Thursday, November 12, 2009

"Taste for Makers" by Paul Graham

1. Identify the thesis statement of this essay.

"Instead of treating beauty as an airy abstraction, to be either blathered about or avoided depending on how one feels about airy abstractions, let's try considering it as a practical question: how do you make good stuff? "

2. Identify at least 3 points the author uses to support that thesis.

  • Good design is timeless- Aiming at timelessness is a way to make yourself find the best answer: if you can imagine someone surpassing you, you should do it yourself.
  • Good design solves the right problem- The typical stove has four burners arranged in square, and a dial to control each. How do you arrange the dials? The simplest answer is to put them in a row. But this is a simple answer to the wrong question. The dials are for humans to use, and if you put them in a row, the unlucky human will have to stop and think each time about which dial matches which burner.
  • Good design is suggestive-Jane Austen's novels contain almost no description; instead of telling you how everything looks, she tells her story so well that you envision the scene for yourself.

3. If you were to write an essay on the same topic, but with an opposing argument, what would your thesis be?

Design doesn't entail multiple aspects to be considered a successful design.

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