a wife who will not bother me with
rambling complaints about a wife’s duties.
But I want a wife who will listen to me…”
This shows that the role of the wife is to
listen and not complain whereas the
husband’s role is to vent to the wife. This
example exaggerates and highlights the
difference and unfairness of the roles
between husband and wife to make it more
apparent to the reader.
-“I want a wife who will have the house
clean, will prepare a special meal, serve it
to me and my friends, and not interrupt…”
gives the impression that the wife is a
servant, she is supposed to set up the
event, then gets out of the way once it
starts. This example is used to exaggerate
the unbalance between the duties and
workload of the wife and the praise she
gets in return, which evokes rage, which is
targeted at the male gender role.
Organization
-Organized into paragraphs.
-Each paragraph has a clear topic, which is
declared in the first sentence.
-Done because the purpose is to make the
inequality very clear and obvious to the
reader, and this clearly states the duties of
the wife in each area of life.
-Paragraph 1 discusses how the wife
"supports those dependant upon [the
wife]"
-Paragraph 2 discusses "taking care of [the]
physical needs"
-Paragraph 3 discusses "details of [the
husband's] social life"
-Paragraph 4 discusses "[the husband's]
sexual needs"
Verbal Irony
Emily
Purpose: To highlight inequality of gender roles
Audience: Housewives and younger women who are being raised into that role
Quotation 1
• ‘It may mean a small cut in my wide’s
income from time to time, but I guess I
can tolerate that.’
-This shows the husband can cut his wife’s
income from time to time, which links back
to the purpose of the text, to show the
inequality of gender roles. By mentioning ‘I
guess I can tolerate that’, shows if she is the
one who experience this, she doesn’t think
she can tolerate. This intended to influence
Quotation 2
• ‘remain sexually faithful’, ‘my sexual needs
may entail more than strict adherence to
monogamy’
-By mentioning women should remain
sexually faithful, yet women should
understand men may have multiple
partners, shows the audience the inequality
between genders. It creates a contrast of the
role of a man and a woman.