Erick Quinonez 1
ENGL 1010-18
Summary, Analysis, Response
Summary
“All of them are dangerous.” Is a bold statement said by Suzanne Britt in her article
called, “That Lean and Hungry Look,” which was featured in Newsweek’s “My Turn” column in
1978. Who is Britt referring to? When Suzanne writes “all of them” she is referring to thin
people. She continues on with humorous strong arguments while she makes her claims that
every fat person is better, funnier and wiser than your average thin fellow.
This article “That Lean and Hungry Look”, gives an insight into the way Suzanne Britt,
perceives society in respect to the weight of people. For her, weight makes a big difference in
how a person will act, or present themselves in front of other people. All variations in the
personalities of people can well be partially explained by their weight. While there may be
endless reasons to why fat people are better, Britt writes “In the first place, thin people aren’t
fun.” She continues her rant trying proving this a fact. Thin people don’t enjoy things; they are
always in a hurry, which is not fun. They are also too logic and mad about math, which again is
no fun what so ever. Besides who would enjoy being around someone who is bossy, and
always trying to find problems to solve? Now, let us compare that with jolly fat people who are
accepting of others no matter what, and someone whose laughter will be heard throughout a
house. Imagine one “hell of a lot nicer than the shriveled,” and that is who a fat person is.
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ENGL 1010-18
Analysis
Suzanne Britt wrote “That Lean and Hungry Look” to inform her readers about the
differences she sees in fat and thin people. While informing us as her readers, she also
succeeds in entertaining us. Her essay was intended to be read by fat people who feel
threatened by the thin. What these readers need is a boost in their self-confidence. Britt uses
some good strategies in her writing. Throughout “That Lean and Hungry Look,” Britt almost
instantly connects with the readers by using pathos in the sense of humor. Although Britt
shows strong negative stereotyping towards thin people, the reader ignores this due to the fact
that s/he is either smiling or laughing s/he ignores the fact that Britt is being rude and
completely one sided to this argument. This strategy is a great and easy way to appeal to her
readers.
Britt’s organization is a simple, she writes in a compare and contrast style article. She
first shows how thin people are evil or boring and negative. Then right after she writes about
how fat people are the exact and perfect opposite of the thin. This is a great way to present
her information. Another small strategy she uses is alliteration, which she uses at the end by
repeating “g words” to positively describe fat people. By applying alliteration, it makes it easier
for the reader to remember what why fat people are better.
Response
Does a big enough differences between fat people and us thin people really exist?
According to Suzanne Britt, yes enough so that she claims that fat people surpass and stand
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ENGL 1010-18
superior to our thin brothers and sisters. Her articles are not only funny but persuasive at the
same time. But is there really such a great difference? I would say of course not because Britt’s
descriptions of fat people and thin people can describe either one of the two, not just one.
Although my best friends are fat and basically meet all the descriptions of the ones
made by Britt, they also meet many of the same points she said about those dangerous thin
people. Such as; wanting to speed up and cut the time it takes to do certain tasks. This means
that fat people can also be impatient. One of my fat friends has a shy personality which makes
him very quiet and he tends to himself and tenants himself sometimes, which more shows a
characteristic of a thin person. My best friend although an amazing, wonderful person loved by
all who meets her, makes everyone uncomfortable because she never likes to sit down. This all
does not co-exist with Britt’s ideal fat person, which proves her argument wrong.
Another person who contradicts Britt would be I. As a thin person myself, I would never
run around blocks when given a break. I also have never watched what I eat on account of
having too many calories. And don’t get me wrong, if someone offered me a whole cheesecake
I would be more than happy to eat it all.