I really like our discussions of Ceremony, although I'm not sure I like how we split into small groups to do annotations then share with the class. This makes me feel like there are passages of the text I'm just not well informed on even though this method saves time.
When we did the multiple choir practice on Froday, my group did a lot better than when we took that first test individually. That really encouraged me because I did so badly on that first practice.
I understood my first article I had to read for the forums, it was the essays by Silko, but the other article I read, Cultural Bsckground in Ceremony, I just didn't understand. The path of logic just didn't seem to be there, it felt like a bunch of small points that didn't especially work together. I really hope the next part of that assignment helps me understand my second article.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Close Reading
It was Romney's debate to lose, And he did by Todd Graham
http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/11/opinion/graham-debate-romney/index.html?hpt=op_t1
The juxtaposition of the first and second sentences make it clear that the author is going to criticise Mitt Romney, but make it clear that he is not an awful politician, rather the juxtaposition points toward some other failing.
At the end of the third paragraph, the author uses slang to solidify how very obvious Romney's failure was. Although the author uses fairly colloquial diction throughout, his use of slang is still noticeable. In the second to last paragraph the author uses the word heartland, this emphasizes the lack of wealth and makes Romney's bet offer look extremely stupid.
The author includes direct quotes from Romney and Gingrich, but Gingrich's quote compliments his debating skills, where Romney's quote is used as a criticism. The author does not make it clear which politician he would prefer in the presidency but his view of their debating skills is clear.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/11/opinion/graham-debate-romney/index.html?hpt=op_t1
The juxtaposition of the first and second sentences make it clear that the author is going to criticise Mitt Romney, but make it clear that he is not an awful politician, rather the juxtaposition points toward some other failing.
At the end of the third paragraph, the author uses slang to solidify how very obvious Romney's failure was. Although the author uses fairly colloquial diction throughout, his use of slang is still noticeable. In the second to last paragraph the author uses the word heartland, this emphasizes the lack of wealth and makes Romney's bet offer look extremely stupid.
The author includes direct quotes from Romney and Gingrich, but Gingrich's quote compliments his debating skills, where Romney's quote is used as a criticism. The author does not make it clear which politician he would prefer in the presidency but his view of their debating skills is clear.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Open Prompt #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.
People affect other people: that is a fact of life. The play, An Inspector Calls, by J.B. Priestley examines how the little things a person does can affect others through his character, Eva Smith. Although Eva Smith never appears in the play, the way the other characters react to her life defines them, as well as pushes Priestley’s belief that the British values often failed those at the bottom of the food chain.
When Inspector Goole shows each member of the Birling family how they contributed to Eva Smith’s suicide, their reaction defines them. The denial and anger that Mr. and Mrs. Birling exhibit how broken the old beliefs they hold are. These reactions are clear indicators of how Priestley views the fading British social order. Because Eva Smith was a working girl, Mr. and Mrs. Birling have no sympathy for her plight. Even after they discover she was pregnant with their grandchild, they are more upset that their son gave her money than themselves for the role they played in her death. The horror and guilt that plague Sheila and Eric Birling show the audience that there is still hope for them, the next generation. How they reacted to Eva Smith’s death put them into categories, those who upheld the strict British social order, and those who dared to care for the less fortunate.
Eva Smith may not be real in the context of the play. She is given multiple names and she never comes onto the stage. The doubt of her existence only broadens Priestley’s message: Inspector Goole says, “…there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths” (Priestley). Eva Smith’s faceless character puts the Birling’s responsibility for her death on everyone who has ever hurt anyone.
Anyone could have been Eva Smith. Society failed to help her. Those who could help chose not to, and because of that she died. The Birling family is defined by how they treated Eva Smith, a character who never appears on stage, yet Eva Smith’s anonymity aids Priestley’s in critiquing the all British values, and not just one family’s values.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Response to Course Material
First off, I love prezi. It is so easy to use and much more exciting than power point. I don't think I ever could go back to power point. But even though I loved getting to work on the presentations, I'm not sure I'm revisiting all of the information I should through these presentations. Things like people who talk quietly or people that are hard to follow make learning from the presentations difficult.
Our class time with Death of a Salesman felt too brief, and it left me not knowing some of the big picture points in the play. I also noticed some things that the class didn't notice and I didn't have enough time to either make my case for what I saw and have the class validate my thoughts or contradict them. Really, I just feel that we never wrapped A Death of a Salesman up, and it doesn't sit well with me. At this point, I would not be comfortable using A Death of a Salesman on the AP Exam.
Also, Ceremony needs to stop changing settings, it takes so long to get reacquainted. The stream of consciousness like writing doesn't sit well with me. It's all too random.
Our class time with Death of a Salesman felt too brief, and it left me not knowing some of the big picture points in the play. I also noticed some things that the class didn't notice and I didn't have enough time to either make my case for what I saw and have the class validate my thoughts or contradict them. Really, I just feel that we never wrapped A Death of a Salesman up, and it doesn't sit well with me. At this point, I would not be comfortable using A Death of a Salesman on the AP Exam.
Also, Ceremony needs to stop changing settings, it takes so long to get reacquainted. The stream of consciousness like writing doesn't sit well with me. It's all too random.
Close Readings
http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/20/opinion/greene-candidates-appeal/index.html?hpt=op_t1
Our Untelevised Presidents by Bob Greene
The diction in Greene's article is key to understanding his feelings about the media and how it effects our choices in government. Words describing political awareness before mass media like "decipher", "distant", "indistinct", and "rumor" make it clear that Greene believes the mass media has improved our awareness. These words are also sophisticated causing the reader to trust Greene's opinion as fact however not so sophisticated that the average reader cannot understand allowing him to reach a wide audience. The diction surrounding a quote about the disadvantages of mass media is skeptical and negative; words like "believes" instead of "says" imply a lack of fact, and using "devour" to describe reading the newspaper makes the act seem uncivilized.
Greene includes many specific details about how presidents were represented in the public prior to mass media to show just how little the public knew about a president. Four entire paragraphs in the article are devoted to facts about who first what represented in each of the technological media advances. Specifically, Greene highlights that John Adams was never photographed in any way. Greene uses this to support his claim that every vote is a "leap of faith", but by including this detail at the end of the paragraph, we can tell that Greene considers the leap of faith to be less extreme now than it was in John Adam's day.
Greene syntax draws the eyes to certain sentences to highlight his important supporting details. The detail about John Adams follows three repeated sentence parallelisms. The John Adams detail is presented a two sentence question format, completely different from the subject verb predicate form used in the three details prior. The second sentence of the article consists of one word, "Again". This short sentence surrounded by lengthy sentences creates a less formal mood, perhaps even an air of superfluousness. This quickly grabs the attention of non-academic readers, and shows how well acquainted the public is with the candidates.
Our Untelevised Presidents by Bob Greene
The diction in Greene's article is key to understanding his feelings about the media and how it effects our choices in government. Words describing political awareness before mass media like "decipher", "distant", "indistinct", and "rumor" make it clear that Greene believes the mass media has improved our awareness. These words are also sophisticated causing the reader to trust Greene's opinion as fact however not so sophisticated that the average reader cannot understand allowing him to reach a wide audience. The diction surrounding a quote about the disadvantages of mass media is skeptical and negative; words like "believes" instead of "says" imply a lack of fact, and using "devour" to describe reading the newspaper makes the act seem uncivilized.
Greene includes many specific details about how presidents were represented in the public prior to mass media to show just how little the public knew about a president. Four entire paragraphs in the article are devoted to facts about who first what represented in each of the technological media advances. Specifically, Greene highlights that John Adams was never photographed in any way. Greene uses this to support his claim that every vote is a "leap of faith", but by including this detail at the end of the paragraph, we can tell that Greene considers the leap of faith to be less extreme now than it was in John Adam's day.
Greene syntax draws the eyes to certain sentences to highlight his important supporting details. The detail about John Adams follows three repeated sentence parallelisms. The John Adams detail is presented a two sentence question format, completely different from the subject verb predicate form used in the three details prior. The second sentence of the article consists of one word, "Again". This short sentence surrounded by lengthy sentences creates a less formal mood, perhaps even an air of superfluousness. This quickly grabs the attention of non-academic readers, and shows how well acquainted the public is with the candidates.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Prompt #5
2006. Many writers use a country setting to establish values within a work of literature. For example, the country may be a place of virtue and peace or one of primitivism and ignorance. Choose a novel or play in which such a setting plays a significant role. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the country setting functions in the work as a whole.
Nature is said to be one thing that the human race will never conquer, and because of that nature can be one of the most frightening things to a human being. Shakespeare plays on the fear of the forest in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The forest setting of A Midsummer Night’s Dream adds to the fear featured in the play and solidifies the lack of control the human characters have over their actions.
Fear in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is closely related to woodland setting. The characters are safe until they enter the forest. This forces the audience to associate the woods with danger, and makes the forest seem suspicious. The unseen danger of the forest is supplemented by the choice of play that the actors put on: Pyramus and Thisby meet their deaths in a forest. They parallel Hermia and Lysander who also have forbidden love and run to the forest to escape society. Thus all of the events in the forest are overshadowed by the idea of fear.
Once the four lovers enter the forest it becomes very clear that they have little control over their own actions. The play opens with very clear boundaries in all of the lovers’ relationships, and all of those boundaries fall apart while in the woods. This shows that their preferences do not matter. Also, the fact that Oberon and Titania are completely aware of the lovers’ presence while the lovers are oblivious to the fairies’ highlights the superiority of the fairies. Because the fairies are able to take away the humans’ freewill, their superiority symbolizes the superiority of magic and fate.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is set in the forest for a reason: nature has often left humans’ powerless. The forest setting emphasizes that the characters have no power over their actions while in the dangerous woods.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Prompt #4
1999. The eighteenth-century British novelist Laurence Sterne wrote, "No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man's mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time."
From a novel or play choose a character (not necessarily the protagonist) whose mind is pulled in conflicting directions by two compelling desires, ambitions, obligations, or influences. Then, in a well-organized essay, identify each of the two conflicting forces and explain how this conflict with one character illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole. You may use one of the novels or plays listed below or another novel or work of similar literary quality.
Society adores the struggle between two loves; it has been the topic of books and movies for centuries. Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights was not the first story to depict the choice between two loves, but it certainly is a memorable one. Catherine’s struggle between Heathcliff and Edgar reveals a deeper meaning in Wuthering Heights, calm love that fits societal expectations is better than passion that leaves destruction in its wake.
Catherine married just as society wanted her to; she married Edgar Linton. Their marriage was filled with turmoil, but all of the issues were caused by the appearance of her childhood friend, Heathcliff. The two men could not be more opposite, and after Catherine dies, that becomes very apparent. Edgar finds peace quickly and learns to accept Catherine’s death; Heathcliff, on the other hand, is tortured by her for years. Bronte purposely places these two men on the opposite end of a spectrum, and asks the reader to judge which fares better. It is not hard to see that the calm, gentle love between Edgar and Catherine leaves him much happier than Heathcliff.
Bronte goes to long lengths to make her readers see the destruction of Catherine’s passionate affair with Heathcliff; not only does his return to her life disturb her marriage, it also hurts those around them. Heathcliff and Catherine torment her sister-in-law, Isabella, for suggesting that she loves Heathcliff more than Catherine loves her husband. Although this functions as a good plot device, it also means more. After their interaction with Isabella, she is never the same; in fact that is practically her last appearance in the novel. This one interaction with the passion between Heathcliff and Catherine destroys Isabella forever.
Bronte associates violence and pain with Heathcliff, while associating happiness and tranquility with Edgar. Her point is clear: love that society approves of and love that leaves both lovers happy is far superior to harsh passion.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Close Reading #4
Why immigration uproar went nationwide
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/24/opinion/singer-immigration-nationwide/index.html?hpt=op_t1
Details reveal some of the author's bias in the very first paragraph. She includes the negative impacts of the new Alabama laws both emotional impacts and economical impacts. This would make most readers sympathetic to the illegals right from the start. The fact that the population growth was more severe in the 90's than the 2000's also emphasizes the idea that the "uproar" is unnessecary and an overreaction.
The fifth paragraph contains one sentence, but it is full of meaning. The use of the word "ruckus" connotates a disruptive and unproductive, implying the reactions to immigration issues are disruptive to the American way of life and unproductive since there have been no real accomplishments in the area. The phrase "foreign-born populations" could be replaced with "illegals" or "hispanics", yet the author chose to use a phrase with very little negative connotations. The phrase is also quite elevated. That gives the immigrants a feeling of intelligence to the readers. It also implies that the issue isn't with only Hispanics which may quell some reader's feelings. All of this promotes a positive image of immigrants and therefore a negative image of the new immigration laws.
The second to last paragraph emphasizes the brokenness of the immigration system though syntax by finishing the first clause with the word "broken" and the second phrase of the sentence with the word "it" referring back to the immigration system.
As a whole the article stresses the negatives of cracking down on immigration.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/24/opinion/singer-immigration-nationwide/index.html?hpt=op_t1
Details reveal some of the author's bias in the very first paragraph. She includes the negative impacts of the new Alabama laws both emotional impacts and economical impacts. This would make most readers sympathetic to the illegals right from the start. The fact that the population growth was more severe in the 90's than the 2000's also emphasizes the idea that the "uproar" is unnessecary and an overreaction.
The fifth paragraph contains one sentence, but it is full of meaning. The use of the word "ruckus" connotates a disruptive and unproductive, implying the reactions to immigration issues are disruptive to the American way of life and unproductive since there have been no real accomplishments in the area. The phrase "foreign-born populations" could be replaced with "illegals" or "hispanics", yet the author chose to use a phrase with very little negative connotations. The phrase is also quite elevated. That gives the immigrants a feeling of intelligence to the readers. It also implies that the issue isn't with only Hispanics which may quell some reader's feelings. All of this promotes a positive image of immigrants and therefore a negative image of the new immigration laws.
The second to last paragraph emphasizes the brokenness of the immigration system though syntax by finishing the first clause with the word "broken" and the second phrase of the sentence with the word "it" referring back to the immigration system.
As a whole the article stresses the negatives of cracking down on immigration.
Response to Course Material #3
I've loved reading The American Dream. The close reading both as a class and on my own has been very productive. I've always enjoyed using Sticky Notes in my books, but being able to write directly on a word has opened a whole new realm of detail oriented reading. The class discussions have also really enhanced my understanding of the play. The discussions are both enjoyable and hearing other people's input really opens my mind. The entire class environment is awesome. I love that we can ta and laugh about literature with kids shutting down and refusing to participate. Everyone in the class participates and it makes the class fun to be in.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Open Prompt
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.
Power is one of the many things most humans strive for, whether it is power over a spouse or an entire country, people seem to want power. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the title character spends the entire play forcing his way towards the seat of power, the throne. Shakespeare uses Macbeth to assert that power, the ascension to power, corrupts only those who thirst for it. This becomes obvious through his treatment of Macbeth as opposed to Malcolm.
Shakespeare portrays Macbeth negatively as soon as he begins thirsting for power. The first passage Macbeth is ever mentioned in, he is a war hero. The language used is elegant and Macbeth seems almost god like. But as soon as Macbeth begins his quest for power, he loses his hero like qualities. His sanity comes into question, and the audience sees the blood of his victims. Although the audience does not witness the murders, they must see the mess he creates both figuratively and literally. This unavoidable visual impresses on them how corrupt Macbeth has become because of his desire to rule.
Malcolm is hardly a main character; although he plays a large role in the plot, he appears relatively rarely. In one of Malcolm’s largest scenes, he tests Macduff’s intentions in order to assure that his country will be safe despite being exiled from it. The throne was forced upon Malcolm, although he may have desired it, he never attempted to murder his way up the chain. In this way he is displayed very positively next to Macbeth, who did everything in his power to become King and no longer answer to any authority.
Malcolm and Macbeth are not complete opposites, but in their rises power, Shakespeare makes it very clear that Macbeth’s thirst for power lead to corruption and his ultimate demise, where Malcolm remained pure and successful.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Response to Course Material #2
I still really enjoy the class, the people are easy to interact with and the material is relatable. You'd think that families that mutilate their children wouldn't be relatable, but their craziness is oddly normal, what family is normal anyway? I'm still not quite comfortable with open prompt essays, partially because the techniques most analyzed in open prompts are my least favorite techniques. I just don't like using details, it always feels too much like summarizing. The class work with closed prompts is starting really sink in. It's made analyzing a specific work come a lot quicker, although I have to admit that may be because I can bounce it off the other members of my group.
Close Reading #2
Chris Christie and our biases about weight by Rebecca Puhl
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/07/opinion/puhl-christie-weight/index.html?hpt=op_t1
I chose this article because we discussed this issue in my Government class as well, and I figured it would lend well to some cross curriculum thinking. I also struggle with this article because I know I can have some of these biases. Anyway, on to analyzing.
The very first sentence manages to characterize the authors opinion of media coverage of the obese. Her diction lends very nicely to making the media looked bad. The word "frenzy" makes the reader think of many things, maybe animals rushing toward a fallen prey or people shoving each other to reach a goal, but no matter what comes to mind, it's not positive. Again in the second sentence she uses diction for a specific purpose, but this time to support Chris Christie. She uses the word "deliberated" to describe his debate about entering the presidential race. The word "deliberated" is very sophisticated, a word only educated people would use normally, this suggests that the subject, Christie, is also well educated.
Also, in the ninth paragraph, Puhl emphasizes that thinner employees may not be healthier. The second sentence uses syntax to compare the possible health of obese and thin people. By using the same form, subject verb compliment, she compares the two compliments. The first of the two being an active life of an obese person, and the second being a lazy and unhealthy life of a thin person.
The entire article pushes for recognition of obese discrimination. The details offered throughout suggest that not only is legislation protecting the obese necessary, but also desired by the American population. By reporting details like, "81% of women and 65% of men expressed support for laws that would make it illegal for employers to discriminate against obese employees" (Puhl), the reader forms opinions more strongly in favor of the author's opinions. If the reader believes that most Americans wish to have such legislation, then they are likely to side with the apparent majority.
Overall, the author creates a forceful voice to entice the reader to believe discrimination against the obese is wide spread, unfair, and needs to be addressed.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/07/opinion/puhl-christie-weight/index.html?hpt=op_t1
I chose this article because we discussed this issue in my Government class as well, and I figured it would lend well to some cross curriculum thinking. I also struggle with this article because I know I can have some of these biases. Anyway, on to analyzing.
The very first sentence manages to characterize the authors opinion of media coverage of the obese. Her diction lends very nicely to making the media looked bad. The word "frenzy" makes the reader think of many things, maybe animals rushing toward a fallen prey or people shoving each other to reach a goal, but no matter what comes to mind, it's not positive. Again in the second sentence she uses diction for a specific purpose, but this time to support Chris Christie. She uses the word "deliberated" to describe his debate about entering the presidential race. The word "deliberated" is very sophisticated, a word only educated people would use normally, this suggests that the subject, Christie, is also well educated.
Also, in the ninth paragraph, Puhl emphasizes that thinner employees may not be healthier. The second sentence uses syntax to compare the possible health of obese and thin people. By using the same form, subject verb compliment, she compares the two compliments. The first of the two being an active life of an obese person, and the second being a lazy and unhealthy life of a thin person.
The entire article pushes for recognition of obese discrimination. The details offered throughout suggest that not only is legislation protecting the obese necessary, but also desired by the American population. By reporting details like, "81% of women and 65% of men expressed support for laws that would make it illegal for employers to discriminate against obese employees" (Puhl), the reader forms opinions more strongly in favor of the author's opinions. If the reader believes that most Americans wish to have such legislation, then they are likely to side with the apparent majority.
Overall, the author creates a forceful voice to entice the reader to believe discrimination against the obese is wide spread, unfair, and needs to be addressed.
Prompt #2
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.
People say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, but in many cases you can judge a work by its first chapter or scene. Such a work is Shakespeare’s Macbeth. After reading the play, the reader should recognize witchcraft, and the meaning of fate as a major theme. Now if they look back at the very first chapter, the same elements are there. Shakespeare introduces the witches in the very first scene and then uses them throughout the play to reinforce the struggle between fate and freewill and the line between good and evil.
The three witches in Macbeth, during their first scene, say “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (Shakespeare). This one little line begins one of the major struggles in Macbeth, good and evil. The audience is at first confused by this line, but as the play progresses they see how it is a commentary on Macbeth as a character. Is he truly evil? Or is he just a man tempted by others to commit crimes? Does that make him evil? These are all questions emphasized in that one line, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (Shakespeare).
From that first scene on, the witches predict things in Macbeth’s future, but by doing so they question whether it’s truly his choice to become king, or if he was always fated to be king. The audience can believe two things about Macbeth’s future: he was fated to live and die the way he did or he formed his life around the witches’ predictions. Either way, those three witches greatly influenced his life, directly or indirectly. Shakespeare doesn’t beat around the bush; he introduces the witches and the theme of fate versus freewill.
Beginning Macbeth with the appearance of the three witches was no random plot choice; Shakespeare deliberately used the witches as a way to introduce the themes of fate versus freewill and good versus evil.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Responses to Course Material
September 22: So far AP Literature has mostly been a recap of things we've learned before with a little more detail, as well as learning the basic structure of the AP Essay section. We reviewed what kind of things are used as evidence in a paper (DIDLS), but looked at each of them in a new way. With diction we got very specific, so now I have a better vocabulary to describe the way the diction works. We also studied the processes in reading and writing: how authors create meaning using techniques to make effects, and how readers can analyze that process. By learning about analyzing literature, we started to see how analyzing and essay writing work hand in hand. We also used our new found analyzing skills to pick apart prompts. This activity really helped me see how much a prompt can give away that I'd never even noticed before, like the basic thesis only without your opinion. A prompt can give you the techniques, effects, and meaning of the text you are supposed to analyze. I've really enjoyed the first few weeks of this class because I am finally in a classroom where I have some input on how I see the effects and meaning in a text. Also, it's nice that we haven't shied away from texts that aren't "child appropriate".
Prompts
Choose a character from a novel or play of recognized literary merit and write an essay in which you (a) briefly describe the standards of the fictional society in which the character exists and (b) show how the character is affected by and responds to those standards. In your essay do not merely summarize the plot.
Many people believe that environment helps determine how its inhabitants interact. Part of any given environment is the kind of people that live there. In Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, a gypsy child, is brought into a wealthy English family, but then he is treated horribly by his jealous foster siblings. Emily Bronte presents that character is determined by surroundings through Heathcliff, as he goes from an innocent boy to a cynical monster.
Heathcliff was thrown into the racist upper-class Victorian society. As a gypsy, he was looked down upon, and treated badly. His foster brother, Hindley, was crueler to him than anyone. Hindley persecuted Heathcliff, forcing him to do hard labor, seperating him from the family, and degrading him with language. Hindley is portrayed as quite evil, and his when he becomes an alcoholic, he allows the house to fall into the dark. During this time, Heathcliff also begins to show "evil" tendencies, very different from his childhood, where he was portrayed as the victim.
After Hindley takes away Heathcliff's only friend, Catherine, Heathcliff turns inward, and upon Hindley's death Heathcliff becomes crueler than Hindley ever was. Bronte uses diction to show Heathcliff's new character, describing him as a "monster" at many times in the book. She also constantly shows him in shadows, creating a dark atmosphere. These tactics show that Heathcliff's character has turned dark, and mysterious.
Bronte proves her point by presenting Heathcliff differently from the beginning of the book to the end. By showing him as a moderately happy, although shy, child, and then as a near monster, we see that because of the fierce racism Hindley shows Heathcliff, a monster is born.
Close Readings
American Heroes Who Get No Credit by David Frum
http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/12/opinion/frum-unsung-heroes/index.html?hpt=op_t1
In the third paragraph, the author uses language to emphasize how Americans would negatively view politicians who pushed preventative measures. While describing a politician preparing for a terror attack such as September 11th, Frum says, "It's very possible that they would have been laughed at as tedious people who invested ridiculous amounts of energy against a probably imaginary threat." By using adjectives such as tedious, ridiculous, and imaginary, Frum clearly shows this politician as a mockery. Thus, he makes his point, such a politician would be a laughing stock, not respected, and unrecognized.
The diction in Frum's essay also heavily impacts the meaning, specifically his choice of unnecessary adjectives that change the meaning of a sentence. Frum points out that the politicians who get credit in the grand scheme are the ones that fix disasters. He uses Rudy Giuliani as an example, "The politicians who act after disaster reap the gratitude of the nation, like Rudy Giuliani amid the rubble of New York City." Using the verb "reap" instead of a more common world, like "get", gives this quotation a different feel. If you reap something you are taking it, not being given it. This makes it seem that Giuliani wasn't openly offered the credit, but took it anyway. This emphasizes that credit taken after a disaster isn't as deserving as credit given for preventing disaster.
Frum offers preventative solutions to past events, detailing how they would have been solved and could have significantly changed the course of history. He suggests that certain preemptive actions could have prevented The Great Depression, "Suppose they had rapidly infused the banking system with emergency credit, gone off the gold standard when Britain did in 1931, and organized the mutual forgiveness of the enormous debts and reparations left over from World War I." By detailing the possible fixes to The Great Depression, Frum shows that this changes would not have been widely accepted. Forgiving debts might have been extremely controversial if done too soon, before the country realized how bad the economy was, just as many preventative measures would be today. This furthers his point that some solutions may be unpopular, but that doesn't mean those solutions wouldn't work.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/12/opinion/frum-unsung-heroes/index.html?hpt=op_t1
In the third paragraph, the author uses language to emphasize how Americans would negatively view politicians who pushed preventative measures. While describing a politician preparing for a terror attack such as September 11th, Frum says, "It's very possible that they would have been laughed at as tedious people who invested ridiculous amounts of energy against a probably imaginary threat." By using adjectives such as tedious, ridiculous, and imaginary, Frum clearly shows this politician as a mockery. Thus, he makes his point, such a politician would be a laughing stock, not respected, and unrecognized.
The diction in Frum's essay also heavily impacts the meaning, specifically his choice of unnecessary adjectives that change the meaning of a sentence. Frum points out that the politicians who get credit in the grand scheme are the ones that fix disasters. He uses Rudy Giuliani as an example, "The politicians who act after disaster reap the gratitude of the nation, like Rudy Giuliani amid the rubble of New York City." Using the verb "reap" instead of a more common world, like "get", gives this quotation a different feel. If you reap something you are taking it, not being given it. This makes it seem that Giuliani wasn't openly offered the credit, but took it anyway. This emphasizes that credit taken after a disaster isn't as deserving as credit given for preventing disaster.
Frum offers preventative solutions to past events, detailing how they would have been solved and could have significantly changed the course of history. He suggests that certain preemptive actions could have prevented The Great Depression, "Suppose they had rapidly infused the banking system with emergency credit, gone off the gold standard when Britain did in 1931, and organized the mutual forgiveness of the enormous debts and reparations left over from World War I." By detailing the possible fixes to The Great Depression, Frum shows that this changes would not have been widely accepted. Forgiving debts might have been extremely controversial if done too soon, before the country realized how bad the economy was, just as many preventative measures would be today. This furthers his point that some solutions may be unpopular, but that doesn't mean those solutions wouldn't work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)