”I hate the Picture Day combs, and I love the Picture Day combs.”  What does Newkirk mean by this statement – Solution

Write an essay of 600 words in response to ONE of the following prompts:

1.1 In “When Picture-Day Combs Don’t Actually Comb,” Vann R. Newkirk II writes, “I hate the Picture Day combs and I love the Picture Day combs.” What does Newkirk mean by this statement?

Source pg-983-985 of Norton’s Field guide 5th Edition

Solution

In “When Picture-Day Combs Don’t Actually Comb,” Vann R. Newkirk II writes, “I hate the Picture Day combs, and I love the Picture Day combs.”  What does Newkirk mean by this statement?

In a memory of Picture Day in the south, Vann R. Newkirk II narrates his experience and the day’s activities. The writer fondly recounts how they had to look near perfect for the photograph and follow the directions of parents, teachers and the photographers. Black combs were handed out to each student to ensure they looked just right for the picture.

This brings Newkirk to the memory of how the picture day combs were valuable to the other students as they made their hair near perfect yet unusable to him. Newkirk’s mixed feelings about the combs paint a perfect picture of how our preferences and value for things can differ despite having a similar aim.

The intentions for the black combs were to make every student just right for the picture. Newkirk notes that the combs were not suitable for his hairstyle as he preferred brushes and picks which always made him feel confident. Being highly conscious about his hair and how different it was, the writer preferred tools that made him achieve his desired hairstyle and be more confident. However, according to him, the mandated use of combs to ‘fix’ hair for what he terms the glamour of unison messed up his style or did not affect his hair. The value of the combs to him was insignificant as they mostly had a negative effect on his look and confidence, hence the hate.

Newkirk realized that the other students valued the combs. He narrates how, after the picture, he would trade the combs with other students for lunch money or yo-yos because of the high regard for the combs among students. This shifts how Newkirk feels about the combs as they also offer some value to him, hence the love. Perhaps, the value other students assign to the combs comes from the belief that combs enable them to achieve their desired hairstyles and be more confident about their hair.

Hence Newkirk’s least favorite part of picture day was using the comb to ‘fix’ his hair. Subsequently, the most memorable part was trading the comb with other students for other things such as yo-yos. Newkirk’s narration shows that he hated using combs but loved the value others assigned to them.

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The Newkirk’s love-hate relationship with picture day combs goes beyond their effect on Newkirk’s hair. The love-hate feelings are for the symbolic ritual of using combs’ fix ourselves’ so that one can look just right for the photo. Newkirk realizes that just right for everyone else is not for him, and the comb, useless to him, is valuable and significant to others.

As an adult, Newkirk now understands how our differences determine our preferences and dictate our weaknesses. Hence the ‘just right’ look for the other students led them to prefer the combs and trade them for other valuable things. However, this also made the teachers and photographers blind to the fact that some students would not find the combs useful.

To sum up, Newkirk’s narration is fond of the good times and experiences he had during picture day. Though he emphasizes the simplicity of the memory, he agrees that it is an intriguing one, and he cherishes it. The memory paints the perfect picture of most people’s mixed feelings towards different things in a diverse society.

While the ritual of fixing ourselves to improve our presentation is important to all of us, the tools we choose to achieve the perfect look are different, and the perfect look is also different for all of us. Equally important is that even though some things are insignificant to us, they are useful and very valuable to others. Understanding these differences could be one way of the most effective ways of attaining full inclusiveness in a diverse society

Reference

Newkirk, Vann R., II. “When Picture Day Combs Don’t Actually Comb. “The Atlantic, The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/02/when-picture-day-combs-dont-work/516297/