1. The main insight to the author's essay is that we, as a society, have lost what it truly means to live the "American Dream." She points specifically to the show Mad Men as a poignant example of how we have, in a sense, lost ourselves and what is important to us by always trying to "keep up with the Jones." She explores the character of Dom Draper and his need to always want more.
2. She establishes her authority of being able to write this piece by living it. She is a writer for a published magazine and one can assume that she works more than forty hours per week and tries to juggle a household with a husband and a couple of kids in order to exceed the expectations of what someone else says how she should live. She clearly states this when she says, "-we're instructed to hope for much more (pg. 170)." This statement alone demonstrates that the author, at some point in her life, had been told that she should not settle on one thing, but she should go after more.
3. She appeals to readers emotions with the opening statement in the third paragraph by stating, "In other words, we're always falling short, no matter what our resources, and we pass this discontent to our offspring (pg. 171)." This statement is a compelling statement of truth. No matter what we do in life, society says that we have settled for what we could achieve and we can do no better. Some people have broken the mold, but society tells us that we need to have more and more and more. She continues to appeal to the reader's emotions by pointing out that, "The ambition and conflicted desires of these characters in their pursuit of happiness is what makes Mad Men such a singular and resonant reflection of a particularly American puzzle (pg.174)." This could not have been better said. We are all trapped by trying to out do what our parents have done in their lives, just as they were trying to out do what their parents did. She sums up her point at the end of the essay when she says, "the birth of the advertising age coincides directly with the birth of our discontent as a nation-and what got lost in the hustle was our souls (pg. 175)." This closing statement really plays on the readers emotions because she is basically saying that we have lost part of ourselves and our history by always wanting what somebody else is telling us that we have to have in order to be better than our neighbors.
4. I was not familiar with the show prior to reading this essay, however, through her descriptive words, she has interested me in the show. I understand that the show is about a gentlemen, who is in the ad agency during the late 1950's until the 60's and is always wanting to be more than what he has now. He looks at everything as though it needs to be upgraded every few years, for example his wife and he leaves her and their children. The show describes his boss as an older version of the main character and he, too, is always wanting more. It seems like an excellent show with well developed characters and a great setting.
2. She establishes her authority of being able to write this piece by living it. She is a writer for a published magazine and one can assume that she works more than forty hours per week and tries to juggle a household with a husband and a couple of kids in order to exceed the expectations of what someone else says how she should live. She clearly states this when she says, "-we're instructed to hope for much more (pg. 170)." This statement alone demonstrates that the author, at some point in her life, had been told that she should not settle on one thing, but she should go after more.
3. She appeals to readers emotions with the opening statement in the third paragraph by stating, "In other words, we're always falling short, no matter what our resources, and we pass this discontent to our offspring (pg. 171)." This statement is a compelling statement of truth. No matter what we do in life, society says that we have settled for what we could achieve and we can do no better. Some people have broken the mold, but society tells us that we need to have more and more and more. She continues to appeal to the reader's emotions by pointing out that, "The ambition and conflicted desires of these characters in their pursuit of happiness is what makes Mad Men such a singular and resonant reflection of a particularly American puzzle (pg.174)." This could not have been better said. We are all trapped by trying to out do what our parents have done in their lives, just as they were trying to out do what their parents did. She sums up her point at the end of the essay when she says, "the birth of the advertising age coincides directly with the birth of our discontent as a nation-and what got lost in the hustle was our souls (pg. 175)." This closing statement really plays on the readers emotions because she is basically saying that we have lost part of ourselves and our history by always wanting what somebody else is telling us that we have to have in order to be better than our neighbors.
4. I was not familiar with the show prior to reading this essay, however, through her descriptive words, she has interested me in the show. I understand that the show is about a gentlemen, who is in the ad agency during the late 1950's until the 60's and is always wanting to be more than what he has now. He looks at everything as though it needs to be upgraded every few years, for example his wife and he leaves her and their children. The show describes his boss as an older version of the main character and he, too, is always wanting more. It seems like an excellent show with well developed characters and a great setting.
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