“Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out” SOAPSTone

Subject

The subject of “Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out” by Dave Barry is the difference between men and women on subjects such as noticing dirt and the importance of sports. This is supported by Barry saying, “The primary difference between men and women is that women can see extremely small quantities of dirt.” The subject is also supported by the quote, “The opposite side of the dirt coin, of course, is sports. This is an area where men tend to feel very sensitive and women tend to be extremely callous.”

Occasion

“Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out” was written around 1988 in New York because it was published in 1988. However, it was obviously written recently because it mentions television such as in the line “we could actually feel the World Series television and radio broadcast rays zinging through the air... and all the while the women were behaving as though nothing were wrong.” 

The time and place influence the piece because it makes it more American. For example, this need to watch the World Series is an American trait. Also, the reference to television makes it more modern since most people have TVs now, especially in America.

Audience

The general audience of “Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out” is women. The author is trying to point out what women do that irritates or confuses men, as illustrated in the lines “the women were acting as if nothing were wrong,” and “She is in there looking at the very walls I just Windexed, and she is seeing dirt!” 

The specific audience of “Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out” is wives, particularly American wives. Throughout the essay the author talks about things that his wife and his wife’s friends do that he does not understand. 

Purpose

David Barry’s purpose in “Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out” is to entertain, and also to inform. The entertainment purpose is shown throughout the author’s use of a humorous tone. The informative purpose is shown by the author clearly indicating things that women do differently, such as when he says, “The primary difference between men and women is that women can see extremely small quantities of dirt.” This is also supported by the line, “The opposite side of the dirt coin, of course, is sports. This is an area where men tend to feel very sensitive and women tend to be extremely callous.” The author is informing the reader of differences between men and women.

Speaker

The speaker of “Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out” is the author, David Barry. He believes that women are unaware of things that are important to men. This is shown when he says, “My friend Maddy, who once invited some people, including my wife and me, over to her house for an evening of stimulating conversation and jovial companionship, which sounds fine except that this particular evening occurred during a World Series game.” 

David Barry also believes that women tend to notice things that men don’t notice and don’t necessarily care about. He expresses this by discussing how his wife asked him to clean the bathroom, and he did even though he thought it was fine, and then she asked him to clean it again because it was still filthy. He also implied that his Etch-a-Sketch was more important to him, and he didn’t really care about the “filthy” bathroom.

Tone

David Barry exhibits a happy and humorous tone throughout “Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out”. His humorous tone is expressed in lines such as, “Nevertheless, because I am a sensitive and caring kind of guy, I ‘clean’ the bathroom, spraying Windex all over everything including the six hundred action figures each sold separately that God forbid Robert should ever take a bath without, and then I wipe it back off with the paper towels, and I go back to whatever activity I had been engaged in, such as doing an important project on the Etch-a-Sketch.” This shows a humorous attitude toward the subject.