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.

Summary/Analysis: The American Dream

Author:
           Edward Albee is sometimes known as a Theater of Absurdist. He has written many famous satirical plays like "The American Dream" and "The Sandbox".

Setting:
           The setting is Mommy and Daddy's living room in their apartment. This setting is not described in much detail. There are two armchairs, a sofa, a door exit, and an archway in the back of the room.

Significant Characters:
Grandma-
                Grandma is quite different from the other characters. She represents the old American dream and realizes the immoral things that come with the new American dream. She is very wise, mature, and witty and does not succumb to others. Grandma holds her ground and although she is an old lady, she tries to get her voice and opinion into conversations.
Mommy-
                Mommy is extremely dominant, competitive, disrepectful, and rude. She emasculates Daddy and constantly degrades Grandma. She represents the new American dream in that she is all about consumerism. Mommy married Daddy for money.
Daddy-
                 Daddy is weak and emasculated. Mommy repeatedly gives and takes back Daddy's masculinity. Daddy acts like a child that is sometimes punished.
Mrs. Barker-
                  Mrs. Barker is a professional woman who is the chair of the women's club and also works at the Bye-Bye Adoption Center. She constantly competes with Mommy for dominance. She also is referred to in a plural sense.
Young Man-
                   The Young Man represents the new American dream. He has a Midwestern physical appearance and refers to himself as the "type". Although he is good looking on the outside, on the inside he feels empty and lost without his twin brother (the bumble), who was murdered.

Narrative Voice: None because it is a play.

Plot:
              Mommy and Daddy are waiting for a person who is not specified. Grandma comes in with boxes and then the doorbell rings. Mommy tells her that the van man is here to take her away. Instead, Mrs. Barker enters. Mommy and Daddy then leave the room to get water while Grandma and Mrs. Barker talk about the reason behind Mrs. Barker's visit. After Grandma explains to Mrs. Barker about Mommy and Daddy's bumble incident, the young man rings the doorbell. He says he will do anything for money, so Grandma takes him in. She thinks he will help solve Mommy and Daddy's problem. Mommy and Daddy like the young man and are finally satisfied. Grandma then leaves the stage and narrates the audience, saying she wants to see what will happen next.

Quotes:
"Oh, Daddy, you were so masculine; I shivered and fainted" (Albee 17).
                  Here, Mommy gives Daddy his masculinity back as she wants him to open the door. This quote shows how controlling Mommy is over Daddy in that she knows exactly what to say and do to get him to obey her. Because Daddy likes being masculine but often is not, he obeys Mommy whenever his masculinity is given back to him in return.

"And that's because old people are gnarled and sagged and twisted into the shape of a complaint" (Albee 21).
                  Here is one of Grandma's epigrams she uses to describe herself and other old people. This quote emphasizes Albee's theme of deformity in that old people are disfigured and changed into complaining a lot.

Style:
             Albee uses diction, imagery, detail, syntax, and symbols in this play. He does not use point of view since there is no narrator because it is a play. Diction like, "gnarled" and "whimpered" describes people and objects in detail. Details like how the bumble was murdered add to the meaning of the story and provide extra information. Also, Mommy shopping for a wheat-colored hat is an example of the imagery that Albee uses to connect with the reader. Syntax like alliteration, "She was a tramp and a trollop and a trull to boot, and she's no better now" create good flow to the play (Albee 15). Another example of syntax is repetition, like when the young man describes his life. This is to emphasize events more and is possibly to indicate that the young man is lost and confused. One symbol that Albee uses is Daddy's operation. This symbolizes Daddy's replacement of man parts with lady parts. Daddy's operation shows his emasculation.

Theme:
             The main theme of "The American Dream" is that the old American dream is being replaced by the new American dream.
              Grandma symbolizes the old American dream with her wise intelligence and high moral standards. She is hard working and does not succumb to anyone. The other characters, specifically Mommy and the young man, symbolize the new and upcoming American dream. They are primarily focused on money and satisfication and do not care about morals and values. They are very materialistic and like consumerism.

Close Reading #2: "Tactics set, Obama, Romney hurtle toward finish"

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2012/president/candidates/romney/2012/10/20/tactics-set-obama-romney-hurtle-toward-finish/HywYmnELFmufPSUH2jqAqJ/story.html

             As I was searching for articles to read for this blog post, my eyes landed on the article title that was the most eye-catching. Even in the title, interesting diction is shown, "hurtle", which pertains exactly to the subject. This article also includes syntax and detail.
            I think that the best technique that this article has is diction. There are many good word choices and adjectives that the author, Charles Babington, uses to describe the detail that is presented. For example, "He [Mitt Romney] pounded that theme in last week's second debate, sounding almost like a romance counselor in imploring Americans not 'to settle' for a less robust economy than they deserve," includes diction that adds to the tone and makes readers want to continue reading. Both "pounded" and "imploring" are, in my opinion, pejorative diction, which leads me to believe that Babington does not agree with some ideas of Mitt Romney. In addition, Babington's similie that stated that Romney sounded like a romance counselor created a humorous, but also condescending tone. I think that although this article is supposed to be unbiased, Babington's diction causes it to be slightly biased.
          Another technique that this article includes is syntax. For instance, the interrupter in this sentence, "And on Nov. 2 - less than 100 hours before Election Day - the government will release its monthly unemployment report, for October," emphasizes the importance of how close Nov. 2 is to Election Day. The emphasis makes readers question if they will factor the unemployment report into who they will vote for and because the report will be released shortly before Election Day, it is highly unlikely that readers will do so. The interrupter is also an important detail that informs readers of new information.
           Like the detail in the interrupter example, Babington uses additional details to convey important political information about the presidential race. For example, "Democrats see Ohio, with its lower-than-average unemployment rate and general embrace of the president's auto-industry bailout, as their best chance to stop Romney cold," makes readers aware of the importance of voting in Ohio and may unintentionally cause readers to act upon that new knowledge by advocating their favorite candidate to Ohio voters or to carefully make the decision on who to vote for (if that reader is from Ohio). Details like this one personally pertain to each individual reader, which causes readers to be more interested in this article.
          Overall, Babington's use of diction, syntax, and detail create well-written and engaging article. This article's interaction with readers makes them feel connected and continue reading and also helps American citizens participate in voting.

Open Prompt #2

1979. Choose a complex and important character in a novel or a play of recognized literary merit who might on the basis of the character's actions alone be considered evil or immoral. In a well-organized essay, explain both how and why the full presentation of the character in the work makes us react more sympathetically than we otherwise might. Avoid plot summary.

              The character, Darcy, in Pride and Prejudice is seen as a "villian". He is wealthy, harsh, proud, and arrogant. Darcy is very quick to judge others and is very aware of his high social standing. At first, readers cannot sympathize with Darcy, as he is extremely rude to Elizabeth, saying to Mr. Bingley that Elizabeth is not handsome enough for him and is just merely tolerable. At the ball, Darcy refuses to dance with anyone who is not rich and of a high social class. His haughtiness creates disdain among Elizabeth and the readers of this story.

              As the story progresses, readers are able to see how Darcy changes. Darcy begins to develop a liking for Elizabeth, as she is cunning, clever, and intelligent. After Elizabeth rejects Darcy's marriage proposal, he is so humiliated that he sheds his pride and tries to show Elizabeth that he truly loves her. He helps Elizabeth's sister, Lydia, from being disgraced by paying Wickham the money for the marriage. He also defies his aunt, Lady Catherine, by endlessly pursuing Elizabeth. Darcy shows that he no longer cares that Elizabeth is from a lower class than him. In the end, Elizabeth finally sees the changes that Darcy has made and accepts his marriage proposal.

             Not only do readers see how Darcy changes, but they also realize that some of Darcy's actions aren't all that evil and villanous. For example, at first glance, readers may think that Darcy is cruel for manipulating Mr. Bingley to leave Jane by saying Jane is only after Mr. Bingley's money, but later on in the story, readers discover that Darcy only did that to protect Mr. Bingley's heart. Darcy shows that he is an extremely loyal friend. Another example is Darcy's hatred of Wickham. In the beginning, readers are confused why Darcy unfairly treats Wickham, but then it is revealed that Wickham tried to take Darcy's inheritance from Darcy's father.

             Darcy is a great example of how reader's should not "judge a book by its cover". Although Darcy is rude and is viewed as the villian of the story, he is able to change himself for the better. Throughout the book, readers can see the full presentation of Darcy, which makes them realize that Darcy is not that bad after all. By the end of the story, readers are able to sympathize with Darcy.

Response to Course Material #2

           Over the past few weeks, we have read The American Dream and The Century Quilt, analyzed close reading and DILDS, and learned about different literary movements. In such a short time, we have done so much. I think this fast-paced schedule will properly prepare us for the AP Exam.
             My favorite piece of literature we have read so far is The Century Quilt. I liked how we first skimmed the poem, then read it more carefully, and finally analyzed it with DILDS. Through the vivid imagery, I could clearly imagine the quilt, with different colored patches. Using DILDS and annotating the poem, I was able to see that the quilt was a symbol for the author's family tree. The colored patches were the leaves that represented each family member and the stitches were the branches that brought the family members together. I think that DILDS and How To Read Literature Like a Professor helped me see the symbols quicker. I liked how this poem had an underlying meaning in that even though the family members were of different or mixed race, they were still a family. I think that meaning is very important, especially in the huge melting pot that we currently live in.
            Another thing that we have studied is different literary movements. It was a nice refresher for me because I realized that I had forgotten most of the movements from my American and British Literature classes. I vaguely remembered that The Great Gatsby was from the Modernist Literary Movement, but I think that was because it was my favorite book that I read in American Lit and I was eager to learn more about it. I also liked filling out the literary movement chart because it helped me see the differences and the evolvement of the movements over time.
             We have also done peer responses to blog posts. I thought writing the responses helped me critically analyze the blog posts. In addition, the responses I got from my peers were also helpful and made me see my prompt, article, or book from a different point of view. I noticed that many of my criticisms were to use more examples in my blog posts and to connect different ideas together.
              I think that the blog posts, literary movements, and close reading practices we have done in class are really beneficial. I hope to use my new knowledge in my future blog posts, annotating, and writing.