Close Reading #3: "Northwestern slips past Michigan State"

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/65468/northwestern-slips-past-michigan-state

           During football season, many people become very involved in supporting their favorite team. Things tend to get heated and people's opinions and feelings are often exhibited. This article is one example of a supposedly biased writer blogging about MSU's loss to Northwestern. The disappointed tone of writer, Brian Bennett, is shown in this article through diction, syntax, and detail.
          The diction that Bennett uses shows his disdain for MSU. For example, in the sentence, "It's the same old story for Michigan State, which unbelievably went 0-4 in Big Ten play at home this season," the words "same old story" and "unbelievably" seems like Bennet is tired of MSU losing and that their losses are starting to become a regular thing. The pejortive diction that Bennett chooses like "stuffed" and "disaster" create a negative tone that MSU fans can definately relate to.
          Bennett uses syntax, specifically interrupters, to emphasize MSU's mistakes and unorganized team. For instance, the interrupter in this sentence, "What inevitably happened though, Michigan State's complete inability to win a game -- especially at home -- proved much more powerful than Northwestern's tendency to blow leads", emphasizes the disappointment of Bennett in that not only can't MSU win a game, but they cannot win a home game (which are viewed as extremely important as all the fans are in person, rooting for the team). These interrupters add to Bennett's tone in the article and may influence readers' viewpoints on MSU as well.
         The detail that Bennett includes contribute to his disappointed tone. Even readers who do not know much about football can infer that the details are quite negative. For example, "Or you could say the Spartans found a way to give it away, as they committed four turnovers, including a fumble inside Northwestern's 1 in the first half, and an Andrew Maxwell interception that turned into a 43-yard David Nwabuisi touchdown early in the second half," shows the details like fumbles and turnovers that Bennett uses to describe how and why MSU lost.
        Overall, diction, syntax, and details are used by Bennett to show his disappointment in MSU's numerous losses. The latest loss to Northwestern was described thoroughly and readers can blatantly see that Bennett is not impressed by this game.

Open Prompt #3

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.

           The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald is a novel about an extremely wealthy society. Although the elite and upper class may seem happier and better than lower classes, Fitzgerald uses symbols to show that this is not the case.

          One of the most significant symbol is geography. The society is broken up into two places: the East Egg and the West Egg. The East Egg is where the "old rich" live. It represents a classy, fashionable, and elegant society. The West Egg is where the "new rich" live. It represents an extravagant, lavish, and unfashionable society.

          Although the characters of the East Egg are considered better than the characters of the West Egg, they are not as satisfied nor happy. For example, Daisy was from the East Egg and even though she loved Gatsby (from the West Egg), she chose to marry her second choice, Tom Buchanan, because Gatsby was at war and Tom was extremely wealthy. Also, Gatsby orginally thought Daisy was the definition of perfection: beautiful, graceful, charming, and wealthy. This was partially because she lived in the East Egg, but was also primarily because Gatsby put her on a pedastle (since he was in love with her). However, Daisy's personality was far from perfection. She was cynicle, uncaring, and shallow. Although Jay Gatsby was from the West Egg, he was a much better person: loyal, kind, and persistant.

           The differences in the characters of the two Eggs are extreme. It is evident that Gatsby lives a better and happier life, although he is of the West Egg. Fitzgerald uses these symbols to show that no matter where you are from and what social class you are, you can still live a great life.

Response to Course Material #3

          So far, we have dug deeper into The American Dream and have watched the movie, Death of a Salesman. At first, I was extremely confused after only reading the play, but after annotating, discussions with the class, and the close reading, I think I am pretty solid on it. The thing that helped the most was annotating. I would usually just skim through the play, but annotating made me read every line multiple times to not only find DILDS in it, but also the meaning of the line and how it contributes to the characters' personalities or the theme of the story. Before, I have only annotated passages when I took the ACT and SAT and that seemed to help me a lot, as I improved my ACT reading score by 8 points last year. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to annotate school reading as well.
         After reading The American Dream, we jumped straight into watching the next play, Death of a Salesman. I liked that we didn't skim the play instead because watching the movie helped me create a visual thought to the play. I was able to actually see the set and the characters and hear the tone of each character. The music and visual effects helped set the mood as well. Although I know what happened in the play, I am still putting together the meaning of it and how the events and actions of the characters reveal the theme of the play. I have just started annotating and already, I am understanding so much more. The annotating the second time around is much quicker and easier for me.
          In addition to the plays we have read/watched, we have also retook the terms test. I noticed that I didn't have to study as much this time because I already knew most of the words. I concentrated on putting those words in context and searching for examples. This helped me a ton during the test. However, I realized that I need to pay attention to the specific details and wording of the question stem, as I lost points due to rushed reading. I will definitely use that technique on future tests.