Closed Reading: "Messages Hidden in Notes"

"Messages Hidden in Notes"

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/10/arts/music/new-york-philharmonic-at-avery-fisher-hall-review.html?_r=1&ref=music

Music is diverse and can be thought of in both positive and negative ways. This article, written by James R. Oestreich, showcases the positive view of a performance by the New York Philharmonic. By using diction, details, and syntax, Oestreich helps readers to envision exactly what he is saying.

Oestreich’s use of strong diction gives the article a positive view of the New York Philharmonic. By using words such as “prominence”, “bright”, and “brilliant”, Oestreich makes readers feel that the New York Philharmonic is the best orchestra he has ever heard, and that the readers should feel this way as well. He also uses words such as “passion” and “commitment” to help support his beliefs.

By giving details about the actual performance, Oestreich is able to make readers feel that they too were at the performance, and that it was just as amazing as he makes it out to be, such as when Oestreich tells readers background details about the music that the New York Philharmonic played, similar to what a concert program does. By giving details about the performance itself, such as performance order or technicalities of the pieces, he rounds up his writing to make readers feel like they attended the amazing performance.

Similarly, Oestreich uses syntax to relate to a wide range of readers, making more readers feel similar to how he felt viewing this concert. The use of short simple sentences for the most part lets readers understand his point, but the insertion of the occasional complex sentence keeps the article at a more sophisticated level. Also, the use the names of the pieces helps Oestreich to sound more knowledgeable about the topic, and it also helps readers to understand what he is saying.

Through the use of diction, details, and syntax, Oestreich manages to create an interesting yet accessible article that creates a positive feel for the music of the New York Philharmonic.

Annotating can be...

Annotations really are the most important part of reading a book for AP Lit, aren’t they? During the past few days, we have been annotating Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko. Now, I can’t say I loved this book, but I can’t say I hated it either. There were parts of it that were a bit boring or disgusting, such as when Tayo constantly vomits. However, there were parts of the book that are extremely intriguing, such as all of the symbolism throughout the book (Colors, directions, etc). Although we didn’t get as much done as we liked (hence moving back the due date of the final annotations for Ceremony), we definitely had great discussions about it, and I quite enjoyed our class time! Just like discussing any other work of literature, it was very interesting to see other points of view about something that can be very opinionated.

Open Prompt 6

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.

Many times, certain scenes from a play can be very memorable. Take the balcony scene from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, for example. This scene can be described as both romantic and enjoyable, but more than that, it effectively creates a setup for the heartbreak later on in the play.

The balcony scene (Act II, Scene 2) of Romeo and Juliet is one that many remember for being a memorable moment in the play. Romantic and spontaneous, Romeo and Juliet confess their love for each other in a way that can only be copied by generations to come. However, the balcony scene later becomes remembered as one of the only romantic scenes before the tragic death of both title characters, and looking back at this scene makes readers wish that Romeo and Juliet could stay like that- forever.

This scene effectively makes readers feel remorse near the end of the plotline by using vivid and detailed language. The poetic feel, and even the metaphors used help to create the romantic setting and feel-good vibe, such as when Romeo says “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? / It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!” (Act II, Scene 2) , or when Juliet says “O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? / Deny thy father and refuse thy name; / Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, / And I'll no longer be a Capulet.” (Act II, Scene 2). With the powerful language used in this passage, readers can feel a strong emotional connection to the characters, so when tragedy strikes, the thought of the balcony scene can effectively bring tears to emotional readers.

Through strong and effective use of language, the balcony scene from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is not only remembered especially for the romantic and heartwarming vibe, but also for the tragic overtone to the play.

Closed Reading: "Failure is Good"

Failure is Good

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/opinion/krugman-failure-is-good.html

Most of the times, when we think of failure, we think of it as bad, don’t we? However, Paul Krugman argues the case that failure can actually be a good thing—especially in the political process. Using diction, syntax, and details, Krugman describes why failure can actually be good in the political world.

Krugman’s word choice is very concise and pointed; he uses words such as “slashing”, “pose”, and “destructive” to describe Republicans and their views on reducing future deficits, while he uses “moral” and “raising” to create a slightly more positive connotation when discussing the Democratic view of reducing future deficits. Krugman also creates a negative aura when discussing this issue by using words such as “doomed”, “fail”, and intransigent”. By creating this negative view of the issue, Krugman manages to convince readers that the failure of this issue will indeed benefit our lives.

Syntax is also used to help support Krugman’s view that failure can actually be good. Krugman often uses rhetorical questions to get readers to think about what he said- and he manages to prove himself right! Krugman says “Does anone doubt that he was speaking for many in his party?” in reference to Rick Perry’s view of Social Security. When Krugman inserts this question, readers realize that his point is in fact valid- that Perry’s views do apply to many Republicans. Krugman also uses dashes to explain his thoughts, creating a sense of casualness, making his article more relatable. The pause caused by the dashes also help readers to make a distinction between the explanation of specific points and the actual points. With this easy distinction, this work is easy to follow, making readers more likely to agree that in this case, failure is actually good.

Krugman successfully uses details to explain why he –and you too- should believe that failure is good in this case. Krugman talks about details such as how government works, and the difference between the two parties to explain this. By detailing the ways the two major parties run, Krugman manages to explain that in this “supercommittee”, there will be policy gridlock, which is why their goal to reduce future deficits will fail to meet the deadline. Also, he explains the Republican’s “true” views about reducing deficit spending. Purposefully attempting to pin the issue as a Republican view, Krugman manages to make Democrats feel stronger about this issue. By explaining the issue and detailing how it would not help the United States to decrease deficits, Krugman convinces anyone, who was not already convinced, that this issue is better left a failure than a success.

Through the use of diction, syntax, and details, Krugman successfully elaborates why failure can be a benefit to people for the current hot issue about reducing future deficits.

I Couldn't Really Think of a Clever Title...

These past weeks have been rather eventful. First of all, we finished the close read of Death of a Salesman, which was quite interesting. I found myself hating Willy’s character more as the story progressed, and I’m not sure if it’s because I already had a prejudice against him (because of the movie), or his character was just that despicable. By the end of the play, I didn’t really pity him when he committed suicide. Is that a bad or a good thing? I wasn't sure if Miller was trying to get readers to pity Willy or not, but I know that I sure didn't! Although I didn't really want to admit it, I felt like some of the things that Biff was doing were actually justified. No, not the stealing, but the others, such as his hope to have a better life, not one his father set out for him. Personally I relate to this a bit because my parents and I have different views on what my future should be like. Overall, I personally liked Biff's character more than the others because he was more relatable.

We also did research over literary eras, which was informational. Parts of it were interesting, such as figuring out how it related to modern literature, but some parts were a bit confusing. I hadn’t quite figured out what exactly the question was asking, so I felt a bit lost when I was searching for information. After a while though, I finally figured out what the question was pertaining to, so the research went much more smoothly. I found it funny how many modern works of literature use techniques and styles of previous eras! I would have thought that a new era meant completely starting over again, but I guess I was wrong!
This week was quite a fun week, and I hope AP Lit only gets better!!

Open Prompt 5

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.

Sometimes, the people readers do not see may in fact be the most important. Take the baby boy that Mommy and Daddy adopted, for example, in the play The American Dream. This baby does not make any appearance in the novel, but plays a significant role as he shows the mentality and disillusionment of the characters.

The baby is not given a name, like many characters in The American Dream, however, it is know that he is a toddler boy, around three years old. Readers also find out through the course of the book that Mommy and Daddy mutilated this baby boy, and they have no shame of it. On the surface, this shows that Mommy and Daddy would most likely benefit from some psychotherapy, that the mentality of some of the characters is less than stable. Contrastingly, characters such as Grandma and the Young Man show disdain regarding these cruel actions, which shows that their mentality is much more healthy. The actions done to this innocent child that is never physically seen in the play are how this can be interpreted: what sane person would take a child and cut off parts of their body?

Not only does the baby show the instability of the mentality of the characters in The American Dream, it also shows the disillusionment of the American Dream. Say the baby boy represents the American Dream: Mommy and Daddy only adopted the child for the sake of their satisfaction. Unfortunately, the baby boy did not satisfy them, so they took the boy and murdered him. This parallels the American Dream; Mommy and Daddy can’t seem to reach their “American Dream”, so they try to manipulate the idea that they use to reach the American Dream. They take it and tear it apart just because they were not satisfied with the outcome, much similar to how they treated the innocent boy, as if mutilating it will make it any better.
Although the baby boy is mentioned frequently in this play, he does not physically appear, but nevertheless makes an important presence. Although never seen, the innocent baby boy shows the mentality of the characters, as well as the disillusionment with the American Dream.

Open Prompt 4

1982. In great literature, no scene of violence exists for its own sake. Choose a work of literary merit that confronts the reader or audience with a scene or scenes of violence. In a well-organized essay, explain how the scene or scenes contribute to the meaning of the complete work. Avoid plot summary.

Violence never exists for its own sake, and even scholar Thomas C. Foster said so in his book, How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Thus, even with Shakespeare, violence exists for a reason, such as in his tragedy Romeo and Juliet. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo finds himself in a quarrel, representing a loss of innocence and a foreshadowing of tragedy.

Near the climax of the play, Romeo has a fight that ultimately leads to the deaths of Tybalt and Mercutio, but this fight is not all about the deep-rooted family rivalries. Before Romeo had this fight, he was a more or less carefree young man, mostly happy, although in love with his rival family’s daughter. However, after the violent scene, Romeo seems to have matured quite a bit; he realizes that he murdered his cousin in law and is in deep grief. He even marries Juliet before he leaves Verona due his banishment. Marriage is a well-known sign of maturity, and due to the fact that it happens after the violence and is partially caused by the violence in this play, it can be assumed that the violence is symbolic of the loss of innocence.

Not only does this scene contribute and symbolize the loss of innocence in Romeo and Juliet, it also foreshadows the tragic ending of the play. The death of two major characters through violence is a tragic event, but not as tragic as the death of Romeo and Juliet at the very end. Tybalt and Mercutio were similar to Romeo and Juliet in that they were both rivals, although not of rival families. The violence lead to their untimely deaths and through all of this tragedy, the families still kept up their bickering, ultimately leading to Romeo and Juliet’s death.

Violence does not exist for its own sake. Seen in the tragedy Romeo and Juliet, the use of a violent scene portrays the loss of innocence and the foreshadowing of future of the two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet.

Closed Reading: "If You're Happy and You Know It, Must I Know, Too?"

If You’re Happy and You Know It, Must I Know, Too?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/fashion/emoticons-move-to-the-business-world-cultural-studies.html?ref=technology

Emoticons are often overused by teenagers, for reasons that are yet to be determined, but it is not too commonplace for professional adults to do this. However, this article states that professional adults are starting to use emoticons, such as “☺” and “☹” to communicate as well. Using details, syntax, and diction, this article brings out the humor in this topic.
This article uses details, such as quotes, to create a humorous tone to capture the interest of readers. One example is the use of Dr. Bates’ quote about the misconception of his “big hug” emoticon. If that quote had not been there, the reader would have had a lot less amused by the article. Similarly, the ending phrases about The Great Gatsby is equally humorous. Readers know the last lines of The Great Gatsby to be quite melancholy, but with the addition of the smiley face from Ms. Farinet, the lines actually loose their sense of seriousness. Even though her point was not to mock The Great Gatsby, the addition of the “☹” was definitely quite humorous!
Syntax is also used to create humor in this article, starting with the use of italics to emphasize words. When the author of this passage italicizes the word “actual” in the second paragraph, it causes the reader to chuckle because it is ironic how a person does not smile in real life, but while communicating via e-mail or chat, that person puts a smiley face, creating a sense of humor. Similarly, the third paragraph is more or less a run-on sentence. This sentence creates a sense of humor because the entire sentence could have been summarized into a much smaller sentence, but in order to give the feel that the text-talk of teenagers has really ‘migrated’ to business people, it was extended. This extension causes readers to really question why professionals are now using the text-talk of teenagers, also giving readers quite the chuckle.
Diction in the passage is also an important factor that creates a sense of humor. Many of the vocabulary used in this passage is higher level, such as “gravitas” and “prestigious”, but due to the topic of this article, instead of sounding more sophisticated, it sounds more humorous. Also helping to create the sense of humor is the contrasting low level of vocabulary. Including words such as “perv” make the reader laugh; it’s not everyday when you see words like that in a New York Times article!
In the article If You’re Happy and You Know It, Must I Know, Too, Judith Newman helps to create a sense of humor Through the use of details, syntax, and diction.

Annotations, Annotations, and more Annotations!

These past weeks were all about annotations. Not a whole lot of joy to work on, but definitely quite interesting. I realized that annotations weren’t all about “talking to the text”, but also about analyzing what the text means. For our first read through of The American Dream by Edward Albee, I didn’t realize that there were so many innuendos, sarcastic remarks, and hidden meanings. I also didn’t quite find all of the symbols in it, such as the hat. It’s quite a time consuming process, but I felt like the results are worth it! Who would have thought that Grandma was really the sane one in the play during the first read? I sure wouldn’t have.

Although I felt like doing these annotations as a class was useful, I think doing them in small groups and then presenting is much more time efficient; we spent a lot of time discussing the issues as a class, but as groups, the issues were solved a lot faster. However, the discussions were much more in depth when talking to the class as a whole, so I felt like I had learned much more.

Overall, I quite like the idea of annotating a text because it provides for a deeper understanding, which at least for this class, is quite important to have! I just hope that the time used to annotate a work will shorten up once I get more acquainted with this process…

Open Prompt 3

1971. The significance of a title such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is so easy to discover. However, in other works (for example, Measure for Measure) the full significance of the title becomes apparent to the reader only gradually. Choose two works and show how the significance of their respective titles is developed through the authors' use of devices such as contrast, repetition, allusion, and point of view.

Often times, the title of a work has a significance to the piece as a whole, such as in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Other works, such as To Kill a Mockingbird, and Much Ado about Nothing have significant meanings as well. Through the use of literary devices such as point of view and repetition, the authors create a significant meaning for their respective works.

The work To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a great example of a title with a significance. The Mockingbird is a symbol of innocence, and the killing of the Mockingbird signifies the loss of innocence, which is exactly what happens in the novel. Seen mostly from Scout’s point of view, the novel has an innocent perspective for the most part. Scout thinks similar to a young child, but after the trial, Scout seems to have grown up, and is no longer as innocent as she was. Scout’s change of point of view shows that the title is indeed significant because it signifies Scout’s loss of innocence.

In the Shakespearean play Much Ado About Nothing, the use of a pun is in place with the title, giving it significance to the play as a whole. The entire play is centered around the mishaps that happen to a group of people, all of them interrelated. Many misfortunes occur in the play, all of them caused by eavesdropping, such as the entire misunderstanding between Hero and Claudio. Problems due to eavesdropping repeat themselves many times through out this novel. Due to this strong repetition of eavesdropping, it is clear that the word “nothing” in the title is a pun to the word “noting”, which means eavesdropping because the word “nothing” also can be pronounced “noting”.

Through the use of the point of view of an innocent child, the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has given the title of the novel a significant meaning. Similarly, the play Much Ado About Nothing has also given a significance to the title, this time through the use of a repetitive theme.

Clarifications

So these weeks passed in a blur, with the German students here and all of that fun. It doesn't quite feel like it's been so long, right? Anyways, the most memorable part of these weeks has most definitely been learning about syntax. Before, I was completely confused about syntax. What possible ways could a sentence's length influence the tonality of a piece? I didn't quite think syntax would really shape a piece in any way. However, once I learned about it, everything just came together. I finally realized what syntax was about, and I feel like I can now apply it to my own writing (Correctly, that is)!

The play The American Dream was also quite an interesting part of the week. It wasn't quite what I expected when I first read the name of the play, but it definitely was entertaining! At first, I was still quite weirded out that the characters' names were "Mommy" and "Daddy". However, once we got into the play farther, I started to get used to it, and it started to make sense as well. The play was a bunch of fun to read, but unfortunately, the essays prompts that followed weren't the highlight of the week. The essay prompts were a bit difficult to understand at first, and it took us two entire days just to complete three prompts! If you ask me, that's quite a long time! Part of that time includes constant disagreements over what should be written within our group, but the majority of it was still trying to understand and relate to the prompt with The American Dream. It was quite a relief when we finally finished the prompts!! Although I was glad the finish, them, which I believe the rest of the class was too, I felt like they did indeed help me to truly analyze the play and to think about how to write a thought-out thesis and topic sentence. These weeks were definitely full of education as well as fun, and I hope to learn more in the following weeks!!

Closed Reading: "Casey Anthony Pleads the Fifth in Video Deposition from Undisclosed Location"

Casey Anthony Pleads the Fifth in Video Deposition from Undisclosed Location

http://abcnews.go.com/US/casey-anthony-plead-video-deposition-undisclosed-location/story?id=14690394&page=2

Casey Anthony's case has been quite a controversy, especially in the past few months, and this article addresses certain parts of her case. In her statement, Casey Anthony had said that a woman named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez was the nanny when her daughter Caylee had disappeared, but this was seen to be false. Now, Casey Anthony is pleading the fifth against Fernandez-Gonzalez, and the writer uses diction, syntax, and details to provoke readers' opinions on Casey Anthony.

The diction of this article is extremely strong and thought provoking. The use of the word "Invoked" is used in place of the word "pleaded" when talking about the fifth amendment at one point to make readers think that Anthony is refusing to plead guilty to the case. If the word "pleaded" had been used, like it is used in many scenarios, it would have made readers believe that Anthony is more vulnerable, less guilty, and less crazy than if the word "invoked" is used. Also, in the ninth paragraph, the writer uses the word "compel" to provoke opinions about Casey Anthony. The use of this word is stronger than other words possibly used in this context, such as 'force'. The use of the word 'compel' makes readers feel like Morgan's questioning is powerful, and Anthony will not be able to answer the questions without self-incrimination, thus making readers' believe that Casey Anthony is guilty.

The use of syntax in this article is also very important in provoking opinions. The majority of the sentences in this article are all mid-length, lacking in variation of length. In some cases, the lack of variation could cause blandness, but in this article, it causes the tone of the article to become more formal and serious. Entire paragraphs are written in these somewhat bland lengths, but it creates the effect of an urgently serious issue that must be resolved, which causes readers to believe that this case truly is urgent; that Anthony's hearing is headline-worthy and time-worthy. If the sentence length had a variation, the article might have been a bit more interesting, but a lot less serious, losing the effect to make readers feel extremely opinionated on the case of Casey Anthony.

The details that the writer uses also creates opinions about Casey Anthony's trial. The most obvious detail used is "pleads the fifth". Pleading the fifth is invoking a Constitutional right, and by bringing the Constitution into the entire article shows the severity of the case. Also, the writer brings up Anthony's previous trial over the summer, the one that found her not guilty of murdering her daughter Caylee. The detail of mentioning of the emotional trial that had many people outraged in July provokes opinions about Casey Anthony, as most believed that she was in fact guilty of murder. With this thought provoked, it is more likely that people will also believe her to be guilty of falsely accusing Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, and therefore is guilty of causing the disturbances to Fernandez-Gonzalez's family's life. The writer uses this detail to specifically lead readers' opinions to believe that Casey was in fact guilty.

Through the use of diction, syntax, and details, the writer, Christina Ng, provokes opinions about Casey Anthony's latest trial, as well as opinions on whether or not she is truly guilty.

Open Prompt 2

1978. Choose an implausible or strikingly unrealistic incident or character in a work of fiction or drama of recognized literary merit. Write an essay that explains how the incident or character is related to the more realistic of plausible elements in the rest of the work. Avoid plot summary.

There are always characters in a plot line that don't quite seem right; like something is wrong with them. Truthfully, this does happen in literature such as in An Inspector Calls, where Inspector Goole is quite a unrealistic character. However unrealistic Inspector Goole is, there is definitely a realistic element of his presence to the rest of the play.

Inspector Goole's role in the plot is surely a significant one- the entire plot revolves around him. When he first enters the scene, Goole seems to be a somewhat normal person, just there to investigate a suicide. However, as the story progress, Goole just seems to get more unrealistic. He knows little details about every family member, as well as specific details relating them to this girl, Eva Smith. The family members find it strange how he knows everything, and this adds to the realistic elements of the drama. The fact that all of the family members had done something undeniably wrong is enforced with his presence; had his unrealistic or even supernatural powers not been there, the family would not have realized their wrongdoings, defeating the moral of the drama.

Inspector Goole's name is already quite a bit unrealistic- it resembles Ghoul, which means ghost, thus implying that Inspector Goole is a ghost. This is related to his ghost like powers, such as foresight and excessive knowledge about the family's deeds and behaviors. If it were not for his ghostly qualities, the story would not have been as eerie as it was. Near the end of the drama, it is revealed that at that point, there was no Eva Smith that had committed suicide, deeming Inspector Goole to be a fake. However, even closer to the end of the story, it was revealed that an Eva Smith had just been checked in to the infirmary; this makes Inspector Goole seem even more like a ghost. If Inspector Goole had not ghost like qualities, the fact that Eva Smith had died would not have been as important.

Although An Inspector Calls is full of unrealistic characters, Inspector Goole is the one unrealistic character that stands out of the crowd due to his many traits, causing most of the realistic elements in this drama.

DIDLS, Prompts, and Other Concepts of the Like

So these past weeks have all been about DIDLS, or Diction, Imagery, Details, Language, and Syntax. I had always known that there were specific ways to analyze literature, but I had never heard of this nemonic device before! Definitely quite interesting. However useful DIDLS is,there are still of it that irk me, mainly the language and syntax. I understand that there are differences between language and syntax, and I do understand what the differences are, but I don't quite think that the differences are enough to classify them as two techniques. Wouldn't it be much easier to combine them into one larger group? Nonetheless, I find DIDLS to be extremely useful when trying to write an essay for this class. It's a great way to organize essays, and I find it to be extremely analytical. However, the free response for each AP class is different, and it will definitely take some time for me to adjust to using DIDLS on a free response.
Close and open prompts. The concept isn't hard to understand; for close prompts, we write about literature that is given, and for open prompts, we write about well known works. Personally, the open prompts seem more terrifying than the close prompts, mainly because we have such a wide range of literature to choose from, and it's difficult to decide on which one to use! Close prompts seem to be easier because there are specific works of literature that we are supposed to write about, although I am a bit worried about it. What if I do not understand these works of literature at all? How would I right about them at that point? That really would be a problem. I guess practice is the only way to ensure that does not happen. In fact, we also wrote our first essay on Friday. Oh, how fun. In all seriousness, I felt that it wasn't too difficult, but time management and writing speed are some aspects I need to work on. I felt that it took me too long to start writing, and once I did, I wrote slowly. It's not exactly a bad thing that I took my time to think things out, but it might have taken me a bit too long... The prompt itself wasn't too difficult, even though I felt like I may have left out some important aspects of the essay.

Just a final note... I've got to say, I quite enjoyed reading "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazurus. I visited the Statue of Liberty near the end of the summer, so I actually got to see it. I even bought a plaque with part of the poem engraved on it! It's always fun when you recognize something in a different context, isn't it?

Open Prompt

2002. Morally ambiguous characters—characters whose behavior discourages readers from identifying them as purely evil or purely good—are at the heart of many works of literature. Choose a novel or play in which the morally ambiguous character plays a pivotal role. Then write an essay in which you explain how the character can be viewed as morally ambiguous and why his or her moral ambiguity is significant to the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

Moral ambiguity is commonplace in literature, not just with minor characters, but with main characters as well. George Milton from Of Mice and Men is a morally ambiguous character that contributes significantly to the plotline of the novel when he does certain acts that can make readers question his motives. Through these many acts, George can be seen either as morally good or morally evil, and his questionable morality can ultimately be seen through the death of Lennie Smalls.

During the heart of the Great Depression, George and Lennie arrive on a ranch to find work. When they first arrive near the ranch, it is shown that George is a morally sound man, shown as a caretaker for Lennie, warning him against drinking dirty water. Even though it seems to be this way, there are points in the novel in which readers can question George’s true morality. Such a moment occurs when George prompts Lennie to punch Curly. Had George not prompted Lennie to do such a deed, many of their problems would not have occurred, which can make George a morally ambiguous character. George also forces readers to question his morality when he kills Lennie near the end of the novel. Although some may say that this is an act of love, like Slim believed, it is also arguable whether or not it actually was out of love. Although George loves Lennie very much, due to the moral ambiguity of his actions, it can be seen that at times, George is slightly annoyed and impatient, which can leads to the moral ambiguity in this novel.

Moral ambiguity is significant to many works of literature, and in George’s case, is no different. George, arguably one of the most important characters in Of Mice and Men, creates many problems due to his moral ambiguity, with the outcome being the death of Lennie. George’s moral ambiguity caused many questions to arise from the novel, such as his true affections for Lennie; sometimes, it seems that George is only taking care of Lennie due to his prior commitment to Lennie’s aunt, while at other times, it seems as if George genuinely cares about Lennie. This inner banter, shown through moral ambiguity, is essential, creating part of the conflict in this novel.

Although George and Lennie appear to be friends on the surface, many of George’s morally ambiguous actions make readers question the truth, causing part of the conflict. Had George not been so morally ambiguous, the novel would be missing an essential plotline, making George, the morally ambiguous character, all the more important to the plotline and to the novel as a whole.

Closed Reading: "[Review] 'Roman' by Teen Top"

[Review] 'Roman' by Teen Top

http://www.allkpop.com/2011/08/review-roman-teen-top

Although this article pertains to the entire album, I'll mostly be referring to part of this review, as it is the most opinionated. The song "No More Perfume on You" was a hit among teens and adults alike, evident through this cheerful and overly positive review.

On a personal level, this song really wasn't that energetic or adrenaline boosting. Truthfully, I thought it was a bit of a downer. Really, a group of young boys singing about how to cheat on their girlfriends isn't a great influence to anyone, but apparently, this reviewer at allkpop.com certainly believed it was quite an astounding song!

Most convincingly, the diction of this review brings a positive vibe to everything said in this review. For example, the reviewer states, "By the time the chorus ends, TEEN TOP have already plowed through two tanks of adrenaline and they’re halfway through their third." The diction is clearly very positive, using metaphors to compare the high energy upbeat song to "plowed through two tanks of adrenaline" instead of just saying something along the lines of “this song was very high in adrenaline”. This shows a positive, cheerful, and fond view of this song.

Not only does the language convince me that this reviewer is quite fond of this album, but the syntax of the writing is also quite a big hint. The reviewer says of the singing: “What’s most surprising is that the other three vocalists aside from Neil – Changjo, Chunji, and Ricky– are, low and behold, not as inferior as we may have thought”. The way that this sentence is worded gives an overtone of surprise in the voice, but with a positive connotation. Due to the placing of the “low and behold” phrase, this sentence also has a sarcastic voice. In a way, it feels like the reviewer is saying “Woah! These singers can actually sing!” in a slightly brusque tone, which gives readers quite a chuckle. This syntax definitely shows the reviewer’s fondness of the vocals in this album in a humorous way.

More than that, the language also shows the viewpoint of the reviewer, as he states that this song is a "strong pop song next to its predecessors". The use of the word ‘strong’ shows fervent approval of the song “No More Perfume on You”. The reviewer also favors a particular singer’s voice, saying that “Chunji in particular really shines here, and his timbre is probably my favorite. It’s insurmountably smooth and all the tiny melismas he throws in gives me the shivers”. Well, if that language isn’t considered to be positive, I don’t know what would be! The review uses language with an extremely positive connotation, such as ‘favorite’ or ‘shines’, and even ‘insurmountable smooth’. The overall upbeat and positive language that is used gives readers the sense that the reviewer really does enjoy this album.