Essay on "Imitation of E.B. White Value Just"
Essay 5 pages (1724 words) Sources: 0
[EXCERPT] . . . .
Imitation of E.B. WhiteValue
Just a few days ago, I was cleaning out my refrigerator to make room for a gigantic sheet cake when I felt around in my vegetable drawer to see what I could procure for lunch that was more appealing than the plate of previously grilled hot dogs wrapped in foil on the first shelf. After pushing away several ears of corn that I considered buttering and salting and throwing in the broiler for a snack, I was surprised to find that the green peppers and cucumbers I had bought firm and dark and fresh just three days previous were covered with splotches of mold and sinking in on themselves. It seems the shelf life for a vegetable, even enclosed in a refrigerator that boasts numbing temperatures, is not longer than a millennial American's ability to put off eating vegetables. And the vegetables having gone bad, I have but three options in order to quash my mounting hunger. The first is to zap the hot dogs in the microwave and savor a lunch of warmed-over meats that were not, shall we say delectable, upon their first preview. The second is to cook up a feast consisting of what is still edible in my refrigerator or freezer -- fish fillets, chicken breast, tofu, skim milk, seasoning, cans of vegetables, milk. The third, and the most appetizing is to make it a lunch out -- only about the third or the fourth I've had this week, and it is the middle of the week.
Ever since I've been doing well for myself -- and doing well for a writer is actually having money in the bank account instead of simply visualizing the money that will come in with this next article or book or poem or short piece that the writer has yet to pen -- I find it incre
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But even if the drive-through made me have these profound, philosophical musings, the bottom line is that there was $4 in wasted vegetables in the bottom of my fridge and another $4 coming out of my bank account for the fast food meal that was about to cause me anguish in nearly every way. It is surprising that, when introspective, something as small as few dollar menu indulgences can cause a person to consider everything from his or her health to the axiological questions. However, considering it all comes down to value -- the value of my health and financial state -- I concluded that planting a garden would be a better investment of all my resources. A garden with fresh vegetables will allow them to be plucked at just the moment when they are prime, ensuring that they do not go bad with mold in the bottom of my refrigerator. An aerobic activity, planting a garden is also the perfect way to be sure that one stays in shape through cardio work. These benefits seem to make the value of gardening higher than the value of eating fast food or even the value of shopping in the supermarket.
Beginning my garden started with painstaking effort, cleaning the ground and tilling the soil, which was an activity so difficult that it caused sweat to come to my brow. Had I been doing this work for someone else -- a neighbor or a friend who was entitled to a familiarity discount -- I would still have only charged about $5 an hour for my manual labor, as it was just that manual labor. Because this process took about three hours to complete, the initial manual labor investment into my garden can be quantified at about $15. Next came the monetary investment in seeds, at $1 per pack, I bought one pack of (and planted) the following: cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, beets, potatoes, beans, peas, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, and corn. This is another $11 investment into the garden. Planting the seeds was another 2 hours of labor, or a $10 investment. Of course, after the initial planning, it was necessary to maintain the garden through weeding, watering, fertilizing, setting traps for animals, and generally caring for the garden. All of this labor took me about three hours a week since April -- meaning a total of 12 hours, or $60. Finally, with this additional labor has come additional needs for the garden, in terms of weed killer, hoses, bug killer, fertilizer, tomato cages, string for the peas, etc. -- all off which cost about $200. My garden itemized as such, its total monetary value is $296. Thus, for my garden to be at least somewhat profitable, it's monetary value must be at least over $300 -- getting me my money back and another $4 to spend on either store-bought vegetables or fast food. However, to date, the garden has produced only one summer squash and two cucumbers. At going supermarket rates, this means my garden is worth, at most $4 -- $1 for each cucumber and $2 for the squash. This being vegetable season, however, the value is likely to be $.50 for each cucumber and $1 for the squash -- a total value of $2.
Does this mean my garden was not valuable? In the monetary sense, this question cannot be answered with anything but a resounding "yes," but it seems that value is measured in much more than just money. In fact, money is based on the concept of value, not vice versa. Native American tribes first invented the use of money through the trading of shiny stones that were valuable because they were beautiful. Perhaps the garden was not profitable. Perhaps it was not a way to make a living. Perhaps it did not even render enough vegetables for a hardy meal. However, it is true that my garden had other valuables -- the value of aerobic exercise and the enjoyment of planting, the value of breaking an old, destructive habit, eating fast food, with a new, gardening, the value of the philosophical thoughts that allowed me to consider my own position in humanity during… READ MORE
Quoted Instructions for "Imitation of E.B. White Value Just" Assignment:
Use EB White's essay entitled Security to write an essay imitating his style.
I'd like you to use growing a garden in place of raising turkeys as described in the essay. Start from clearing the ground, turning the soil, amending the soil, planting the seeds, watering and weeding etc leading the the point that inspite of all the work, too date my garden has yeilded one summer squash and two cucumbers in spite of the fact that I have plante pumpkins, beets, potatos, beans, peas peppers, tomatoes, carrots and corn.
I've spent about $200 on the garden for weed killer, soil amendments, hoses, seeds, plants, trellis for the beans , pots, string for the peas, tomoato cages, bug killer, slug killer and fertilizer.
Since April I have spent probably 3 hours a week on average tending to the garden. Starting with growing seedling indoors.
The price of those two cucumbers and on summer squash should be quantified just like EB white quantified the turkey's value in "Security."
Thank you *****
How to Reference "Imitation of E.B. White Value Just" Essay in a Bibliography
“Imitation of E.B. White Value Just.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2009, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/imitation-eb-white-value/5552126. Accessed 5 Oct 2024.
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