Happiness is the greatest feeling ever that anyone would feel and willing to spend his life looking for it. Does money buy happiness or not? Many of us have heard this common question before, we are thinking and wondering all the time about this question, and it has started to be something old. Nevertheless, Gregg Easterbrook, who is an unique American writer work as a contribution editor for The Atlantic Monthly and The Washington Monthly magazines, wrote a long special article he called "The Real Truth About Money" for the Time Magazine on January 30, 2005. The article talks about the increasing of the income, the daily live, and the standard of living after the World War II (Gregg). Furthermore, his using of metaphors, isocolonic style, mathematical terms, and how the money relate to the happiness create some aesthetic and fabulous eloquence that the reader could feel and make him dives inside the article and taste the beauty of it.

In the first place, the metaphor which it "A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action which it is not literally applicable" (Oxford), has appeared profusely in the text. Gregg Easterbrook used metaphors to make implicit and hidden figures or meanings. For example, he said, "Every line concerning money and the things that money can buy would soar upward," (Real 1), Gregg was talking about a chart of American life after the Second World War, and the lines relevant to money would soar but a line cannot actually soar! However, he means that the lines in the chart will be elevated and raise higher. To clarify, he is obviously implying that the lines that relevant to money would rise higher like a bird flying upward or a plane soaring in the sky because an increasing in the salaries occurred. The crux of the matter that such these metaphors could make a text looks better and more significant because they create imaginary pictures near the message and the idea to the reader's mind.

Second, isocolon is a rhetoric term derived from Greek language and means  "A  in which a sentence is composed by two or more parts () perfectly equivalent in structure, length and rhythm it is called bicolon, tricolon, or tetracolon depending on whether they are two, three, or four." (Isocolon). Gregg's article included many isocolons made his article powerful and stronger. As an example of tricolon he said "...Than engaging in activities that create real fulfillment in life, like cultivating friendships, helping others, and developing a spiritual sense." (Real1). This tricolon contains a structure of gerund and noun so it creates a nice tone when reading loudly. In addition to another illustration of tricolon in the text, Gregg started his penultimate paragraph saying, "Living standards, education levels, and other basic measures of U.S. social well-being have improved..." (Real 3). We notice that the tricolon or the isocolons in general add more effectivity and logic to the text. As a result, we can say that isocolons create some rhythm in the prose that make it enjoyable and wonderful. 

Third, Gregg had used many mathematical terms so the mathematical theme dominates in the text. In every single paragraph certainly you can note many financial, accounting, and mathematical terms relate to money and math like (chart, statistical, size, doubled,  tripled, one-third, millions, money, income, square feet, many percentages and dollar symbol $). These words add more reliability and accuracy to the article because it show that this text had written based on accurate statistics and numbers, and the writer worked hard end up with such an article. 

Forth and the final point, the main idea of the text and which it the real truth about money or the true value of it. Gregg talks about the happiness in general and a little bit about depression and their causes. In the beginning let's talk about the depression, he refers to studies made by a sociologist at Erasmus University in Rotterdam called Ruut Veenhoven deduced that, "...The poor -- those in Europe earning less than about 10,000$ a year -- are made unhappy by the relentless frustration and stress of poverty." (Real 1). Therefore, living under the poverty line is a reason of unhappiness. However, having lot of money and high income is not necessary a reason for happiness because the American generation after the Second World War believes that money cannot buy happiness! Gregg said, "In the Time poll, when people were asked about their major source of happiness, money ranked fourteenth." And after many discussions and arguments the poll's outcome about the Americans was that in order for them to live comfortably and in a good condition, they need more money rather than their income level (Real 3). What is also weird about the happiness causes is a YouTube video called "How Much Money is LOVE Worth?" for Dr. Michael Vsauce in a way similar to Gregg's way which is by determine the happy amount in money. Dr. Micheal talked about a study shows that hearing the phrase "I Love You" for the first time from someone you love is equals to receive amount of money up to 267,000$! And looking to someone's eye you like helps to produce some enzymes in your body make you happier and living longer (Money). After all, money is not a major reason for happiness but for just for a limited level.

In conclusion, after reading closely "The Real Truth about Money" I amazed about the strategy and the style of this piece of writing. Ubiquitous metaphors, ample of isocolonos, plenty of math, and the secret of happiness. All those indicate Gregg's proficiency and fluency in writing and I hope to read many other writings for him.
