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There Is No Unmarked Woman By Suzanne Tannen

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1. What do you speculate she accomplishes with readers by setting up her piece with descriptive mode first to then shift to definition?
• In the next paragraph, she enters a new mode- Classification. By beginning with descriptive mode to then shift to definition, Tannen allows her audience to see the relationships between how “women” look vs. how they are defined as. Through this the reader is able to acknowledge how women automatically lower themselves in order to fit the standards of being a woman “full of dignity.”
2. “Gender markers pick up extra meanings that reflect common associations with the female gender: not quite serious, often sexual.” (Tannen) Do you agree with it? Can you think of examples from your own observations?
• i do agree with her argument since “gender markers” consistently redefines and imposes the image and identity of what women are supposed to be, which is very similar to the role of beauty. Based on my observations beauty creates and defines the ideal image a woman should have, which is mostly seen in social media where it imposes the socially accepted body image a woman should have depending on the country.
3. …show more content…
This is the first time we see her title “There is no unmarked woman” within the piece. Explain what it means.
• Tannen stresses that “there is no unmarked women.” She defines “marked” as a way to alter the meaning of a word by adding a “linguistic particle” that does not have a meaning on its own. Women have constantly make profound decisions on their appearance in order to avoid prejudices vs. men who don’t have to make these decisions since they are

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