Reading goal: carefully close read and analyze to find multiple instances of rhetorical devices in the reading; apply HECTOR to the reading
Writing goal: avoid being too formulaic in the TOW; make things flow naturally
French philosopher Descartes once defended the concept of Cartesian Dualism: the idea that the mind and the body exist in separate realms. He believed that if one thinks, one surely has a mind, but does not necessarily have a body. Psychologist Lauren Slater ponders this idea in her essay “Killing My Body to Save My Mind,” in which she writes about her struggle between her depression and the physical health problems associated with her medication. Originally published in Elle, a pop culture magazine usually read by women, Slater’s story goes deep into the topics of mental and physical health issues. With her use of vivid imagery and juxtaposition, Lauren Slater effectively achieves her purpose of demonstrating the importance of mind over body.
Slater uses vivid imagery when describing her crippling depression: “In the summer, my psychosis worsened, in part because I could not stand the contrast between my blackness and all the beauty everywhere around me and utterly inaccessible. From the window of the kitchen I could see my garden… this beauty seemed somehow menacing to me” (para. 5). To combat her psychosis, Slater started taking medication called Zyprexa, some of its side effects being excessive appetite and weight gain. She was desperate to feel better, so she took the medication and gradually started to enjoy life again. However, along with her new love of life came an extra 80 pounds. Once she realized how much weight she had gained, Slater began to juxtapose her new, happy-but-overweight self with her old, thin-but-depressed self. Remembering her pre-Zyprexa days, she notes, “When I was trim and healthy, I silently assumed...that I’d live well into my nineties” (para. 18), but as she currently looks into her future, she states that she does not see herself living past her seventies. However, she continues, she thinks she made the right choice: “Every day I step on that scale and every day it stays the same... But that’s just one sort of scale. In reality, my life is full of scales, what one might call the measure of our days, and on that scale I think I’m winning. I am tremendously grateful to be free of mind-distorting depression” (para. 19).
Slater’s use of vivid imagery helps her achieve her purpose of demonstrating the importance of mind over body because her dark descriptions effectively convey her experience with depression. As one reads her descriptions, one cannot help but agree with Slater’s choice: that she should be a “happy elephant [rather] than a miserable hominid” (para. 8). Slater’s use of juxtaposition also aids her in achieving her purpose; she acknowledges the fact that she could live a longer life, yet she chooses a shorter-but-happier life instead. In a society with growing mental health issues particularly pertaining to body image, Slater’s essay can truly inspire people to make the right choice: mind over body.
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