September 23, Close Reading Response #1

        For my close reading, I read a piece entitled "Burt Reynolds Lives Like a Princess", by Lancio at The Onion. For those unfamiliar with The Onion, the paper is filled with satirical articles about entertainment, news, politics, etc. In this article, Lancio describes his experience of visiting Reynold's "ocean front mansion". By using an extended metaphor and effective imagery, Lancio succeeds in his purpose of the piece: to make the reader laugh.
        Lancio begins with a simile right there in the title before the reader even begins the article. The figurative language in the article is carried throughout, creating the extended metaphor of Reynolds to a princes. He wraps up the conclusion with an allusion to the well known story "The Princess and the Pea". The figurative language is not only unexpected which creates more humor, but is exaggerated to the point of absurdity. For instance when Reynods allows Lancio "to kiss his hand before he sinks into slumber".
        Consistent choice of effective diction creates phrases that flow well together and a great voice for the author. Lancio uses phrases like "bejeweled hand", "blooming roses", and "a cool garden breeze that caress my skin". This choice of diction creates a very elegant, almost pompous tone, which is very funny for the reader considering the circumstances.
        Through Lancio's imagery, the reader is taken on a tour of Reynold's mansion right alongside him. We "sit in the shade of a spreading magnolia", and "sip peppermint tea, [as the] cool garden breezes caress [our] skin." This use of imagery appeals to the reader's senses and enhances the reading experience.
        The literary techniques used in the article all contribute to Lancio's intended reaction of his audience. He effectively applies these techniques to bring out the humor and entertain the reader.

 http://www.theonion.com/articles/burt-reynolds-lives-like-a-princess,11035/?ref=auto

Open Prompt # 1984

1984. Select a line or so of poetry, or a moment or scene in a novel, epic poem, or play that you find especially memorable. Write an essay in which you identify the line or the passage, explain its relationship to the work in which it is found, and analyze the reasons for its effectiveness.

        In the novel The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, the protagonist and narrator, Esther Greenwood, is a young girl who travels to New York City after winning an assignment on a fashion magazine. The story follows Esther as her life falls apart and she is eventually institutionalized. One line from The Bell Jar stands out to the reader at the beginning of the novel:

        "Look what can happen in this country, they’d say. A girl lives in some out-of-the-way town for nineteen years, so poor she can’t afford a magazine, and then she gets a scholarship to college and wins a prize here and a prize there and ends up steering New York like her own private car. Only I wasn’t steering anything, not even myself. I just bumped from my hotel to work and to parties and from parties to my hotel and back to work like a numb trolleybus. I guess I should have been excited the way most of the other girls were, but I couldn’t get myself to react. I felt very still and very empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo "(Plath 2). This thought from Esther tells the reader more about her character than Plath could have told us from a simple description.

        Plath provides the metaphor of the eye of the tornado to explain Esther's inability to connect with her new environment. She herself cannot understand why she is unhappy, and why her dream is not what she had expected it to be. The metaphor between Esther's emotional state and the eye of a tornado is just the beginning of her loss of sanity. Esther also compares herself to a numb trolleybus as she goes through the motions of her day. This passage is a signal to a reader that something isn't write with Esther, and by using figurative language, Plath makes a comparison that is clear and easily understood. 

        The choice of diction in the passage is also significant to its effectiveness. "still, empty, and dully" all effect this somber, gloomy tone Plath is beginning to develop. Esther comes off as helpless and even confused as to her own feelings. This feeling of numbness is the first stage of the madness she is eventually driven to.

        Plath's use of figurative language and diction make this a significant, effective, and memorable moment in the novel for the reader.

Response to Course Material

        Due to the summer reading for this course, a voice that I imagine to be Thomas Foster, is now stuck in my head. I'll be reading a book outside of class, currently The Time Traveler's Wife, and Foster's voice will start asking me questions like "Wait...wait, back up, IS THAT A SYMBOL??" Then my eyes continue over the page, not really reading because I'm thinking about whether or not Henry's extremely disorganized apartment is a symbol. Even when I'm watching TV, Foster's points start popping into my head. I'm on season three of the TV Show Breaking Bad, and I just now realized how incredibly important it is that the show takes place in the desert! Then I was thinking about what Foster said about death and how death and violence almost always mean something in literature, and when Jessie Pingman's  girlfriend (From Breaking Bad) dies, it's more than a plot twist, it actually MEANS SOMETHING. I mean, obviously it was significant, but it really got me thinking about how the death used the showing not telling method that we've been learning since what, 1st grade? It showed how malleable Jessie's character is; he's angry and defensive on the outside, but he's also gullible and confused, and has finally lost the last of anything he cared about. The death was also a turning point for him because he finally gave up his meth use. I was so surprised with how much a liked the book, and I really think Foster's views on reading literature are going to stick with me for a long time.
        Okay, as for the terms, it both surprises and sort of fascinates me that there are that many words used to describe the most specific of things in literature. And I'm assuming this is only a chunk of them. But the fact that you can apply these terms to hundreds of places in just one book is actually kinda cool. It also made me think about how many of these terms I've used in the past and just not known the name for them! Although the terms test was hard, I was comforted in knowing that many of my classmates had trouble on it, and I feel like with a little more practice I will be able to apply the definitions I've memorized more easily into our future course material.

"Me Talk Pretty One Day" Analysis

          In the excerpt "Me Talk Pretty One Day", the author, David Sedaris, describes his experience of learning French in a foreign country. His writing is funny, casual, and effective in connecting with the reader. By following many of the strategies laid out in The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing, by Michael Harvey, Sedaris turns this experience into an entertaining and effective piece of writing.
        Sedaris creates this casual easy-to-read feeling by avoiding what Harvey would call a "pompous style in action: big words, self important phrasing, a flat tone, long globs of prepositional phrases"(1). When reading the excerpt, I could almost picture Sedaris with a microphone on a stage telling his story like a comedian. Not only is he casual, but he is concise. Sedaris writes passages like "I’ve moved to Paris with hopes of learning the language. " He does not embellish or attempt to dress up the sentence with adjectives and adverbs. This keeps the readers attention rather than lulling them to sleep (Harvey 3). This technique of being concise leads to clarity, so the reader can actually understand what he's talking about. Although concision is only a part of clear writing, Sedaris also makes sure that he gets each point he's trying to make across to the reader, even if that means adding length instead of reducing it. For instance, when describing his teacher, she is not simply a "bad teacher" but a teacher that "hadn’t yet punched anyone, but it seemed wise to protect ourselves against the inevitable"(Sedaris 13).
        According to Harvey, "good essays unfold like stories"(23). To do this, authors must use consistent characters to keep the text flowing and to avoid choppy sentences. For instance, Sedaris writes, "I’ve moved to Paris with hopes of learning the language. My school is an easy ten-minute walk from my apartment, and on the first day of class I arrived early, watching as the returning students greeted one another in the school lobby"(11). He focuses on himself, then brings in the other students towards the end of the passage. This "control[s] how your reader moves from one character to the next"(Harvey 23).
        To build a nicely structured piece of writing, Harvey suggests using opening sentences to prepare the reader for what is going to be discussed in that paragraph (71). For the most part, Sedaris sticks to this strategy and it seems to effectively keep his topics flowing between paragraphs. In the third paragraph, Sedaris begins with "The first day of class was nerve-racking because I knew I’d be expected to perform". Although It's simple and straightforward, it's also very effective in connecting topics. Sedaris had just finished giving us background information on his class, and in the following paragraph, goes on to talk about his first day. The reader knows what to expect and can more easily understand the content while the text continues to flow smoothly.
        In most cases, Sedaris utilizes the strategies found in The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing. Although there are a few things he does differently, such as not always avoiding the passive voice (Harvey 17), or making sentences as concise as they could be (Harvey 8), I don't think changing any of these things would make it a better piece of writing. Sedaris uses Harvey's techniques in a way that are effective for his own style of writing.