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.