Response to Course Materials

Basically the only thing we have discussed over the past few weeks is Hamlet.

We finished reading the text itself a two weeks ago. I was not there on the last day so I missed Andrew's dramatic reading of Hamlet's character, but I read it separate so I think I got the just of it. I really liked reading the original version because it allowed me to visualize the play myself rather than watching interpretations. But, at the same time, the text had basically no stage directions so for all I know I was not even visualizing it in the first place.

After we finished reading the text, we watched various versions of film. The first was the David Tennant banana version and I probably liked it the least. This was because I didn't like how they mixed up the order of some scenes and had every scene in the same room. I think that the movie was supposed to reflect acting it out on a stage, but really the story itself is suppose to take place in many different rooms in a castle, and they lost that aspect by filming in one giant marble room. Making a play into a movie is a great opportunity to make use of settings that you can't provide in a theater. I liked the other versions for the same reason, they made use of placing the play into the real world. My favorite was probably the black and white version, and I plan to watch the entire thing soon. My favorite Hamlet was also from the black and white version. I can't really pin point why, but I sort of got the best feel for the character from that actor, where I felt that the other actors were trying too hard.

Now for the discussion of the play itself. There really is so much to consider about Hamlet, I would really like to interpret it in the most extreme sense, where Hamlet was hot for Horatio and Ophelia was knocked up by Laeretes. I also think that Fortinbras is the most underrated character in the entire play. He was Hamlet's foil in the sense that he listened and respected his Uncle after he took the throne prior to his fathers death. I think this also supports the conclusion that if Hamlet had been confronted by the same situation in a setting other than Elsinore, he would have turned out much differently. Fortinbras was the control of Shakespeare experiment. His experiment basically exemplifies how everything goes down the drain when you lock a bunch of social-maniacal people with no sense of logic or moral judgment withing close proximity of each other.

Over all I think that these last few weeks before brake have be tortuous and I cannot wait until Christmas. Thank god for AP lit for actually allowing me to have a bit of fun at the end of my day!

Response to Course Materials

These past couple weeks have been incredibly long. I found myself more often than not running on less than 5 hours of sleep and caffeine, which, might I add, makes 6th hour mighty difficult to get through.

We finally finished Death of a Salesman. I feel like we spent more time on this than the American Dream, but did not get into as much detail. We created our theme statement as a class: Prioritizing success over moral values will harm others and cause personal failure. We concluded that Willy's obsession over his ambitions in commercial America were destructive to both his family and his own life. We also found that both The American Dream and Death of a Salesman have similar themes in exemplifying how specific attitudes toward societal roles is inevitably destructive in some way. 

Before we began reading Hamlet, we read and annotated "Elizabethan Theater" and "The Renaissance". These two pieces explained the cultural context of the time period that Hamlet was written, which is helpful when considering different perspectives. For example, Ms. Holmes explained the significance of Hamlet studying in Wittenberg, which was the epicenter of the beginnings of Protestantism, where Martin Luther supposedly nailed his grievances to the door of a Catholic church. 

Shortly after reading those pieces, we began reading Hamlet. I really am enjoying it so far, for out of the small collection of Shakespeare's play that I am familiar with, Hamlet is definitely my favorite. This may be in part because I can't help but picture Hamlet as Mel Gibson, who is incredibly attractive, but I digress. I love how the play not only has a plot that is complex and interesting, but also has an underlying political relevance to Elizabethan times, such as Hamlet's comment if incest to his mother and Claudius. I am really excited to figure out what the whole point of the play really is compared to the simplified lessons I received on it in the 10th grade at Corunna.

The next activity that I am going to talk about does not have a name, Well, it does have a name, but for whatever reason, it escapes me. Basically what we do is flip through a bunch of pictures on a power point and collectively decide which is the most controversial (If you are in 6th hour, you will know exactly what I mean by controversial). Then, we argue for about 15 minutes about which words from the word bank describe the picture. Then, when we have finally figured out what kind of mood we want to allude to, we attempt at writing a paragraph that actively describes the picture in the way we want it to, while at the same time does not directly state the mood. By the time we have reached this point, everyone in the class is frustrated, including Ms, Holmes, and we may even receive a lecture on productivity before the bell rings. Hence the phrase, "saved by the bell".

Another thing that we did in class was practice writing our AP test essays. I was absent on Monday when we got a really helpful lesson on introductory paragraphs. I am still not completely confident that I know what I am doing in that area of essay writing, but I think I got the just of it from Vanessa the next day. We basically were given a formula for writing introductions, and to use that for the structure of the body paragraphs. We wrote about Death of a Salesman, which I found to be more difficult than The American Dream.

All in all, we have gotten through a lot of material the past couple of weeks in class. I do feel that we could be a lot more productive in my class, but at least we are a lively bunch!

Summary and Analysis of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

SETTING
The play is set in Brooklyn (most likely the 1940s and 50s). Most of the play takes place in Willy Loman's home as well as the back yard. Within the flashbacks, the house is surrounded by a cemetery and the skyline of New York City is visible in the distance. In the present tense, the house is surrounded by suffocating apartment buildings. The play also takes place in various buildings of New York City such as a restaurant and Willy's office building. The era that the play is set in is a developing urban society; rapid urbanization is evident throughout the play.

Close Reading Response to: Dad: Son brushed up against poisonous plant, died

     Evann Gastaldo's article, "Dad: Son brushed up against poisonous plant, died", about an English gardener who died supposedly from accidental poisoning, provokes the arguable illegitimacy of the investigation. Gastaldo uses diction and syntax to instill a feeling of controversy into the reader, along with details regarding cultural connotation and comparison. The use of rhetoric in the piece leads one to believe that Gastaldo does not in fact believe the allegations made concerning the death of Nathan Greenaway, and confirms the article as a subtle call for further investigation.

     The most obvious use of rhetoric in the piece was diction; Gastaldo consistently used words and phrases such as, "must have" and "not clear", to make a point on the uncertainty surrounding the case. In both of the following sentences he uses the word potential to further emphasize the same idea, "He died on Sept. 7 of multiple organ failure, and at a pre-inquest hearing this week, a potential cause was heard." and "... the plant's toxin wouldn't have been detectable in his blood in as little as 24 hours, making samples taken after his death potentially useless ..." The potential cause of death was heard, but it is not known for sure. Taking blood samples of the diseased to test for the toxin is potentially useless, but again is not proven and there is a possibility that a presence of the toxin could be found. Almost all of the facts that Gastaldo reports within his article include some word that reflects the flimsy logic and evidence of the investigation.

     In the second and third to last paragraphs in the article, where Gastaldo talks about the purpose of the blood samples of Nathan Greenaway, syntax is used in an interesting way to allow the reader to form skepticism without having it deliberately pointed out:

Others testified that the toxin would have caused massive damage to the gardener's internal organs within hours. But a lawyer for his employer isn't convinced, and one problem is that the blood sample taken when Greenaway was admitted to the hospital has been destroyed. 

According to testimony, the plant's toxin wouldn't have been detectable in his blood in as little as 24 hours, making samples taken after his death potentially useless, the Independent reports.

In the first paragraph, a condition is presented that would allow a solution by testing the blood for the toxin. Then, in the same paragraph, it is revealed that the blood test was destroyed. This creates the skepticism. Why would the blood be destroyed? In the second paragraph it is revealed that officials believed the blood to be useless to the inquiry of cause of death. However, the controversial implications of the first paragraph have already set a precedent of distrust, and leaves this information ineffective to reader. Thus, the structure of the two paragraphs help create an ideal feeling within the reader that supports Gastaldo's purpose.

     Aconitum, the plant that supposedly poisoned the man, goes by many different names, such as wolfsbane and blue rocket. In his article, Gastaldo specifically uses names for the flower that are associated with supernatural connotation, "The deadly flower, also known as Devil's helmet, monkshood, and wolfsbane ... " The names, Devil's helmet, monkshood, and wolfsbane are all referring to using the flower to ward off enemies of supernatural and evil entities. The use of these names bring about an uneasy air of skepticism throughout the article that support the overall purpose to make the reader have doubts in the investigation.

     Through the use of diction, syntax, and details, Gastaldo indirectly tells the reader that the investigation over the death of Nathan Greenaway was incomplete and probably unjust. 

Response to Course Materials

     Over the past few weeks, our class has had many different accomplishments. We finally finished discussing Edward Albee's play, The American Dream, and I am happy to say that we are starting a new play, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. We also read the book, The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing by Michael Harvey, which we were able to put to use when editing our college essays.

Summary and Analysis of The American Dream by Edward Albee

SETTING
The American Dream, by Edward Albee, set in an urban-American apartment,  "A living room. Two armchairs, one toward either side of the stage, facing each other diagonally out toward the audience. Against the rear wall, a sofa.  A door, leading out from the apartment, in the rear wall, far stage-right. An archway, leading to other rooms, in the side wall, stage-left" (Albee 1).

CHARACTERS

• Mommy: dominating and hypocritical in nature, exemplifies the materialistic customs of her society. Degrades everyone else for her benefit, self-centered and greedy.
• Daddy: emasculated and submissive.  conforms to Mommy’s oppressive control consistently; he even undergoes a sex change on her command and depends on her for reassurance and direction.
• Grandma: witty, manipulative, old, and not oblivious. Has an intuition of the changes in society being portrayed in the play, she constantly voices her grievances. The only character that interacts with the audience.
• Mrs. Barker: proud and hypocritical, she belongs to many different organizations but does not to take any substantial action in them (emphasized by her general confusion). The representative through which Mommy and Daddy adopted their first and second "bumbles". 
• Young Man: Handsome, superficial, hollow, damaged, vindictive. The twin brother of Mommy and Daddy's first adopted child; Represents the New American Dream and is the result of Mommy's symbolic actions of mutilation and torture to his brother. 

PLOT

• The play begins with Mommy and Daddy discussing their grievances, and their difficulties in getting satisfaction. 
• Grandma enters with many mysterious boxes and the three of them begin to discuss various topics concerning societal obligation. 
• The doorbell rings and a woman named Mrs. Barker arrives, who is the head the adoption agency that Mommy and Daddy had worked with in the past. Mrs. Barker makes herself comfortable by removing her dress and exchanging subtle sexual commentary with Daddy, to which Mommy reacts defensively. 
• Apparently, the party has no idea why Mrs. Barker was called to the house, except for Grandma. 
• When Mommy and Daddy leave the room, Grandma explains to Mrs. Barker that her purpose is to legitimize a second adoption for the married couple, and also explains how the first adoptive child was mutilated to death for its normal, child-like, behavior. 
• The doorbell rings again, and the Young Man enters. Grandma labels him, The American Dream, after commenting on his “clean-cut, midwest farm boy type”. 
• Grandma then hires him and convinces Mrs. Barker to give the Young Man to Mommy and Daddy as their second adoptive child.
•  After Grandma exits on the pretense of being taken away by “the van man”, the Young Man is presented to Mommy and Daddy. A detail that is not directly explained during the play is that the Young Man is there to murder Mommy and Daddy, and it is assumed that Grandma is an instigator. 

Close Reading Response to: It's Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers.

     Satiric works of the twenty-first century commonly use offensive and provocative content to assist the development of their central ideas and purpose. Although considered unsophisticated and vulgar, the use of this content is extremely effective when pointing out societal flaws to the public eye. Common examples of this can be found in the popular late-night program, Saturday Night Live, where absurd skits are used to portray American tendencies that are commonly criticized. In the article, "It's Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers.", Colin Nissan uses bold diction, details, and language to express his strong negative opinion toward seasonal enthusiasts in an offensive, but effective way.

Response to Course Materials

     To say the least, my mind has been blown over the past couple of weeks. Learning how to analyze literature using DIDLS (diction, imagery, details, language, and syntax) has proved to be so important to performing successfully at a college-level in this class. Never before had I been exposed to methods, let alone acronyms, that actually help me in the process of analyzing text. Let's say, for example, you are reading a poem very much like the one that we read in class last week, "My Father's Song", and you are told to make an analysis based on DIDLS. In this poem, you find that the author uses diction to describe both the stature and personality of his father, syntax to emphasize the tactile imagery that was so important to him, and symbolism to explain his feelings toward cultural traditions and parenthood-- quite frankly, it's a rhetoric rager! All of this helps you, as the reader, to receive more from the poem than just lyrical pleasure.

Close Reading Response to: Ask Jeeves

          In the article, “Ask Jeeves”, Alex Soojung-Kim Pang reports on the introduction of a robot-butler, named Botlr, to Silicon Valley’s Aloft Hotel, and comments on how the introduction of human-interface robotics has not had the expected influence on society. The use of diction, figurative language, and syntax in the article evidently help express Pang’s argument that it is almost impossible to imitate or manufacture the complexities of occupational interaction.

          An example of diction that can be found in the article is in a sentence that is used to describe the appearance of Botlr, “Its painted white shirt and bow tie, its measured pace, and the high-pitched ‘beep boop’ noises it makes when interacting with guests remind one equally of P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wall-E’s Eve.” The reference to the name, Jeeves, brings cultural baggage to the reader in the form of connotation. Jeeves, a well-known character from the short novels of P.G. Wodehouse, is iconic for his formal speech and personality, which is commonly associated with the nature of a valet or butler. The author uses this reference to help describe the demeanor of Botlr, which is similar to that of Jeeves.