HW Pg 175, Questions 1-4

1. Heather Havrilesky's main insight on Mad Men was of how well the show reflects the modern idea of how Americans always want an upgrade. This passage here is an example: "Maybe this is why AMC's hit series Mad Men . . . resonates so clearly at this point in history, when the promise of the boom years has given way to two wars, a stubborn recession and a string of calamities that threaten to damage our way of life irreparably." "Everyone's an Author"pg 171 "Mad Men: Stillbirth of the American Dream" 
2. Havrilesky establishes her authority with a footnote on the bottom of pg 170. "HEATHER HAVRILESKY is the television critic at Salon. She wrote this piece for Salon in 2010, at the start of a new season of Mad Men, a TV series set in a New York advertising agency in the 1960s." "Everyone's an Author"pg 170 "Mad Men: Stillbirth of the American Dream"
3. Havrilesky appeals to readers' emotions by using strong words like "sickness" or using passages that evoke thoughts of happiness or sadness(?). Specific passages like "Instead of staying connected to the divine beauty and grace of everyday existence--The glimmer of sunshine on the grass, the blessing of a cool breeze on a summer day..." or "Slowly we come to view our own lives as inconsequential, grubby, even intolerable." "Everyone's an Author"pg 170 "Mad Men: Stillbirth of the American Dream"
4. I have not watched Mad Men but I believe I understand the basic idea of the show after how Havrilesky explained it. It seems that, basically this show is about an advertising agency in the 1950s and 1960s focusing on a colorful cast of characters that are dealing with life at that time. Sadly I have enough shows on my plate at the moment that I probably won't go home and watch it, but it does sound interesting and I might want to check it out sometime in the future.