Here's to Your Health Report

Here’s to Your Health

In the essay, “Here’s to Your Health”, Joan Dunayer contrasts the false ideas about alcohol, as presented in advertising and popular culture, with the reality. She tries to persuade the audience by giving examples that shows the real effects of alcohol such as: lack of success, heart disease, loneliness and many more.
Joan Dunayer, in her text “Here’s to Your Health” informs the readers about the myth of alcohol given by the media and compares it to real life. First, TV commercials and print ads represent alcohol being a mean of victory, however in reality, it is more closely related to deficit of success. Second, the media declare that alcohol seduces a person to the opposite sex, but in real life it cause infertility and impotence. Finally, drinking as shown in ads improve social life, otherwise in fact, alcohol is the cause for domestic violence, solitude and suicide. Therefore, the media compel people in believing that alcohol is the road to success, happiness and good health but the truth is too much of it can eventually lead to death. “Here’s to Your Health” is a balanced compare and contrast essay where she presents and then rebuts four myths about alcohol supported by advertising examples and then contrasts them by other examples of what really happens in reality. The author aims to make people more aware of how we are encouraged to think of alcohol as being tied to happiness and success.
Also, some people might not believe all the examples given by Dunayer because there is a lack of sources, which would otherwise strengthen the impact of her statements. For example, she writes “Like all alcohol, it lowers the levels of male hormones in men and of female hormones in women even when taken in small amounts.” This argument may be true, but she gives no credibility, it might be her own knowledge.
In addition, Dunayer concludes “’Here’s to your health’ rings with a terrible irony when it is accompanied by the clink of liquor glasses” by that she wants to show the irony of this caption said by all the people when drinking. All that alcohol does to them is the opposite, it might damage the health but advertisers make a person believe that drinking will make you happy, successful and sexy to make their ad more appealing.
Joan Dunayer is a talented writer. By writing with such power, she was able to persuade the audience about the false messages given by advertisers and let them be more aware when viewing a publicity and to think twice before believing any idea. It would be better next time to add sources to the examples she gave to offer more trust and credibility to the readers.

Andrea Hamawi