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SD Response #1

Identify a sentence structure that is repeated in "Narcissism as Liberation." This could be a set pattern of punctuation, or a distinct way of ordering words.

Prove that this structure happens repeatedly by quoting two instances of it.

Then show how this structure affects meaning in the essay. To do this, consider how it reinforces or conflicts with one of the essay's major arguments.

Sample answer

"I got mine from pulling too many all-niters in college, from smoking pot, from drinking Tequila with my brother, and champagne with my husband, from baking way too long in the sun, from having a child unfamiliar with the concept of sleep, and of course, from growing older."

""The media’s relentlessly coercive deployment of perfect faces and bodies, and the psychologically, politically and economically punitive measures taken against women who fail to be young, thin, and beautiful, have intersected seamlessly with age-old American ideals about the work ethic, being productive and being deserving of rewards."

These two sections of text both drone on about two different things, and although they add to the text in a cosmetic way, they could betaken out to let the paragraph stand on its own, bare bones and minimum. These two lists are excess like the cold cream and anti-wrinkling agents that she speaks of in her essay. Notice however that the paragraph still stands strong on its own, which is to say in a subversive way, that despite the makeup that women use, they are still strong individuals underneath, and that they are just confused by it.

Or one could also say that these excessive lists are like the baggy skin on the faces of older women, that we could do a nip and a tuck, but then the essay would become smooth, and without character.