The metaphor of the jigsaw puzzle-- "what good would it do to finish early? Three, the jigsaw puzzle isn't the important thing. The important thing is the fun of four people (one thin person included) sitting around a card table, working a jigsaw puzzle"-- illustrates that fat people enjoy the process of life and live in the moment, versus thin people who are purpose-driven and obsessed with completing tasks, even leisure-time activities that are supposed to be fun.
Q5. Identify the author's purpose and discuss whether or not she achieved that purpose.
The purpose of the author is to deflate society's obsession with perfection and to turn a bit of conventional wisdom -- the superiority of thinness and perfectionism -- on its head. The essay, through humor, achieves this purpose. Asserting the position in a serious way would likely have given rise to a debate about the health problems fostered by obesity.
Q6. Find a logical fallacy
"One thin person I know once suggested that we arrange all the parts of a jigsaw puzzle into groups according to size, shape and color. He figured this would cut the time needed to complete the puzzle by at least 50 per cent."
There is no way to 'logically' determine this would speed the completion of the puzzle,...
Quote and discuss a favorite passage
"They think these 2000-point plans lead to happiness. Fat people know
happiness is elusive at best and even if they could get the kind thin people talk about, they wouldn't want it. Wisely, fat people see that such programs are too dull, too hard, too off the mark. They are never better than a whole cheesecake."
This contrasts the satisfaction of completing a task with the pleasures of the moment (a cheesecake). The passage makes the idea of focusing on the future or a goal seem absurd in a way that seems almost heretical, given society's focus on
success and not indulging in pleasure.
Q8. Using
quotes, identify the author's use of emotional, logical, or ethical appeal.
"What you want when you're down is soft and jiggly, not muscled and stable. Fat people know this. Fat people have plenty of room. Fat people will take you in." Very little logical appeal is manifest in the essay, given that it is almost entirely impressionistic and dependent upon the difference between thin and fat people. The appeal is primarily emotional, as is manifest in the comforting image of being 'taken in.' However, there is also an implicit ethical appeal -- that it is more ethical to be soft, compassionate, and human than task-driven and concerned with
physical health.
