Close Reading (9 October 2011)

Arianna Huffington: The Connector- by Elizabeth Rubin
http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/arianna-huffington-the-connector/
     Arianna Huffington is no small subject for a writer to tackle, and the piece produced by Elizabeth Rubin reflects the larger-than-life character that Huffington embodies. Towards the beginning of the piece,  Rubin creates an image of Huffington that is exudes an air of loftiness. She is described as having "...hair unflappable, the makeup thick." Not knowing much about Huffington at this point, the reader gains an intimidating feeling from the image created by Rubin. However, as we learn more about Huffington, we realize that she does have her flaws. "Despite her elegance, there is always something slightly teeter-tottery about Arianna. And she must know it..." This description, followed by further descriptions of interactions with her daughters and business associates, concludes in a strong, well-rounded image of Arianna Huffington. Other characters in the story, however, did not receive quite the treatment Huffington did from the author.
     Rubin utilizes a slightly different style of syntax when discussing Huffington's meeting with the Middle East Google marketing manager, Wael Ghonim. After demonstrating the staff's interest in the visitor with two very short sentences, "They are riveted. No one is BlackBerrying.", Rubin emulates Wael's "blunt" attitude with a few to-the-point sentences containing his opinions. Both of these sentences begin with a repeated use of "He" followed by a verb: "He  trashes Malcolm Gladwell's theory... He says he hates..." This creates an effect on the reader that this man knows his stuff, and he's not afraid to voice his opinions. The syntax used by Rubin accurately transfers this tone to the reader.
   An interesting word appears repeatedly throughout this piece, and it contributes to the main idea Rubin is trying to convey. That word is Zeitgeist. Now, if you're a normal person like me who has no idea what Zeitgeist means, you will be utterly confused until you finally give in to googling it. If you took four years of German and know what it means, good for you. Anyways, the all-powerful Google supplied me with the definition of Zeitgeist: 'The defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time." The use of this foreign word elevates the language and makes it more formal, which is acceptable for a renowned magazine such as Vogue. This use of the word also contributes to the meaning of the piece, which is Huffington's contribution to our zeitgeist "that self-expression is the new entertainment of our age."