"Objects of Affection" by Ewa Hryniewicz-Yarbrough

In the essay Objects of Affection, Ewa Hryniewicz-Yarbrough writes about the importance to not undermine the sentimental value that certain objects carry. The author grew up in Krakow, Poland, during a communist era. Toys, books, and clothes were scarce. This lead Hryniewicz-Yarbrough to develop a sincere affection for her single doll. She was extremely possessive of her books, as good books were a rarity in Marxist Poland. Ewa Hryniewicz-Yarbrough moved to the United States as a young adult and was immediately stunned by the surplus of food and other necessities. She soon discovered her reluctance to part with objects that could even possibly be fixed, and that this trait had been derived from her grandmother. The context of the essay is to compare how people in two very different cultures, communist Poland and the United States, have completely different attitudes surrounding the sentimental value of objects. The author's purpose is to inform audiences to keep and or create objects of sentimental value so future generations are able to connect to the past through an object. This essay was written for audiences whom feel connected to the past through objects. Pathos is used to appeal to the emotions of readers of all ages that objects are important. "They hadn't yet learned that objects help us exorcise some of our fears, that they are stronger than we are, perfect and independent, that they give us a semblance of permanence and grant a stay against chaos, darkness, and oblivion" (Hryniewicz-Yarbrough 175). The author explains that objects that may seem worthless to one person, represent the entire world to another. This allows audiences to connect this back to their life and receive the author's purpose that it is important to have objects of sentimental value. Hryniewicz-Yarbrough also uses foil to contrast the differences between herself and her grandmother. Her grandmother kept no objects of sentimental value and was quite content with this. The authors contrasts her grandmother greatly when the grandmother dies and she is given a paperweight as something to remember her grandmother die. This completely achieves the the author's purpose by showing the need to have objects with sentimental value for future generations.

Generations: A family heirloom has the ability to connect one generation to the next.

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