Close Reading - Assignment 5

In G.O.P Iowa Debate, Rivals Target Newt Gingrich
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/us/politics/in-gop-iowa-debate-rivals-target-newt-gingrich.html

It goes without saying, that the G.O.P Republican debates this year have been nothing but interesting and slightly entertaining. Articles like this come out everyday about how a candidate has suspended his campaign, called another out on something they did as teenagers and pointed fingers. This article does just that through sophisticated language and details that only seem to point out more flaws about the candidates.

The article throughout has very sophisticated language the surprised me at first. Zeeleny and Rutenberg used words "veered", "deflected" and "tart" to describe the actions and tones of the candidates as they questioned each other. Language like this continues all throughout and looks very formed and carefully constructed to make it as strong an article as it can possibly be. By using such language, I found the article easier to read and understand while it was still written on a professional level by people who know what they're doing.

The other thing that struck me was the detail. Near the end of the article, the authors talk about  the candidates backgrounds while focusing particularly on Mr. Romney's status as the "son of an automobile executive". While details like this help the reader to understand details about the candidates, it struck me odd that details like this would occur for every candidate and quite often.

Response to Course Material - Post 5

This past week or two has been filled with great small group and class discussions of Silko's Ceremony. I am always excited to discuss Silko's book because it's filled with so much detail, symbolism and cycles. Working in small groups gives me a chance to hear other opinions and points of view on lines and possible meanings that sometimes I would never have thought of. After working in small groups we moved to discuss as a class. Our hour always goes into deep discussion and has many conflicting opinions which makes discussing so much more interesting. Even though we're only on the second group of the beginning passages, I feel that we get a lot accomplished as a class, even if it takes us much longer than all the other classes.

I can't wait to see what we do next!!

Open Prompt - Essay 6

1994. In some works of literature, a character who appears briefly, or does not appear at all, is a significant presence. Choose a novel or play of literary merit and write an essay in which you show how such a character functions in the work. You may wish to discuss how the character affects action, theme, or the development of other characters. Avoid plot summary.

A characters presence in a novel, while sometimes brief, can serve a purpose than the reader may at first not realize. Many novels have minor characters be the cause of problems while others use them as a solution. In Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesmen, "the woman" appears only twice but is the ultimate person who tears the Loemen family apart, brings out the truth about  Willie and sends Biff to realize what he's been searching for. 

The first time we see the women she seems to have no set purpose and seems to be thrown in for no apparent reason.  The woman's actions and feelings toward Willie show that Willie is more connected to her because of her perfection and youth, something that his wife Linda doesn't have anymore. It is the woman's youth and beauty that begins to see Willie's life in a sownward spiral, causing problems that at the time neither of them could have imagined. 

The woman's role later on in the novel is perhaps the most important role of the entire play. While Willie is with her while on his "business trip to Boston", someone knocks on the door and Willie hurries her into the bathroom attempting to hide the truth. When the woman comes out of the bathroom and Biff sees her practically naked, his image of Willie is changed and the truth about what kind of man he is comes out whether Willie wanted it to or not. Biff is pushed over the edge when he tells Willie that "[he] gave her mama's stockings". This scene with the woman shows her true importance and how one person can be the difference between a functional and nonfunctional family.  


The overall theme of the play is greatly shaped by the woman and her actions. While she is not in the play very long, her actions and feelings shape the other characters, their roles and their overall outcomes.

Close Reading - Assignment 4

Why is Dance So Good for Children? 
http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-is-Dance-So-Good-For-Children?&id=2700572

Children getting enough fitness and not becoming overweight at to young an age is one of the top issues today. Many articles have suggested various activities for kids so see that they have fun while they get fit at the same time. Researchers are finding that dance is both a good social experience where children can exercise and not even know it. The author of this article, Keen, gives a new voice to child fitness and how it can be very easy for a child to become fit and have fun by being involved in dance.

The first thing that jumped out to me as I read the article was Keen's language. The article is a combination of sophisticated and casual language making it very easy to understand both to an adult as well as a child. Near the end of the article she talks about how the brain works when involved in dance which would be hard to understand by younger children. Keen also constantly talks about how dance can be a good social experience where children can make new friends and learn to work together with others while staying fit. While children understand how to form new relationships through activities such as dance only older children and adults would understand the "fit" part.

Keen's detail also struck me while reading the article. She expands on the idea that dance is a healthy activity by giving numerous examples oh how it can improve a child's brain, body and social skills. As part of her research Keen includes a quote by the the National Curriculum which believes that "by providing rich and varied contexts for pupils to acquire, develop and apply a broad range of knowledge, understanding and skills, the curriculum should enable pupils to think creatively and critically, to solve problems and to make a difference for the better. It should give them the opportunity to become creative, innovative, enterprising and capable of leadership to equip them for their future lives as workers and citizens" (National Curriculum). Many researchers agree with this statement which can leave the reader thinking about other activities, in addition to dance, that are healthy and fun.

For many younger children staying fit is of the lowest concern. They may not understand what it is to be fit or how to get fit by participating in various activities but in the end it helps them to stay fit. Parents have many options to involve their child in fit activities and dance is only one of many.

 

Response to Course Material - Post 4

One of my favorite things in AP Lit are our small group and class discussions on the novels that we are reading this year. We have a great selection and the two that we have read so far have both been outstanding. After reading Albee's The American Dream, which I had never heard of and was quite surprised I liked, I was excited that we would be reading Death of a Salesmen next because I've heard such great things about it. Once we had watched the movie and annotated independently we began one our best class discussions about possible religious allusions. Our class discussions have given me a variety of opinions concerning the book and made me think more about the book as a whole.

Another thing I continue to improve on is my essay writing. Continuing essay practice and self-grading in preparation for the AP Lit test are helping me more and more to find the areas that I struggled with and what I can do to fix them.

AP Lit takes a whole new approach to literature that I never thought of. I continue to love the class and material that  will help me in the end as we approach the AP Lit test.

Open Prompt - Essay 5

2005, Form B. One of the strongest human drives seems to be a desire for power. Write an essay in which you discuss how a character in a novel or a drama struggles to free himself or herself from the power of others or seeks to gain power over others. Be sure to demonstrate in your essay how the author uses this power struggle to enhance the meaning of the work.

What would you do if your personal power and individualism was taken from you? Some could find a way to regain lost freedoms while others may just give up on life completely and find it is better to be dead than alive.  Offred, the protagonist of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, finds herself in a constant struggle to break free of the power over her and regain the freedoms and individuality she has been stripped of.

Offreds struggle begins when she is captured after trying to cross the boarder out of the Republic of Giliad and is told that she is part of a small group of women who are still able to bear children and will serve their country by becoming handmaids. It is when she first learns this knowledge that a dominating power now has control over her decisions and life. This supreme power becomes reality when the wife of the Commander taks Offred with giving her children. It is now that Offred begins a struggle within herself about weather to resist and attempt to regain her freedom to do things or do as she is told.

Offred's struggle increases as she that her "encounters" with the Commander are unsuccessful and she cannot conceive with him. She feels that she has regained some of her individual power but fears for her life as she cannot complete the task she has been ordered to do. Things take an odd turn when the Commander's wife suggests she try another man and give that baby to the Commander as his own. Having this opportunity to break the rules and rebel against the values that she was  forcibly taught is somewhat foreign but reminds her of the life she used to have. It is here that she decides it is better to live life as an individual and wont give up the baby that she is about to have.

Her ultimate struggle for power comes when the Commander learns that she is going to escape with her baby and the man she loves. Offred feels that by escaping she has regained some of her power from the supreme authority and gained a different sort of power over that authority which commanded her to do these things. She believes that she can once again have a normal life in a world that used to exist but no longer does.

The internal struggle of power from authority is one of the many themes found in Atwood's novel. Individualism and freedom are strongly enhanced through the characters and their situations while they may not break through to the world they live in.   

Open Prompt - Essay 4

1988. Choose a distinguished novel or play in which some of the most significant events are mental or psychological; for example, awakenings, discoveries, changes in consciousness. In a well-organized essay, describe how the author manages to give these internal events the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. Do not merely summarize the plot.

William Shakespeare's plays use mental thoughts and personal discoveries that center around the story and advance it until the end. Shakespeare's most famous and well-known play, Romeo and Juliet, uses these thoughts to bring the two lovers together and face circumstances that challenge their love. Mixing mentality within the plays plot their story of forbidden love is told and uses mostly mental factors of how they desire to be together.

Meeting for the first time at the Capulet home Romeo and Juliet instantly fall in love. As Romeo and his friends leave hidden behind their masks Juliet asks her nurse to find out his name. When she returns and tells her that "his name is Romeo, and a Montague! The only son of your great enemy." (Shakespeare), her original thoughts of love change course as she thinks "my only love sprung from my only hate" (Shakespeare). Even though she knows he is the son of her families enemy her thoughts are love are only enforced and grow stronger when he is away. Romeo learns that he loves the daughter of the Capulet's as he watches Juliet reciting a soliloquy from her balcony. His thoughts also remain unchanged as he tells her he would throw away his life as a Montague and take up another name so they would not be enemies and be together. Their love for each other adds excitement and leaves the reader thinking; will they be together?

Reality sets in when Juliet learns that Romeo, her new husband, has slayed her cousin. Not knowing that Romeo has fled the city and hopes to return she goes to the Friar and begs him to help her die. He instead gives her a vile that he says will make her seem like she is dead and that everything will be alright. She returns to her house and takes the vile in her chamber. She gives a long soliloquy where she exclaims her love for Romeo and vows to be with him forever, whether it is in life or death. Her change of consciousness changes her course of love and brings a new level of climax and suspense to the plot. Will Romeo find that she is really alive? Will she awake in time? Will they finally escape their houses and be together?

Romeo returns to find Juliet "dead" in the family tomb and he grieves for his wife. His thoughts of love remain strong until the very end, thinking that she is dead he takes poison and  ends his life. This is the highest point of suspense in the play and leaves the reader wondering what is going to happen next. It all begins again when Juliet awakes and discovers her husband newly dead by way of poison. Thinking there may still be some poison on his lips she kisses him and cries "thy lips are warm!" (Shakespeare). Finding her husband dead she takes his dagger and ends her own life. Their final encounter together brings the excitement and suspense of their love to a close.

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the most tragic of all love stories uses character and situational mentality to tell the story. Through Shakespeare's unique use of language and wit the personality of his characters and their desire can be found both in physical actions and mental thoughts.    

Close Reading - Assignment 3

Music Changes Lives - And Saves Them - The Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3562926/Music-changes-lives-and-saves-them.html

Music has always been a big part of many lives, it touches and moves people in ways that are not describable even when it happens to you or any individual. Music has lately been examined in medical and mental situations and has shown to increase individual health and save lives. As Webber's article suggests music can help children get and stay on the right path, preventing them from doing crime or drugs, as well as potentially saving their lives.

Webber's use of imagery throughout the article is very evident. In the first paragraph he writes "what began as a low-key breakfast meeting soon turned into a full-blown conference" (Webber). This statement created the image of a group in a conference room talking about the political importance of music education, like something that would happen in a school board meeting. The article ends with a real account of how music helped change the path of someone and how they have gone onto become involved with music and the importance of music education. He recalls that "beyond the call of duty, she took a tiresome little boy to a performance by the first great cellist I had ever heard" (Webber). Authors use imagery like this to create a personal and emotional connection with the reader and by seeing these scenes in my mind I felt that connection to the people and their stories. At the end it made me think about my own life and how much it has been shaped by music.

I found some of Webber's diction throughout the article to be very unexpected. Diction helps elevate the sophistication in an authors work and gives the reader something to think about  past the articles subject. He uses words such as "spearhead, "inception" and "low-key", words that one wouldn't find in the everyday article. I found these words gave an extra ring to the article's tone and even though the words are very simple. In addition to words Webber's use of alliteration was also evident. In two instances Webber wrote that some people "worked so hard to hammer home the crucial point" and that music was "hot on the heels" (Webber).  His use of alliteration jumped right out to me as a literature student but made me remember that you don't need to be studying AP literature to recognize it as a reader.

Webber's combination of imagery, detail and strong personal voice made this article come alive. It informed me as a reader of the importance of music education and left me thinking about how music education has personally changed me and how crucial it has been. Webber's opinions on musical importance and sharing of personal stories left me wanting to read more and look into the shaping of music education of children's lives.    

Response to Course Material - Post 3

From learning about the authors use of DIDLS to how to write high rating essays to learning how to analyze literature, AP Lit continues to be a fun and amazing class. I've never analyzed literature so closely and it is another big step in preparation of the AP test. 

I was a bit nervous at first to start analyzing Albee's The American Dream but now that we have analyzed in small groups and discussed the play in class, I find analyzing to be very fun and informative. Noting Albee's diction, imagery, details, language and syntax has shown me more about Albee as the author, information about the time period, Albee's views and opinions and hidden messages throughout the work. As well as the actual notation, our class discussions have brought together everyone's ideas and individual notations with the whole class. Even when we all do individual notations and no longer work in a group or as a class, knowing how to correctly annotate a novel or play is a crucial step in understanding literature and its meanings and how to approach to the AP Lit test when it comes around.

Now that we have learned how to annotate correctly I am very excited to continue on with analyzing Death of a Salesmen. Analyzing is an important skill to know in preparation for the AP Lit test as well as college. Ap Lit continues to teach me valuable skills when reading and writing about literature and is the most fun and enjoyable hour of the day.

Open Prompt - Essay 3

1972. In retrospect, the reader often discovers that the first chapter of a novel or the opening scene of a drama introduces some of the major themes of the work. Write an essay about the opening scene of a drama or the first chapter of a novel in which you explain how it functions in this way.

Opening scenes of dramas are powerful and are meant to draw the audience into the story both figuratively and literally.  Dramas that begin with short bloody scene usually leave more of a print on the audience and have them on the edge of their seats wanting to know more. In Shakespeare's first tragedy, Titus Andronicus, the opening scene introduces the three major themes that become the meaning and overall purpose of the drama . The opening scene through detail and imagery introduces the themes of power, war and revenge.

The opening speeches from the two sons of the late Roman emperor drive the audience to decide on their values and ideas of what their country should be. When Titus returns a war hero for the Romans bringing the Queen of the Goths and her three sons as prisoners, he is offered the throne. Titus speaks to the Roman people saying that he would rather another take the throne so they can cause trouble and have the burdens of being king. He continues on reminding the people of his years as a soldier and how he would rather be honored and remembered as a soldier than a king. This imagery introduces Titus' views on power and those who are fit to be in power as well as the life of a Roman soldier and the weight it carries both at and away from Rome. 

The theme of war continues when the Queen of the Goths and her three sons are revealed to the people as the last prisoners. While the war is over the Roman people still call for bloodshed and the death of the remaining prisoners.This continued call for violence shows Titus as well as the audience that the Roman people have no care for mercy or human feelings, qualities that are not associated with many wars. To avoid a riot by his own people Titus agrees but in doing so sets the constant cycle of revenge in motion. To save her eldest son from sacrifice the Queen of the Goths, Tamora, pleads with Titus calling him a merciful man and a powerful man to Rome. By telling Titus what he wants to hear Tamora believes that she has saved her son and come into favor with Titus himself. She is gravely misktaken when Titus orders the sacrifice to be preformed right before her eyes. 

To recover from her sons death Tamora plays with the new emperors emotions and gets herself into a new position of power, the wife of the Emperor of Rome. Tamora denounces her previous race saying that she never belonged and has always admired the people and city of Rome. By doing this she establishes her dominance over Rome and now holds the control over those who held her fate.

The struggles of human power mixed with the complexity of human emotions can show many different themes. The themes of Titus Andronicus bring about the idea that power, control and dominance are what those in power live for and are expected to do on a daily basis. To not do so would show weakness and failure, leading to a whole new area of theme and life.

Close Reading - Assignment 2

Music's Health Benefits: Using Music to Ease Patients Stress During Surgery  - TIME
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1929994,00.html

When I read this article for the first time I was not very surprised that music is being experimented with to help with surgeries and other medical practices. Music has always had a special healing power for many people and has been proven "calming effective" in many other experiments and articles. Carr's article focusing on the effect music has had on those with Parkinson's Disease in medical situations, uses diction and imagery to show how everyday people are effected by the power of music.


Carr uses very elevated and sophisticated diction throughout the whole article. Her use of medical terms and other diction is strong and gives a sense of intensity to the entire article. She uses words such as "well-being" and "frazzled" to give a sense of human emotion to the reader. Many people who are going into a medical procedure or surgery, including myself, would say that they are nervous, scared and even frazzled because they don't know if the outcome will be good or bad. Her other diction including "soothing" and "eye-opening" gives a medical insight to the reader. Experiments such as these are very different and have had some interesting outcomes that that some people have been really shocked at. Music may not seem like a physical therapy or a healing power that you can see, but it is something that has helped people through the best and the worst times.

Carr's use of imagery in the article helps the reader connect to what the article is trying to say. In the beginning of the article she uses the phrase "pounded drums and plucked strings" (Carr) to create the image that when music began with the pounding of drums it has always had a good effect on humans. Her use of imagery in the medical sense is also very clever and helps the reader visualize what is going on, even if they don't know the medical terms or names of procedures. This was very helpful to me when reading the article since I am not a big hospital, doctor and medicine person.

This article gives a whole new aspect to the power of  music and how it can reach ordinary people everyday. Even if you are not musician or don't have any musical interest at all, music both teaches and reaches people in their own way, helping them get through the hard times and the good old days.

Response to Course Material - Post 2

Repetition for me has always been key. Practicing certain elements that go into good writing such as writing an intro and thesis, as well as learning more about analyzing literature, I feel that I am becoming very well prepared for the AP test.

Essays in the past have always been a hit or miss. Teachers have given me essays and only had me write on the spot. When we got the graded result back, that was it and we had no chance of fixing or re-writing. Having this opportunity to fix things in practice AP lit essays has helped improve my essays and will only get better as the AP test gets closer. By doing this repetition I can make sure that I answer all parts of the prompt, have a strong intro/thesis and have textual examples to support it that include the authors techniques (DIDLS).

In addition to improving my writing I have really enjoyed reading the first of five books that we will analyze in class. I've never read any of them, and after reading Albee's The American Dream I am very excited to discuss and find out what he is really trying to say. By combining class discussion and the authors use of DIDLS, analyzing literature will become much easier and will help me on the AP test.

AP lit class continues to be awesome! I enjoy the blog posts, readings in class, group work and overall fun that I can have when studying literature. Learning more about the material and what goes into becoming a good writer and analyst will help me both in college and further in the future.