Response to Course Material - Post 1

To help prepare for the AP Literature test this spring, we have learned about the important techniques that we, as the reader, look for in a novel. By learning about DIDLS I find it easier to analyze literature because I have specific techniques to look for. Some of my teachers in the past have given me a piece of literature and had me analyze the meaning and why we thought this was the meaning. Be applying DIDLS to Close Reading I find myself digging deeper into literature by examining diction, imagery, details and language more closely, while staying away from those found in the plot.

Another thing that has helped me as a growing writer is how the introductions of open prompts are written. In the past I have always known to answer all parts of the question, but there was little instruction of how to write a solid, short and right-to-the-point introduction for any essay. I have been taught in the past that introductions with lots of detail that include the main point of the story are the best kinds and should always be used when writing any essay. Learning about these new guidelines, I find that writing introductions are much easier and that given any prompt, I could write a solid (non plot inclusive) intro.

Even though we have only been in AP Lit class for a few weeks, I find both reading and writing to be easier and more enjoyable. While I do read and write for personal enjoyment, I am learning to analyze literature on a higher and more sophisticated level, using things like DIDLS to help me think about why the author used certain words or imagery to enhance the story. I also find now that I am staying clear to retelling the plot in an essay and using techniques instead as my supports. I see myself in the future analyzing everything; from novels, to movies, to plays, utilizing all my analytical knowledge to look beyond the scene. 

Open Prompt - Essay 1

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

Every time a family sits down to watch a film or drama, there is always a villain who is out to halt the hero in their tracks, striving to make his point of view perfectly clear. Richard, from Shakespeare's Richard III, uses villainy and his popular hobby of murder as both an excuse for his nature and lifestyle, and as a solution to his main objective throughout the drama, becoming king at any cost. Shakespeare's use of detail, imagery and diction help to characterize Richard as a "tainted" man who is foreign to the concepts of love and family, ultimately doing anything he can to complete his quest to power. 

Richard takes the stage speaking of the ascension of England's new king, his brother, the eldest son of Richard the Duke of York. He may be first seen as a harmless man who is deformed speaking about his brother and that "Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of York". While he may seem like a humored man, he quickly turns villainous as he climbs to the Tower where he finds the slain Prince of Whales and his widow, Lady Anne. Richard speaks to the audience, telling them that she is the first part of his plan and that those who follow will be treated the same. Once Richard tells her that he is the one who killed her husband  he begins to confess his "feelings of love" towards her. Now hated by Anne, Richard offers her his own sword to kill him but she doesn't have the heart to kill the man who soon after proposes to marry her. She accepts his marriage proposal and leaves to stage, only to have Richard turn and ask the audience, "was ever a woman of humor woo'd? Was ever woman in this humor won? I'll have her; but I will not keep her long". This quote is one of the first by Richard in which he reveals to the audience that he will kill to get his way and that he intended to be seen as true villain.

As Richard appears at the court led by Queen Margaret, the widow of Richard's brother, she curses all the nobles present and Richard himself, telling them that Richard will be the downfall of them all. Thankfully for Richard, the old woman is not believed and gives Richard only new determination to become king, now that his own brother is dead and the throne is available. As Act III begins, Richard continues to kill on the way to the throne telling the audience "so wise, so young, they say, do never live long". All of these small interjections by Richard show the audience his villainy and continued love of murder as his few trusted men and commoners enter the palace. Richard enters to holding a bible to show them that he is a "good and holy man". His most trusted servant Buckingham, tells Richard that since his brother and the two sons of Clarance are dead he is next in line to be King. Richard acts surprised and turns down the crown but after the commoners  plead with him to take the throne, he accepts and begins his rule with the reluctant Lady Anne. Shortly after being crowned, Richard nephews appear in court which puts a flaw in Richards plan. The two princes are taken to the tower and kept alive longer than any other of Richard victims, but eventually are killed off. 

With Richard's nephews dead and Buckingham having fled to raise arms against him, Richard begins to go mad. The night of Richard's final battle he is visited by the eight ghosts of those he has killed in his dreams who tell him "despair and die". Richard awakes and for the first time feels vulnerable and sees what he's really done. Told by the ghosts that he is the true villain and that in the morning he will be slain by Lord Stanley, Richard seems happy that he as accomplished his goals of becoming king and being a true villain, but begins to have doubts. These doubts severely change the mood of the show and turn it from a show of murder into a the test of Richard conciseness. Arriving at the final battle, Richard faces Lord Stanley as a mad man and as the ghosts told had said, Richard is slain. With Richard dead the villainy of Richard is merely forgotten and everyone vows to start over.

  

Richard III's villainy makes Shakespeare's show what it is. The entirety of the drama focuses on Richard's villainy and the consequences of his actions. The use of Shakepeare's imagery helps readers see Richard as who he is and what he really wants to be, accepted and loved. 

 

Close Reading - Assignment 1

"Memory", The introduction to "Life Itself"

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/cest-moi/memory-the-introduction-to-lif.html

Reading the first section of Roger Ebert's soon to be published memoir, I was reminded of how well he writes movie reviews and novels alike. The sections tone is casual yet sophisticated, including Ebert's usual signature of cleverness making it enjoyable for many readers. While many enjoy his reviews some may not know all he's gone through and what he has faced, to ultimately be the person he is today. When thinking about our prime source of literary analysis D.I.D.L.E.S, Ebert's use of detail, diction and imagery replaces the voice he's lost and gives a new perspective to his incredible life story.

Ebert's attention to literary detail can best be seen through his writing about his personal childhood experiences. In the second paragraph Ebert writes about learning to tie his shoes with his father, who tells him that "it can't be explained in words". From this section the reader can infer that  Ebert is very simple and remembers both the small and the big things from his earliest times. While he learned many things from his parents Ebert goes on to show how he learned important lessons about life on his own, without parental help. One example of this can be found in the next paragraph where he recalls that he "was seven or eight when I opened a nudist magazine and discovered that all women had breasts". Another example is his remembrance that "when we gathered at my grandmother's for a big dinner, that meant nine or ten people sitting around the table smoking. They did it over and over, hour after hour, as if it were as assignment". Learning about things like parts of the human body and drugs on his own and through bad parental example, the reader can assume that Ebert had an "interesting" upbringing and that like every family, no family is perfect. 

Along with his elaboration on details Ebert uses a wide variety of diction throughout the article. Ebert repeats words like "movie", "life" and "memories" to show the reader that these are what he is addressing, they are what he has always loved to share with people and now that he cannot properly eat, drink, speak or stand without significant pain, they make up the remainder of his life. Near the end of the section he writes that "my blog became my voice, my outlet, my "social media" in a way I couldn't have dreamed of". Ebert feels that through his writing he can communicate with the world and reach people through a power that speech never could". One of his main purposes of writing, Ebert wants to share his story with readers to tell them that anything is possible. Using only some repeated patterns he uses more advanced words to tell about his struggles. Words such as "blowout", "self--conscious", "forgotten" and "flashes" leaped out at me as I read the article, adding more interest and excitement to Ebert's story. No one can ever imagine the pain that he has gone through in life and to the best of his abilities, it is only some of what Ebert wants to get across. Words such as these show the reader that Ebert has had both good and bad experiences happen and like every other human, he has emotions. Ebert also includes the names of all the hospitals and facilities that he was in when he was first diagnosed with his illness which gives the reader perspective on everything that he had to go through when his fight first began. Using such strong diction throughout the article shows Ebert's intelligence and can relate to the reader as to advance the story.  

Finally, Ebert uses imagery to make the reader understand what it is like from his perspective. He talks about being a child of World War II and what it was like to be a child of that time, surrounded by fighting and still trying to live a regular life. Ebert uses food and his earliest times on television to explain his life growing-up leading up to his fame and that day when his life changed forever. To explain more complicated sections like those that talk about his many surgeries and learning to walk again, Ebert uses memories from the facilities to help readers connect to the medical processes and understand everything that was involved. His use of emotional imagery can be found when he discusses the Rehabilitation Institute and can make the reader feel his pain and sympathy toward him. Imagery is not Ebert's main goal but he has enough to make the reader look beyond the words and more into human emotion, suffering and perseverance.

By reading this article I have learned more about Ebert and his style of writing. Words are his second language and through them he can communicate anything to the world, good or bad. He has a normal like like anyone else with just a few changes that have not gotten him down or held him back from pursuing what he loves most, ripping the movies in theaters apart!