Thus far, AP Literature has covered two main topics- the underpinnings of a good essay and the meaning behind standard literary techniques. The class also dabbled in a bit of closed reading although the purpose was more to understand technique than to devise strategies to tackle the closed reading segment of the AP exam.
Of these two broad topics, writing essays, has interested me more. As an inexperienced writer, I used to wonder what defined an essay as "good" by some standards and "poor" by others.To be honest, throughout my entire high school career I believe I've only had a vague sense of what comprises a good essay. Only through this course have I been able to define these underlying traits and introduce them into my own work. An introduction that is succinct yet intriguing, a thesis statement that guides the structure of body paragraphs and fully answers the prompt, and a conclusion that caps off the main points and leaves the reader satisfied have all proven to be traits which are vital to a "9" essay. I also enjoyed our analysis of prompts and how we were able to break up a complex prompt into specific goals; setting forth the main purpose of an essay. Furthermore, I found it interesting to note that addressing the ambiguity and subtle nuances of a work suggests to AP readers that the writer understands a work of literature on many different levels. In previous classes, I might have shied away from addressing such ambiguities making this point especially important for me.
Delving into the techniques of literature has proved useful for me as well. The helpful acronym, "DIDLS" is a convient mnemoic device to remember the techniques diction, imagery, details, language and syntax. I appreciated our further exploration of these techniques and the in-depth explanations for each, although we have avoided syntax as of yet. I was intrigued by the fact that technique creates effect and effect creates meaning to the work. This simple thought re-defined the way I think about literature. By breaking a work down in an analytic fashion into component parts, literature can be considered on many different levels; shaping the author's meaning with each level.
Through these two major points, AP Literature has proved to be a mentally-stimulating yet challenging course. I hope that the rest of the year proves to be just as useful and that with each day, I deepen my understanding of literature as a whole.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Open Prompt Response #1
In some works of literature, childhood and adolescence are portrayed as times graced by innocence and a sense of wonder; in other works, they are depicted as times of tribulation and terror. Focusing on a single novel or play, explain how its representation of childhood or adolescence shapes the meaning of the work as a whole.
Holden also expresses his uncertainty about the adult world through his usage of the word “phony”. To Holden, the adult world is full of hypocrisy and lies. He despises his teachers who speak in one way in a classroom but another outside of its walls. He cannot stand the gilded movies of Hollywood and feels that they resemble an unobtainable world. He has no desire to become a part of the phony adult world, but when asked by his sister what he wants to be when he grows up, Holden responds that his job in life should be to “be the catcher in the rye and all.” In other words, Holden wants to stop children from falling down the cliff that leads to adulthood. However, his kid sister Phoebe, intelligently points out that his idea simply isn’t realistic illustrating her own complex thoughts and lack of innocence to the ways of the adult world. Therefore, Holden desperately clings to his idea of childhood, that as Phoebe points out, is not as romantic as he’d like to think.
However, as the novel unfolds, it also becomes clear that it is not the adult world that is phony, but Holden’s perceptions. His judgements are quick, and they possess a child-like simplicity. Even his beloved teacher, Mr. Antolini, who defies convention and is therefore not “phony” is subject to Holden’s quick judgements. In one scene, Holden arrives at his teacher’s apartment in order to find company and guidance. Although at first he seems to have found what he was looking for, this changes when he thinks his teacher is making a sexual advance by offering a paternal pat on the check. Quickly, Holden judges his teacher to be a homosexual, despite Mr. Antolini’s apparent wife, and Holden flees the house the second he can. Only on later reflection does Holden begin to dwell his own child-like judgements and to see the world as more complex then he had first envisioned.
Therefore, The Cather in the Rye represents a complex novel about the struggles of growing up. Holden scrambles between the phony adult world which press upon him from his friends and peers and the idealistic image he has of the innocence of childhood. However, both perceptions are proven to be false, from his kid-sister Phoebe who is neither innocent nor simple, to the quick-childlike judgements Holden makes for the adult world. Therefore, the Catcher in the Rye’s portrayal of childhood reminds readers not to grow up too fast and to accept adulthood when one is ready.
While Peter Pan might be accredited with the familiar phrase “I don’t want to grow up”, many other works of literature carry the same message. In The Catcher in the Rye, adolescence is depicted as a time of uncertainty and change. In The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger uses diction, imagery and details to represent adolescence as a time for losing of innocence, although once lost, can never again be obtained. This brings about uncertainty for the narrator, Holden, as he struggles to walk the line between youth and maturity.
Holden ambivalence to maturation is best illustrated through his focus on sex. Throughout the novel, he expresses many adult desires although is afraid to fulfil them. At the novel’s advent, Holden states that he is a virgin although he does not intend to remain one for very long. However, even when he buys a hooker, he cannot bring himself to carry out his plans as it makes him feel sick to engage in a sexual experience with someone he does not know. Throughout the novel, Holden reflects on a girl named Jane. Holden and Jane were once childhood friends, and when Jane accepts a date with Holden’s roommate Stradlater Holden is tortured by the thought that Stradlater will make sexual overtures to her. Holden struggles with this idea primarily because the two do not know each other much and the overtures exist simply on the premise of physical attraction. These thoughts illustrate that Holden has an understanding that sex occur between people who respect and care about each other, although he feels peer pressure at the thought of his friends and roommates engaging in sex earlier than he. These tumultuous thoughts confuse Holden and suggest to the reader that Salinger feels growing up should not be done hastily or as a way to impress peers.
Holden also expresses his uncertainty about the adult world through his usage of the word “phony”. To Holden, the adult world is full of hypocrisy and lies. He despises his teachers who speak in one way in a classroom but another outside of its walls. He cannot stand the gilded movies of Hollywood and feels that they resemble an unobtainable world. He has no desire to become a part of the phony adult world, but when asked by his sister what he wants to be when he grows up, Holden responds that his job in life should be to “be the catcher in the rye and all.” In other words, Holden wants to stop children from falling down the cliff that leads to adulthood. However, his kid sister Phoebe, intelligently points out that his idea simply isn’t realistic illustrating her own complex thoughts and lack of innocence to the ways of the adult world. Therefore, Holden desperately clings to his idea of childhood, that as Phoebe points out, is not as romantic as he’d like to think.
However, as the novel unfolds, it also becomes clear that it is not the adult world that is phony, but Holden’s perceptions. His judgements are quick, and they possess a child-like simplicity. Even his beloved teacher, Mr. Antolini, who defies convention and is therefore not “phony” is subject to Holden’s quick judgements. In one scene, Holden arrives at his teacher’s apartment in order to find company and guidance. Although at first he seems to have found what he was looking for, this changes when he thinks his teacher is making a sexual advance by offering a paternal pat on the check. Quickly, Holden judges his teacher to be a homosexual, despite Mr. Antolini’s apparent wife, and Holden flees the house the second he can. Only on later reflection does Holden begin to dwell his own child-like judgements and to see the world as more complex then he had first envisioned.
Therefore, The Cather in the Rye represents a complex novel about the struggles of growing up. Holden scrambles between the phony adult world which press upon him from his friends and peers and the idealistic image he has of the innocence of childhood. However, both perceptions are proven to be false, from his kid-sister Phoebe who is neither innocent nor simple, to the quick-childlike judgements Holden makes for the adult world. Therefore, the Catcher in the Rye’s portrayal of childhood reminds readers not to grow up too fast and to accept adulthood when one is ready.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Close Reading #1- "Why Adoption Isn't Always Easy"
This editorial outlines the hardships and consequences of foreign adoption based on personal experience.
Diction: The author's choice of words adds much to her piece. From the get-go, she describes her decision to adopt three Russian children as "quick" and "based on little information". This sets the tone for the editorial as she later goes on to explain how her experience with foreign adoption would have been better served if she knew more about the children she was bringing into her home. She outlines the unexpected "challenges" she and her husband were forced to face such as the "serious" medical and psychiatric problems of the children. As her children grow older, the problems only augment, yet the author uses words such as "admittedly" in order to grant her children the benefit of the doubt in situations and repeatedly expresses her "love" for them. This illustrates the good intentions the author had in raising her children despite the trials she was forced to undergo. The diction forces readers to feel a strong sense of empathy for the author as well as to understand the different emotions foreign adoption must bring.
Imagery: The author's uses imagery to convey the flaws within the foreign adoption system. In response to the author and her husband's pleas to the adoption agency for help in taking care of their new children, the service personnel merely replied "were sorry to hear that". This illustrates the apathy of the foreign adoption service to the problems of families once they have adopted the children. Also, it shows how the author and her husband were forced to handle the three children and their issues alone, without the aid or an organization or support group.
Furthermore, the author uses imagery to illustrate her children's destructive behavior. She explains how "she and her husband had to put locks on the doors" in order to keep the kids from stealing. Simple reprimands proved useless as the author details how she and her husband continuously tried to tell the children that "we don't do this in our family" but to no avail. The authors use of dialogue and her description of the lengths she and her husband were forced to go illustrates the trials the author's family underwent as well as their lack of support from outside agencies.
Details: The author's choice of details is important to the work. She explains the children's tendency to steal, their aggressive personalities, and their numerous health problems, such as "fetal alcohol syndrome" and a "traumatic brain injury", in order to contrast between what the author and her husband expected their newly-adopted children to be like, and what the children were in reality. Furthermore, the author chooses other details to illustrate how she and her husband put a great deal of time and effort in order to raise the children. She details that the she and her husband continuously showered the children with attention, by "playing with them" as well as "finding Russian speakers to talk to them and read stories in Russian", and taking "months" off of work. However, she illustrates that her efforts were not well rewarded as she addresses how her and her husband were "charged with neglect", unjustifiably, when one child "decided not to live at home". She also outlines her children as she knows them today as apathetic to her and her husband's affection demonstrating a lack of relationship between the two parents and their children despite time and effort spent in order to foster one.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/04/14/when-adoption-isn-t-easy.html
Diction: The author's choice of words adds much to her piece. From the get-go, she describes her decision to adopt three Russian children as "quick" and "based on little information". This sets the tone for the editorial as she later goes on to explain how her experience with foreign adoption would have been better served if she knew more about the children she was bringing into her home. She outlines the unexpected "challenges" she and her husband were forced to face such as the "serious" medical and psychiatric problems of the children. As her children grow older, the problems only augment, yet the author uses words such as "admittedly" in order to grant her children the benefit of the doubt in situations and repeatedly expresses her "love" for them. This illustrates the good intentions the author had in raising her children despite the trials she was forced to undergo. The diction forces readers to feel a strong sense of empathy for the author as well as to understand the different emotions foreign adoption must bring.
Imagery: The author's uses imagery to convey the flaws within the foreign adoption system. In response to the author and her husband's pleas to the adoption agency for help in taking care of their new children, the service personnel merely replied "were sorry to hear that". This illustrates the apathy of the foreign adoption service to the problems of families once they have adopted the children. Also, it shows how the author and her husband were forced to handle the three children and their issues alone, without the aid or an organization or support group.
Furthermore, the author uses imagery to illustrate her children's destructive behavior. She explains how "she and her husband had to put locks on the doors" in order to keep the kids from stealing. Simple reprimands proved useless as the author details how she and her husband continuously tried to tell the children that "we don't do this in our family" but to no avail. The authors use of dialogue and her description of the lengths she and her husband were forced to go illustrates the trials the author's family underwent as well as their lack of support from outside agencies.
Details: The author's choice of details is important to the work. She explains the children's tendency to steal, their aggressive personalities, and their numerous health problems, such as "fetal alcohol syndrome" and a "traumatic brain injury", in order to contrast between what the author and her husband expected their newly-adopted children to be like, and what the children were in reality. Furthermore, the author chooses other details to illustrate how she and her husband put a great deal of time and effort in order to raise the children. She details that the she and her husband continuously showered the children with attention, by "playing with them" as well as "finding Russian speakers to talk to them and read stories in Russian", and taking "months" off of work. However, she illustrates that her efforts were not well rewarded as she addresses how her and her husband were "charged with neglect", unjustifiably, when one child "decided not to live at home". She also outlines her children as she knows them today as apathetic to her and her husband's affection demonstrating a lack of relationship between the two parents and their children despite time and effort spent in order to foster one.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/04/14/when-adoption-isn-t-easy.html
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