Assignment 2.1

Mohammad Ashkanani

Professor: Rachael Sullivan

English 101

Assignment 2.1

NOTICE AND FOCUS:

           My initial notice and focus was immediately drawn to Maira Kalman’s very first page which seemed to denote to me as being an innovatively visual journalistic type headline.  Further, it grabbed my visual attention before even reading it, because not only was it done in a ordinary type script appearance that seemed part print and part writing, but after reading in its very subject-matter.  Kalman here to me not only gives the reader a forecast of what her ensuing reading will entail but at the same time, declares her belief in the connection between democracy’s founders Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison as all being farmers who “…all – envisioned an Agrarian Society (Kalman 81).  This was a very profound statement of introduction seemingly denoting Kalman’s conviction of advocating not only respect for the American farmer but the getting back to American consuming simply unprocessed foods grown on the farm that she equates as being “…the Bounty of the Land and the Goodness of Life to Democracy” (Kalman 81).  Also of interest was Kalman’s ability to present a very serious subject-matter in her writing in an almost childlike wording and appearance, especially with the numerous pictures adding greater depth and meaning the sparse script appearance writing that Kalman maintained throughout every page of the entire writing.

PATTERNS:

          Kalman clearly exhibits patterns of pictures with wording to drive her point home.  She repeatedly seems to do so with unelaborated pictures, along with very simple wording and language.  In fact, Kalman’s language is repeatedly simple to almost being juvenile.  It seemed with the redundancy of these factors that the prime readers that Kalman was trying to reach, was the youth.  Although this makes sense because old habits are hard to break especially for older people and therefore, who better to focus this message to but the young who are more prone to making a healthy choice than the old who unfortunately, mane are just to set in their ways.  This I believe is why Kalman’s writing continues to have an argumentative stance against fast processed food such as when she writes, “Very fast food.  If you eat too much of this food you become sick and also fatafat. And no amount of fatafat pills will help you” (Kalman 86).  Again her script type appearance of text and actually misspelling seems to have a juvenile storybook appearance, as if meant for younger readers.
 

ANOMALIE:

           In reflective pondering after reading Maira Kalman’s “Back to the Land,” is that while she advocates not eating the unhealthy processed foods in the cities and instead, getting back to eating the simple unprocessed foods from the land and cultivated chiefly on the farm.  However, while everything she is adamant on in this respect, she suddenly and for some reasons can’t answer the question she herself poses when she asks, “Land of cows that we eat.  Should we?  Shouldn’t we?  I think this is a major anomaly in that everything else in her writing pertaining to foods she is adamant on instead of this point of whether or not to eat meat.  Further, she gives no indication to the reader whether or not she herself eats fast foods (if only occasionally), or at risqué times, sneaks a Big Mac when no one is looking.