Marriage Is Made in Hell

528 Words3 Pages
Analyzing Essays Title and Author of Essay: Marriage is made in hell Laura Kipnis Type of Essay: Argumentative Purpose: To show why monogamy turns nice people into petty dictators and household tyrants. Thesis/Argument: What is the thesis of the essay? (one line) What if luring people into conditions of emotional stagnation and deadened desires were actually functional for society? Claims: (list three) 1) Many who had once so optimistically pledged to uphold its vows are fleeing its purported satisfactions 2) And what of the growing segment of the population to whom the term 'happily married' does not precisely apply, yet who none the less valiantly struggle to uphold the tenets of the marital enterprise, mostly because there seems to be no viable option? 3) Could dead marriages be good for the economy? Evidence: (for each claim above, list its corresponding evidence, illustration, example) 1) In the US, a well-publicized 50 per cent failure rate hardly makes for optimism; in Britain, too, the Office for National Statistics report that divorce has reached a record high at around 15 per cent. 2) A 1999 Rutgers University study reported that a mere 38 per cent of Americans who are married describe themselves as actually happy in that state 3) Consider all the investment opportunities afforded: Viagra, couples pornography, therapy Voice: what is narrator’s tone? Provide proof. Sarcastic: “For these optimists, the problem is that they have somehow either failed to find the 'right person', or have been remiss in some other respect. If only they'd put those socks in the laundry basket instead of leaving them on the floor, everything would have worked out. If only they'd cooked more (or less) often. If only they'd been more this, less that, it would have been fine.” Critical: “Everyone is terribly worried about its condition: can it
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