Response to Course Material #1

Over the first few weeks of school, I have noticed that in A.P. lit, the students are much more independent than in other classes. We are left to draw our own conclusions, not just discuss conclusions made by others or the teacher. This has become apparent through our discussion and analysis of The American Dream, an Edgar Albee play that on the surface seems like a funny, theater of the absurd comedy, but actually has deep social commentary on the materialistic age of consumerism. After reading it straight through in class, we were left to discuss the work and our thoughts on it with little guidance from Ms. Holmes. It was surprising how many conclusions we were able to draw just as a class. We discussed how the Young Man represents the American Dream, and the significance of his character being empty on the inside and pretty on the outside. Over the next few days, we were given some articles to help give us other perspectives. We read "Allegory in Edward Albee's The American Dream," by Ervin Beck, which analyzed Grandma's role, and how she is actually the most mentally all-there character, and how she represents the old American Dream (which we had sort of alluded to in our previous discussion, and this helped us get all the way there). This article didn't give us all the answers, it just showed someone else's opinion. As a class we were challenged to build on some of Beck's ideas and question others. We had a great discussion on the old American Dream (Grandma) vs. the New American Dream (Young Man). There was also debate over Beck's optimism towards the ending of the play. The other article we read, by Philip Kolin, focused more on the attack on consumerism and the changing of the American Dream into something shallow and materialistic. This helped us realize just how dark the play is, especially with the dismembering of the "bumble's" body parts. Again we built on, not just reiterated Kolin's ideas, which led to a struggle to tackle the concept of the gender roles in Albee's play. Overall I liked the way that we approached this play, with a lot of room for the students to come up with ideas on their own, but with some guidance and some knowledge from other lessons in class to help us analyze the techniques and effects Albee uses to make his main points.

Although most of the American Dream discussion was independent, we did have some more guided lessons on techniques such as DIDLS to help set the ground work for our discussion and educate us on the correct terms when analyzing literature. Our first lesson was on diction. Learning about different types of diction (colloquial v. elevated v. informal, concrete v. abstract, etc.), helped us see how powerful word choice is in a work, and what a key part it plays in getting the main point across and creating the mood of the work. We put our knowledge of diction to the test when we annotated an excerpt from Kafka's short story, "Metamorphosis". Figuring that much of the diction was colloquial, and for the most part concrete and vague helped me get the feel of the tone being mostly indifferent with a bit of annoyance regarding his condition. This lack of concern that main character has for the fact that he is now a bug (which is evident through the diction) helped me realize that his being a vermin represents the struggles he faces when being a traveling salesman. It's inconvenient and it wears him down, just like being a vermin does. Diction is not the only major technique authors use to make their works come to life. We also studied imagery, and analyzed three very different excerpts solely on imagery. This focus on the imagery helped me see the second excerpt in a whole new light. Studying the images of the cold, run down town with a promising street name and the girl limping and struggling along in the frozen, unforgiving town helped the class as a whole make connections and realize that the girl represents poverty and how the frozen scenery around her shows how unforgiving and unsympathetic the rest of the world is. I didn't make that connection at all before studying the imagery in depth. I was able to appreciate the work a lot more after this. Another main technique we looked at in class was syntax. We read an article called "syntax as style," which pointed out all of the many different ways diction can create effects and add to the meaning of the story. Although we did not study language and details as much in depth, we still learned how important they are in creating effects and meaning. Seeing how literary techniques help me come to bigger conclusions showed me how important they are in a work of literature, and how much more you can get out of a work when you analyze these techniques in depth.

Not only are these lessons on DIDLS helping me analyze literature such as The American Dream more closely and get more out of it, but they are also helping me prepare for the "Close Reading" aspect of the A.P. Exam, which we have been focusing on a lot in class lately. After getting basic knowledge of DIDLS, we used them to write a close reading blog post, as well as write sort of a practice essay. This essay certainly was not anywhere near where I want my essay to be for the exam, but it was a good indicator of where I am right now, and it showed me that the DIDLS lessons gave me some direction, so I wasn't completely lost. It was certainly a lot better than an essay I would have written on the first day of school would be, so it's encouraging to see how much progress this class has helped me make in just a few weeks.

Overall I would say that I am really enjoying A.P. Lit so far. The amount of room students have to think for themselves and put their ideas out there takes me out of my comfort zone a little, but it really helps me grow as a writer and a reader. I have been able to pick up on a lot more details and ideas in my reading, and I have this class to thank for it.   

Open Prompt Response # 1

In response to the 2009 student responses to question 3A (regarding symbols):

Student A:
Student A certainly has some insightful ideas, and in general, I think their essay is well written. I did, however, get a little distracted by some of the excess pomp thrown in. For example, the first two sentences: "The use of a symbol has the potential to send a potent message. Used in a work of literature, it has the ability to profoundly affect and alter the mindset of the audience," say almost the same thing, and could be worded much more concisely. They do not need all of those words just to say that symbols can be very powerful and have a large impact on a work of literature. I also think that the writing gets a little distracted and verges on summarizing when the student goes into detail about how the Hjalmar family is based on lies, and what those lies are. Assuming the reader has read the work in question, those details are not necessary. Considering these ideas, I am surprised that the essay received a perfect nine. It does address the prompt fully (The extended idea of the dog attacking the duck symbolizing Gregor attacking the family is very interesting), but I think it could have made its points in a much more direct way.  

Student B:
I think that student B makes some good points about the symbolism of the lampshade. I expected them to score higher than a six, because I think they responded to the prompt pretty thoroughly, addressing what the symbol reveals about the characters by relating it to Blanche always covering things up and hiding the truth. I did notice it start to become a summary when it talks about Blanche's episode with Alan, and the lack of apostrophes certainly is distracting, but I think in general it's pretty clear and deserves a seven. I like how the student takes it further when he/she says "Blanche's need to cover things up begins to extend further than just appearance and age. She keeps her past from her loving sister, she hides the truth of why she lost her job, and she attempts to hide the fact that she is flat broke." This extends the student's point and adds more support to his/her claim that the lamp shade represents Blanche trying to hide the truth.


Student C:
This essay does a poor job of answering the prompt fully and does not give much support for his/her thesis at all. After getting passed the grammatical errors and the fact that the student refers to the work of literature in the past tense, the biggest detail that bothers me is how part of the thesis is that the machete symbolizes pride, but the student barely touches on this aspect of the thesis. They tack it onto the last paragraph as if it is an afterthought, and then they proceed to end the essay by saying "So it symbolizes pride. Most of all." If the machete symbolizes pride most of all, why would they not focus on that aspect of the thesis at least as much as they focused on the other aspects (power and strength)? I think that this essay should have gotten lower than a four, because of its failure to fully answer the prompt and support all aspects of its thesis.

Close Reading #1

                After studying rhetoric in class, I found it interesting to look at the use of rhetoric in a variety of works, including movie reviews. Roger Ebert’s review of “Finding Nemo” uses several aspects of rhetoric to draw readers in and make them want to watch it. Most prominently, Ebert uses imagery, diction, and details to give the movie a positive review.

                Ebert is quite impressed by the visual aspects of the movie and uses vivid imagery to compliment it. When he says, “The movie takes place almost entirely under the sea, in the world of colorful tropical fish--the flora and fauna of a shallow warm-water shelf not far from Australia”(Ebert), he paints a colorful picture of a lively shallow reef that makes readers want to see what he is talking about. His use of imagery makes readers curious about the unique possibilities of an under-sea setting. It makes the audience step back and appreciate the stunning visual components of the movie that they may not have noticed otherwise.

                Ebert’s diction also helps him make this movie seem as appealing to everyone else as it is to him. He uses colloquial diction so that his point can be easily understood by all of his readers. Because he wants readers to focus on how good the film is, he doesn’t want them to get caught up in difficult language. Ebert uses abstract words (such as “inspiration,” “invention,” and “dangers”) so that the readers still have room to imagine what the movie will be like and be excited to find out. He doesn’t want them to go into the movie already knowing exactly what everything is like.  He also uses some concrete nouns when describing the people involved in making the movie. He wants to give credit where credit is due for this movie that he enjoys so much, so he uses specific nouns when talking about the voice actors, writers, and directors (he specifically names “William Dafoe,” “Albert Brooks,” “Andrew Stanton,” and more). His use of colloquial diction with a combination of abstract and concrete specific words, as well as his diction’s positive connotation (as seen by the use of words such as “beauty,” “pleasures,” and cheerful”) help Ebert write a strong review that makes readers want to watch “Finding Nemo.”

                When writing a movie review, it is important to add enough details so that the reader has a general idea of what the movie is about, but not so many as to rob the audience of the ability to think about the movie for themselves and imagine what it is going to be like. Ebert does a good job of including just enough detail to get readers hooked. He adds details about the tropical reef setting, but he doesn’t bore readers with individual descriptions of what every fish looks like. He lets reader see that for themselves. He stays focused in his summary, and doesn’t get too caught up in minute details. However, he makes sure to include the endearing qualities about each of the characters- for example he mentions that Merlin worries so much about Nemo because he is all he has left (Ebert), making us feel bad for him and thus fall in love with him for his brave efforts. Ebert’s use of the right amount of details and his inclusion of details about the endearing qualities of the characters help his audience see his point of view and get excited about the movie he is reviewing.

                Ebert has done a nice job incorporating the aspects of rhetoric into his writing in a way that makes his point stronger. He uses vivid imagery, intriguing colloquial diction, and focuses on endearing details to make the movie seem more appealing, and get readers to agree with his positive opinion of the movie.