Pepe (TOW #13)

     It is hard today to go on the internet without coming across a meme in some form, and anyone who is savvy with current internet cultures knows that one meme reigns supreme: Pepe the frog. Pepe is a cartoon frog created in 2005 as a character on the cartoon Boy's Club. The cartoon depicts the typical life of a twenty some year old american. The cartoon was relatively small and Pepe did not have any kind of great claim to fame. He spread relatively slowly throughout social media, but by 2015 Pepe was the most common meme on almost all platforms. Obviously Pepe is popular, but why does he have such a broad appeal?

     It is hard to say why Pepe has become so popular, but I would argue that it is due to his incredibly emotional depiction and easily emphasized features. Pepe comes in many iterations but his most common form is sad Pepe. This instance of Pepe features the frog looking down with a mix between sadness and emotion in his eyes. This complex level of emotion is shown through the details put in the eyes. The eyes are looking down and slightly furrowed, but they also seem distant and are made so to look reflective like dears are building in them. This meme is typically paired with a caption depicting a sad event, or more specifically a disheartening realization of the future. This is a key part of the life of an early twenty year old, it is the beginning of true adulthood and independence.

     I think it is also important that Pepe is a frog. Although he possesses a fairly humanoid form Pepe is still a completely different creature. This makes him seem a little more distant. This creates a tone of a sort of self depriving humor. It highlights both the way that there are many things that can make you upset when you are young but also how in hindsight they are greatly insignificant.

     Like any part of the internet Pepe has been appropriated for many less than savory causes. He has been used by alt-right antisemitic groups to promote Neo-Nazism, racism, and white supremacy. This is a wholly unjust and quite frankly irrelevant use of the image and is not true to its original intent.

Wander Above The Sea Of Fog (Tow #12)

     The Wanderer Above The Sea Of Fog is one of the most iconic romantic paintings of all time, and is rightfully so. It was painted in 1818 by artist Caspar David Friedrich and depicts a man standing high on a cliff looking down over a land shrouded in fog.

     Caspar David Friedrich was one of the more well known painters of his era and is considered the most important German artist of his time. Most of his pieces were landscapes and were allegorical in nature. His work went on to be some of the most important pieces in all of German history and to influence the surreal and expressionist movements greatly.

      The images central figure is a man staring over a precipice. He is notably higher than everything else in the image, even the cliffs in the background. The image itself is very typical of the time period and the romantic movement. It shows a subject in nature and focuses on the power and beauty of nature, it is also a very emotionally evocative piece, adding further to its romantic undertones is the fact that the man is alone. The romantic movement was strongly centralized around introspective solitude and emotional reflection, which is shown in the mans staring into the fog and presumably pondering. 

     Two crucial symbols within the text are the authors intentional positioning of the man facing away, and the intense fog enveloping the surroundings. The man's distal orientation is used very powerfully to highlight the emotion of the piece. This is because it is impossible to tell what the man is feeling because we can see his face. It also in some ways makes the man easier to affiliate with because he could have the same face as one of us. The next device is the fog. The fog is interesting because everything about the man seems to suggest a ruler looking down over his nation, but there is nothing to be seen, just a vast empty landscape of fog.

Tow #11 (The American Crisis)

     When we think of the american revolution we tend to focus on the roles of the founding fathers. People among the ranks of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. However, when we consider the ideals behind the american revolution one man stands at the base of nearly all of them. Thomas Paine is an author whose works were incredibly moving and influential, helping to structure the beliefs of the american revolution. Pains most notable work is the pamphlet Common Sense, meant to display the tyranny of Britain. His next work, the american crisis, was meant to inspire Americans to fight against Britain in the revolutionary war. It was so effective, in fact, that George Washington read it to the all of the troops in valley forge.

     The essay is meant as a call to action so as to inspire american soldiers to fight against Britain. It lays out and juxtaposes two different men the summer soldier, and the true patriot. In the introduction Paine says " These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country" by characterizing the summer soldier Paine creates a rather unfavorable archetype. He shows a soldier who literally and figuratively fights in the summer. The summer soldier is the soldier who literally fights in the summer but retreats home to comfort in the winter. This symbol is further extended at a deeper level. The summer could be referring to any time where fighting seems favorable, where sun and good fortune shine down on you, but as soon as darkness or threats loom, the sunshine patriot flees. Paine continues his argument in this first paragraph with an argument that seems both logical and emotional. It was a call to the american sense of divinity. He makes a clear logical relationship Tyranny is like hell and there for not easily conquered, but it is known that the harder a conflict the better the triumph. This call to action is deeply moving in that it not only lays out a logical reason to fight but also compels one to revolt against the actions of Britain depicted as nearly satanic.

The American Male at Age Ten (TOW #10)

     Susan Orlean has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1992. She has also written for The Rolling Stone, Vogue, Esquire, and Outside. She is also a nonfiction novelist, whose most famous book, The Orchid Thief, was adapted into a movie. She has also received a Nieman Fellowship, a prestigious award from Harvard school of journalism.
     Her essay "The American Male at Age Ten" details the time Orlean spent with ten year old boy Colin Duffy. Orlean spends the essay giving many short anecdotes about Collin and frequently using dialogue that she takes from Collin and his friends. She opens the essay with a brief description of Collin, from his appearance to his interests. She then talks about his school, she details the social structure of the fifth grade classroom and shows us more about Collin through dialog. She continues on describing Collins social and home life. She focuses on many key aspects of Collin's life such as the girls in his class, his relationship with his friends, his dreams for the future, his obsession with money, and a rather detailed segment on Street Fighter II.
    The essay is centralized around dialogue between Orlean and Collin and thus, much like the inner dialogue of a ten year old, jumps between many different topics very quickly. This is done effectively however, and in such a way that helps to both characterize Collin very deeply in a very short amount of time, and support Orleans overall purpose in the essay. The essay acts as a general spectacle on the point in you at which one is between adolescence and childhood. When the typical naivete of children begins to fade. She highlights this masterfully in the very conclusion of her essay. When she explains Collins creation of a spider web trap.  It seems like a childish game but it also highlights Collin's increasing maturity and complexity. With him saying to her "You could do it with thread, but the fishing line is invisible. Now I have this perfect thing and the only one who knows about it is me."

IRB Intro 3

For my next IRB I will be reading A Short History Of Nearly Everything. I chose this book because it is a very detailed and interesting account of the history of life. The author, Bill Bryson, is also funny and was recommended to me by my father.

HRC Welseley (TOW # 9)

     In light of the current election i have decided to do a speech by one of the candidates, Hillary Clinton. This withstanding, however, i have decided not to use a speech from the recent debates. This is because we have already analyzed them. Rather i have chosen a speech i stumbled upon while browsing the internet, Clinton's Wellesley College commencement dress.
     Although today Clinton's ethos seems automatic, at the point of this speech it was far from that. Clinton was introduced before the speech by the dean of the school. She is established as both a good student and a charitable and kind girl, who the dean stated was a very obvious choice for the class speaker.
     It is also interesting to consider Clinton's audience in this speech. She is both speaking for and to her classmates. She both calls them to action and conveys their mass sentiment. For this reason her wording is both familiar as well as formal. She also takes great care only to use the first person plural.
     Clinton uses her speech to reflect on her class as a whole. She talks about the idea of reacting. she explains that her generation has spent years reacting to problems and aligning themselves with goals without doing much. She talks about how her generation developed themselves in people who acted for their beliefs. Clinton continues to describe the fact that in politics and history we have only thought of the possible, and no the impossible (and making it possible). She talks about this as their generation's goal. Clinton continues to talk about many people who doubt the girls of Wellesley college. She talks about devotion to the school as well as devotions to themselves. Clinton finishes, recognizing people may be afraid of change, but there is just no time for it now.

Stiff (TOW #8)

      Mary Roach is a notable science writer and journalist. She has a weekly column in Readers Digest and has published seven books, all revolving around points of interest in the science field. Roach's most popular book, Stiff, details the endeavors of the human body after death. Roach writes this essay to a general audience, using basic vocabulary and more elementary explanations. She establishes credibility with anecdotes of her own research and citations from many knowledgeable people.
     Roach's book essentially goes through and details the many possible uses for the human corpse after its inhabitant has died. Roach explains both the science behind the process the body undergoes during these procedures and elevates many misconceptions about them. Roach also gives anecdotes about these processes and how she has experienced them in her research. Roach continues to explain how these corpses can do good, and how their use can benefit society as a whole. Roaches over all goal throughout the essay is to sway her reader. She wants to both inform them of the power one corpse can have, as well as to persuade them to donate their corpse.
     Roach's most important tool as a writer is her great sense of humor. She is attempting to convince, a mostly begrudging audience to give away their body, even if it is after they are dead. She has a compelling list of arguments against her, from overwhelming fears, to cultural mores, to deep-rooted religious beliefs. However she uses facts and moral appeals to attempt to convince her audience. All the while she is certain to maintain a humorous and light tone. This is important, discussing death is treading into dangerous waters. It is a taboo that is typically avoided at all costs. But roach employs her light tone and dry humor to break through this taboo and convince her audience of the importance of donating your corpse, in one way or the other.

IRB Intro 2

My second IRB is Stiff by Mary Roach. The book seem very interesting and was recommended to me by my cousin, who is a medical student, and thought I would like it due to my interest in the subject,

The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and The Importance of Imagination (TOW #7)

     JK Rowling is the author of the Harry Potter series. Although these works are by far her most well known Rowling has written an array of many other works under pseudonyms as well as her own name, JK Rowling in this essay is giving a commencement address. This role requires her as a speaker to establish herself as greatly wise and experienced, this is achieved through some degree of automatic ethos because of her widespread fame and success.
     The audience in this piece is the 2008 graduating class at Harvard University. The address relates two two core anecdotes from Rowling's own life. She opens her essay describing her own experience in college. Establishing a connection with her audience, as well as making a handful of witty comments and jokes relating to her more famous Harry Potter books and the typical college experience. JK Rowling moves on to explain her own experience in college. She recognizes that this may be a foreign concept to many of the people in the room, being that they are graduates of Harvard University. She explains her experience first out of college, when after her marriage fell apart, she was left penniless with just about nothing. She recognizes the pain failure can cause but also says that she made rock bottom the solid foundation of her new life. Detailing not only the importance, but also the inevitability of failure. She explains that failure allows you to learn more about yourself and those around you as well as bring out many positive traits you may have not known. After this Rowling then builds off the power as imagination, briefly mentioning how imagination was what sparked her success, but immediately after stating that the true power of imagination is in empathy. She details her experiences at amnesty international and all the terrifying and inspiring moments she encountered.
      Rowling's purpose is fairly direct in this essay. Her first and overarching purpose is to provide her audience with what she feels is the most important advice and wisdom she has to offer. She calls for the graduates to not be destroyed by the failures she feels they will face, and be shocked by, as well as urging them to do what they can to make a better change in the world. Rowling's final call is summed up in one of the last lines of the essay "we have the power to imagine better." Rowling then concludes the essay wishing her audience very good lives and thanking them.

The Treachery Of Images (TOW #6)

The Treachery Of Images

Rene Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist. He is considered one of the most notable surrealists of the time period, ranked amongst the likes of Salvador Dali and Max Ernst. This considered, his works were not greatly recognizes until the 50’s, the later parts of his life.  Many of Rene's works have been greatly influential on the pop art movement particularly in the works of Andy Warhol.

The piece, titled The Treachery Of Images is an oil painting of a wooden pipe against a plane beige background, and underneath are painted the words, “Ceci n’est pas une pipe,” which translates in English to “This is not a pipe.” The painting is one of Magritte’s earlier work, painted roughly thirty years before his more famous The Son Of Man and Golconda. The painting is very simple in its composition and does not have many parts, however it is effective at achieving its goal.

The painting is a kind of speculative piece on the gap between a representation and reality. It is similar to the idea that the word is not the thing itself. It is meant to cause the reader to question the meaning and importance of the image and the word. It shows the idea that a real pipe is not the same as a picture of a pipe which is not the same as the word pipe. This pipe is an allusion to the book Vers Une Architecture.

The painting has been analyzed by many critics and is even the topic of a full length book. The painting at the time of its creation was treated much disapproval due to its strange and mysterious tone; however it is this tone that makes his piece so influential and well known.

The Oedipus Complex (TOW #5)

                Sigmund Freud is probably the most important figure in world of modern psychology. His works have been so influential that they are still studied and are the basis of nearly all of today’s psychological principals. Considered the father of psycho analysis, Freud coined the iceberg theory, a belief that a person’s subconscious had a great effect on their daily life. He believed that dreams were a crucial tool in analyzing patients’ subconscious.

                In his book The Interpretation of Dreams Freud discusses one of his more famous concepts, the Oedipus complex. In a section of the book, in which he describes the more common dreams, he talks about this complex in an essay entitled “The Oedipus Complex.” The essay seems to be directed toward an audience of more educated individuals, presumably with some connection to the neuroscience or psychology field, as shown by his use of specialized jargon without pretense.

                In his essay Freud establishes, and defends his theory of the Oedipus Complex. He theorizes that the relationship of between parents and children have great effects on the psychological traits of the children. He shows that there is an even more significant effect on children who hold onto polar opinions on their two parents. Freud goes on to explain his belief that children go through a phase where they become sexually attracted to their mothers and feel resentful, even wants to kill their father.

                Freud justifies this belief with three primary examples. He initially discusses patients he has had who became stuck in this Oedipus complex, never growing out of it, and resulting in states of poor psychological health. His next example is the legend of Oedipus Rex from which the complex obtains its name. The myth tells of a young boy who is abandoned, becomes king, accidentally kills his birth father, has sex with his mother, and then gouges his own eyes out as a form of retribution. Freud argues this is an exemplification of the complex. Freud’s final large example is in his analysis of Hamlet in which he argues that the reason hamlet could not do what his father’s ghost asked is because he would feel like a hypocrite because he too desired to sleep with his mother and kill his father.

                Though Freud was a notable figure and established some ethos with patients and cultural examples the theory has generally been regarded as wacky and been refuted many times. This, Freud would argue, is tied back to the social taboo of incest, but he would also say that the Oedipus complex is why incest was made into a taboo.

               

Into The Wild (TOW #4)

     John Krakauer is most famous for his books Into The Wild and Into Thin Air, both of which are number one best sellers and ranked among Time's best nonfiction books of all time. John Krakauer is a mountaineer and most of his books revolve around the themes of nature and adventure. I chose read the first, whcih details Christopher McCandless's death in Denali national park as well as the many months leading up to it.
     The Details of McCandless's death were very cloudy when his boy was first found and the story became quickly famous. Krakauer initially wrote an article on McCandless, but became so interested and invested in the story that he wrote a book.
     Krakauer forms the story by piecing together accounts of Christopher McCandless from the people he met along his travels. He includes journal entries and letters written by McCandless, as well as many anecdotes from the people who McCandless spent time with. This helps to characterize McCandless incredibly as well as further establish Krakauer's ethos, as the events surrounding McCandless's death were just as much a mystery to him as they were to others. Through the stories about McCandless Krakauer establishes him as a very educated and driven young man and continually draws parallels between him and the authors who inspired him. He also establishes McCandless as very disciplined and almost monk like. He gave up nearly all his earthly possessions and moved to the wilderness.
     It is important to consider the way Krakauer characterizes McCandless when we look at his purpose. The first traits that come to mind when you hear a story about a college student who tried to survive in the Alaskan wilderness, woefully unprepared would be foolish or dumb. This, however, is not how McCandless is painted in Into The Wild. Krakauer makes him into an altruistic hero, searching for something pure, and ultimately adventuring to find himself. To me there was something profoundly inspiring, in McCandless's devotion, and faith in good, as well as his unrelenting search for himself, and I fell as if this this the purpose Krakauer was arguing through his stories. McCandless is someone, who although completely foreign, can be related to by everyone, and should be an inspiration to everyone.

We Can Do It (TOW #3)

   J Howard Miller created the iconic “We Can Do It” poster, also called Rosie The Riveter, in 1943. Before the creation of the poster Miller was not a notable artist. He studies at the art institute and Pittsburgh and was hired by Westinghouse Electric to create a poster to boost the morale of women workers during World War II. The poster was not seen by the public very much during the 40s but resurfaced later in the 80s during the second wave of feminism. An interesting thing to consider is the idea of how the author establishes ethos. The author, a male artist, has nothing in common with woman working an industrial job. However, the author never makes themselves known instead they take the role of Geraldine Hoff Doyle, a factory worker who modeled for the poster. The poster depicts Geraldine saying “we can do it.” This helps to establish an ethos to the reader.

            The purpose of this poster is easily evident. It is meant as both a boost of morale to women workers as well as a call for women who aren’t working to start.  The woman in the poster Is rolling back her sleeves and flexing. This is meant as an appeal to women’s sense of pride and feminism. Another important part of the image is the text “We can do it”. This text serves as reassurance and morale boost to women workers, but it also seems to imply a sort of subtext. If they can do it, we can do it. This is a sort of call to women who aren’t working in factories already. Rather than appealing to their patriotism it applies again to a sense of pride. The girl in the picture is portrayed as both strong and attractive and this is supposed to also appeal to women because it appeals to a kind of bandwagoning.

            These effective tools are why, when resurfaced the picture became so famous and is not the feminist icon it is today

The Power Of Nothing (TOW #2)

Michael Specter is a staff columnist for the New Yorker whose research focuses primarily in the fields of science and technology. He has written for many other publications such as the New York Times and the Washington Post. He is also the author of Denialism, a book about irrational thinking in science. He cites many notable names such as Ted Kaptchuk, one of the foremost experts on the placebo effect and a Harvard professor as well as many other studies.

The Power Of Nothing is an essay about the power of the placebo effect. The essay looks at the placebo from many different lights and takes into consideration the views of many important people as well as the outcomes of many critical experiments. Specter introduces Ted Kaptchuk, who remains a key focus throughout his essay. Kaptchuk is one of very few Harvard medical professors without an MD or PHD. He is an acupuncturist. He introduces the essay with an anecdote for Kaptchuk about a woman who came to be treated with acupuncture and found it was the miracle cure to the pain she had in her ovaries and was going to undergo intense surgery for. Kaptchuk then shares with Specter that there was no way his acupuncture had physically done something to relieve the pain and introduces the essays topic. The Placebo.

Specter continues to describe both the history of the Placebo as well as its many applications and definitions. He explains that placebos originated to disprove a french mystic who won the interest of Marie Antoinette, and that they are crucial to medicine, they have been historically used as a sort of last ditch resort. He also describes their application in modern days as a testing for different medications. It is as this point where he begins to site many studies and their often conflicting findings in the effectiveness of placebos in application as a drug. Many argue that placebos could be used to actually treat patients while others argue that placebos are infact powerless and rather an accumulation of other significant factors. In the end, however specter presents an argument that guides the reader to a more pro-placebo mindset.

Specter then reveals his true purpose. A call to action for a change in the current medical system. He shows a culminating among many researches that the current medical process can be improved and ends his essay citing his own experience, in which he visited his own doctor and his reassurance was enough to make him feel better, in his opinion, an indisputable placebo effect,

Now We Are Five (TOW #1)

David Sedaris is an american writer notable for his dry and self-deprecating humor. His notable works include a variety of radio contributions for National Public Radio, as well as many books, including 5 New York Times best sellers. This dry and comic tone is present in the way Sedaris recalls his sister's death.

Sedaris Writes his essay Now We Are Five on his experience of losing his experience of losing his younger sister Tiffany. The essay is directed toward both those familiar and unfamiliar with losing loved ones. This is displayed through his vivid description of the family's dynamics and how they are affected by the death. However it is reasonable that the essay may be directed more towards those already familiar because he does not take a great deal of time to explicitly describe how he and his family members felt.

The essay which is written in the time after his sister's death provides a small bit of information about Sedaris’s sister and their childhood. He shares that his sister was a troubled child and sent to a reform school, and since that point she was not very close with her family. At the point of her death Sedaris had not spoken to her in eight years. This information however, only makes up a small amount of the essay. The majority of the essay details a family trip to the beach, and rather than fixating largely on the way he felt after his sister's death Sedaris details the interactions between the members of his family. Because of this his sister’s death is mention far less than one would expected; his sister's death is hardly mentioned for the whole latter half of the essay. However Sedaris does recall his family members sharing stories. Sedaris himself seems to fixate on the idea that his whole identity has been changed. He was no longer one of six siblings, now he was one of five.

The combinations of Sedaris’s thoughts, the fact that he does not linger on about his sister's death, as well as his his matter of fact and almost demeaning description of his sister can make him seem cold however this is not correct. Sedaris essay is a very accurate representation of a family after the loss of a loved one. He perfectly captures the numb and distant mentality of his family and portrays the deaths effects masterfully. He also shows the way that a loved one's death can act as a catalyst that causes one to realize things about themselves.

This image is similar to the dry tone that Sedaris uses to tackle a topic like death.

IRB 1 Intro

For my first Independent reading book I will be reading Into The Wild by John Krakauer. I am looking forward to reading this book a lot. I am familiar with the story of Christopher McCandless; however, I have never read the book. I typically read fiction books, so I hope this story will help to serve as a smooth transition into non-fiction reading.

The Disposable Rocket

It is hard to completely classify what it is like to be a man, or rather, to inhabit a male boy, but in his essay The Disposable Rocket John Updike gives it his best shot. A two time Pulitzer Prize winner and famous short story writer and novelist, Updike uses a masterful combination of anecdote and simile to cast a humorous tone and effectively cover many taboos. Written toward the end of his life, the essay acts as a sort of reflection on his own life as well as an arrangement of advice. Directed to young men the book offers insights on how many men live their lives and treat their bodies, establishing a strong ethos and casual tone through his frequent use of words like “I” and “we”.

Updike starts his essay by comparing the male body to a bank, stating its relatively low level of required maintenance in comparison to a female body. He then goes on to describe the tendency for men and boys to pursue danger and to be reckless. He recalls himself as a child and young adult by sharing a short narrative on his hobby of jumping off stairs. He next compares and contrasts the male and female bodies, delving into their physical makeup as well as the societal standards for the two. Updike reaches a taboo when it comes to describing the sexual aspect of the male body, but meets it well using humor and comparing the male genitalia to a little brother to whom you feel “both fond and impatient” (Updike 2). Updike then faces his own mortality, stating, “the thing serves well enough until sixty, which is my age now” (Updike 3). The essay is ended on comparison of being a man to being a teenager on a joyride with a friend, keeping the light and youthful tone the whole way through the essay.

This image shows the sensation of being along for the ride that Updike describes

Bop

Langston Hughes is a famous African-American poet and is considered to be a central member of the Harlem Renaissance. A movement in the 1920’s and ‘30’s that saw a massive rise in African American arts, all of which centered around Harlem, New York. The essay, Bop, was posted in the Chicago Defender in 1949, the start of the Civil Rights Movement. The Chicago Defender was directed towards an African American audience and, at the time, was the most important of the colored press. This essay is written for African Americans, and particularly those who are slow to action when it comes to their rights.

Hughes writes his essay in the narrative form, recalling a conversation between himself and a presumably younger neighbor named Simple. Simple sings a song that reminds Hughes of skat but Simple denies this. He then explains that Be-Bop is colored people’s music, and it cannot be imitated well by white people. Be-Bop is the sound of the brutality inflicted onto the black community by police. Through this narrative, Hughes highlights two things: first, the importance and uniqueness of African American culture, and second, he is calling his readers to action over the poor treatment of African Americans. He makes his first point through his unique use of onomatopoeia and gibberish. The words, which at first seem nonsensical, are made deeply meaningful because of the history of the black community. Finally, his call to action is culminated in the last two lines of the story. “‘Your explanation depresses me,’ I said. “Your nonsense depresses me,’ said Simple.” (Hughes 3). Through this dialogue Hughes states the way African Americans are treated is depressing, but then goes on to explain that even more depressing than that is the fact that there are those African Americans who think Be-Bop is just nonsense, and therefore are ignorant to their own suffering and not acting to help themselves.

This image shows an example of bebop music typical to the setting of the essay

Corn-Pone Opinions

The essay Corn-Pone Opinions deals with the nature of opinions and the idea of originality. Written by Mark Twain, known as the father of American literature, it utilizes the iconic wit, for which Twain is well known. Although the essay was never published in his lifetime, this work is believed to have been written in 1901, the turn of the twentieth century, a time where ideas were spreading around America faster than ever before.

Twain opens his essay with a story of the slave next door, who would give speeches while pretending to work. He recalls his particular speech where he claimed, “you tell me whar a man gits his corn pone, en I'll tell you what his ‘pinion is.” Twain goes on to further this idea, claiming that a true original opinion is incredibly rare, and although he does concede one may have at one point existed, he believes the occurrence was lost in time. He purposefully explains that one's opinion, although they may think it their own, is not original. We make our decisions based on the overwhelming opinion of others around us. We conform, if not knowingly then subconsciously to the group opinion. He argues his point well by? citing many different examples. He alludes to the famous saying, and at the time of the essay comic strip, “keeping up with the joneses” and uses a range of instances to support his claims, from politics, to religion, he even mentions the hoop skirt. He explains how one's political beliefs, or religious beliefs, are not wholly unique but rather are reflections of the overwhelming belief of the party. As a more basic example he shows how unknowingly the overall opinion of the hoop skirt changed and it went out of style. Although the final example is fairly outdated now, the hoop skirt was a simple everyday item well known to his audience at the time, which consisted primarily of the average American. Finally, Twain’s wit is seen best once the reader finishes the essay and realizes the irony, and near hypocrisy, in Twain’s argument. His claim was not his own, but rather something he had taken from the slave next door.

This Photo shows the kind of conformity in opinions and lack of originality that Twain highlights in his essay