Tuesday, October 8, 2013

11.Why Didn't People Smile in Old Portraits?

This article explains the question, why didn’t anyone smile in olden pictures. Robinson Meyer, the author, explains that back pictures and paintings were important documents and that one did not want to look foolish in their picture. The author also explained that the only people who appeared with a grin were either sex gods or drunkards. Meyer uses many pictures, 5 in total, to illustrate his point. Three of them are of men who have a stern face on pictures. These men were important historical figures such as Mark Twain and General Gordon Granger. Another picture showed a sex god grinning and a drunkard smiling in a painting. Usually smiles in pictures were associated with these things and because of this no honorable men or woman smiled in pictures or paintings.

                Meyer makes his thesis very explicit for he puts it in the title. It becomes a lot easier to simply state a question and answer it throughout the article. He does this in a very informal and easy going tone; making the article funny and it lightening the mood.  The pictures helped in proving his point by giving the reader concrete evidence that what he say is true. Each point he proves he shows a picture and in a funny way comments them. He also has some quotes from different people this helps his article to be more credible and also is evidence for his thesis.

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