Close Reading

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-myturn-ashes-20111205,0,1947552.story

Diction: Shaw uses pejorative diction when describing cremation to highlight his doubts regarding the practice. He describes the urn of ashes "squatting" on the mantle, not exactly the most dignified image that could be conveyed to the reader. He also compares cremation to a "medieval" Catholic practice, giving off the impression that he feels that the practice is dated and primitive. The "dessicated" fingers do not romanticize the Catholic practice, and comparing it to cremation does not put it in a good light.

Imagery: The image that Shaw describes of his hypothetical grave contrast greatly with his negative portrayal cremations.

Response to Course Material

In the past week we have been reading and analyzing Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko. We have been close reading in groups and sharing our analysis with our classmates. Personally, I liked the first half of Ceremony and didn't care much for the second half, so I'm enjoying our discussions while I can. My second read for Ceremony was much more helpful to me than my second read for Death of a Salesman and The American Dream because of its unusual narrative structure. Similarly, the discussions are much more helpful to me for Ceremony as opposed to the others. This may be because there is simply so much more content to break down in a novel as opposed to a play.

Open Prompt #6

Critic Roland Barthes has said, "Literature is the question minus the answer." Choose a novel, or play, and, considering Barthes' observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers answers. Explain how the author's treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

Some works of literature, such as War and Peace and Crime and Punishment, are works that address many diverse issues in great detail. Others are more simplistic, and it is clear to the reader what the central question raised by the work is. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller is a work that unambiguously questions the American way and American society, yet any solution that Miller suggests is far from obvious.

Miller's message in Death of a Salesman is critical of his contemporary American society, and he raises his questions regarding the American Dream through the life and ultimate demise of the main character Willy Loman. Through Willy's beliefs, Miller conveys everything that he finds wrong with the American Dream. Miller uses Willy's job as a salesman to represent the materialism and fake quality of the American way; Willy's strongly held convictions that success can come from being well liked are proved wrong again and again throughout the work. However, Miller makes it clear that Willy is not to blame for his failure; he is portrayed as helpless to the forces of society around him, that ultimately cause his downfall.

Though Miller clearly indicts American society for its distortion of values and failure to live up to the principles of his ideal American way, he does not give a specific answer to the audience about what should be done.

Her father's perfect death

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-myturn-dying-20110926,0,2663863.story

Diction: Brady's choice of words in the title itself shows her use of diction. The juxtaposition of perfect and death grabs the reader's attention. A death is never described as perfect, given that perfect has an honorific connotation. Her use of "buddy" and "kids" to describe adults emphasizes the amount of comfort her father felt with the ones around him, in his last hours.

Details: Brady picks great details that set the article's positive mood. When all the kids and the friends think that her father is about to draw his last breath, a somber and sad moment, Brady makes sure to add in her father's response. Her father's joking response in the face of death, and the break of tension that the onlookers, as well as the reader feels advances Brady's message. Her quotes from her father, in his last hours, never show fear or sadness, but only perfect contentedness.

Syntax: Brady, in the opening lines of the her first real paragraph, uses simple sentences with repetitive structures to give the reader a sense of the simple and matter of fact attitude that was taken towards the complex subject of death: "He was home on hospice. He was comfortable. His wife of 53 years, his six children and several grandchildren surrounded his bed." Throughout the piece, Brady uses simple statements like "Even as he was dying he comforted me."These short statements are presented as simple and factual. In other words, the way things went was perfect.

Response to Course Material

Over the past few weeks, we've started to get into learning the format of the AP Lit multiple choice section. I'm glad that we have some more knowledge of it now, because I was really confused as to the content we would be tested over and how the questions would be posed. Now I feel reassured, because the questions on the practice test that we took didn't look too intimidating; most of them were straightforward, and I tripped up mainly because I wasn't familiar with the vocabulary. We also wrote our second closed prompt essay, and I am glad to say that I found this one a lot easier than the last. Hopefully this trend will continue.

Open Prompt #5

Unlike the novelist, the writer of a play does not use his own voice and only rarely uses a narrator's voice to guide the audience's responses to character and action. Select a play you have read and write an essay in which you explain the techniques the playwright uses to guide his audience's responses to the central characters and the action. You might consider the effect on the audience of things like setting, the use of comparable and contrasting characters, and the characters' responses to each other. Support your argument with specific references to the play. Do not give a plot summary.

When reading a play, one often finds themselves facing more ambiguity in the text than in prose. Arthur Miller is a playwright who has an extremely explicit vision of his plays. Miller uses specific descriptions of the play's set, the divergent success in life of Willy's family and Charley's family, and the conflicts between the major characters to convey his message indicting the contemporary American society and its principles.

The settings that Miller present to the audience shape their mood, and their take on the characters; actions on the stage. Compared to many other prominent playwrights, Miller is extremely detailed in his stage directions. By analyzing his directions, the reader can see the effects that Miller wishes to create, and what meaning that it conveys. In the first scene, the abstract nature of the set, with rooms that have no visible boundaries and towering dark figures of apartment buildings, gives a dreamlike quality to the play. This leads the audience to suspend realism in there reception of the characters' actions and dialogue, as well as hint that the main character, Willy is out of touch with reality. Thus, the audience is not surprised when Willy fades in and out of flashbacks to earlier days. In addition, the musical component of the setting, with the flute that fades in and out makes reference to Willy's father's profession, as well as an allusion to the Pied Piper. Miller's uses the Pied Piper to represent the American way, leading individuals like Willy awry. The setting, both visual and musical, allows Miller to advance his message cricriticizing the American way.

Miller juxtaposes the success of Charley's family and the failure of Willy's family to criticize the American way and his contemporary American society. From the beginning of the play, it is clear that Willy's family is not extremely accomplished. Willy is an aging salesman, Biff is out of work, and Happy lives a mediocre life as an office worker. However, the extent of the family's failures only become apparent when Miller details the interactions between Willy and Charley, as well as Willy and his son, Bernard. The deception that Miller has Willy's family play on itself, as well as on the audience, is broken when it is revealed that Willy has been forced to accept charity from Charlie on a weekly basis. In addition, it is revealed that Bernard has become very successful, despite his portrayal as Biff's subordinate in their younger years.

Miller uses specific descriptions of the play's set, the divergent success in life of Willy's family and Charley's family, and the conflicts between the major characters to convey his message indicting the contemporary American society and its principles.

Open Prompt #4

2007. In many works of literature, past events can affect, positively or negatively, the present activities, attitudes, or values of a character. Choose a novel or play in which a character must contend with some aspect of the past, either personal or societal. Then write an essay in which you show how the character's relationship to the past contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.

The longevity of human memory is bittersweet; nostalgic memories of the past can bring great pleasure, while terrible experiences can haunt one forever. In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman must deal with the ramifications of his extramarital affair. Willy's struggle with his past mistake is a vehicle through which Miller explores Willy's role in Biff's failure to succeed and the fallacy of Willy's ideas regarding success, revealing his criticisms of the society responsible for creating Willy.

Miller makes it clear that the discovery of Willy's extramarital affair by Biff is the direct cause of Biff's failure in life, however, Willy refuses to accept his responsibility. Bernard notes that after Biff visits Willy in Boston, the drive that Biff had to complete high school vanishes, a comment that angers Willy greatly and that he denies. Biff's discovery of Willy's affair exposes his father as a "fake", and leads him to see through the fallacy of the ideals and dreams that his father has for him. This leads to his disillusionment and feeling of loss that haunts him in the years following the incident. Willy blames Biff's laziness for his failures in life, but deep down, Willy recognizes that he is to blame. Willy recognizes, beneath his surface pomp and pride, that his ideals and dreams truly are fake.

Willy is Miller's symbol for the American way and the products of American society, and exposing Willy's life as a lie displays Miller's criticism of them. Biff's attitude towards life stems from Willy's constant preaching of his ideas on success, under the pretense that he is indeed a successful man. However, after Biff's discovery of his affair with The Woman, Willy can no longer deny the fact that his way of life and aspirations are lies, a fact that causes him to be as utterly lost as Biff is. He turns to memories of his brother, Ben, for the "right answer" to the question of how to succeed in the world, yet finds no concrete answer. This question haunts Willy, until eventually he resorts to the only option that he feels will redeem himself to his family and the world for his failures:death.

Willy is haunted by the questions and self-realization of the fake life that he leads, after Biff discovers his affair. Miller exposes the fallacy of the American way by exposing its product, Willy, as a lie.

Response to Course Material

Since my last response, we have started a close reading of The American Dream. We are picking apart the finer details of the text and annotating our books. It's interesting how much freedom we have to choose the topic that we want to talk about, Ms. Holmes gives us minimal guidance, which I enjoy very much. It allows the students to have a more rich and thoughtful discussion when it's all between equals, without an authority looming over us who decides for us what the right answer and wrong answers. I'm not exactly sure what we should focus on marking when we do our annotations, the elements of DIDLS and other small observations, or the broad interpretations, symbols and motifs.

A cancer survivor's valentine to her oncologist

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-myturn-breast-cancer-doctor-20111024,0,211643.story

This story details the author, Peggy Stacy,'s relationship with her doctor during her battle with breast cancer.

Language: Stacy describes the plastic drains almost like they have a sinister mind of their own. She personifies them when she says that they "snaked silently" under her shirt. When she uses a simile to compare her meetings with doctors to speed dates, she juxtaposes the situation of her very serious illness with a lighthearted concept like speed dating. She]also personifies the intravenous drugs she takes by describing them as launching an "assault" on her body; this again displays Stacy's negative and suspicious attitude towards the treatments required to save her.

Diction: When Stacy uses macabre to describe the speed dating simile, she is emphasizing the seriousness of her illness and the possible mortal consequences. Her admiration for her doctor is shown when she says that Dr. Chap "radiated" intelligence and a calm demeanor. Previously describing herself as frustrated and in despair, Dr. Chap is her beacon of hope throughout the ordeal. She describes Dr. Chap's steely competence, where the world steely enhances the unyielding nature of Dr. Chap's competence.

Details: When Stacy mentions her hopes to frame her son's college diploma and see her daughter's first prom dress, she reveals the emotional pain that breast cancer has wrought on her. These parenting milestones, taken granted by many, are not guarunteed for Stacy. The juxtaposition of the frightening description of the intravenous drugs and the completely everyday activities of the roomful of women taking them takes the reader by surprise and rids the drugs of the mystique and uncertainty that makes them frightening.

Open Prompt

1989. In questioning the value of literary realism, Flannery O'Connor has written, "I am interested in making a good case for distortion because I am coming to believe that it is the only way to make people see." Write an essay in which you "make a good case for distortion," as distinct from literary realism. Analyze how important elements of the work you choose are "distorted" and explain how these distortions contribute to the effectiveness of the work. Avoid plot summary.

Exaggerated and caricature like characters grab a reader's attention by shocking him with their absurdity. They can cause the reader to think about and reconsider their perspectives on the issue that the author is explores with hyperbole. By making the characters, plot and overall tone of The American Dream. Blatantly exaggerated and absurd, Albee's play criticizes the contemporary state of American society.

The characters in the American Dream are absurd in their expressed personalities, interactions, and even their mere names. The names of two of the major characters are Mommy and Daddy, despite the fact that there is no child in the play. In addition, all of the characters in the play address them as Mommy and Daddy in complete seriousness; even Grandma refers to her daughter as "Mommy". Albee's unique choice of character names is meant to show the audience the absolutely ludicrous nature of the play. Albee's indirect characterization of Mommy and Daddy expands on this. Through their interactions, the reader finds Mommy to be a domineering wife who demands absolute attention and throws child-like tantrums. Daddy is the polar opposite, a meek man who is unable to assert himself and satisfy Mommy. Since Albee presents Mommy and Daddy as a typical '60s couple through the stage set up of his story, the distorted characters display his criticism of American society, and consequently, the American Dream.

The plot of The American Dream is full of absurd exaggerations, and Albee makes fun certain ideas central to his message in order to highlight them to the reader. When Mommy recounts her story about buying a hat in the department store, the reader feels little connection to Mommy's strong feelings over whether the exact color of the hat beige or wheat. When Mommy throws a tantrum in the store over the color of the hat, the audience can not take Mommy's actions seriously. This incident gets across Albee's criticism of the materialism of the American Dream by blowing an example up to the extreme.

The overriding tone that Albee creates is of absurdity, with characters taking serious matters lightly and trivial matters seriously. When Mommy and Daddy recount the mutilation and eventual death of their adopted baby, the audience is horrified. However, Mommy and Daddy show no sign of remorse throughout their retelling. To them the "bumble" was merely another material good to be used and thrown away. On the flip side of that coin is Mommy's aforementioned outrage at the store employees over the color of her hat. This reversal of common sense in the characters that represent the values of Albee's American society show his critical message towards them.

By making the characters that represent American society as absurd as possible to the audience, Albee conveys his message against the values of his contemporary American society. Albee relies on the fact that audiences will see the ludicrous actions of Mommy and Daddy and reflect on the serious issues that he sees in their society.

Response to Course Material

The most interesting thing that's happened to us in the past few weeks has been our first reading of Albee's The American Dream. It has served as our introduction to an edgier side of literature, one that I haven't seen much of in my previous literature classes. It is quite sexual, graphic, and incestuous, but we've been told that it's great literature, so we're reading it. We practiced open prompt responses using The American Dream, and I surprised myself when I could actually come up with relevant responses to the prompts using the play. This reassures me that what we are reading is, in fact, a legitimate piece of literature that has enough depth to get real meaning out of it. We also learned about different types of comedy, which I found intriguing, because I never thought of comedy as a rich genre to analyze, but I've since realized that I was very wrong.

We also worked on syntax, a concept that, before we talked about it, I was quite fuzzy on. I feel like it was much less emphasized in my previous literature classes than all the other parts of DIDLS. By reading the packet we were given in class, I'm much better at recognizing when authors use syntax to create effects.

Closed Prompt #2 "Radiation patients share a survivor's song"

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/03/health/la-he-myturn-waiting-room-20111003

Diction: Morrison uses diction that evokes a light-hearted mood in the reader, despite the inherently serious subject matter. The use of "jitterbug" gives the piece energy and vibrance. Describing cancer as being "zapped" away by radiation treatments makes cancer seem like a trivial little thing, and downplays the potential deadliness of the disease. "Zap" makes the process seem easy and final, masking the fact that radiation treatment can often cause terrible side effects and may fail to rid a patient of cancer.

Details: Morrison adds details that gives the piece a sense of calm and hope, when, given the circumstances of the subjects, there is so much potential for despair and anxiety. She describes the connection that all feel towards each other, given the frequency of the radiation treatments, and the common bond they share. The atmosphere of fellowship is enhanced by the communal enjoyment of the music and dancing, actions of happiness and friendship. The patients in the waiting room even sing together, an unusual act for most strangers in this day and age.

Syntax: Morrison uses relatively short, simple sentences to convey her ideas. No lengthy exhortations of her overall point are used. She states each idea like a fact, without a persuasive tone that throws itself at the reader. However, in my opinion, the style is more effective at giving readers the message and idea than long, elaborate sentences. Each sentence builds on the former and gives readers the whole picture, piece by piece.

Open Prompt #2

2009. A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

In literature, some symbols are of a static nature in that their roles do not change as the plot goes on; others play a more dynamic role, with changes in their status or in the attitudes towards them signifying important ideas. The conch shell in The Lord of the Flies is an example of a dynamic symbol. In the beginning of the story, the conch is a symbol of order and civilization, that all of the boys respect, but as the boys slowly lose their grip on the societal values instilled upon them, the conch shell loses respect and is eventually destroyed, blatantly displaying the boys’ complete loss of humanity.

The attitudes of the two protagonist and antagonist, Ralph and Jack, towards the conch are symbolic of their predispositions for humanity and against humanity, respectively. Ralph is the character who first finds the conch and initially suggests that it be used for maintaining order. Jack however, resists the rules that the conch places on him from the onset, and gradually begins disregarding it more and more in the meetings that the boys hold. Eventually he rids the power the conch has over him completely by splitting and creating his own tribe. This break reveals Jack's loss of humanity, and mirrors the cruel acts that he begins committing more and more frequently. Though many of the boys on the island leave him, Ralph remains faithful to the idea of civilization, and the conch, until the end of the story. Golding uses the conch to represent civilization and humanity, and expresses his characters' views of these ideas through their treatment of the conch.

By using the conch as a symbol for the strength of civilization and order, Golding reveals the amount of .humanity left in the children through the status of the conch in the eyes of the children. The children look to the conch as an object of power because it drew them all in and brought them together. Because Ralph controls the conch shell, the boys look to him as their leader, and consequently choose to elect him. The shell symbolizes Ralph’s power: the power of order and civilization. The shell’s power parallels the strength of the influence of civilization over the boys. In the beginning, the shell is powerful and respected, but over time, the shell is seen as less and less important to the boys over time. As the story progresses, the shell is described as if it is losing power; after Jack separates from the group with the majority of the boys, the conch is described as “fragile” . Concurrently, the order and civility of the boys’ society slowly breaks down as the inner savagery of the boys seeps out. They no longer respect the conch, thus displaying the power change from Ralph to Jack. The conflict between primal instincts and civility reaches a tipping point as the boys kill Piggy by rolling a rock down the mountain and knocking him off a cliff. Because Piggy was holding the conch, it results in the complete obliteration of the shell. This represents the complete destruction of all order and remnants of civilization that the boys had left in them, replaced by the innate human qualities of evil and savagery.

In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses the conch shell to represent an idea, the idea of civilization of humanity. By doing this, he transfers all of the characters' feelings, actions, and words directed at the conch shell onto the ideas it represents.