Love and Longing: What Is Love? Outline Example

Introduction

• Many literary works focus on love, but many poems define love as a drive towards the physical appearance of an individual
• “Play-by-Play” by Joan Murray, “I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, and “Junior Year Abroad” by Luisa Lopez demonstrate this point

Play-by-Play

• This poem discusses the attraction that a group of young women feel for a group of men playing baseball
• The descriptions of the baseball players provided makes it seem that the women are very aware of the bodies of the men, which draws their attention
• Attraction is denoted by phrases such as “the slim waist of the pitcher”, “the strength of the runner’s legs”, and “the torso of the catcher”

I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed

• This poem focuses on the author’s tendency to fall for men based on physical attraction despite the unhappy endings she has experienced
• The author states that she is “urged” to have relations with the man, but she less enjoys their conversations
• This demonstrates that the author is more attracted to physical appearance than personality or compatibility

Junior Year Abroad

• In this poem, the author discusses a relationship that she had overseas that she now regrets
• She had believed that the person she was involved with was interesting because of his physical appearance and the excitement of new things, but in the present, she no longer has feelings for him
• This demonstrates that the draw towards an individual is based on looks

Conclusion

• In conclusion, the men in these poems attract the women primarily due to their physical attraction
• It is unlikely that these individuals would have been involved with or wanted to be involved with these men if they were personable rather than good looking