In the spring of 1999, in the American Scholar essay "The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History," Jennifer Price wrote about the popularity of plastic lawn decorations form of flamingo in the United States. However, she not only analyzes the spread of this lawn decoration, but Price's intention in writing this essay was to mock American culture and its materialistic values. The part she makes fun of is how Americans are always doing flashy and weird things to keep up with current trends or show off their wealth and prosperity. She also denounces America as careless, emotionless and hypocritical. The popularity of lawn decorations with flamingos is an example of this characteristic of American culture in the early 1900s. Price conveys his idea through this flamingo as an example. She expresses her thoughts through choice of tone and words, other popular examples, and by creating implicit messages using stories and background knowledge. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay The first way Price communicates his satire is through his tone and choice of words. She uses big words with powerful meaning that stand out from the rest of the words to create satire through sarcasm. She uses words like “extravagance” and “flamboyance” to describe flamingo lawn decorations. These comments are obviously exaggerated and create a sarcastic and mocking tone. One of Price's most extensive uses of sarcasm is the addition of the phrase "But whatever" after Price describes how the Americans wiped out the native population of flamingos in the United States. This is obvious sarcasm because no one believes that the extinction of a population is unimportant, with the exception of the American population, whom Price considers careless and hypocritical on the matter. Price's use of sarcasm and satire is evident, allowing the audience to understand Price's criticism of the United States. The sarcasm helps support Price's idea as her tone mocks the flamingo, which she describes as nothing special. It then makes fun of America because people made this unimportant flamingo into something popular, cool, and trendy. Additionally, throughout the essay, Price makes references and uses examples from American culture in order to further express his point of view. Her first use of this is when she establishes how "vacationing Americans flocked to Florida and returned home with flamingo souvenirs." This creates an example of Americans themselves and gives the image that people have been getting flamingos for years just because it was the cool thing to do. Readers can use this example of vacationers, relate to it personally, and understand the point Price is trying to make in their own lives. Later Price also uses Elvis as an example and how he bought a pink Cadillac. This example builds the idea that pink is a color associated with wealth and success because a celebrity had used it. This connotation of pink and prosperity supports Price's idea that Americans bought the flamingos to fit in. Another reason Price uses the example of Elvis is to establish credibility with the audience and help them better understand the concept. Most modern Americans are familiar with Elvis and his fame, so readers are able to connect to Elvis' fame..