"How Our Skins Got Their Color" by Marvin Harris.

DATE: Monday November 17, 2008
TIME: 1:50 p.m.
PLACE: Home Computer

In “How Our Skins Got Their Color” by Marvin Harris, the author uses comparison as his organizational structure. He describes the “Pros” and “Cons” of skin exposure to the sun, and depending on which latitudes we live or depending on what food containing vitamin D and Calcium we consume, could lead us to get either skin cancer or osteomalacia.

I personally lost track of the content of this essay, trying to understand it. I think Harris might improved the understanding of this particular article by adding the step by step process of organization and adding numbers or bullets to it.

I also had a hard time trying to follow this specific article because it contains, in a way, a complex diction. There were several times I had to stop reading this essay because I had to look for the meaning of some words in my dictionary. Which made it difficult to comprehend the way Harris organized this piece or writing. Some of the words I had to look for their meaning were as follows:
-scanty: adj. Barely adequate or sufficient: meager.
-epidermis: n. The protective outer layer of our skin.
-rickets: n. A disease of children resulting from a lack of vitamin "D" and in defective from a bone growth.