Outside Reading - Week 4, Post A

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

VOCAB
-amenities(91)- any feature that provides comfort, convenience, or pleasure
-hair shirt(87)- an object that can be worn to induce some degree of discomfort or pain
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
1. "[...] a mushroom pate that tastes like a forest [...](90)." This is a simile because Gilbert is comparing the taste of her pate to the taste of a forest, which is a very descriptive yet vague comparison because no-one goes around tasting forests, but one can imagine what it would taste like.
2. "[...] two of those big softball-sized rolls of bread, spicy sausage, pickled sardines wrapped around meaty green olives, a mushroom pate that tastes like a forest, balls of smoked mozzarella, peppered and grilled arugula, cherry tomatoes, pecorino cheese, mineral water and a split of cold white wine[...](90)." This is imagery because of all the descriptive adjectives that create such a vivid image in your mind.
3. "Before either one of us gets on an airplane now, the one always calls the other and says, 'I know this is morbid, but I just wanted to tell you that I love you. You know...just in case...' And the other one always says, 'I know...just in case'(89)." This is a loaded "phrase," the terrorist attacks touched many people and many of those people fear flying and want to be safe "just in case." Also, the emotion the sisters felt can be shared and brought to life by the mention of this scenario.
QUOTE
"That maybe it's time for us to end our story forever(81)." Liz is referring to the story of her and her lover David. They have had a continuous relationship with offs and ons for a long period of time, starting right after her divorce and not ending ever (it seems like). Every time they get back together it screws Liz up because they become happy then something goes wrong and it tears the two of them apart continuously. This realization of hers is how Liz is deciding to take matters into her own hands and choose her life.
THEME
An emerging theme I see is independence and strength of character.