6. Sounds Like a Great Place, but Can We Get There by Shoe?

     This article by Joyce Wadler, talks about something every woman adores: shoes. However she gives it a twist by making the idea of a shoe painful and tragic. She starts her article with this statement: "Never shop for shoes when you are tired." An exemplum she give throughout the article is wearing uncomfortable heels to a wedding. They may seem comfortable at the store, but as she notices they are not designed for walking. When you are tired you somehow become delusional, and the idea that you can change a shoe comes to mind. The author, however believes this is a dangerous thought. "Believing you can fix a shoe is like believing you can fix a man. It does not work." Coming back to the wedding, the author points out that instead of enjoying the moment, you will be disturbed by the uncomfortable shoe. Something that is supposed to be wonderful "will become the Bataan Death March." Everyone wearing comfortable shoes around you seem to be happy and radiant, but you can not enjoy with them. All the memories you will have about that certain event will be painful shoes. The author than comes to the subject of how it is hard to find shoes for wider feet woman. Even though wider feet are not uncommon, finding shoes for them in a store is. She states: "We`re fit, we`re over 50 and we`re fed up." The author then references Lauren Bacall, whom would be perfect for the movie she imagines, where women revolved against shoemakers; stating Bacaal was intelligent for never wearing heels.

     The author uses this article to both state her idea and second, I believe, to entertain the reader. She uses a commonality such as shoes that are an appeal to woman, in a true negative way. She uses many figures of writing. The most visible is exemplum. She gives many situations for the reader to connect to her point. The main one is wearing uncomfortable shoes to a wedding. She also uses many metaphors such as: "A picturesque walk to the reception through a hilly, wooded campus, led by an adorable flutist, will become the Bataan Death March." The main type of language she uses is irony/sarcasm. She many times refers to a situation in a way that is not what she truly means. "You will get a peek at the bride’s comfy suede wedges at the reception and think: “No wonder she’s radiant. She’s wearing comfortable shoes.” Another example is: "In other words, if you want to buy something in which good fit is essential, you have to buy it from a source in which you cannot first see how it fits." She is able to get an idea of which most women ignore, and make them actually agree with her.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/fashion/sounds-like-a-great-place-but-can-we-get-there-by-shoe.html?ref=fashion&_r=0