Running head: ASSIGNMENT TWO

Assignment Two
Rachel Huard
Madonna University

ASSIGNMENT TWO

Abstract
This paper is a demonstration of the use of the Method as explained in the text Writing
Analytically (Rossenwasser, 2015) using the cover of the November 1, 1930 edition of The New
Yorker magazine (New Yorker Covers, n.d.). In the first section, the Method is explained and
data from the cover page is gathered and organized in terms of repetitions, strands, and binary
opposites. The next section discusses a few possible interpretations of the meaning of the cover
based on evidence found in the first section. The last section focuses on a certain interpretation
and uses a variety of evidence to support the meaning of the cover. This example of the
Method does not contain anomalies; therefore the fourth step is not acknowledged in the text.

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The Method explained in Writing Analytically (Rossenwasser, 2015) is a series of steps

that one can take in order to carefully dissect and analyze a work. The five steps of the Method
focus on finding and grouping information about the work; in this case, a magazine cover. The
first step is to list the exact details and the number of each of them. For example, looking at the
cover of The New Yorker (Appendix A) there are several mirrored concepts on both halves of
card (one queen on each half).
Exact repetitions:
-

Physical positioning of both ladies (mirror image) (2)

Manner of dress (robes with high collar and flowers) (2)

Color scheme (basic colors: red, yellow, black) (2)

The New Yorker (font, y-o-r cut off by faces, mirror image) (2)

Nov. 1, 1930 and Price 15 cents (font, mirror image) 2 each

Both queens but not of the same suit (2)

One can see that, like the average playing card, the royal is a reflexive image of itself from the
chest area up. The attitude in which they hold their bodies and hands as they hold the flower is
identical: one is not more slouched than the other. The stem of the flower is in the same hand for
each figure and is being held in the same manner (palm facing out, fingers wrapped around it).
The two royals also share the same clothing: a black and yellow robe with a high collar, a
crown, and a veil. The color scheme is fairly bland throughout, only using red, yellow, black and
white in a nearly primary color palette or in an American traditional style. This is common;
regular playing cards only use one or two colors on a card. The fonts used on the top of the
image are also reflected on the bottom, all sizes and fonts congruent.

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The Methods second step helps organize the raw information into groups called
strands. A strand is a list of repetitions with a similar theme that can be explained briefly with
connecting logic. For example, the strands created for the repetitions above are:
Strands:
-

Physically similar because it is a mirror image like on most playing cards, same kind of
crown and veil, same robe-like dress sharing colors and patterns (connecting logic:
mirroring, same individual but different aspects?)

Figures are queens, in the same color but not the same suit (connecting logic: heart and
diamonds = love or money?, significance of heart being right side up, queen of hearts)

The concept of the mirror image presented by the nature of the playing card is a bit at odds with
the different suits on either half. Because both the heart and diamond are the same color and both
belong on a playing card, it couldnt count as an anomaly by itself. However, the fact that the
royal on the card physically seems to be the same person suggests that the details that are
unique to each half of the card are different thoughts of the same concept. For example, the
queen of hearts on the right side up half of the cover is mirrored yet contrasted by the queen
of diamonds on the upside down half. The top half, represented by the heart, can be linked to
the concept of love. The bottom half, represented by the diamond, could represent money or
material wealth. Stereotypically speaking, love and material wealth are opposing forces. Love is
understood to be a selfless, giving emotion; money and want of material gain tends to breed selfcenteredness and miserly conduct.
In order to fully understand the opposing features of this image, one need only look at
step three of the Method: finding binary opposites. Binary opposites are details in a work that
fully contrast each other and fill the image with tension. For example:

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Binary Opposites:
-

Skeptical brow/raised brow

Lidded eyes/eyes wide open

Wrinkled nose/relaxed nose

Sneer/smile

Sharp jawline/softer or fuller jawline

Under-eye wrinkles/clear complexion

Wilted flower/open flower

Right side up orientation/upside down orientation

Most of the list is centered on the expressions of the two queens. The queen of hearts (previously
established as queen of love) has an overall sour appearance. One of her eyebrows are raised
skeptically as she glares at the heart to her left with lidded eyes. The sneer on her mouth
emphasizes the angle of her jawline and the wrinkle in her nose. She holds a dead or wilted
flower, and there are bags under her eyes. The queens of diamonds expression is the exact
opposite. Her eyebrows are raised in surprise or anticipation as her wide-open eyes focus on the
diamond. She has a small, smug smile on her face and an open flower in her hand. Her jaw
seems softer and rounder than the queen of hearts, and she has no wrinkles under her eyes.
Essentially, the queen of hearts looks tired and careworn; the queen of diamonds looks as fresh
as her daisy.
The fourth step of the Method is to locate the essential details and begin to extract
meaning from them. For example, using only the strands and connecting logic, one could come
to the conclusion that the double image is the same royal, but with different aspects. The heart
and the diamond represent the two parts of every person or of the human race in general: the

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good and the loving versus the greedy and the impious. The battle between right and wrong
within oneself. Using just the binaries could yield a different conclusion: the right side up
individual is the skeptic, and the upside down person is the one who is happy. The orientation
of the royals and their corresponding expressions suggest that right side up, or level-headed
people ought to be cynical and doubtful (which is the stereotypical New Yorker attitude). The
people who are upside down, or nave, are the ones that are happy with where they are. In
other words: ignorance is bliss.
However, if one combines the use of strands and binaries (looking at the image as a
whole), a new interpretation becomes clear. The right side up queen of hearts is scoffing
dubiously at the heart beside her. Using the connecting logic from step two of the Method, one
can equate the symbol of the heart with its meaning: love. However, the queens scornful
expression is at odds with the emotions her suit was intended to represent (being that the queen
of hearts is a colloquial term for a woman who has many romantic admirers). The wilted flower
paired with the queens aversion to the heart implies that the love has been a source of insecurity
and strife, as evidenced by her tired eyes and thin face. A dead flower represents vitality lost, and
she wears her experience on her face. The image the magazine reader would see as right side up
is the paramount image; therefore, the theme of a dead love becomes the most important and first
to be noticed. Although the queen of hearts is usually has the positive connotations associated
with love, the illustrator made the image of a careworn queen the most important image as a sort
of cautionary tale. Sometimes love hurts. The almost physical illness on the queens face and the
dead flower show the reader that even the queen of hearts can get tired of it.
On the reversed half of the image, the queen of diamonds is smiling at the diamond
beside her. Using the same connecting logic as above, the reader can interpret the diamond as a

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symbol for money or material wealth. The upside down queen has an overall healthier mien, with
a more rounded jaw and fuller cheeks than the queen of hearts. A flower with petals as wide
open as her eyes show that she is thriving on that material wealth.
Taking into account the strand of the heart and diamond as well as the binary opposites of
orientation and expression, the reader can derive meaning from both parts of the whole cover.
The queen of hearts is right side up; the most important figure on the card hates love and grows
ill from it. Conversely, the upside down queen of diamonds loves money or wealth and looks
perfectly content. In current times, love is often put before money in terms of value to a person
(which is a theme suggested by the orientation of the queens: love is upright, but money is
reversed). But in this 1930 cover, it is apparent that love isnt going to help the queen of hearts;
shes wasting away and miserable-looking. She has love, but its not a healthy love (dead
flower), even if it is for the right reasons (right side up). But the wealthy queen on the lower half
of the cover seems perfectly content with her money. Although she doesnt have love, she has
happiness (smiling, healthy flower), but not for the right reasons (upside down). To put in more
colloquial terms, Is happiness without love happiness, or is ignorance of love bliss?

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8
References

New Yorker Covers. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2015, from

http://www.coverbrowser.com/covers/new-yorker
Rosenwasser, D., & Stephen, J. (2015). Writing analytically (Seventh ed.). Stamford:
Cengage Learning.

Very good. Next time append the

actual cover.
A-

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Appendix A