In the New York Times Magazine article, “Steve Jobs: Vampire. Bill Gates: Zombie.,” Heather Harvilesky describes the differences between “vampires” and “zombies” in order to achieve her purpose of explaining people by categorizing them into two groups made popular by recent media. She achieves her purpose through the use of binary classification, compare and contrast, examples, as well as an objective and informative tone.
An example of Havrilesky’s tone is paragraph four; “Vampires are smooth and charismatic. They drink blood as if it were the finest pinot noir. Zombie, on the other hand, are awkward and clumsy, yet un-self-conscious about the fact that their eyeballs are falling out.” This paragraph is an example of an objective tone because the author gives the writer information about her subject without giving her opinion on the matter or persuading the reader to think a certain way. Because she said “Vampires are smooth and charismatic” and “Zombies are awkward and clumsy,” she accomplishes her objective tone. She states outright the characteristics of a vampire and a zombie without using words to persuade the reader to think a certain way about either one.
In paragraph four she shows an informative tone; “Vampires are smooth and charismatic. They drink blood as if it were the finest pinot noir. Zombies, on the other hand, are awkward and clumsy, yet un-self-conscious about the fact their eyeballs are falling out.” She accomplishes an informative tone because she is describing her topic and informing the reader about it. She describes the vampires and zombies in an objective way so that the reader could identify either. This also shows an informative tone because it portrays the author’s purpose and informs the reader of the characteristics of both a vampire and a zombie.
Havrilesky uses example in paragraph thirteen; “When Obama speaks, we hear the passions of a vampire, expounding upon the romantic ideals that formed his core identity. And ultimately, like any vampire, Obama trusts his own instincts and judgments over the consensus of his constituents. Mitt Romney, on the other hand, is a zombie through and through. For Romney, a practicing Mormon who often praises his father, identity is always determined by the group.” In this paragraph, the author uses examples to explain her binary comparison of vampires and zombies. She uses Obama to explain the characteristics of vampires, and uses an allusion to help understand what a vampire might act like. She also does the same thing with Mitt Romney, so that readers can further understand zombies.
Heather Havrilesky accomplishes her purpose of explaining people by categorizing them into two groups made popular by recent media through the use of an objective and informative tone. While using her same tone, she creates a binary comparison between the two groups; vampires and zombies. The article is presented in a funny and enjoyable manner while still staying true to its purpose. (495)
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