Sunday, October 31, 2010

“Newark, 1944, When Polio Disrupted the Playground” by Michiko Kakutani | Published 10/4/10 | A Book Review Analysis

            In “Newark, 1944, When Polio Disrupted the Playground”, Kakutani weaves together a skillful essay using many rhetorical devices to analyze Nemesis by Philip Roth . One of those rhetorical devices is parallelism, for example, when she comments, Bucky (the protagonist) “is supervising the neighborhood playground, watching the boys play ball and the girls jump rope”. Moreover, she helps the flow of her essay through her use of repetition, for example, when she says, “how God could allow…wonder how God could have let…how God could be…” The above example is also a good example of Kakutani’s use of the “rule of three”, or tricolon to make her essay sound better. Furthermore, Kakutani uses alliteration in her writing. For example, when she says, “responsibility and transgression, tradition and rebellion”. Kakutani’s use of a question quoted directly from Nemesis, adds a certain personal element to the essay, “Who brought polio here if not me?” asked the protagonist of Nemesis. Finally, Kautani’s utilization of natural emphasis adds the perfect final touch to her essay. Just reading the last couple of words of the paragraphs, “polio…spreading anxiety and suspicion”, “menacing teenagers”, “life-denying consequences…”, “accused of being a carrier”, “God could be so heartless and cruel”, and finally, “’Who brought polio here if not me?’” gives the reader a good idea of what the essay is about, but in memorable words that Kakutani hopes that the reader would take away with him.

           Overall, Kakutani's use of rhetorical devices in her essay makes it flow easily and helps her convey her point in an easy to understand manner. In addition, it helps the reader more easily connect with and understand her essay and the plot of Nemesis, and helps make the reader more receptive to her ideas since they're easy to understand. The only weakness I perceive in this essay is its continuous references to other authors and previous works of Philip Roth that the reader of this essay (like me) would not be familiar with.

            In analyzing Nemesis, Kakutani used New Historicist criticism. She mentions many of Philip Roth’s other works, such as Indignation, and The Plot Against America and compares and contrasts these works with Nemesis. Moreover, Kakutani examines possible purposes behind why Roth wrote Nemesis, for example, to entertain, or to comment on the post-WWII era.

            Kakutani’s analysis of Bucky immediately reminded me of Michael Henchard of The Mayor of Casterbridge. Kakutani describes Bucky as a “one-dimensional character” that “makes for a pallid, predictable story line in which the random workings of fate and the fate of temperament—rather than genuine free choice—are the narrative drivers”. Henchard is definitely a “one-dimensional character” battered by “fate and the fate of temperament”. Michael is an honest man and hard-working man whose fatal flaw is his temper: he sold his wife and daughter on a drunken whim and then proceeded to become mayor of a small town through hard work. The Mayor of Casterbridge is the tale of how the "randomn workings of fate" has brought about Henchard's rise and fall.

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/books/05book.html?_r=1

“My Friend Lodovico” by David Masello | Published 2/8/04 | A Reflective Essay Analysis

          In “My Friend Lodovico”, Masello uses a conversational tone in order to tell us of his relationship with his friend Lodovico, who happens to be a painting. Through Masello’s use of rhetorical devices in “My Friend Lodovico”, he not only allows the reader to understand better his essay, but also helps it flow better.

            Masello’s use of questions in his writing betters his essay. When he asks, “Why do I continue to visit this mute, overdressed, imperious young man?” he mirrors the question that is currently flowing, unspoken, through the reader’s mind. As a result, his subsequent answer to this question allows the reader to settle down and enjoy the essay without wondering if Masello is indeed sane to have such interactions with a painting.

            Furthermore, Masello uses parallelism, such as when he says, “I admired Lodovico’s regal bearing, his unblinking confidence, and his solid ownership of a defined station in life” to facilitate the flow of the passage, and add power to his description of Lodovico. Moreover, the above quote is also an example of tricolon, which adds even more power to Masello’s description of Lodovico.

            In addition, Masello uses repetition, for example, when he says, “he [Lodovico] neither smiles nor frowns, seems judging or indifferent, appears happy or sad” to hammer in the idea of why he likes Lodovico so much.

            The little anecdotes, such as when Masello says, “rather than confront Lodovico in tears, I collected myself beside the waters before presenting myself to him for consolation”, really made me laugh. Such humor made me like the essay better because it helps break up the long descriptive paragraphs about Lodovico into little, digestible, pieces.

            The tone that Masello uses in “My Friend Lodovico” is pensive and adoring. Masello creates a pensive tone when he wonders, “Will his [Lodovico’s] youth eventually intimidate me?” At this point, the author contemplates the course of his life from Lodovico’s perspective. He imagines looking down on himself and watching his transition from youth to man. Masello then proceeds to consider what it would be like if Lodovico were to come alive. The adoring tone in “My Friend Lodovico” shines through in Masello’s description of him. Masello exclaims, “He is simply a young, well-dressed, attractive man”, and “he is an expert creation”.

            Masello’s tone in “My Friend Lodovico” made me like the essay so much more because it adds flavor to the essay to know what Masello thinks of Lodovico, and the pensive-ness that appears at the end of the essay really puts the entire essay in perspective. This is because it allows the reader a glimpse of the true reason why Lodovico is so important to Masello, besides companionship.

            Although I really like the tone that Masello adopted in “My Friend Lodovico”, I don’t think it’ll work for an AP essay because it causes Masello to spend too many words praising and mulling over Lodovico instead of constructing a logical argument on why Lodovico is a good painting and person.

            All in all, "My Friend Lodovico" is a enchanting essay that is neatly executed and has no weaknesses that I can perceive.

Source: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B01E0DF1E3BF93BA35751C0A9629C8B63

“Dare to Care: A minister and the politics of poverty” by Lisa Miller | Published 10/11/10 | An Editorial Analysis

                In "Dare to Care", Miller takes up a formal and informative tone in order to persuade us to take up the cause of alleviating domestic poverty. One device that Miller uses to persuade is "logos:, which is indicated by the prevalence of statistics in her writing. Examples of statistics in "Dare to Care" are, "In America, more than a million children were hungry in 2008, a 56% jump from the year before", or "nearly one in four children had experienced 'food insecurity'". The later "logos" argument also bordered on Miller's use of "pathos" to appeal to her readers. By telling us that nearly 25% of children have not had enough to eat at one point, she is appealing to our emotional response to the heart-wrenching plight of these kids.

            Moreover, Miller's use of rhetorical devices helps the reader better understand her argument and helps her argument flow easier. For example, when Miller uses repetition when she says, “hunger is related to poverty and poverty to unemployment”, the connections among hunger, poverty, and unemployment are emphasized and the passage just flows.

            In addition, Miller’s use of alliteration, as in “blue blazer”, and “more money”, and the “rule of three”, as in “disabilities: old age, infirmity, addiction” helps her passages sound smoother, and makes her readers more receptive to what she has to say.

            Although Miller does a really good job with taking advantage of most of the rhetorical devices, I think she could’ve taken more advantage of the natural rhythm of English in order to emphasize her points. In other words, I think she could’ve switched around her word order within sentences a bit so that sentences would begin with every-day knowledge and end with the new or important stuff. This way, her critical points would be more memorable, because the ends of sentences are normally what the reader would remember most.

            In “Dare to Care”, Miller crafts her voice, or narrative persona, into the editorial through her use of 2^ndperson, her recounting of her experiences with a specialist, and her use of dialogue. These elements made me like her piece more because it helped me engage more in the piece. When she said, “it’s easy for a journalist to be cynical—until David Beckmann walks into your office”, for example, her use of 2^ndperson helped draw me into her tirade against the lack of alleviation of domestic poverty more that if she had just used first or third person here.

            If this essay were an AP essay, the voice would be perfectly appropriate because even though Miller seems to be talking directly to me at times, she still manages to maintain an appropriate distance between me (the reader), and her, helping the writing carry on its formal and informative tone.

Source: Newsweek: 10/11/10 Issue

Class Notes : Week 4: October 25th - October 29th

What is the AP exam like?
The Essay:

The essay almost always asks, how does the author create effects and what does it mean?
The hidden "so what" question is discuss the meaning or "the effect" of the piece of literature
Essays ALWAYS talk about the meaning behind the analysis, even when the question isn't explicitly stated.
There are two types of essays to write: literary analysis and cause & effect
To analyze is to show how the parts contribute to the functioning of the whole
"Cause" can be symbols, diction, disjunction, rhetoric, figurative devices, etc. (all the literary devices we've learned about previously in class). "Effect" is the repercussions of these literary devices on the piece of literature
Be creative in the essay!
Ex: An example of dramatic irony is seen in M+M music. For example, when one of their lyrics say, "Sometimes I want to take my toaster in the bath", it is not meant literally; M+M is not actually saying that suicide is a good option here.
As Virginia Woolf once said, "A good essay must have this permanent quality about it; it must draw its curtain round us, but it must be a curtain that shuts us in not out"

Essay-Writing Strategies

Read the directions, then read it again. This is where the close-reading strategies we've learned come in handy.
Make sure the directions are followed word for word. The highest score attainable if the directions are not followed is 3/9.
There are two main ways to format essays: block style and point-by-point
Block style is used for relative merits (i.e. which teacher is the best?). In block style, you talk about topic #1 in paragraph #1, then topic #2 in paragraph #2. The topics are separated.
The point-by-point writing style can be used if the points are parallel. For example, paragraph #1 would be comparing and contrasting topics #1 and #2 on a certain point, and paragraph #2 would be comparing and contrasting topics #1 and #2 on a different point.
A combination of point-by-point and block writing can be used if some parts of the essay can easily be delineated into points and some cannot
Paragraphs can't be too long (i.e. a full page)
Bad comparing and contrasting is saying topic A is x, but topic B is not x. Topic B can NOT be a lot of things.
In my AP U.S. History and AP World History classes, we've had to utilize point-by-point and block essay-writing formats in order to analyze historic events.

Analyzing AP English poems related to Eros

The two AP English poems about Eros differ in their conception of him. One views him as a "brute", and the other views him as "angelic"
Some possible starter sentences when comparing and contrasting the two poems are: poem A & poem B share similarities in meaning in that...., BUT poem A really focuses on meaning..., WHILE poem B really focuses on meaning...

AP English Multiple Choice Strategies

Read the poem, then reread it slower so that a paraphrase of the poem can be heard in the mind
Read all the questions before answering them
Vocabulary is very important on the test
Utilize the MC test-taking strategies we've utilized for any other class, and for standardized tests: pace yourself, trust your instincts, if you can eliminate at least one answer choice, make an educated guess, etc.

Allusions - from Literature, Structure, Sound, and Sense by Perrine

An allusion is something that references history or previous literature
They tend to have powerful emotional effects
Allusions are used to reinforce the emotion of the ideas of one's work with the emotion or ideas of another's work or occasion
Poets, more than any other type of author, typically assume that their readers share a common foundation of literary experiences, usually of classical mythology, Shakespeare, or the Bible (King James Version)
Hamilton's Mythology and the parts of the Bible that we've read over the summer are really helpful for this

Meanings in the Poem - from Literature, Structure, Sound, and Sense by Perrine

The total meaning of a poem is the experience that it communicates (and it can't be communicated in any other way)
Prose meaning of a poem is the ingredient that can be separated out of the poem in the form of a prose paraphrase. It is NOT the poem itself.
The idea behind a poem is only a part of the total experience that the poem communicates
Good readers are receptive to all kinds of experiences.
The value or worth of a poem is not determined by the truth or nobility of the idea that it conveys. Instead, it is defined by the value of the total experience of the poem
As readers, we must feel when reading the poem that the idea that the poem conveys is deeply felt by the poet: he's not just moralizing.

Homework

Study literary terms!
Study for the Critical Approaches test on Monday, October 4th.
Critical Approaches wiki due by 8am Sunday, October 3rd.
Class Notes and Outside Reading Journals due by 8pm October 10th.

Works Cited:

M+M. "Blink-182." Blink-182. n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.

Perrine, Laurence, Thomas R. Arp, and Greg Johnson. Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. 8th ed. Boston: Heinle & Heinle: Thomson Learning, Inc., 2002. 852-69. Print.

Class Notes : Week 3: September 27th - October 1st

Clarity

"You don't need to outdo the competition. It's expensive and defensive. Underdo your competition. We need more simplicity and clarity" (Fried).
Use short active verbs to convey action
Use subjects that match up with their actors to bring the main action into the sentences
Use concision to keep the reader focused
Ideas should flow
The active voice expresses actions in a straightforward fashion
The passive voice helps the writer dodge the question of who performed the action
Nominalizations (actions expressed as nouns) should be used with caution (i.e. the use of "an explanation was provided" instead of "he explained")
Source: http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/clarity.html

The Plain Style

Plain-ness in writing is usually good
Use powerful, yet concise words to replace wordy and less powerful phrases (i.e. use "powerful" instead of "fast-paced, emotionally tense")
Agency is avoiding the question of who did what (i.e. saying "a terrible thing has happened" instead of "I smashed my mom's china")
Link: http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/plainstyle.htm

Concision

"Vigorous writing is concise" (Strunk).
Padding our writing with unnecessary wordiness is bad
Empty words should be cut (i.e. "these are the practical contingency management implications" can become "these are the practical implications")
One way to write better is to replace a weak adverb + verb construct with a stronger verb (i.e. "successfully obtains their support" can be replaced with "wins their support")
Link: http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/concision.html

Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the art or science of persuasion by means of stylistic and structural techniques
As we learned last week, another definition of rhetoric is "the art of communication"
The first rhetorical choice of a writer is diction
Plain diction is usually better than fancy diction.
For more notes on diction: http://apelit-okemos.spruz.com/pt/Wendy-Liu-Class-Notes-Journal-Week-1-September-13th-September-17th/blog.htm
Parallelism is a useful and flexible rhetorical technique
Repetition is a useful tool because it can really bring an idea across
Tenses should be consistent
Alliteration and tricolon makes writing sound better
Humor should be avoided in formal writing
Think before using the first and second persons in writing
Try not to use an exclamation point when writing
When writing, remember: the end of the sentence is what the reader remembers the most
Link: http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/rhetoric.html
As we learned last week, when writing, the subject, purpose, audience, and speaker need to be considered

A good image that shows the importance of rhetoric: http://argumentation.computing.dundee.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/american.rhetoric.png

Syntax

The rules that govern how we put together languages
SVO (subject, verb, object) is a common way to express ourselves
If syntax is varied through construction and length, it impacts the reader in several ways, such as pace, tone, and emphasis/attention
Pace is how fast something seems to be moving
When writing, think about, what’s the tone? What things should be in the foreground? Which things should be in the background?
Coordinating conjunction: FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
Subordinating conjunctions begin the dependent clause that precedes the independent clause. It's more subtle than a coordinating conjunction (i.e. after, because, if, lest, how, since, though, unless, whenever)
A compound sentence is what happens when there are coordinating conjunctions (i.e. Would you like to swim, or go jogging with me?)
A complex sentence is what happens when there are subordinating conjunctions (i.e. If I ate your cookie, what would you do?)
A simple sentence is what happens when there aren’t any conjunctions (i.e. I run.)

A great guide to writing clearly while following the rules of the English language: http://www.crockford.com/wrrrld/style.html

I try to use the techniques that we learned this week in AP U.S. Government. In AP U.S. Government, concision, clarity, and plain-ness are key. The aim behind essay-writing for that class is simply to get the point across, and the techniques we learned in class this week are really useful for that purpose.

Homework

September 28th: edit of two peer papers due by 8 pm
September 29th: final draft of poetry analysis due by 8 pm
October 3rd: critical approaches wiki due by 8 am

Works Cited

Fried, Jason. SXSW. 2006. Web. Oct. 2010.
Strunk, William. Elements of Style. N.p.: n.p., 1919. Web. 3 Oct. 2010.

Class Notes : Week 2: September 20th - September 24th

Figurative Language

http://toonlet.com/render/awsomeguy21/panelset/20903-Figurative_Lang-sfull.png

Figure of speech is a way of saying something other than the ordinary way. It is saying one thing while meaning another
Figurative language is language that shouldn’t be taken literally
There are 4 forms of metaphors

Both the literal and figurative terms are named; like a simile; ex: “life the hound”
The literal term is named and the figurative term is implied
The literal term is implied and the figurative term is named
Both the literal and figurative terms are implied

Personification is giving attributes of human beings to animals, objects, or concepts. It is a metaphor where the figurative term is always a person.
Apostrophe is addressing someone absent or dead or something nonhuman as if they were present and alive and could reply.
Synecdoche is the use of the part for the whole. For example, when Shakespeare says the “cuckoo’s song is unpleasant to a married ear”, he means a married man’s ear
Metonymy is the use of something closely related for the thing actually meant. For example, the popular use of tongues in the place of languages
Figurative language gives us imaginative pleasure, adds more imagery, and adds emotional intensity and concentration (say things in fewer words).
When reading a poem, one should ask: What use is being made of this language? How does it contribute to the experience of the poem?
A symbol is something that means more than what it is. For example, in “The Road Not Taken”, the road is a symbol for choice

A literary symbol functions literally and figuratively at the same time

An allegory is a narrative of description that has a 2^ndmeaning beneath the surface.
Paradox is an apparent contradicting that is nevertheless somehow true.

In a paradoxical statement the contradiction usually stems from one of the words being used figuratively or with more than one denotation.
Paradoxes shock the reader and by its absurdity underscores the truth of what’s being said.
In Computational Physics, we learned about the "Twin Paradox", which is the idea that if there are two twins, and one stays on Earth while another blasts off into space at relativistic speeds, the Earth twin would think that the rocket twin's moving, while he's not moving, so the rocket twin would be aging slower, but the rocket twin would think that he's not moving, the Earth twin's moving, so the Earth twin's aging slower. So what if the rocket twin went back to Earth? Who would be older then?

Overstatement = hyperbole = exaggeration in the service of truth
Understatement is saying less than one means.
Verbal irony is saying the opposite of what one means and sometimes even what one means and the opposite of what one means at the same time.

Sarcasm is colloquial while satire is literary, although they both imply ridicule.
Sarcasm is almost always cruel, and satire is usually both cruel and kind at the same time.
Sarcasm and satire may contain irony, which is neither cruel nor kind, it is just a literary device.

Irony may show a discrepancy between appearance and reality or between expectation and fulfillment.
Dramatic irony is a discrepancy between what the speaker says and what the poem means.
Irony of situation is a discrepancy between actual circumstances and those that would seem appropriate or between what one anticipates and what actually comes to pass.
All of the above literary devices can be used in poetry to make it what it is. Last week, we learned that poetry quickens our senses and deepens our experience, and the above rhetorical devices are part of what makes poetry this way.
A really good website explaining figurative language with ample examples: http://www.frostfriends.org/figurative.html

“Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy

This poem is about a girl who was born to be bred under society’s rules. She was presented with dolls, stoves, irons, and lipsticks as a child, all representatives of what she was expected to use when she grew up. The problem was, “she was healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms and back, abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity” (Piercy 7-9), all the traits that a man is supposed to possess, not a woman. As a result, “she was advised to play coy” (12), to wheedle her way through life because that is what’s expected of women to do in order to get a husband, which is of course, the ultimate goal of a woman: to snag a husband. Eventually though, “her good nature wore out like a fan belt” (15-16), and she snapped. She offered up herself, her personality, all the things that made her who she was, and married. In this way, she became a lifeless doll.
The things we learned about diction last week can also be used to analyze this poem because at the last stanza of the poem, the author chooses vagueness over specificity. There, Piercy does not say that the girl died, or she got married, but left the last stanza deliberately vague so that it can be interpreted in either way, or in both ways (meaning she got married and died figuratively speaking). In the last stanza, the evidence for the girl's death is when it mentions "casket" and "undertaker", and the evidence for the girl's marriage shows up in the description of her clothes (pink and white nightie), the cosmetics and satin that is mentioned, and the word "consummation". Consummation's dictionary definition is completion or fulfillment, but in its connotation, it is often used in the case of marriage or love.

http://www.agendamag.com/Fall2006/images/barbie/barbie.gif

“Sorting Laundry” by Elisavietta Ritchie

“Sorting Laundry” is about a woman folding and washing clothes. The objects that she comes across continuously remind her of her husband. She also comes cross a shirt left by a former lover, and since it has been through the wash, this most likely means that it was the woman’s lover, because only a woman would wear her lover’s clothes: a guy would not go around wearing female clothes, while a female might go around wearing guy clothes.

Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the art of communication
The “Rhetorical situation” is the context for an act of communication

It’s the situation in which communication takes place. This analysis will lead to a plan that will lead to more effective communication. Anyone who needs to communicate anything will always try to analyze the rhetorical situation before beginning to compose the message.
A deeper explanation of the rhetorical situation: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/625/01/

The “plan”

Subject: What’s the topic?

Are you sure it’s what you wanted to communicate?
What’s the main idea?
Is the idea too broad or too narrow?
How can the idea be developed?

Purpose: What do you want to get out of this?

Why are you engaged in this communication?
Are you here to entertain? Reflect on the world? Inform? Persuade?

Audience: Who, exactly, do you imagine will received this communication?

Think about the age group and their vocabulary and reading level
Think about the audience’s cultural base/knowledge
Think about the audience’s educational background
What’re the audience’s expectations?

Speaker (Persona): What kind of a person do you want to seem like as you send this message?

Do you want to speak as yourself, or as a fictional character?
What characteristics or attributes do you want to convey?

Argument

Argument is one way to accomplish the goal of persuasion
Persuasion is a purpose for communication, while argument is a technique to accomplish the purpose of communication
There are three types of arguments:

Ethos: argument of ethics: appeal to our immortality (the sense of right and wrong)
Logos: logical arguments: constructed according to certain rules and appeal to our intellect (ability to reason)
Pathos: arguments of emotion: appeal to our feelings (pity, jealous, etc.)

The Vocabulary of argumentation

Thesis is the one main point. It’s always an opinion that we’re seeking to prove as correct
Claim is an assertion. It’s an idea that is not a simple fact. Claims should be used to support the thesis and they make good topic sentences.
Warrant is an explanation of your reasoning and evidence. It shows how claims are supported and ties the evidence to the claims
Evidence is a fact that shows that your claims are reasonable
Necessary elements of an argument are points that can’t be ignored
Sufficient evidence is the weight of the evidence. Is there enough evidence to make the case?

Some common types of arguments

Proposal argument
Cause & effect argument
Argument of evaluation
Argument of fact
Argument of definition

When constructing an argument, use the rhetorical situation to guide you
When writing an argument, put it all on the page

Homework

Due 9/22/10: finish responding to the "Pink Dog" forum by 8pm
Due 9/24/10: write the rough draft of an essay that, in 750-1000 words, analyzes the meaning of one of the poems that we have read

Class Notes : Week 1: September 13th - September 17th

Critical Approaches

Formalism: focuses on the text
New Historicism: the historical/cultural context in which a text is written affects the said text
Psychoanalytical Criticism: the unconscious mind affects texts
Archetypal and Mythological Criticism: Effects of archetypes and mythology on a text
Feminist Criticism: Effects of gender on a text
Marxist Criticism: Effects of Marx on a piece of text
Postcolonial Criticism: Effects of post-colonialism on a text

A good website that introduces some of the above critical approaches: http://www.charlesyoungs.com/english12honors/criticalapproachestoliterature.html

Poetry

Poetry quickens our senses and deepens our experience. It is at the heart of literature, figuratively and literally speaking. Pretty much all of the earliest works of literature of the various civilizations are poetry. Think The Epic of Gilgamesh of Mesopotamia, The Illiad and The Odyssey of the Greeks, The Aeneid of the Romans, and Beowulf of the English. Poetry is language condensed to artistic effect. It is, in the words of Wordsworth, “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth). Because poetry is so powerful, yet so condensed, it is intense. All that we have to do for literature, we have to do for poetry, and more. Yet for all that we get from literature, we get from poetry, and more. One definition of poetry is that it takes longer to explain it than read it and is intended to create an artistic effect.

“The Eagle”by Lord Tennyson is a good example of this definition of poetry because it takes longer to explain this poem than it takes to read it, and it also creates an artistic effect by helping us imagine the eagle better. Another poem that we discussed in class was “Winter”. It takes longer to explain than read, and it has an artistic appeal because instead of telling us what winter is like, the poem shows us through different personal perspectives what winter is like, allowing the reader to more easily connect with the text.

Delving deeper into poetry: “Hidden Meanings” by Dabney Stuart

            The poem “Hidden Meanings” by Dabney Stuart contains many hidden sexual connotations. For example, when Dabney mentions, “Both Hansel and Jack hated their mothers: / Jack sold the old cow / so she threw his seeds away; / Hansel let his feel his fingers a lot / and then stuffed her in the oven” (1-5), he is saying that Jack didn’t feel sexually attracted to his mom so she tried to castrate his mom, and there was incest going on between Jack and his mom. There are sexual connotations in the poem regarding the fathers too. For example, the poem mentions “Their fathers were troublesome, too: / one was a wimp…the other…had to be cut down, stalk first” (6-9). This is in essence saying that one of the fathers was impotent, and the other had to be castrated. The poem then goes on to mention that Rumpelstiltskin “played by himself” (11), “couldn’t get a baby by proxy” (12), and “stuck his wooden leg through the floor” (13), implying that Rumpelstiltskin performed autoeroticism and was impotent. Then, the poem moves on to its final message, “the two boys finally got rich, like Cinderella” (14), saying that males and females are treated differently in fairy tales. All Cinderella had to do to become rich was to look pretty at a ball. But for the guys, they had to embark on adventures and overcome adversaries to get to their “happy ending”. In essence, Dabney Stuart is saying that women are leeches. In the 1960s, when this poem was written, society was training women to think that they can be like the princesses of fairy tales, sponge off men, and make men their “plaything”, and Stuart is saying here that this is wrong.

            This poem reminds me of a book that I’m currently reading, The Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson. This book is about two people who get deeply embroiled in a sex trafficking investigation, and I feel like the book is the completely opposite of “Hidden Meanings”. “Hidden Meanings” is talking about women exploiting men for money, while The Girl Who Played with Fire is mostly about men exploiting women for money.

            In reading this poem, we had to apply the techniques of close reading that we learned last week.

Diction

Diction is powerful and revealing because words are chosen for a reason

For example thin is a neutral word. Yet if you describe someone as slender, or svelte, you are being more honorific. On the other end of the spectrum, if you describe someone as skinny or gaunt, you are being more and more pejorative
If you say a kid is svelte, then you are a pedophile. If you say a kid is gaunt, then you are implying that the kid’s bones are prominent. Word choice matters.

Connotation v. denotation

Connotation is the dictionary definition of a word. Denotation is the non-dictionary, cultural definition of a word.
For example, the word Eden’s definition is the residence of Adam and Even before their Fall. Yet the denotation of Eden is a paradise, a place of perfect bliss.

Concreteness v. abstraction

An author’s choice of either depends on what they were looking for
For example, clothes, pants, jeans, Levis, show an increase in concrete-ness, and one’s word choice of any depends on the context. “She jumped like her pants were on fire” v. “She jumped like her clothes were on fire”. In the first instance, we may think that she’s really excited. But in the second instance, we may think that her clothes are really on fire.
In AP Government, we’re analyzing the Declaration of Independence, which starts with, “when in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth..." (Jefferson). Here, Jefferson aims for a lot of concreteness because he does not want the English to mistake his, and America’s intent for writing this document.
In writing, concreteness can be used to convey intimacy whereas abstractness and be used to convey aloofness and distance

Precision, vagueness, and specificity

Which one of the above an author decides to use depends on the situation
For example, if I voice an opinion, the teacher is expected to say, “good!”, not “I am so happy that for once you said something in class!”. Vagueness is valued in this situation because that is the only socially accepted route.
If an author is vague, it can mean that he’s trying to convey suspense, ambiguity, or imply that there are multiple meanings behind what he’s saying.

Elevation v. colloquialism

The most casual form of language is slang (outsiders’ language that they use to bond), then colloquial language (ordinary speech). Then there is elevated language, which is epic language. It’s used in inaugural addresses or Nobel acceptance speeches.

Dialect, jargon, regionalisms, etc.

Dialect is the different ways a language is spoken in different geographical areas of a country
Regionalisms are words unique to a region smaller than a dialect region: for example, the varied use of pop, soda, and coke in the U. S.
Jargon is technical vocabulary
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee’s characters use the word scuppernong instead of grape to show that her characters have limited knowledge, so they can only speak in this way, instead of changing their diction to fit that of the reader

Homework

Class Notes Journal due Monday, September 20^th
Comment analytically on “Kitchenette Building” and respond to two peers’ posts due Thursday, September 16^th
Comment analytically diction or imagery in “The Widow’s Lament” and “The Naming of Parts” and respond to two peers’ posts due Monday, September 20^th

Works Cited

Jefferson, Thomas. "The Declaration of Independence." U.S. History. The Independence Hall Association (IHA), 4 July 1776. Web. 19 Sept. 2010.

Stuart, Dabney. "Hidden Meanings." Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. Ed. Laurence Perrine, Thomas R. Arp, and Greg Johnson. Boston: Heinle & Heinle: Thomson Learning, Inc., 2002. 754-55. Print.

Wordsworth, William, and Samuel T. Coleridge. Lyrical Ballads. N.p.: n.p., 1798. Web. 19 Sept. 2010.

Class Notes : Week 7: October 25th - October 29th

http://www.sachs.ab.ca/dept/finearts/drama/drama.gif

DRAMA:

Drama is, in the words of Alfred Hitchcock, "...life with the dull bits cut out"
Dramas have the ability to be very powerful (its impact is direct, immediate, and heightened by the actors' skills)
Dramatists are limited to the objective (or dramatic) point of view
Playwrights are not limited by the power of words (lighting, no noises, audience has nowhere else to look)
Playwrights limited because plays has to have mostly talking humans, it's hard to change scenes often and fast, and the scale must be right
During plays, if the audience is packed in tight, there is a communal experience that intensifies meaning
Other limitations of plays are that plays must hold the attention of the audience (plays can't be too long), the central meaning must be easy to grasp (because no replays), and there can't be any purely narrative/lyrical passages (dialogue instead)
Plays can be realistic or nonrealistic. There are also degrees of realism in plays.
All stage production requires artificiality (i.e. missing walls, and actors can't turn their back on the audience for a long time)
Also, usually dramatic dialogue is more coherent and expressive than real speech. This helps to heighten and intensify reality
All dramas ask us to accept certain departures from reality - certain dramatic conventions

The characteristic device of Greek drama, a chorus, is nonrealistic

Dramas still utilize many of the same devices as poetry (syntax, diction, figurative language, etc.) to create artistic effect
Many great dramas are also written in the form of poetry
Macbeth, which I saw performed during the Stratford Shakespeare Festival last year, makes more sense to me now that I know the advantages and drawbacks of drama.

http://newcitystage.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/cst_macbeth_4.jpg

VOCAB:
Soliloquy: characters speak to themselves (think out loud)
Aside: characters turn from the persons with whom they are conversing to speak directly to (or for the benefit of) the audience, show what's going on beneath the facade other characters see
Realistic: concern for fact or reality and rejection of the impractical and visionary
Nonrealistic: lack of conern for fact or reality; impractical and visionary
Tragedy: a medieval narrative poem or tale typically describing the downfall of a great man
Comedy: a medieval narrative that ends happily
Melodrama: a work characterized by extravagant theatrically and by the predominance of plot and physical action over characterization
Farce: a light dramatic composition marked by broadly satirical comedy and improbable plot
Romantic: marked by the imaginative or emotional appeal of what is heroic, adventurous, remote, mysterious, or idealized
Satiric: of, relating to, or constituting satire
Protagonist: the principal character in a literary work
Antagonist; one that contends with or opposes another
Foil characters: someone who serves as a contrast to another
Plot: the plan or main story of a literary work
Suspense: mental uncertainty; anxiety
Theme: a subject or topic of discourse or of artistic representation
Didactic: designed or intended to teach
Dramatic exposition: a setting forth of the meaning or purpose of a writing that is striking in appearance or effect
Chorus: a group of actors speaking in unison, often in a chant, while going through the steps of an elaborate formalized dance

SOURCE:

Perrine, Laurence, Thomas R. Arp, and Greg Johnson. Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. 8th ed. Boston: Heinle & Heinle: Thomson Learning, Inc., 2002. 852-69. Print.

HOMEWORK:

Read Perrine pg. 1115-1119 (look up boldfaced terms on 1119), and pg. 1160-1164
Due 11/2/10: Read and annotate Oedipus by Sophocles
Due 10/29/10: First Marking Period Portfolio Blogs
Due 10/25/10 at 8 pm: Poetry Questions from "There's a Certain Slant of Light," "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," and "The Fish"
Due 10/25/10: Transfer journals and post class notes

Class Notes : Weeks 5 & 6: October 11th - October 22nd

Chapter Ten: Tone - from Literature, Structure, Sound, and Sense by Perrine

Tone is the writer's or the speaker's attitude toward the subject, the reader, or herself/himself
Tone is the emotional meaning/coloring of the work
TONE IS IMPORTANT
In spoken language, tone is indicated by the inflections of the speaker's voice
Almost all of the elements of poetry help to indicate its tone

http://dizzydougtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/july_pad_12-31.jpg

Tone is the emotional color in a work, like the flowers in this black and white photo

TONE:

The speaker/narrator's attitude

Toward the present subject/moment/events (can soften, does change rapidly)
Described in terms of emotion
It's an effect created by the author's choice in techniques that we've learned about previously (diction, figurative language, syntax, etc.)

When talking with my friends, I often have to watch my tone because what I say can be taken the wrong way depending on the way I inflect my voice

VOICE:

Speaker/narrator's personality towards life/the world in general: can change if the character is dynamic (what kind of person is speaking to us?)
Doesn't change often
Described in terms of character (omniscient, honest, etc.)
An effect created by the author's choice in techniques that we've learned about previously (diction, figurative language, syntax, etc.)
The communicative effect created by the author's style
Colleges often ask for a student's voice to shine through in college applications

STYLE:

An author's "written personality". It does not have to reflect the author's actual personality
Made up/artificial persona's stance toward life/the world in general. Can change if the character is "dynamic" but doesn't change often
Described in terms of character
In fiction, style is the language conventions used to construct the story
The time period in which something is written can affect its style
As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, "If any man wish to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul"

HOMEWORK:

Due 8pm, 10/13/10: Analyze either a similarity or a difference in the tone of the speaker in "The Indifferent" and "Love's Deity", and post it on the forum. Then respond analytically to two peers' posts.

WORKS CITED:
Perrine, Laurence, Thomas R. Arp, and Greg Johnson. Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. 8th ed. Boston: Heinle & Heinle: Thomson Learning, Inc., 2002. 852-69. Print.

Friday, October 29, 2010

First Marking Period Portfolio

What I've Learned So Far
AP English has been a very educational experience for me, starting with the summer assignments. Reading Foster's How to Read Literature like a Professor, parts of the Bible, and Hamilton's Mythology, I learned to analyze literature and pretty much any other work that I read in a whole new way.

When Ms. Holmes told the class near the beginning of the year that we were going to start out with analyzing poetry, I was terrified. I used to love reading poems as a chid, and in class, I learned why: it is literature so condensed that it says so much more than literature can ever say. Yet somehow, as I grew up, I lost touch with my penchant for poetry, and AP English has helped me find it again. When we first read The Eagle by Lord Tennyson in class on the first day we started the poetry unit, I felt lost. I didn't understand why The Eagle said so much more than a description of a eagle, and I had no clue about the poetic devices and thought that went into such a poem. As the year progressed, and we learned more and more about the devices and the care that poets put into poems, and we read more and more poems, I finally felt like I understood. I still enjoy reading novels over poetry, but I feel like I understand poetry now. In fact, the other day, I went out and bought a collection of famous poetry, hoping that when I'm bored, I would go through and familiarize myself with them. Now, I feel like I can finally appreciate poetry.

But so far in this first marking period, poetry isn't the only thing that we have learned. I have also gained invaluable knowledge about diction, figurative language, rhetoric, arguments, syntax, and just ways to write better in general. I learned not only about how these things apply in poetry, but also in other mediums of communication, such as essays as well.

I feel like so far, by taking this class, I have learned how to not only analyze and understand a form of communication (poetry) that I was not very familiar with, but I also gained a glimpse of what writing is like beyond the high school level.

My Areas of Strength As an AP Lit Student
I think my strength as an AP Lit student mostly lies in the fact that I have taken AP classes in the past, some of which have prepared me quite well for AP Lit. I know how to manage my time (sometimes), and get work done when I need to. I can plan and write long and well-developed argumentative essays under time restraints (thanks to AP World History and AP U.S. History). I think another strength for me as an AP Lit student is that I have taken both American Literature and British Literature in the past, and I am an avid reader. As a result, I find that I kind of have a feel for literature, and I have analyzed many works of literature in depth in previous years. For example, when we had a test on writing a practice AP Lit essay, the prompt was on "The Chimney Sweepers", both of which I had analyzed extensively last year in British Literature. Furthermore, we are reading Oedipus by Sophocles in class right now, and I've already read the play two years ago.

My Areas of Weakness As an AP Lit Student
I think my areas of weakness as an AP Lit student mostly lies in the fact that English is not my first language, and English is 5th hour for me. I almost always get my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd hour homewok done. I don't have homework 4th hour, and my 5th and 6th hour homework gets done only when I have time (which isn't often), and when it's absolutely necessary (like right now, this blog is due in 88 minutes). Moreover, I'm not really familiar with a lot of the technology that is used in AP English, and it has taken me quite some time to adjust. In addition, I have a lot of trouble with AP English vocab and grammar. When writing, I use what grammar I think "feels right" because after all the novels and literature that I've read, I mostly know what proper English is like. Although sometimes, when I mess up, I don't have a firm enough command of the English language to catch my mistakes. Furthermore, I think my literary arguments in English papers, though to me, seems perfectly justified, to the teacher, often doens't make a lot of sense. Finally, I think when I read, I have to get really into what I'm reading to understand what I'm reading, so I read a lot slower than most people.

What I'm Thinking about Reading and Writing in College
I know that in college, reading and writing will probably be a huge part of my experience. This is because no matter which major I end up going into, or which classes I take, I will most likely always have to write some sort of paper, which I always imagined as kind of long. And if I end up plagerizing anything, whether intentionally or accidentally, then I'm screwed. As a result, I feel very nervous and not at all prepared to not accidentally plagerize anyone. Moreover, I'm nervous about my inability to write persuasive term papers.

My Goals for the Upcoming Marking Period
In the upcoming marking period, I hope to be able to stay on top of my AP English homework, instead of falling behind like I am now. I hope to be able to learn how to become a better writer, and I hope to be able to read faster and comprehend what I read easier. And most of all, I hope to be able to formulate good points/arguments and improve my vocabulary. To achieve these ends, I will work harder to come up with a study schedule, work harder when writing essays, read more varied sources, and study English flashcards.