Close Reading (9/23/12)

http://www.manrepeller.com/2012/09/trends-you-must-try.html

TRENDS YOU MUST TRY

When I read the assignment criteria I almost squealed with joy. I knew exactly who to turn to for a strong voice. Leandra Medine writes one of my all-time favorite blogs, Man Repeller. Mixing high fashion with blunt - but hilarious - comparisons, she offers up an excellent example of voice. I hope I can even begin to do her writing style justice.
Ms. Medine utilizes language quite excellently and uses similies help add to a playful, exaggerated voice when discussing midriff-baring shirts. "But if that doesn’t sound lucrative enough, these particular trends often include baring body parts previously dubbed unbareable. Don’t try and grammar police my ass on that one, I am deliberately punning like bad jokes are coming back in style." (para 3).
When describing hair streaks and face paints she states: "And on your head, braids or streaks or a purple uni-brow pointing at your nose: it’s like Frida Kahlo traveled to Mars and all she came back with was intergalactic facial hair." Exaggeration and metaphors are used quite regularly, creating an impression of bizarrely vivid imagery. (para 8).
Segwaying into the next topic...when describing hats with phrases like "athletic nunwear" and "these models looked like human blow dryers," she conjures up exaggerated - but fairly accurate - descriptions of this year's "runway gone wild" trends. (para 9).
Pulling from diction, she makes up words a la Shakespeare, coining phrases like "arm party" (a large collection of stacked bracelets) and "nubic hair" (nipple hair).
As hindsight, diving into this assignment with a fashion blog probably wasn't the best choice. An article relying on the descriptions of visuals offers a limited amount of literary details to pull from without overlapping. Come October 21st I'll definitely be looking for an article with more length and variety.
Overall, great blog, but not the best choice...

Open Prompt (9/16/12)

2009. A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

      Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, describes a young man named Gregor, who wakes up to find he has transformed into some sort of bug. Throughout the novel Gregor struggles to hide is shame, struggles with humanity, and the dealing with his metamorphosis. An apparent symbol throughout the story can be illustrated by food.
   When his family first discovers his transformation they are overwhelmed by fear. Only his sister (the family member he feels closest to) dares to enter his bedroom - where Gregor is hiding - to give him some food. By leaving his favorite food/beverage - milk - she helps illustrate the vulnerability and caring that can be shared when sharing a meal. Upon discovering that Gregor has not touched the milk, she brings him a variety of scraps in an effort to find something he'd like. This again shows the compassion that can be extended. As a necessity to survive, we depend on on food. For that purpose the sharing of food plays such an important role in character interaction. As illustrated in Thomas Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor, meals play an important role in the development of the novel.

   Later in the novel, after Gregor has been living with his family for several years, his family must rent out parts of their apartment to tenants in order to make money. One evening Gregor - who is normally locked inside his room - sneaks through his open door to see his mother serving the tenants their meal. Witnessing this action fills him with jealously and brings back memories of the times when he would eat dinner with his family. At this point in the story his family's attentiveness to Gregor condition has diminishes and they don not feed him as much as they used to. He is starving while the tenants eat his mother's food. The food, and the act of sharing it, triggered an emotional response.
   Further into the story, Gregor's father, in a fit of rage, throws an apple at Gregor which strikes him in the back. Symbolically turning Gregor's vulnerability against him, Mr. Samsa's act of anger demonstrates how a character's weakness can be turned against him.

Reflection: I ran out of time. I don't think I even fulfilled part of the requirements of the prompt. I summarized more than I analyzed. If I ran out of time before I finished the essay on the AP Test then I wouldn't get a chance to re-read to correct my mistakes, so I'm posting this without a read through.

Response to Course Material (9/9/12)

I think I’ll start off by saying that the terms test was one of most challenging tests I’ve taken in a very long time…that test score rivals the ones I got when I attempted to take PreCalc! (And I tried to take that class twice (twice!) before abandoning ship & switching into FS^3!)

However, since I started preparing for AP Lit I’ve come to realize that being able to understand something is more complex than just memorizing definitions. I need to be able to apply the terms to whatever I’m reading/learning/discussing. I’m currently halfway through the Chapter 2 and 3 reading and being able to see the terms put into use in the examples passages is helping me understand how to use & recognize them.

            Working on the Foster Presentation has helped me look more carefully at repeated symbols or themes in pop culture. By looking at the Prezi presentations I’ve also considered different types of rhetorical situations and arguments when applied to modern day literature.

For example, my fashion magazines obviously have a different purpose and audience than, say, my dad’s political magazines.

The purpose of The Nation, a political editorial, is to inform or persuade. I’m much more familiar with Seventeen and I’d say it definitely has mixed purposes – one hand it entertains, but it also informs.  The audience also offers different viewpoints: different age groups, social/political differences, expectations, etc. Writing Seventeen with the vocabulary and opinions of an analysis of the Republican Party would not go over very well.

            I’d also like to bring up something Ms. Holmes mentioned in class a few days ago. I occasionally suffer from, as she put it, “Pompous Thirty-Five Year Old Man Syndrome”. I tend to try to use big words and embellish whenever possible. (Let’s just say that thesaurus.com is one of my “Most Visited” bookmarks & leave it at that.) I’m trying to work on it, but if I ever get top-heavy or lose focus, a constructive reminder is always appreciated.