Thinking about the Text

1) What is Heather Havrilesky's main insight about Mad Men? How can you tell? Point to specific passages that reflect this conclusion.
Heather's main point of insight for using Mad Men as an example was to show us how "crafty insta-celebrities . . . self-branding geniuses and social media" has impacted our lives by distracting us from reality.
"As absurd as it seems to cobble together a dream around a handful of consumer goods, that's precisely what the advertising industry did so effectively in the 50s and 60s, until we couldn't distinguish our own desires from the desires ascribed to us by professional manipulators, suggesting antidotes for every real or imagined malady, supplying escapist fantasies to circumvent the supposedly unbearable tedium or ordinary life." (175)

2) How does Havrilesky establish her Authority to write about this show?
Heather seems to know the show Mad Man well, since she tells the audience examples of what happened in detailed description. She knows all her characters; their personality and actions.

3) How does she appeal to readers' emotions? Identify specific passages where she does so.
Since Heather tells the reader the decision each character has made, who they are, what they want and etc. We become interested in wanting to know whats going to happen next. This interest makes us respond in an emotional way. For an example, when Heather mentions the character Don.
"Don has finally put his ambivalence toward Betty behind him: He's leaving his marriage and focusing  on the new ad firm as his true passion . . . But can someone as conflicted as Don commit wholeheartedly to anything?" (172)

4) If you were familiar with Mad Men before you read this essay, is this an accurate description of the show and of its impact on viewers? If you weren't familiar with it, do you now understand its basic premise - and has Havrilesky made you want to watch it? Explain
Even though I have not seen the show I can tell that the author did a good job in explaining to the reader each character and the decisions they made. I am curious in watching the movie. Curious about what is going to happen to the characters next.