Response to Coarse Materials #5

   I can't believe how long we have been in this class for. That is the first thought that went through my mind as I began writing this. It seems like only yesterday we were doing "The American Dream".  Anyway, this week we have been annotating "Ceremony" and discussing. This is normal except we are discussing by having a group that is assigned to a specific part of the book present their thoughts on that portion. It is interesting to see how a group looks at their portion of a novel. While it is interesting, I feel like i am being rude by opposing a group and their thoughts on their portion of the book. It also gets boring sometimes. I feel as though this format of discussion is a lot less meaningful and I am not exposed to new ideas as well as i could be. I think the whole class discussion is the way to go with these books. Besides being a little bored sometimes, I did for the most part, enjoy this week. One more to go till break.

Closed Reading: Diction, Syntax, Details.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/11/world/meast/rosenblatt-iraq-withdrawal/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

This is a CNN profile of soldiers serving in Iraq.

I chose this particular article because unlike most of CNN's work, this is a profile rather than a report. The Author makes the whole piece seem more like a story and less like a report through his use of Diction, Syntax and Details.
   The Author's use of diction might be my favorite part of the whole piece. The Author uses heavy, exaggerated words in order to convey a sense of importance in the article. By using words like "pierced" and "blared", it makes the tone of the piece more drastic and  crucial. The diction is like that throughout the piece and also lends it a sense of fear and anxiety that comes with being rocketed.
   The Syntax of this piece is very important to the overall tone of the article. While in a normal news article, you often see shorter fact filled sentences, in this piece, the Author uses longer detail filled sentences to give the whole piece a more story like feel. The syntax makes the article feel more like a story of a soldiers experience in Iraq and less like a report about military action in Iraq.
    Finally, the Author's use of detail is what solidifies the difference between this profile and your average news report. While news reports are filled with statistics and direct information, the Author fills this with personal details from the soldier he is profiling. While he does provide some information about military action in Iraq, he focuses on the details of the soldiers daily lives. It is less factual and more subjective. By focusing on the personal details of the soldier he is profiling, he makes sure that this article is not just another report.
    This entire article is shaped and supported by the author's use of diction, syntax and details. By utilizing those techniques, he gives his piece a sense of urgency where it needs it and provides information about the soldier's life without being bogged down by statistical information. Overall this was a well written piece that i really enjoyed.

Open Prompt #6

1983. From a novel or play of literary merit, select an important character who is a villain. Then, in a well-organized essay, analyze the nature of the character's villainy and show how it enhances meaning in the work. Do not merely summarize the plot.

    Leslie Silko's novel Ceremony is about  Tayo, a troubled WWII veteran who returns home where he must overcome his issues. One of the main instigators of Tayo's troubles throughout the book is a full blood Laguna named Emo. Though he is not always directly present, he is an embodiment of the evil and witchery that is plaguing Tayo until he completes his ceremony.

     The first time we meet Emo, he is drunk and belligerent. In this case, Emo represents the evil threat that alcohol presents to the Laguna culture. By personifying the alcoholism in the Laguna society, we as readers are able to adopt a more sincere understanding of the effects the alcoholism is having on the Laguna people. Silko also uses Emo in order to show on an individual level how alcohol is changing the veterans and the society. This makes the whole issue of alcohol in the book much more personal and impactful.

       Emo is also a racist. He hates all whites and also anyone who is not full Laguna, such as Tayo. Silko uses this quality of Emo to show just how destructive and horrible the racism towards natives is. By showing us first hand the abuse that Tayo takes from Emo on account of his race, makes the issue have a more direct effect on the story and on the reader. While Silko could have just spoken about how awful the racism towards natives was, she instead chose to show the racism from a  personal perspective. Watching Emo abuse Tayo and others because of race makes the issue much more personal and much more effective as a tool for showing readers the racism towards Native Americans of the time.

     The final evil quality that Silko portrays through Emo is violence. While the effect the war had on the different characters varies, it is only Emo who seems mostly unaffected by the war. Tayo for instance struggles with the idea that he may have killed a Japanese soldier which sends him into bouts of depression and sorrow. Emo even carries around a bag of human teeth that he captured as trophies. When Silko presents Emo like this, the reader has little option but to see him as a blood thirsty savage. Emo's affection towards violence makes Emo even more evil and despicable.  

   By presenting Emo in the way she does, Silko makes him seem extraordinarily evil. This helps the reader to see Tayo's point of view and get a better understanding of Tayo's story and struggle. Without making Emo into the madman he seems to be, the book but be much less and seem all together less sincere.

Response to Course Materials #4

This week, we were working in small groups on our prezi presentations about a literary era. My group had a lot of fun working on these presentations and tried to stay focused and finish with a decent final product. I like that we are being trusted to use the freedom of the prezi platform in order to instruct our peers over our topic. I also like that in order to perform well, we each had to obtain an understanding of our topic, which was ictorian, naturalism and realism. This week was a good indicator of what working in small groups will be like for us throughout the year and how well my group worked together and if they were a good fit for me.

Closed Reading: Syntax, Diction, and Details.

This is a closed reading of a CNN article about the Jerry Sandusky scandal. by Wayne Drash and Ann O'niel www.cnn.com/2011/11/19/us/sandusky-memoir-profile/index.html?hpt=hp_c4

    I chose this piece because being a CNN news article, it has a very formal, simplistic style. While it is not used in a traditional style, the Authors have a very distinguishable style.
    The syntax of this article is very important because it is used to make their information seem more factual and make the allegations against Jerry Sandusky seem even more shocking.  The Author's use shorter but descriptive sentences which usually include sources for their information in order to maintain a serious, factual piece. sentences like "He called one boy more than 100 times after the boy started avoiding him, according to phone records examined by authorities." are tuned for quick reading in which the Author's provide as much information as they can in short sentences. The overall Syntax forms short, formal sentences that are ideal for quick skimming of an article.  This reflects the quick update way of our society.
     Diction is a key part of this article. The Author's use diction in order to pad the allegations against Jerry Sandusky and make the material less graphic for the reader. For instance, instead of listing his allegations as what they were literally, they use terms like "sex acts" and "assaults" in order to make the piece less disturbing, less graphic, and more easy on the reader. This type of self censoring is frequent throughout the piece and in my opinion makes it convoluted and makes the article misleading with regards to Sandusky's alleged crimes. The diction the Author's chose to used makes the whole piece seem less serious and ultimately a weak piece all together.
    Where the Author's use diction to shield the reader from the graphic nature of Jerry Sandusky's crimes, they used details in order to persuade the reader of Sandusky's guilt. Or at least present ample information against him. Throughout the piece, the Author's use small details like "But he also said he enjoys being around kids, always has." in order to provide evidence against Sandusky. In my opinion, it seems that the Authors use these small details to convey their own verdict on Sandusky's allegations. It also seems that this style is used to make the article appear more factual and serious. It seems to me that all this use of details does is make the authors seem biased.
      Though the article does a decent job presenting the facts of the Sandusky scandal, it seems to me that the Authors were more focused on creating an un-offensive article than they were a factual un-biased one.
   

Open Prompt #5

1990. Choose a novel or play that depicts a conflict between a parent (or a parental figure) and a son or daughter. Write an essay in which you analyze the sources of the conflict and explain how the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid plot summary.

In the play Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, centers around the conflict between Willy and his eldest son Biff. Though there are plenty of contributing elements to their conflict, the main source of strife comes from Biffs and Willy's differing ambitions, and their difference in values. These 2 sources of conflict are important because they have the most impact on the story as a whole.

    Though it is the smaller of the 2 issues, Willy and Biff's differing ambitions end up having a great deal of influence on the meaning of the play. While Willy believes that Biff was born to be a salesman, Biff himself wants to live out west and raise cattle. The life of a salesman represents in this case, the material american dream and the vicious circle that is Willy's life. Biff's ideal profession represents a more free life style.  This simple conflict for the son and father represents a much larger conflict which is that between materialistic living versus a more simplistic traditional lifestyle. This conflict represents the main purpose of the book, which is to explore the way that the american dream has changed for the worse.

     The other primary conflict between Biff and Willy, is their differing ideals. Willy places the utmost value in being well known, and well liked. He believes that with those 2 characteristics, nothing else matters, and one can become successful. While Biff does not have a clearly defined set of values, it is evident that he disagrees with Willy's. This again, helps to portray the conflict between the materialistic American Dream, and its older, more simplistic counterpart. By presenting the conflict between the old and new american dreams, Miller emphasizes the meaning of the entire play, which is to show the faults of the the materialistic American Dream and show its conflict with a more traditional Manifest Destiny like dream.

   By choosing such sources of conflict for the relationship between Willy and Biff, Miller adds a great deal of complexity and meaning to his play.

      

Open Prompt #4

1970. Choose a character from a novel or play of recognized literary merit and write an essay in which you (a) briefly describe the standards of the fictional society in which the character exists and (b) show how the character is affected by and responds to those standards. In your essay do not merely summarize the plot.

    Many novels revolve around a fictional societies and characters roles within them. In "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", the protagonist Huck Finn, helps a slave escape on board a raft headed down the Mississippi. Along the way, Huck develops new ideas about what society is and weather he agrees with it or not.

    In the novel, Huck starts in a small town in Missouri. In this town, like much of the south during the 1800's, slavery is common practice and the law of the land lies in the bible and Christianity. As Huck sets out on his journey he passes through a series of different towns and villages in which he is considered an outlaw for assisting a slave in escape. Societies culture in the book sees Huck not only as an outlaw, but a heathen who can be reeducated and reconditioned into a good christian citizen. The main goal of Huck's society is to ensure and reinforce christian values and keep race relations to nothing more that master and slave.

   For Huck, the prospect of being assimilated into his racist, ultra religious society is dreadful. Despite these feelings towards his society, Huck struggles to overcome certain boundaries such as race relations which have been ingrained in his mind since birth. These conflicting feelings lead Huck into many moral conundrums. One such event is the final escape of Jim, Huck and Tom from the Phelp's farm where Jim is being held captive. During this episode, Huck makes up his mind after fierce debating, that he will save Jim. Though this might seem like the logical thing to do for us, it is a big step for Huck. This choice directly defies the common practice of his society and shows us that Huck is willing to choose what he believes to b morally correct over the expectations of Society.

   In the end, Huck Finn overcomes societal norms in order to become what he feels is a morally superior person. By defying what his society, Huck takes a great step towards understanding and tolerance in his life.

Response to Course Materials #3

Last time I wrote one of these, we had just finished reading "The American Dream" and I talked about how confused and unimpressed I was by the play.
This week however I've started to take a liking to the play. Not because of the work itself but because i find the way it creates thought and discussion among my peers interesting. Again, I have no taste for the play itself whatsoever, but i find the way 15 kids sitting in a room are able to conjure new meaning to a bizarre play very intriguing. As for individual annotation i can't say i'm a fan. I do however, find it interesting to look back at my annotations. Reading my previous annotations is something  like reading a journal of what i was thinking about as i read. Overall, it was a great week. Being able to look at the book and in a sense solve out what it means was a great pleasure and even though annotating was a drag, it was still cool to be able to look back and my thoughts.

Closed Reading: Imagery, Syntax, Details.

This is another piece by David Sedaris. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/01/29/070129fa_fact_sedaris?currentPage=1


        As is always the case with Sedaris, the literary techniques in this piece are used with expertise and care in order to deliver a perfectly conveyed meaning. In this particular case, Sedaris uses Imagery, Syntax, and Details to recite a tale about his battle against annoying birds.
      In this piece, Sedaris' use of imagery shows us perfect picture of his house after bird proofing it, which involves taping pictures of terrorist's and rock star's photographs to his windows. My favortite example of his use of imagery is when he says "the light settles on the western wall of our house, just catching two of the hijackers and a half-dozen singer-songwriters who look out from the windows". This line makes me think of a dimly lit room with silhouetted pictures in the window. By using such imagery, Sedaris is able to paint a vivid picture in the mind of his readers.
       Details are, in my opinion, one of Sedaris' strong points. This piece is some of the best evidence for that argument that you can find. In this piece, he uses minor details that work together with imagery and other techniques to show the reader exactly what he wants you to see.  The way Sedaris takes a brief moment to explain what room he is in and which person he has chosen to hang in the window makes me imagine him in the room with the person physically fighting the birds. This makes the whole piece for me even more hilarious as i imagine him in his bedroom with Janis Joplin fighting off a pack of birds
       Syntax is another technique used well by Sedaris in this piece. Syntax it is one of my favorite techniques to inspect because the way it can change a piece so profoundly while only registering as a subtle change to the reader. Sedaris uses syntax particularly well while describing his placement of different pictures throughout the house. During the passage, Sedaris changes tho shorter but animated sentences such as "The pair then moved upstairs to my office, where Janice Joplin and I were waiting for them.". Sedaris uses this shorter more simple structure to convey a sense of urgency in his writing such that it seems he is racing the birds from room to room.
    This is another great piece made even better by the skillful use of basic literary techniques. \

Open Prompt #3

1987. Some novels and plays seem to advocate changes in social or political attitudes or in traditions. Choose such a novel or play and note briefly the particular attitudes or traditions that the author apparently wishes to modify. Then analyze the techniques the author uses to influence the reader's or audience's views. Avoid plot summary.

     In Edward Albee's play "The American Dream", the audience looks in on Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma while they struggle through a simple meeting with a young man, and Mrs Barker, a local adoption agent. While the play seems to be absurd and confusing, upon analysis, it becomes clear that Albee is showing us the absurdity of american social norms of consumerism and conformity during the 1950s. By emphasizing and exaggerating the culture in addition to having childish protagonists, Albee tells us to abandon the ways of the 50s and accept a new less rigid society.

     Albee uses exaggeration throughout his play to show the absurdity of Mommy and Daddy's society. The most prominent example of this is when mommy proudly makes a scene in order to have her "wheat colored" hat replaced with a " Beige colored" hat. Though the idea of making a scene about a hat who's color is the same regardless of if it is called beige or wheat is in itself ridiculous. The more important fact is that mommy opted to have the hat replaced upon insistence by the head of her women's club that her new hat was wheat rather than the beige she thought she had purchased. This is an exaggerated form of conformity that Albee uses to show the absurdity of 1950s culture which he finds corrupt.

     One of the most prominent themes throughout the play is Mommy and Daddy's childish behavior. The first example of this behavior in the play is that Mommy, Daddy and Grandma all call each other Mommy, Daddy and Grandma respectively. By having his characters communicate as though they were children, Albee shows the childish nature of Mommy and Daddy. This nature transfers to everything they do especially when it pertains to greed. By calling each other Mommy and Daddy, the characters show that they have a childlike desire for all things considered to be important by society. Albee uses this nature to compare Mommy and Daddy's greed to the consumerist society of the 1950s in which individuals are encouraged to buy without thinking.
    By using different techniques in "The American Dream", Edward Albee thoroughly convinces audiences of his dissatisfaction with the conformist, consumerist culture of the 1950's

  

Closed Reading: Language, Syntax, Imagery.

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/02/27/060227sh_shouts

This is a funny article about the author and his family as they attempt to become art experts. I really love the way Sedaris uses techniques to describe and illustrate his families brief obsession with art. He also uses the sames techniques to compare his families experience to his own and show how they differ.
         The first thing Sedaris does to really illustrate his piece is use imagery to vividly describe settings and objects. He uses it particulary well when talking about specific pieces of art. The vivid imagery helps us to be able to clearly understand a piece of art and its oftentimes absurd location in his parents house hold.
          Sedaris also makes great use of syntax as a tool in his writing. In this piece, he uses it to convey a sense of thought process and to show his opinion of his families art collection. It seems to me that Sedaris primarily uses longer more detail packed sentences which i feel conveys a sort of flowing nature similar to his thought process.
            Language is another technique Sedaris uses well.  Throughout the whole article, Sedaris throws around artistic names and terms which indicate he has a competent understanding of art. Combining this artsy language with his description of his families hobby sets up a nice contrast between him and his family and his knowledge versus their lack of knowledge. By using this sort of language, It adds a humorous element to the piece and makes it a great deal more amusing.
               As a whole, i really enjoyed reading this piece and i found it very clever and well written. I have decided that i may be analyzing a whole lot more of David Sedaris's work as we do more closed reading blogs.

Course Material #2

Another week...
So another week has come and gone and as usual we continue working through the course. We have been working more this week with syntax. This work actually feels fairly satisfying, much like diction felt last week. It is interesting to look at how we use sentence structure to convey meaning. It seems that we even do it subconsciously oftentimes. This week we read Albee's The American Dream. I found the whole play rather bizarre and, slightly unsatisfying. It is just so strange and in some places vague, that i had trouble deriving any particular meaning from it. Though the If one thing can be said about the play, it is that it certainly follows the notion of Theater of the Absurd. though the absurdity of it proved amusing sometimes ("Bump your uglies")  I found that i was unable to take it seriously as a play and felt myself even a  little annoyed with it. I was glad to be able to put some of my DIDLS knowledge to the test with the play and get a chance to actually implement what we have learned so far.

Open Prompt #2

2009 prompt.

2009. A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

      Throughout the novel The Lord of the Flies, there is one thing that remains constant and prominent. That one thing is a large conch shell. This shell is initially used to herd the boy from the plane crash so they can organize, but quickly becomes a important status symbol and comes to be much more than just a conch shell.  

     From the beginning, the shell comes to represent power. Initially this power stems from it's ability to signal the other boys from great distance. After the boys are all found, they make the rule that at meetings, only the conch holder can speak. From then on, the shell is a recognized symbol for power. By initially being used as a speaking object, the shell becomes an inherent source of power among the boys. Being the only person who can talk means everyone must listen to you which puts whoever has the shell in power. The symbolism of the shell becomes a shaping factor throughout the novel. It leads to the formation of 2 tribes/societies and leads to the death of piggy. The shell is even today one of the most powerful symbols ever produced in a  novel.

         The purpose of the symbol besides as a housing for power, serves to shape the characters. Ralph, the original finder of the shell is a reserved kid who tries to use the shell to keep the peace, administer justice, and  keep the peace. This shows that Ralph is a more community minded person who cares more for the common good than anything else. Jack, Ralph's more aggressive counterpart, tries to use the shell as a tool of dictatorship. With absolute power, he administers justice, provides food and is king of his tribe which is based around hunting.

   Because of the shell, and its effects on people, the Lord of the Flies becomes a symbolic masterpiece that uses symbolism to shape its characters and the story.

    

    

Course Material Blog Post.

 So far this has been a great year. I feel like everything im learning from this class is actually useful and applicable in real world situations. The most helpful part would probably learning how to write introductions. Those are something i have struggled with since forever, so having a teacher show us a way to break them down and address then logically was very helpful. I also am enjoying (I know this is going to sound crazy.) analyzing the use of diction in our literature. It is interesting to me that you can find so much meaning in one word, and how that meaning can shape and entire story. Hopefully we will learn more helpful stuff throughout the year.

Open Reading prompts

                                                                                1974

               

                To Our generation, the harry potter series is one of the best known of our time. Anyone who has seen the movies or read the books will know that Severus Snape seems to be a genuinely mean and evil person. As the reader moves towards the end of the series, they are presented with a different view of Snape, one which shows his relationship with Lilly and James Potter. When the audience is shown Snape’s perspective, it allows them to sympathize with him a great deal.

            From the first time we meet Snape, he is telling harry about what a lousy person harry is and how he is just like his father. Snape is always looking for ways to penalize and chastise harry by any means possible, oftentimes preferring the most severe punishment he can muster. At first Snape’s treatment of harry seems downright evil and we assume this character will be uniformly evil throughout the series.

 In the 5^th book in the series, the idea is presented to us that Snape might have some justification for his treatment of harry. It is presented in the form of a memory of Snape’s in which he is bullied and teased by a young James Potter.  Later in the 7^th book, we see that Snape grew up poor in a broken home with few friends and fewer fellow wizards.  When we read and watch a young Snape be bullied and humiliated by James potter, it invokes a certain amount of sympathy in most people which alters the way we look at Snape and his treatment of Harry as a whole.

Snape grew up as a poor kid from a broken home who had to work extremely hard to gain a reputation and respect. Harry on the other hand despite being orphaned, is brought up into a world where he is famous and rich. Harry’s childhood circumstances cause a great deal of resentment from Snape who feels that Harry is spoiled and cocky. From the readers stand point, we can see why Snape might harbor ill feeling towards Harry. When considered from all viewpoints, we gain a sense of sympathy for Snape as an underprivileged child who feels Harry does not deserve the recognition and respect he gets.

            Though Severus Snape might seem to be a vile and evil person, when we look at the big picture, we see that his actions may be justifiable by his background and upbringing. When we acknowledge his childhood difficulties, we as human beings are wired to feel a twinge of sympathy and sadness that we otherwise would not feel.

Closed Reading: Imagery, Details, Language

I chose to analyze an article from Rolling Stone called "The Truth About the Tea Party" which can be found here: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/matt-taibbi-on-the-tea-party-20100928

The article i chose is full of all sorts of imagery, details and language. From the first scentence, the author draws us a very vivid picture of what they see on their journey to a  tea party rally in the heart of Kentucky.
     My favorite example of imagery from the article is this bit right here: "seemingly every third person in the place is sucking oxygen from a tank or propping their giant atrophied glutes on motorized wheelchair-scooters". I think the imagery in this bit is brilliant, it paints a perfect picture of what the author is seeing but also uses the imagery to show his flagrant bias against the tea party. He uses the visual aid to show us in the most negative way what he sees when he looks at the people around him which he uses to invoke similar feelings into his readership.
     The details that the author uses throughout the article are another superb touch. The most recurring and well used of these details is regarding the demographic of the crowd; elderly and white. his use of details, particularly in this line, "Palin chortles, to best applause her aging crowd can muster.", shows the demographic of the crowd very well. In my mind, it generates the thought of a bunch of decrepit, senile, white people who will be dead before they get a chance to vote anyway. Does it matter that they are that old, no, but it helps to conjure an exaggerated image of the demographic of the tea party and what it stands for.
      The author uses a very unique language in his article. What makes it unique is the use of curse words. His use is not liberal and not used against anyone, but is effective in that it shows his appalled reaction to the argument used by the tea party advocates. The author is by no means vulgar, he simply uses curse words as a tool to bolster the strength of his phrases. When he says "Stay in what truck?", in reaction to one of Palin's comments, "What the hell does that even mean?", it shows that he isn't just skeptical of Palin's comments, but he is upset by the lack of intelligence he sees in it. This use of language isn't necessary, but it adds oomph to his sentences and adds a little extra humor to an already fun piece.