Outside Reading: Reflective Essay #5

Reflective Essay: "Mariya Morgaylo's Reflective Essay"
By Mariya Morgaylo

Published December 19th, 2008

      “Mariya Morgaylo’s Reflective Essay” uses a reflective and enlightened tone, along with imagery, details, and diction to communicate her realization on life to the reader. She describes her experience at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where her exploration of “embracing the random” and making new discoveries began (1).

       

     One rhetoric element Morgaylo uses quite a bit is detail. She uses details of the exhibits to show the reader how they changed her perspective. An exhibit mentioned very thoroughly was a screenplay, beautifully satirizing “prostitution, Nazism, and greed,” while getting a laugh out of the audience and recognizing the absurdity of it all (1).  The writer tells how the applicability to real life moved her.

      

     Morgaylo also uses diction to add to her point and display her enlightened tone. By using somewhat exaggerating words she gives the reader a sense of the wonderment she was feeling and that this wasn’t just an ordinary everyday experience to her, but instead changed her outlook on life. She uses phrases like “absurdist insight” and “employed satire beautifully,” conveying her aw and surprise.

        

     The last element shown in the piece is imagery. Morgaylo describes the art as almost magical, displaying its powerful impact on her. “Blurred details, beautiful colors, outlines of nature” and “the New York skyline” interpretation with “no definite form…harmony or balance,” contribute to her discovery of the random and abstract (2). Even though the art is abstract and out of the box, certain aspects are relatable to reality, therefore people are able to understand them and alter their perspective.

This would definitely work for an AP essay because the enlightened tone inspires the reader, persuading them about the point she is trying to make. “Just because you don’t know something doesn’t mean that you can’t write about it, it’s all the more reason to explore it” (2). 

Outside Reading: Book Review #5

Book Review: "A Mythic Novel of the Balkan Wars"
By Liesl Schillinger
Published March 11, 2011

     Liesl Schillinger’s book review analyzes “The Tiger’s Wife” by Tea Obreht, using formalism and historicism critical perspectives along with an excessive amount of detail and some imagery.

       

     Schillinger focuses on the historical and allegorical parts of the novel. She points out “events borrowed from the headlines” and the way the author “illustrates the complexities of Balkan history,” which add to the quality and understanding of the piece (1). Later in the review she looks into Obreht’s background including where and when she was born, and where she lived during the war. Even though the author didn’t experience those awful war impacted years, the novel was “filled with astonishing immediacy and presence, fleshed out with detail that seemed firsthand” (4).

         

     The writer uses imagery to describe parts of the novel and describe Obreht great writing techniques. She explains the way the author retells past generation experiences, how “old and new memories collide in a vibrant collage that has not date” (5). By providing this colorful, exciting imagery, it gives the reader the idea that the novel truly is that intriguing without Schillinger actually having to say that.

       

     This book review also contains a formalistic critical approach to uncover the literary techniques the author uses, which contribute to the brilliance of the novel. The reviewer notices that the narrator is a key aspect, adding to the quality of all her novels. In an almost over-excessive amount of detail, Schillinger describes the narrator and her journey throughout the novel. This defends her claim, however, it is also so much detail the reader might get bored, discouraging them to read the book. While also using a formalistic approach, Schillneger compliments the way Obreht juxtaposes Natalia’s matter-of-fact narration with contemporary folk tales that are simple, enthralling and sometimes brutal as fables” (3).

      

    There don’t exactly seem to be many connections between this piece and other class material. There is no extreme focus on any specific critical perspective and not too many references to literary techniques. Plus there is too much novel summary.  Obreht’s “The Tiger’s Wife,” reviewed by Schillinger, is analyzed with formalism and historicism critical perspectives, communicating the reader the fantastic quality of this novel. 

Outside Reading: Editorial #5

Editorial: “Pay Teachers More"
Nicholas D. Kristof
Published March 12, 2011

  
     Kristof's editorial, "Pay Teachers More" uses elevated diction, details, and syntax, to create a strong voice, supporting his clear point of view on the benefits of increasing teachers' salaries.

     

     Throughout the piece, the writer displays elevated, professional level diction, which gives the reader more confidence in the reliability of the writer. This also causes the voice to sound strong and certain, like they are well educated in the topic they are supporting.  With all of the diction against salary cuts containing a negative connotation, elevated diction emphasizes Kristof's point. Rather than saying we're losing money from teachers being overpaid is a bad false statement, Kristof says it is "a pernicious fallacy" (1). 

      

      He also uses some syntax to draw attention to ideas and statements. One example of this is the first very short sentence of the second paragraph, “That’s a pernicious fallacy.” By using such a short sentence it puts all the focus on the idea he is trying to communicate to the reader without an overabundance of insignificant words.

     

      However, the most used rhetoric element is the use of details in provided research. This piece is filled with evidence from different studies. By offering teachers a higher salary, the writer believes better educated people will apply, and supports his claim by providing data from a study that found that “47 percent of America’s… teachers come from the bottom one-third of their college classes” because the more “brilliant” ones are going to higher paying jobs like lawyers and doctors (1). He also reasons that based on studies from Los Angelos and Stanford’s Hanushek, quality teachers are essential to “eliminate the black-white achievement gap” and cause an “increase [in] their students’ [future] earnings” as much as twenty thousand dollars, therefore improving the economy (1).

      Kristof makes many very convincing arguments supported by a significant amount of evidence, defending his reasons to increase teacher salary. He uses a strong, AP essay-appropriate voice that perfectly persuades the reader to his side. The writer also organizes the editorial in the English class-taught way of including the other argument and then stating its faults before discussing his position in depth. Overall this is a practically perfect editorial. 

Notes March 7-18

Modernism
"Make it New," disillusionment, psycological focus, WWI, one universal truth

• "make it new"- they didn't want anything like WWI to happen again so they wanted to change the way they were doing things. 
• WWII- end to modernist era
• believed artists were responsible for disaster of world- manipulative
• Techniques of era:
• unreliable narrators
• multiple narrators
• minor characters as 1st person narrators (Great Gatsby)
• nonlinear narrative
• stream of consciousness
• Modernist interested in multiple points of view
• Picasso- painting has different angles on face layered together 
• don't want to force one point of view on people

Post Modernism

• Old generation grows up and WWII creates new angry young generation.
• TV- can see different people in different places with different points of view
• PoMo= Modernism - Universal Truth + Irony
• All truth is local- no universal truth
• blending of high and low culture
• self-reference- like characters are real, can move from media to media
• medium referring to itself
• only understand references if you're familiar with it. 
• The Simulacrum
• eventually we can mimic something until mimicking seems more real and replaces original. 

Surrealism

• Arts movement between WWI and II
• Uses unexpected juxtapositions in ways intended to activate subconscious associations- highlight hidden truths
• dream-like, playful, sometimes eerie or bizarre
• influenced by Freud and Jung
• psychological world

Notes Feb 21- March 4

Comedy
Theories of Humor and Comedy

• Comedy= tragedy with different outcomes
• Six Elements for Humor:
1. must appeal to intellect not emotions
• don't want people to feel insulted and get angry
2. must be mechanical 
3. must be inherently human 
• reminds audience of humanity- people laugh at antics of animal but only when they are doing something human-like.
4. set of established society norms that reader is familiar with
• internal norms- those that the author has provided in text
• external norms- those which exist in society for which the text was written
• greatest incongruity- violating social taboos
5. situation and component parts must be inconsistent or unsuitable to the surroundings
6. must be perceived by the observer as harmless to participants
• 4 main types of humor: 
• Intellectually theories
• All humor is derives from the feeling of superiority over those we laugh at. 
• always involves degrading something
• Three aspects of incongruity:
1. Literalization- taking a figure of speech and then performing it literally.
2. Reversal- reversing the normal, doing or saying opposite of normal.
3. Exaggeration- taking what is normal and blowing it out of proportion.
• "Relief Theory": affords us reliefs from the restraint of conforming to those requirements humor calls into question.

Types of Comedy

• Low Comedy: 
• lacks seriousness of purpose or subtlety of manner
• little intellectual appeal.
• High Comedy: 
• pure or serious comedy
• appeals to the intellect
• arouses thoughtful laughter by inconsistences and by showing follies of social manners
• Burlesque: ridiculous exaggeration and distortion
• Farce: 
• light dramatic work
• highly improbably plot, exaggerated character, slapstick elements
• Lampoon: satirical piece using ridicule to attack a person or group
• Parody: 
• serious piece of work
• ridicule in nonsensical fashion an original piece of work.
• Satire: ridicule the follies and vices of a people or time
• Slapstick: 
• boisterous form of comedy 
• chases, collisions, and crude practical jokes
• Travesty: 
• presents serious (often religious) subject frivolously 
• reduces everything to lowest level

The Comedy Ladder

• Comedy of Ideas:
• characters argue about ideas like politics, religion, sex, marriage
• use wit and clever language to mock their opponent
• satirize people and institutions
• Comedy of Manners:
• Love affairs among upper class
• witty language, clever speech, insults and 'putdowns' 
• cliques
• Farce
• coincidences, mistimings, mistaken identities
• puppets of fate
• loss of identity because of birth, fate or accident
• Low Comedy
• Dirty jokes, dirty gestures, sex and elimination are subjects
• Exaggeration or understatement; focus on physical deformities
• Slapstick, pratfalls, loud noises, physical mishaps, collisions; encountering an unproductive universe

Techniques of Comedy: vocab page on comedy packet

Pride and Prejudice

• High Comedy and Comedy of Manners
• Comedy Techniques- hyperbole, irony, paradox, wit, stereotyping, satire
• Comic Characters:
• Mrs Bennet- over exaggerations, blind to misperceptions
• Mr. Collins- fool, oxymorons
• Lydia- scandalous marriage, blind to misperceptions
• Starts at low point- ends happy and family rises to top
• Follows MacLachian- but does not endorse values of society- satirizes it

Outside Reading: Reflective Essay #4

Reflective Essay: "Bookmarked"
By Susan Orlean
Published February 18, 2011

       Susan Orlean’s reflective essay, “Bookmarked,” discusses her change of view on independent bookstores versus large bookstore chains. The essay combines the use of details, imagery, and diction to create a guilty, apologetic, and respecting tone.
       

       Beginning with a clearly guilty tone, Orlean tells of her feelings of responsibility for closing of the large book chain, Borders. To show the impact she had on the bankruptcy, the writer gives details of the time she spent reading books for free, causing Borders to most likely have “made less than a penny an hour off of” her, and calling herself “living proof of a doomed business model” (1). She goes on with harsh diction and imagery to defend her previous negative opinion of large book chains like Borders as being “malevolent and anti-book,” visualizing them “plunging us into a scene from ‘Fahrenheit 451,’ their selling floors illuminated by the piles of smoldering paperbacks” (1). In the defense of Borders and other big bookstores, despite their negative effects on independents, Orlean gives them credit for providing the public with what they want and basically not doing anything wrong. With the bookstore war over and negative feelings aside, Orlean feels partly to blame for contributing to Borders’ “demise.”
      

      Although it is hard to tell what the author’s purpose of this piece was, whether to persuade the readers to not hate large bookstores or to not read the books for free, Orlean definitely accomplished her goal. By taking the readers along the pathway to her realizations and by using an inviting tone that doesn’t cause the audience to feel intimidated by a loud opinion, her persuasion is a success. While the tone changes throughout the piece, the audience is left with a clear understanding of the writer’s stance on the position at the end of the essay. This tone would definitely work for an AP essay because it’s persuasive and appropriate. The only weakness I can see in this piece is that it doesn’t seem to have much of a purpose. Not too many people probably have a strong opinion on independent and chain bookstores or care if she caused the Borders bankruptcy, so this does not appeal to a very large audience.

Outside Reading: Editorial #4

Editorial: “True Grit and Title IX"
Author unknown
Published February 16, 2011

       This editorial discusses the gender-discrimination taking place in college sports. A great deal of evidence is given to prove this point. However, I believe the editorial would be more effective if the writer had given ways to improve this situation. The author uses details, syntax, and language to convey his exceptionally clear stance on the unequal opportunities for women in college sports participation.
       The author of this editorial uses an example of gender discrimination in sports at the University of California at Berkeley, where a few sports were taken away, including “women’s gymnastics and lacrosse and men’s rugby” (1). Many details were given to support his/ her argument that women have an unfair number of chances to play sports at college. While women make up “half of American undergraduates,” they only have “43 percent of the chances to play” (1).
      The editorial also tells the reader of the slightly positive effects of Title IX which helps gain equality for women in sports. There are three ways a university can comply with this, but only one of the three requirements needs to be met, which is the only downside. Although Berkeley does not have complete equality they still pass one of the three requirements because “they are trying to meet women’s interests and abilities” (1).
     It is obvious from the author’s editorial that they are in support of closing the “sports gender gap” in colleges, but they don’t seem to have a very strong voice to support their opinion. He/ she fills the reader’s head with so much information, like statistics and the benefits for women that come from playing sports, but never seems to take a strong stance against anyone. The diction the writer uses is neither really negative or positive. It’s as if they don’t have strong emotions toward the issue. In some places of the writing syntax is used to give emphasis to an idea, like in the closing sentence, “Thanks to Title IX, if something has to give, equality doesn’t go first” (2). By having “equality doesn’t go first” as the last part of the sentence, it leaves that idea in the readers mind and highlighted.
     While the writer of this editorial used a great amount of details, and a little syntax, without a very strong voice and diction that hardly added to his/her argument, the overall persuasion of the piece is low.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/opinion/17thu3.html?_r=1&ref=editorials

Outside Reading: Book Review #4

Book Review: "Homage to Catalonia"

By Tara McKelvey

Published February 11, 2011

McKelvey’s book review of Jonathon Rabb’s, “The Second Son”, uses Formalism and Archetypal critical perspectives accompanied by the use of diction, detail, and imagery to communicate to the reader the quality of this novel.

After a brief introduction of plot McKelvey uses an Archetypal approach, noticing the combination of the typical “hard-boiled detective novel and love story” (2).  By recognizing this she gives the reader an idea of what to expect since they have most likely read some type of detective novel or love story. The critical perspective used in the writing even more is Formalism. Since “The Second Son” is the third book of a trilogy, the writer notices a motif that throughout the series the main character’s lovers are being killed. This gives the reader some insight on the protagonist and an example of how the two archetypal stories are combined. McKelvey also notices symbols in the novel, adding to the main character’s personality and overall meaning of the piece. Hoffner “feels most keenly the pain of his own family” during the times of war, showing “an intimate illustration of the human cost of state- sanctioned madness” (2). The writer analyzes many formalistic and archetypal aspects of this piece giving the reader a clear idea of its quality and depth.

Other contributing factors that help McKelvey obtain his goal of convincing readers “The Second Son” is a great book, is his use of diction, detail, and imagery. Many details are provided for the reader about plot and characters. Without these the readers would not understand how the book combines “Fascism and anarchy in 1930’s Spain” with a “romantic entanglement” and action (2). Imagery also gives the reader an idea of the feeling in the novel, including the appearance of characters and scenes. The diction, although straying from the overall purpose of the writing by noticing the lack of “concentrated on energy” and “allure” as in the previous books, for the most part presents the fast moving “thriller” with a “seedy appeal” nicely (2). The “sharp scenes and snappy dialogue” add to the positive aspects of the novel (2).

Some connections between this book review and other course material would be the extensive amount of Formalism. It seems like before AP English the main focuses in literature classes were formalistic things like symbols and motifs. McKelvey also discusses Nazism quite a bit because it is a central component of the book and in eighth grade we had a whole World War II and Holocaust unit with books we read about that subject. 

         Using diction, imagery, and detail, with Formalistic and Archetypal critical perspectives, McKelvey achieves his purpose of the review to send a positive critique of the novel to the readers. 

Notes Feb 7-18

Heart of Darkness Discussions
Day 2

• Symbolism of Geography acts like a map 
• create philosophical areas
• inner station and outer station
• corrupted sense of paradise, serpent references- Garden of Eden
• What is he trying to tell us about the world?
• Women in Heart of Darkness:
• old wise ones- 2 knitting ladies, aunt
• Marlow- likes to keep the women ignorant and living in a happy fantasy world
• uncomfortable with women- african woman, aunt
• Man in patches- idolizes Kurtz
• represents...
• Joseph- colorful coat, servant to pharoah
• or like a Jester- can't be taken seriously, holy fool, archetype
• Kurtz= demon king
• Preexisting relationship between Kurtz and African women (powerful female figure) 
• described like a goddess
• wilderness looks at her like its looking at its own soul- anima
• Kurtz' real love is the Congo--> personifies Africa
• Heart of Darkness
• Africa mysterious, corrupted by European colonization
• going up river- going through Hell (down river- through paradise)
• Marlow enlightened by trip, but not made better?
• didn't find it a negative experience though
• Is it paradise or purgatory or is he saying they're the same thing?
• Dante's Inferno allusion
• looked at map- river looked like a serpent- Eden

Day 3

• FRAME STORY- narrator (frame narrator) doesn't actually narrate the whole story- just introduces.narrator of main story (Marlow)
• Why do we need narrative frame?
• we can see narrator from third person point of view- reliability 
• "The Lawyer" and "The Accountant" and "The Director" are listening- relating it to world
• nameless
• sitting on a river telling story in the dark- parallels the Congo- wouldn't have setting if it wasn't a Frame Tale
• No reflection if not a Frame Tale
• Against economic imperialism but what about cultural imperialism (forcing your culture on another group)?
• Kurtz in latin means- incomplete, mutilated, short 

The Final Exam... and what to focus on for AP Exam

• Purpose of word
• Rhetorical function question- What is the strategy chosen to accomplish in overall piece?
• Diction Question- isolate one word for discussion. 
• Tone question- asks about narrator's attitude.
• Detail: they said this, and in the passage this happened... (evidence)
• Language: identifying techniques
• Syntax: structure and grammar of sentences
• Study TECHNIQUES AND VOCAB (comic character, asyndeton, a conceit, apostrophe, didactic, ect.)
• Analyzing excerpts of literature
• Why a character does something
• style- choices author made to create effect
• have to read symbols in context
• understanding meaning of poems
• biblical and mythological allusions
• renaissance vs. Aristotle's theory of tragedy
• revenge tragedy- Seneca, ghosts, and Shakespeare- no oracles

Apocalypse Now- The movie is basically the same story as Heart of Darkness, but instead of Africa, it is set in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. 

Notes Jan 24- Feb 4

Novels, Allegories, and Narrative Pattern

Lecture Summary: Medievalism and Allegory

• Allegory: type of extended metaphor in which objects and persons within a ext represent meanings that lie outside the text.
• Medieval Allegory: 
• hallmark of medieval literature
• characters personified abstract qualities (envy, truth, or gluttony) or events like death.
• Everyman: 
• main character represents all of humankind- Everyman figure- character is unnamed and or given vague and general personal characteristics
• setting- mythic or has fairy tale quality
• type of Medieval drama- morality play
• Moralities employed allegory to dramatize the moral struggle Christianity envisions universal in every individual.
• The Divine Comedy:
• allegorical vision of the Christian afterlife
• led through three realms of dead
• Dante represents ordinary person who seeks salvation and finds that reason is both a help and a hindance

The Novel

• What makes a novel?
• not applied to extended prose pieces written before the 18th centurey
• always fiction, but not alway prose
• under 50,000 words- "novella"
• doesn't imply a certain structure
• always contain narrative- may be non-traditional (like stream-of-consciousness)
• only works with enduring literary merit (not really a part of the definition)
• Common Types of Novels
• Prose Romance
• set in historical past 
• plot emphasizes adventure and a non realistic atmosphere
• characters: sharply drawn as villains or heroes, masters or victims
• Novel of Incident
• focuses on what the protagonist will do next and how the story will turn out
• Novel of Character
• focuses on protagonist's motives, how he/she will turn out
• Novel of Manners
• defines social mores of a specific group
• Epistolary Novel
• first person narrative
• form of letters, journals, or diaries
• Picaresque Novel
• adventures of an eccentric or disreputable hero in episodic form 
• Historical Novel
• set in a period earlier than that of the writing
• Regional Novel
• habits, speech, and folklore of a particular geographical section
• Bildungsroman
• novel of growth- development of the protagonist's mind, spirit, and character from childhood to adulthood
• Roman a clef
• imaginary events with real people disguised as fictional characters
• Roman-fleuve
• common theme or range of characters that stretch across a number of novels.
• Sociological
• problems and injustices of society, making moral judgments and offering resolution
• Stream of Consciousness
• total range of thoughts, memories, in uninterrupted, endless flow
• Gothic
• desolate setting and mysterious events
• atmosphere of terror
• Gothic Romance
• stormy love relationship
• violent, brooding atmosphere
• Satirical 
• reveals human folly and vices through wit
• hope for reform

Heart of Darkness Discussion day 1

• 2 women knitting black wool
• dark humor
• racist, hair of african people, does Conrad/narrator get it?
• dark humor, irony
• Time period?
• start of modernism
• universal truth, suffering
• allegory cave reference
• Kurtz- God/ Jesus figure?
• part English and part French
• does everything- music, painting, etc.
• represents Europe colonization of Africa- negative

Outside Reading: Book Review #3

 Book Review: "Forbidden Planet"
By M.G. Lord
published December 29, 2010

     In M.G. Lord's book review of "How I Killed Pluto," by Mike Brown, he uses critical perspectives such as feminism and formalism for his analysis of the novel. Without quite giving the reader a definite thumbs up or down for the book, M.G. Lord skillfully highlights what he believes to be the novel's positives and negatives, allowing the reader to make their decision about the book for themselves.

     Lord begins by telling the reader the surprise he felt when he realized the novel was actually not really about Pluto and the decision on the ninth and tenth planets at all. Instead, his most memorable part of the novel was the "scene in which Brown groggily dumped cat litter instead of detergent into his washing machine," because of his exhaustion from taking care of his new baby daughter (1). This leads to his feminist critical perspective of Brown's book. "How I Killed Pluto," unexpectedly turning out to be the "chronicles of infant development," causes M.G. Lord to believe that much of the novel is a stand on gender discrimination in science.

      After discussing the feminist aspect of the piece, M.G. Lord moves on to discussing it with a formalism perspective. The writer identifies one of Brown's strengths in the novel as the emotional element added to the scientist. Although occasionally "stopped by irrelevancies," readers are "swept along by the thrill of a gigantic story" (2). Using fantastic tone, Brown shares his emotional experience with the reader, allowing them to feel the excitement and aggravation along with him. Although M.G. Lord emphasizes positive elements of the novel, including the tone and feminist stance, he also questions the importance of the magnitude of time spent reading and writing about his fathering experience. Is it symbolic? How is it related to Pluto? And after his emphasis on female scientist would women really be taken seriously after writing a book with so much of that content in it? Lord does a great job leaving the question open for the reader to think about and make their own judgements, only giving a slightly implied opinion.

       Some connections between this book review and English class could be the attention paid to feminism. In "Death of Salesman," we had a large discussion on Linda's character and the other women characters of the novel. Also Ophelia's character in "Hamlet" is another female character we spent a while discussing. We seemed to focus on typical female stereotypes, whether they are show up in the play or the writer is going against them.

       Overall, M.G. Lord does a great job communicating the feeling and content of the piece, using feminism and formalism critical perspectives. He gives a clear enough, but subjective view of the novel, leaving much of it for the reader to discover when they read the book.

Outside Reading: Editorial #3

Editorial: "Anonymity and the Dark Side of the Internet"
By Stanley Fish
published January 3, 2011

      Stanley Fish's editorial, "Anonymity and the Dark Side of the Internet," uses a strong voice and many supporting examples to persuade the readers that a speaker's identity of a piece of information is crucial to understand the text's full meaning. The emphasis of his discussion is based on internet liability.

       
      Fish starts his piece with perfect English persuasive formatting, beginning with the other side's argument and then countering it with his opinion and supporting details. Arguing that a text's meaning is really not the same whether there is a known speaker or not, the writer gives two reasons. One of which is that Fish believes leaving the speaker anonymous is a way of avoid[ing] responsibility and accountability for what one is saying. This is a horrible problem on the internet with internet bloggers who can cause others harm without guilt of them knowing it was them, or having to see their reaction to it. There is also the problem of whether a piece of information is the truth when the source is unknown and possibly unreliable. Fish gives the example that if one receives an anonymous text, the reader of the text can't be sure if she should believe it. The reliability depends on whether it's the class gossiper of her trustful friend.

       The writer of this editorial not only gives his complaint of internet anonymity, but also gives a solution to the problem, involving repealing a section of the Communications Decency Act basically saying that "the provider is not liable for what others have said." This has been interpreted by courts as a way of "immunizing providers even when they 'have knowledge that [a statement] is defamatory or invasive of privacy.'”

         Fish successfully achieved his communication purposes, using a clear, confident voice, reinforced with some great evidence and ideas. Myself as the reader, was completely turned to his side of the argument based on his facts and persuasive writing style.

Outside Reading: Reflective Essay #3

Reflective Essay: "Enigma: Asking the Mind to Jump Through Hoops"
By Teller
published December 6, 2010

       In this reflective essay, Teller uses a dinner conversation between his friends to discuss the idea of mental games like puzzles and what their point is. Teller questions them using a logical and persuasive tone. He argues that instead of "deliberately expos[ing] yourself to stress and frustration," why wouldn't you spend your time more usefully (1)? Then he switches to a more thoughtful tone as his guests give their opinion and teach him the importance the puzzles have. 

       

      The guests begin to convince Teller about the importance of puzzles using personal experiences about ways they can impact ones life. One guest shares his puzzle experience as a way to learn that one can break down difficult and overwhelming problems to solve them in a simpler way, helping as a historian to write history. Another guest tells how he makes workouts more effective by teaching people to "break down the lifting movement in their heads, like his puzzle... to identify which muscles need to fire" (2). The next guest shares her experience of crossword puzzles as a way to bond with her mother and build a strong vocabulary. After more discussion involving a sour cranberry in the cranberry sauce and magic tricks that "drive people crazy and scare them to death," they come to the conclusion that "pain... can be pleasure"(4). 

      

      By writing his reflective essay as a discussion with a persuasive and thought provoking tone, Teller successfully gets his point across. Rather than a whole paper trying to explain why he believes pain can be pleasure, he shows us the conversations that led to this conclusion, helping the reader understand the idea much more.  This tone would work for an AP essay because it is appropriate and easily understandable. 

      Teller does a fantastic job using a persuasive, thoughtful, and logical tone in a conversation setting to justify his explanation that, "whether in a jigsaw, a workout, a crossword, a magic trick or a too-tart fruit," oddly enough people enjoy this pain anyway (4). 

Notes Jan 3-7

Death of Salesman Discussion

• Why does Miller use non realistic techniques?
• What are they and now do they follow important precept "forum follows function" (every choice is made for meaning)?
• How does Linda "mother" her husband?
• Is this a healthy dynamic?
• Do her son's have to compete for her maternal love?

• What is purpose of Ben?
• Willy looks up to Ben
• Sees Ben as successful and wants to be like him so causes him to not give up trying to achieve his unrealistic dream 
• separated from reality of the play- can't actually help family financially
• Ben= American Dream -> dead
• goes away to exploit other areas, take things, and get money
• "man is not an orange whose peel can just be thrown away when they're done"- but they are in this play- Willy fighting against it
• Flashbacks- choppy and confusing- reflects Willy's confusion
• flashbacks usually positive- false ideas about past- idea that those were the good days
• Two iconic cars
• Chevy= american dream
• cleaning car- encouraging american dream
• Studibaker= dream doomed to fail
• dies in car
• Willy's contradictions:
• material things (car refrigerator)= his success and money
• at one point says how great they are
• at another he feels victimized by them- how bad they are and losing money from them
• says "Gee" is a boy's word and then he says it
• Failed in everything
• even his own death- wanted death of a salesman- but nobody showed up at his funeral
• Linda
• Is she respectful for letting them fool themselves or is it more respectful to make them face reality?
• Willy not fully adult- is called "kid," says "gee"
• dairy product motif- always getting dairy products for Willy- breast feeding
• accepts less from Willy, wants him to always be happy, doesn't treat him like he's her equal and with respect, doesn't challenge him.
• how does this effect their relationships?
• Biff and Happy don't treat women well- learned from their father
• Archetypal american escape fantasy- go out west, get married and have a ranch- Biff, of Mice and Men

• Difference between success and happiness?
• Willy thought he needed success (money, respect, and material goods) to be happy.
• 2 brothers motif
• Ben and Willy= Biff and Happy? -pattern
• Ben and Biff- went away for happiness and success
• Willy and Happy- seek approval from father figure

• Possible to have the wrong dream?
• Willy saw one salesman and said he would be happy doing that 
• never changed idea -> little kids have irrational dreams that change over time as they learn about themselves- all stuck in boyhood

Notes Dec 13-17

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

"Life in a box is better than no life at all" -thematic element

• Just like their life
• they're living in a box waiting for someone to come knocking

Playwright is God and we are the characters.

They (characters) have no control on the world- their outcome and role is already predetermined.

• Hamlet's identity and choices are already made for him.
• Would it have been better to not have been born at all?