Close Reading- Number Four

Without Babies, Can Japan Survive?
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/opinion/sunday/without-babies-can-japan-survive.html?ref=opinion

     In this article I found dicton, syntax, and detail. Alexandra Harney did a wonderful job addressing the issue of whether or not Japan can continue to exist with their low birth rate. She really convinced me that it will be hard for them to continue on with such a low birth rate.
     The detail in this article really helped me get a feel and understand exactly what Japan is going through. The facts were what made me believe that Japan is really struggling with their birth rate. An example of this is "...taught 1,250 elementary school children is now educating just 37." Going from 1250 to 37 is such a dramatic change, and without this detail, you wouldnt relize the severity of the problem. Another example is "...when 56 percent of local residents are over 65."
     The diction in this article also helps you see the severity. Harney uses plight many times throughout this article and it is a much better option than using struggle. While struggle does have the connotative, pejorative notation, plight is a more sophisticated word choice. In the first paragraph, Harney describes different places. She writes "Many of town's elegant wodden homes are abandoned. Where generations of cedar loggers, sweet potato farmers and factory workesr once made their lives, monkeys now reside." Using the word elegant and then abandonded to describe the same house, also helps you realize how bad of a situation it is.
     Harney uses wonderful syntax. She has a variety of long and short sentences. And she also uses a colon in one line, which, I think, is very effective. She also uses a set of parentheses. Harney uses hyphens.

Prompt #4-2005 Form B

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.

     In Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a great example of a power struggle between characters. A group of schoolboys get stranded on an island and are forced to live without their parents and under no rules. At first it is all happy and everyone gets along, but as time goes by, the boys begin to bicker and fight and everything goes terribly wrong.

     Ralph, the protagonist, is a smart young boy who is first elected to become the leader. Jack, the protagonist  is a power hungry, jealous boy. Once Jack is not elected, his need and want for the power becomes worse. Ralph wants their to be equality and rules. He thinks there should be rules to help control the actions and believes it will make their situation better. Jack, on the other hand, is completely against this way of thinking. He thinks that being obnoxious, savages is the way to go. He believes that rules just ruin a society. 

     The whole novel revolves around these two boys power struggle. Every action that is made, and all action that takes place is dependent upon the power struggle. The boys splitting up into to groups and engaging in war against each other is the result of the power struggle between Jack and Ralph. When Simon tries to tell the other boys about the beast within everyone, he is murdered. This is caused by the power struggle because if Jack had not gotten mad and created a whole new tribe, Simon may have not run off the find out the truth of all mankind.

     Without Ralph and Jack's power struggle, the role government plays in society would not be seen in this novel. Golding is showing how the government is in real society. Without a government and rules, we would all become savages. We would have no morals and kill other innocent people because every man is a savage inside. Government is what is controlling the savage inside all mankind. Without government, the human race would cease to exist. 

Death of a Salesman Summary

Author: Arthur Miller

Setting: Brooklyn, New York; Loman's House

Plot: Willy Loman returns to his home from a sales trip. Linda, his wife, tries to persuade him into talking to his boss to see if he can stay in New York and work. Willy says  he will talk to Howard (his boss) the next day. Willy complains that Biff, his oldest son, hasn't made anything of himself yet. Linda gets mad because he gets so dsitraught and Willy goes downstairs to get something to eat. Willy talks to himself in the kitchen while his two sons, Biff and Happy, talk about the good old days when they were young. They talk about Willy's babbling and it usually holds some critism of Biff's failure to uphold Willy's dream. Willy then daydreams of young Biff and all his glory in football. Charley's son, Bernard, comes searching for Biff saying that Biff must study or he will fail and not graduate high school. Willy says Bernard is not well liked so he will not succeed in life. Willy complains about all of the things wrong in his life. As Linda consoles him, Willy hears the laughter of his mistress. The woman and Willy flirt and she thanks him for the stockings. He goes back into the first daydream and scolds Linda for hemming her stockings. Biff has stolen a football and Linda scolds that Biff must give it back. Happy comes downstairs to settle Willy down, and Willy talks about how he is upset that he did not go with Ben to have success. Charley comes in and Willy and him play cards. Willy denies the job. Willy imagines Ben came in, then calls Charley Ben. There is a lot of confusion and Willy tells Charley that he can't play cards with Charley if he is goingto cheat. Linda then tells the boys that Willy has been trying to commit suicide. Willy goes into Howard's office and tries to talk to him about staying in New York, but gets distracted by the voice recorder. Happy and Biff take Willy out to dinner to celebrate. Biff tells Willy that he waited 6 hours for Bill Oliver and that he didn't recongize him. Biff stole his fountain pen and ran. Happy and Biff leave, saying that they don't know who he is. Willy is in the bathroom daydreaming. He's in a hotel room with another woman. Biff walks in on them and gets upset and they have a huge fight. Biff leaves upset and angry. Willy then comes back into the present and leaves to buy seeds. He comes home and starts planting. Linda and the boys fight about how Willy is dying. Biff and Willy fight then Biff cries into Willy's shoulder and tells him he loves him. Willy then leaves with Ben as Linda and the boys tell him not to. Willy's car speeds away and then he dies. At the funeral, Linda tells Willy that they are finally free. Biff and Happy talk about going out west.

Characters:

• Willy Loman
• Linda Loman
• Happy Loman
• Biff Loman
• Charler
• Bernard
• Howard Wagner
• Stanley
• Miss Forsythe
• Letta
• Jenny
• The Woman

Narrative Voice: none really, it's a play

STYLE
1. Point of View: First person, all characters interact with each other; there is no outsider telling the story; because it is a play, there is no way to really tell if an outsider is looking in and telling the story because there is no narrator

2. Tone: Willy Loman is crazy and consumed by the materialistic dream. He wants to be a businessman even though he is no good at it. He thinks that being liked and known is the key to success. Miller wants us to see that Willy is like many people in the world. We don't do what makes us happy, but what we think will please others. We can't just do what we want to do. We have to have the big bucks to pay for useless things. Biff is unsuccessful but is trying to do what he likes. But he also changes to become what his father wants. Miller wants us to notice that Biff has gone and tried to find himself, which many people cannot do because they are too concerned with who likes them. Happy is just dumb. He has no respect for women, and he is going to end up like Willy. Miller does this to show that if you continue to do things only to please other people, that your life will not end up something you want it to be. Sometimes success isn't always a good thing. Linda cares for Willy even though she knows she must do more.

3.  Imagery:

• Willy's daydreaming
• Linda mending her stockings
• The Woman and Willy's interactions

4. Symbolism

• Seeds- Willy's opportunity to prove the worth of labor
• Diamonds- tangible wealth, Ben, one's wealth and materialism
• Stockings- Linda's and The Woman's, new stockings, betrayl, financial
• Rubber Hose- suicide

QUOTES
1. "Bernard: But sometimes Willy, it's better for a man just to walk away."
Importance: This shows the different ways Bernard and Biff were raised. Biff was always told what to do and how to act and what to be. Charley never told Bernard how to live his life. Bernard is successful and Biff is not.

2. "Biff: I don't care what they think! They've laughed at Dad for years, and you know why? Becasue we don't belong in this nuthouse of a city! We should be mixing cement on some open plain, or-or carpenters. A carpenter is allowed to whistle!"
Importance: This shows how Willy never took a journey south or west or anywhere but east. He stayed in New York and the surrouning areas. He never took a journey to find himself. He is unaware that Biff is right, and that he should be a carpenter. Biff lived out west so he knows what he is to do with his life.

3. "Willy: All the cement, lumber, the reconstruction I put in this house1There ain't a crack to be found in it any more."
Importance: Willy has done all of the carpentry for the house and is still oblivious that that is what he was meant to do. But because he never took the journey south he will never know.


Theme: One theme in Death of a Salesman is betrayl and family disfunction. Willy betrays Linda and Biff when he has an affair and Biff finds out. Willy never tells Linda and Biff never tells anyone about it. They both keep all their secrets bottled up. Biff betrays Willy's dream for him. Biff never actually tries to become a salesman. The constant fighting and betrayl between these two characters is the main reason for the disfunction of the family. But everyones lies and secrets contribute.

Response to Course Material: Number Four

So I guess we didn't do much since last time, or maybe I am just super forgetful, which is probably the case. We watched Death of  a Salesman and discussed the differences betweent the movie and play. That was...hm..I'm not sure. I guess I didn't exactly find it fun, but I didn't exactly not mind it. We have been doing a tone word challenge every day. I'm not so good at them, but I guess the point is to learn different tone words. And I have learned a lot. We started Hamlet. I am not the biggest Shakespeare fan. In fact, I try to avoid it because I just don't get it sometimes. It's harder for me to read. Oh well. Reading it as a class and having Ms. Holmes explain things is really helful. And even though I don't enjoy reading Shakespeare, I am enjoying this play a lot.

Prompt #3- 1990

1990. Choose a novel or play that depicts a conflict between a parent (or a parental figure) and a son or daughter. Write an essay in which you analyze the sources of the conflict and explain how the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid plot summary.

     In Death of  a Salesman  by Arthur Miller, you see a large conflict between Willy, a father, and Biff, his son. The fights and conflict betweeen these two men creates the whole play. The plot revolves around these two characters and their fights and how they interact.
     The main cause of the conflict is Willy's need to be successful. Because he spends his whole life trying to become successful and never does, he puts his life dream onto Biff. Biff cannot carry out this dream becasue he knows that he is not meant to be a salesman. Biff took his trip west, to opportunity and freedom, and he realized that he should be building things. And after coming across this discovery, Biff realizes this is also supposed to be Willy's life.
     Another cause you see is when Biff finds Willy cheating on Linda, Willy's wife. Biff is devestated and calls Willy a liar and a fake. He cannot believe that something like this would happen. Willy tries to cover it up, but he knows there's nothing he can do to change what Biff saw. Because Biff finds out about this affair, he is unable to go to summer school to pass high school. Willy blames himself for Biff's failure. And in return, Willy feels the need to make Biff's life better.
     Willy's unsuccessfulness is put  onto Biff. Biff feels like he has to carry out his father's dream for him. But no matter what Biff does, Willy disapproves. So finally, Biff is fed up with all of the lies. He notices the disfunction that his fights with Willy has caused the family. He tells Willy that he knows he is a failure but that he is done with all the lies. Willy is frustrated and angry. But Biff then tells Willy he loves him, and everything changes. Willy and Biff no longer fight and Biff carries out his own dream.

Close Reading-Number Three

Throw Out the Rules! Read A Fairy Tale.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/18/opinion/sunday/throw-out-the-rules-and-read-the-grimm-tales.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss


     In this article I found diction, details, and syntax. The author has great word choice, uses great examples, and has a variety of sentence lengths and structures.
     Diction in this piece was great. I have seen better, but Verlyn Klinkenborg did use different words. Like in the first paragraph, Klinkenborg writes "the power of enchanted princess is axiomatic".  Instead of just saying that it was self-evident or just out there, she uses axiomatic. Also she wrties "trouble comes abruptly and in threes." By using abruptly, it is more harsh than sudden. Another example is "like embroidered samplers". When I hear embroidered, I think of a more soft, elegant tone.
     Klinnkenborg uses much detail. Instead of just writing about the Grimm Brother's stories and how a new author has adapted them, she uses quotes. She adds in quotes here and there from different stories. It makes the piece more interesting and I personally did not know that some of these phrases came from Grimm. Adding these quotes defintely makes it more interesting to read.
     Lastly, she uses syntax. Her diffferent sentence lenghts help with the flow of the article. And she uses many interejections. Normally, this would bother me and make me more confused, but it was quite interesting. She writes "The tale - and mose of the rules within them - are completetely discontinous." Her use of the hyphens instead of commas, is different. And interesting.

Response to Course Material: Number Three

I am not really sure if we did this this past week or two, or if it fits in with last weeks post, but I will write about it now.
     We prepared for the AP multiple choice test in class. We read a poem, and then had to make AP questions to go along with it. Once we had written questions, we traded with another group to try and answer them. Once I learned the different distractor types for questions, I realized what kinds get me confused during tests. I think this will help me not only for AP lit but for other classes. It made me realize that I should really double check my answers.
     Another thing we did was start our next book, Death of a Salesman. We watched the movie, but for me it was nothing new. I wasn't lost as to what was happening and why because I watched the movie last year in American Lit and we disucssed it. Actually reading the play will be something new for me though, and I am looking forward to seeing how cloesly the play and movie match up.
     To relate Death of a Salesman to other class material, each person recieved a question and had to answer it. Then we passed the various questions around the room, and near the end of the hour, we discussed them. Even though I already knew what the play was about and had sort of anaylyzed it already, relating it to critical lenses and movements brought new light to the subject. This should help me understand the play even more, and help me along as I annotate the book.
     One last thing. Tone. We read chapter 4 and part of chapter 5 in the textbook. Then we were assigned a paper, to chose two pieces from chapter four and anaylyze the tone. This was helpful for me because I am not the best at analyzing and it just gave me more practice. Then once we came to class the next day, we found one person who analyzed the same piece as us. The two of us related the piece we had in common with views of a character from The American Dream. This just shows something about literature. Everything really is related.

American Dream Summary

Author: Edward Albee

Setting: Living room- two armchairs, sofa, door, archway

Plot: Mommy and Daddy sit in their armchairs complaining that "they" are late. Mommy says that she can't ever get satisfaction and that no one ever can. Grandma comes in with her neatly wrapped boxes and throws them on the ground. She says that no one talks to old people because old people just get angry and no one respects them because they are falling apart. Mommy is rich because she married Daddy and she has earned the right to his money because they had sex. When the doorbell rings, Grandma asks if it is the van man; it's Mrs. Barker. Mommy offers her a drink, cigarette and chance to cross her legs. She then asks Mrs. Barker to remove her dress; she does so. Daddy gets "sticky wet". Grandma says that the boxes have nothing to do with Mrs. Barker, and Mommy calls her a liar. Daddy goes to break Grandma's TV, and Mommy goes to get water. Neither can find anything. Grandma explains how a couple like Mommy and Daddy came to Bye-Bye Adoption service to get a "bumble". The bumble had its arms, hands, tongue, penis cut off because it was misbehaving. Mrs. Barker doesn't understand so she leaves. The Young Man enters and Grandma is very interested. She calls him the American Dream. He says he'll do anything for money; Grandma says she's got a job for him. The Young Man escorts Grandma to the elevator. Mommy, Daddy, and Mrs. Barker celebrate on getting satisfaction. Grandma tells the audience to leave things they way they are while people think they think they want, then bids the audience goodnight.

Characters:

• Mommy
• Daddy
• Grandma
• Young Man
• Mrs. Barker

Narrative Voice: Mommy is rude most of the time to Grandma and Daddy. Only a few times in the play does she act feminine and let Daddy become a masculine husband. And only once does she care about Grandma, when Grandma finally leaves. Daddy is feminine and does as others say. He is confused and demasulinated. He also stands up for Grandma most of the play. Grandma is upset and angry with everyone who ignores her. She gets angered when she talks about old people. Mrs. Barker just kind of goes along with whatever is going along. She becomes confused whenever Grandma confronts her, but doesn't ever correct Mommy. Her and Mommy have a power struggle. Because the Young Man is only there for part of the play, he isn't really given a distinct voice. He just goes along with what Grandma has instructed him to do.

STYLE
1. Point of View: First person; all characters interact with each other; there is no outsider telling the story; because it is a play, there is no way to really tell if an outsider is looking in and telling the story

2. Tone: Mommy and Daddy are consumed by materialistic things and do not care about anything but what is front of their faces. Albee wants us to see that they are careless and what we look like as a community adopting the new dream. Grandma is trying to get them to be less materialistic and not let the old dream slip away. Albee wants us to see how the old dream is just slipping away without any care or mention of it. Mrs. Barker begins to side with Grandma but ends up siding with Mommy and Daddy in the end. We are supposed to notice how she moves from one dream to another. Albee wants us to like the Young Man because he is the materialistic dream. But he also wants us to notice the lack of value he has.

3. Imagery: 

• The hat scenario- creates a picture 
• all imagery adds detail to the story
• Mommy's banana shaped-head = dick head, masculine
• Daddy like an old house = falling apart, useless, feminine
• Grandma's pie contest. 

4. Symbolism: 

• Grandma - American Dream- has values
• Young Man- New Dream- materialistic, no values, 
• Mommy- masculine, role reversal (Daddy- feminine)
• Co-modification- sex, kids
• Boxes- old dream being replaced, Grandma's life
• Daddy- deformity, has women parts, feminine, doesn't know what is best

QUOTES:
1. " GRANDMA: When you get old, you can't talk to people because people snap at you. That's why you become deaf, so you won't be able to hear people talking to you that way That's why old people die, eventually. People talk to them that way." 
Importance: Old people are no longer seen as wise. Everyone just puts them in nursing homes, a place for old people to die. The American Dream is also this way. No one sees the importance and just let it slip away. Nobody cared. It just falls apart like an old person and get's discarded, like an old person would be out in a nursing home. Old people die because no one care. The American Dream died because no one cared.  

2. "MOMMY: WHAT a masculine Daddy! Isn't he a masculine Daddy?"
Importance: This is really the only time in the play where Mommy notices Daddy as a masculine figure. He is given power and becomes a real husband. It also the only time where we see sexual tension. And just as it hits its climax and we think things will happen, Grandma comes in a interrupts. Daddy then is emasculated. 

3. "GRANDMA: Then it turned out it only had eyes for Daddy. 
MRS. BARKER: For its Daddy! Why, any self-respecting woman would have gouged those eyes right out of its head. 
GRANDMA: Well, she did. That's exactly what she did."
Importance: This is an exaggeration of the co-modification that we have come to by adapting the materialistic dream. After adopting "the bumble" and it misbehaves, Mommy and Daddy cut off its limbs, gouge its eyes out, and cut of its penis. This is put in to show how we co-modify things that shouldn't be co-modified. We put labels on our children and they become objects instead of actual people.

Theme: One theme in The American Dream by Edward Albee is the American Dream itself and how we have come to adapt the new materialistic dream. While Grandma represents the old dream, the Young Man represents the new dream. Throughout the whole play Mommy and Daddy are uninterested and disrespect Grandma. Grandma always talks about how old people just aren't cared about and are always scolded for things they can't help. The Young Man comes to replace Grandma as as the new materialistic dream and no one cares or really even notices once Grandma leaves.

Close Reading- Number Two

Darkness and Death, No Magic to Help
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/27/books/book-review-the-casual-vacancy-by-j-k-rowling.html

     In this article there is great diction detail. Michiko Kakutani's use of diction really helps create the mood for the book review. Her word choice is wonderful and while she is saying that this isn't a good book, I am still sort of interested in reading it.
     Kakutani doesn't just come out right away and say this is an awful book, don't read it. She starts off with detail and compares The Casual Vacancy to Harry Potter. The comparisons made throughout this article help with adding detail and it isn't just a review saying "this is bad, don't read it." The comparisons give you a reason and something that says "J.K. Rowling can write better than this." In the second to last paragraph, Kakutani explains some of the characters in the book to show you how these characters have no past, nothing behind them to help you through the book. And in the last paragraph, she still compares The Casual Vacancy to Harry Potter and how much better Harry Potter was.
    Throughout this whole article, Kakutani's word choice brings you closer and closer to the idea that this isn't a good book. In the second paragraph she writes "Unfortunately, the real-life world she has limned in these pages is so willfully banal, so depressingly cliched that 'The Casual Vacancy' is not only disappointing -- it's dull." The word choice in this sentence alone captures the tone of this review. She uses not only the more sophisticated words, but the less sophisticated ones also. It's a good mixture.  The words and phrases such as "limned", "willfully banal", and "depressingly cliched"show Kakutani's dislike for this book, and it makes you dislike it as well, and you probably haven't even read the book.
     I could spend all day writing about how her diction brings this review together, and all about how great her word choice is. But I won't bore you with that. Read the article yourself and you will see the diction in this review. And how it affects your thoughts and feelings.

Prompt #2- 2008

2008. In a literary work, a minor character, often known as a foil, possesses traits that emphasize, by contrast or comparison, the distinctive characteristics and qualities of the main character. For example, the ideas or behavior of a minor character might be used to highlight the weaknesses or strengths of the main character. Choose a novel or play in which a minor character serves as a foil for the main character. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the relation between the minor character and the major character illuminates the meaning of the work.

      In The American Dream by Edward Albee, there are charcters that are foils of one another. They also play a large role into the the theme and main idea of the play as a whole. The main character of the play is Grandma, while the minor is Young Man. These two characters are what this play revolves around.
     Grandma is an old woman who lives with her daughter, Mommy, and her daughter's husband, Daddy. Grandma is ignore and seems to be useless and annoying to Mommy and Daddy. Mommy wants nothing to do with her and wants to have her carted off to a nursing home. Daddy doesn't seem to care either way, but he isn't opposed to having her carted off. Young Man is a young, materialistic, your stereotypical, perfect boy. He's attractive, masculine, and everything any girl would ever want.
     Grandma represents the old American dream, while Young Man represents the new American dream. Grandma is falling apart and decrepited. Young Man is every way complete, except he has no values. While Grandma has all these values, and seems to  know everything, and strives for what she wants, Young Man will do anything for money and doesn't care about anything other than materialisitc goods.
    With the two contrasting characters, Albee tries to show how the world is coming to become materialistic. He tries to get across the point that we only see what is right in front of our faces and we are never satisfied. While with the old dream, we had values and strived for what we wanted to be happy. The dream is no longer about what makes you happy and having a family, and the house and car. It has become something where no one is perfect and what color hat you have decides your social superiority.
     These two characters and their values and manner help show what Albee is trying to say about the old dream fading away. At the end of the play, Grandma finally gives up her role as the dream to Young Man and leaves. She then leaves it up to the audience to help the old American Dream live on and strive.

Response to Course Material: Number Two

     We have learned all about The American Dream by Edward Albee. We also learned different ways to critize literature. And we learned how to analyze a piece of poetry for the AP exam. Lastly, we learned about all of the literary movements. One more thing; we learned about allusions.
     Analyzizng the piece of poetry really helped me out. I am not the best at poetry and I was really concerned about having to write a paper about it on the test. While it took us a whole class period to learn how to do it, I am ready to learn how to do it faster. It really made me feel more confident in my ability to analyze poetry.
     When we learned about the literary movements, a lot of it was review. But because I only took American Literature, I didn't know anything about the Victorian time period. Learning about this really helped me. I know can use the literature movements I know, and the ones I didn't know before when categorizing literature.
     When learning about the critical lenses, most of it wasn't review. I had already learned all about them last year in American Lit. One that really  got me was post colonialism. It was a lot to learn. All of the terms really made it harder to get a grasp on, but I think it will help me out in the future.
     Once we went over all of the allusions, I realized I didn't know as much as I though I did. If we hadn't spent class time to go over them, I wouldn't been able to recognize allusions later on in the class, but most importantly for the test. All of the allusions are really going to help me out when trying to analyze literature. Before we learned them, I wouldn't have known what allusions to look for.
     The American Dream was an odd play. I was really lost and confused as to what was happeneing. Well more why, than what. I understood what was going on but all of it was so different, I wasn't ready for it. Once we started reading packets about the play, and how it was analyzed, things became so much more clear to me. The play made so much more sense and I understood why Edward Albee did what he did. What threw me the most was how Albee showed Grandma as the old american dream, and the Young Man as the new american dream. I am excited to learn more about the play because I still don't know how other characters fit into this play.
    

Close Readings- Number Three

TAKING NOTE; So Many Screeners and So Little Shampoo, but Are Our Planes Safer?
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F01E7DF113EF936A2575AC0A9649D8B63&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

    
     In this article I found diction, details, and syntax. The author is trying to persuade you into thinking that even though we have all this secuirty and all these rules for flying on airplanes, that they really aren't all that much safer.
     The diction is this piece is really all just denotative. But there are some connotative diction also. Such as "The report notes, dryly, that ..." Using dryly states that the report was boring and uninformitative. Details in this piece persuade us to believe that airports and airplanes aren't much safer than they were before 9/11. In paragraphs 8-10 the article gives examples from a report about the TSA's spending and how it really hasn't helped with changing airport security. Using factual evidence is extremely helpful to use in a persuasive essay. Syntax in this piece is also used to help persuade you since its an opinion piece. The writer uses a mix of long and short sentences and uses semicolons with short sentences to help you keep reading. An example of this is "They do; but there's a hitch." They also use rhetorical questions. Such as, "Is it really necessary to ban shampoo and hand cream?"
     This article did a good job of using the persuasive technigues and using different literary elements to help with the persuasion. It grabs your attention and it doesn't just wander off and bore you in the middle of it. It keeps you reading and intrigued and defintiely does persuade you, or make you more for the other side of the argument.

Prompt #1: 2009, Form B

2009, Form B. Many works of literature deal with political or social issues. Choose a novel or play that focuses on a political oe social issue. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the author uses literary elements to explore this issue and explazin how the issue contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

     In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Twain explores social issues. The main literary element he uses is satire. He satirizes social classes and religion mainly. Huck Finn's father is a complete idiot and just doesn't know anything. But, the black slave, Jim, is more intelgent than the white man that is Huck Finn's father. Pap, Huck Finn's dad, is a white male, which means he is on the very top of the social class pyramid in this novel. And Jim, is on the very botttom. But their attitudes and intellgience levels are completely opposite.
     Jim wasn't someone that anyone would trust because he is African American. But Huck Finn, trusts him more than anyone else does. He realizes that just because he has different colored skin, doesn't mean that he is a different person. Twain shows this by Jim kind of becoming Huck's older brother and caring for him. He shows how the different social classes mix, and how the pyramid just gets thrown off because Huck trusts Jim so much.
     Another way Twain uses satire is with religion. Huck's aunt, whom he lives with, teaches him all about the Bible and what God does and why Huck should pay attention. But Huck just doesn't even care and says that he's not even sure what all of this means and why he needs to learn it. This completely goes against the norm for the time period. Twain just really wrote in a completely different way and satrirized a lot of things that other writers wouldn't have.

Response to Course Material: Number One

      After reading How to Literature as a Professional, and doing the presentation for it. I realized that I didn't know as much as I thought I did. And all those childhood movies and books, they aren't so childlike after all. They have so much more meaning than just being entertainment for kids. Like Shrek for example, it's not just an ugly, hated ogre saving a princess, who also turns out to be an ogre. It's all the fairytales put into one movie. I realized this once I read the chapter about Hansel and Gretel. He mentions how many writers use "kiddie lit" to relate their stories to, and well, it works. He also mentions how everything comes from one story. And he's right. Like he mentioned, I haven't read everything there is to be read, but for the most part, I can relate some part of a book I am reading to another piece of literature.
      In The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing, it gives you tips on how to write a well written essay. After taking notes on the powerpoints, it made me think of this book. Many of the things in the presentaions were noted in the book. Such as having a clear reason to write the paper, and getting your point across as easily and as well stated as possible.
      We also focused on literary terms. I noticed these in the poems we had to read over summer. I wasn't exactly looking for them when I first read them and I missed some things, that maybe I shouldn't have. But when I look back at the poems, I see a lot more than I did before. In Sonnet 20, I noticed free verse. The poem doesn't really have any specific rhyme. Also, I saw juxtaposition. Neruda writes, "My ugly one, I love you for your waist of gold;/ my beauty, for the wrinkle on my forehead./ My love: I love you for your clarity, your dark." (lines 12-14). He states a beautiful thing for when he talks about "ugly", and an ugly thing when he talks about "beauty". He loves her no matter what she looks like and for who she is.

Me Talk Pretty One Day

When I first started reading this essay, some things just didn't sound right. As I kept on reading, it didn't exactly get better, but it didn't get worse. Sedaris followed some things from Nuts and Bolts of College Writing, but not everything. I feel as though he added commas where there shouldn't have been. Such as the second sentence. "After paying my tuition, I was issued a student ID, which allows me a discounted entry fee at movie theatres, puppet shows, and Festyland, a far-flung amusement park that advertises with billboards picturing a cartoon stegosaurus sitting in a canoe and eating what appears to be a ham sandwhich." (Sedaris 1). The comma pair he uses doesn't work here. In Nuts and Bolts of College Writing, Harvery notes that "the pair of commas works rather like parentheses to mark the beginning and end." (Harvey 36). The commas Sedaris uses confused me and made the sentence hard to read. Harvey also wrote that you should use quotations when writing words in a different language and Sedaris uses italics instead of quotations. For the most part Sedaris' essay was well written and had flow, but I didn't really understand the message behind it completely.

Poetry Goals

1. Don't look into the poems meaning until the second time you read it
2. Figure out the subject matter of the poem;  understand the meaning
3. Pay attention the rhythm and rhyme
4. Consider the title of the poem
5. Who is the narrator? What's the setting?

I chose these goals because these are things I usually miss or overlook. I never read the poem once just to read it. I start by trying to figure out the meaning, but it really helps to read it once before trying to figure out the meaning. I also don't really look at titles of poems. But the titles usually have some meaning. The rhyme and rhythm of a poem can also help you understand the poem better and I get so caught up in reading between the lines that I don't pay attention to that. The setting and narrator have a big role in the meaning of a poem and if you miss that, the poem can have a completely different meaning.

Diagnostic Test

After taking this test, I was a little concernced about the poetry. I am not the best when it comes to analyizing, especailly poetry. I wasn't at all suprised by the amount of anayzing in this test. I mean, pretty much, that's what I see literature as. The essay portion was something I also wasn't suprised about. I have always had to read part of a book, and then reflect upon it and look for literary elements.  For the most part, nothing really surprised me about this test. It is just a regular literature test. The only thing different is that it's timed.