Responses to Course Material

Learning about active reading has helped in so many ways for me. Asking questions in my head about the reading or the author helps me stay focussed on the piece right in front of me. I'm very excited about actually reading a book and putting my own notes in it, I guess I never thought of that as an option, but I know it will help a lot when it comes to reading some more difficult books. Learning about DIDLS has helped so much, I already knew about picking apart a prompt from my ACT class, but I never though about how there was a hidden question that you still had to answer, even though they didn't specifically say so. My thesis statements still have a ways to go, but I'm sure with this class by the end I will be excellent at writing thesis statements. 
Response to Course Material 2
Learning about syntax helps me realize things that the author purposely did to make the whole piece have a certain mood. It has really opened my eyes to little details like that. Having us in class write all of those intros fro the three different prompts along with different topic sentences to go with the body paragraphs I think has helped me understand how to get started in a prompt, instead of just sitting there thinking crap I have no clue how to answer this. The syntax sheets that we had to do also really helped me understand how to actually use it in an example and pick apart a piece looking for it.    
Response to Course Material 3
My first thoughts on Albee's "The American Dream" was that Albee must have been crazy or had some deeper meaning that I wasn't getting because the book to me was all nonsense from the start. After we discussed in class a little more, I understood a tiny bit, but working in groups and annotating really helped quite a lot. I knew annotating would be a big help and I'm excited to start "The Death of a Salesman" as well, hopefully I will understand that book better that I did with "The American Dream". I really understand the DIDLS now, using them so much in class helps me relate them to other books outside of class. 


Response to Course Material 4
So far I think I have improved my writing. All of the prompts practice and discussing the prompts, then re writing them have really helped me improve on what the AP test will be like, and how to write a good essay to get a good score. Discussing "Death of a Salesman" was a little more in depth than I feel like it should have been. Sometimes I feel like the discussions get in depth so much that we totally get off topic, and it's hard to get back on the right one. I think all of these blog assignments are really helping as well, and I like peer reviewing, because I get to see other peoples writing and see their techniques.   

PROMPTS

2005, Form B. One of the strongest human drives seems to be a desire for power. Write an essay in which you discuss how a character in a novel or a drama struggles to free himself or herself from the power of others or seeks to gain power over others. Be sure to demonstrate in your essay how the author uses this power struggle to enhance the meaning of the work

Many books use power as a motive for the character's actions. The Hunger Games is a futuristic tail in which public entertainment is supplied by pitting youth against each other in a lethal game. The government in The Hunger Games struggles to maintain control of the populace through brutal means. The story told through Katniss' eye's illustrates the larger meaning in the book. 

Katniss is one of those youths sent to the hunger games by the government. Right away she already figures she will die, so at first she doesn't even try to resist against the games. Turns out, she and her partner both win, this is when her struggle with and against the capital really all began. The government doesn't know it, but Katniss turns out to be a real threat against their "perfect" society. The author uses Katniss' struggle to emphasize how weak the government really was, they needed food from all of the separate districts, and couldn't actually provide for themselves.

The other struggle in this book would be the rebellion. The rebellion all started in district thirteen, and has been growing ever since they were "bombed" out of existence. District thirteen's struggle also shows how the government failed to get rid of a district, and completely failed. This power of thirteen helps them stay hidden for years, and then finally come back with a vengeance. The authors whole meaning for this book was to show that no matter how strong a government looks, it still has it's flaws, and can still be overthrown.Both Katniss' and district thirteen's struggle to come out from beneath the government's power help express the authors point throughout this trilogy of futuristic books.    

2006, Form B. In many works of literature, a physical journey - the literal movement from one place to another - plays a central role. Choose a novel, play, or epic poem in which a physical journey is an important element and discuss how the journey adds to the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

In books about heroes, they usually have a long journey maybe through a dry wasteland or icy terrain. In Holes, Stanley has to climb a mountain, literally to find his salvation. The trek up the mountain completes the journey of the story by bringing the past, and the present together through one adventure and reveals the surprising connections between the characters. 

Between going to the camp where they literally have to dig holes, and having to walk back in the hot sun, the book Holes has a lot of physical action. When Stanley has finally had enough and heads off during a hot day into a dry landscape with no water in sight, you think he's not coming back, but this action of leaving against peoples permission proves to be the best thing for Stanley. 

Stanley and Zero's hike up a mountain brings together the main thesis of the book, friendship, by showing the work it takes to build and maintain a strong friendship and in the case of Holes literally the rewards it brings. The journey up the huge mountain brought trust into Stanley and Zero's friendship, and stability. Both of these characters thad to endure physical and emotional pain. When Zero had to pull Stanley up by a shovel, and he cuts his hands, and when Stanley has to carry Zero because he has passed out. When Stanley did this, it brought the past and the present together, when Zero's ancestor ordered a man to walk up this same exact mountain carrying a pig. Bringing these two scenes together brings out the friendship and connections through out the whole book. 

1970 Also. Choose a work of recognized literary merit in which a specific inanimate object (e.g., a seashell, a handkerchief, a painting) is important, and write an essay in which you show how two or three of the purposes the object serves are related to one another.

Have you ever wondered what a pig head has to do with a group of boys crashed on an island? In Lord of The Flies, It means quite a lot. The pig head shows the savagery that the boys are facing, and also the fierceness of Jack and his "Hunters". In the book, the author William Golding uses imagery to advance plot points and illustrate the basic savagery inherent in humans. 

The pig head represents that the boys on this island have the power of their own world. Being on the island with no adults guarantees that one person in particular is going to have to step up as a leader. When the boys decide that they need food, Jack goes to hunt a pig, and comes back with a very bloody pig head that he had cut off. This pig symbolizes how Jack gained the power from Ralph who originally the boys wanted as their leader. Decapitating the pig in an act of violence shows the boys on this island that Jack is the kind of leader that will use his power to provide for the group and ignore the rules of the adult world.      

The pigs head marks the time in the novel when Jack realizes that he doesn't have to listen to Ralph and can create his own society and rules, and thus becoming a tyrant. Jack's savagery at this point becomes a big factor in the book. By being the kid to kill the pig and cutting of it's head, Jack becomes a whole new person who thinks it is okay to beat up other children like Piggy who don't conform to his ways and still follow Ralph. 

The pig head symbolizes the power and the savagery that comes out from their basic human nature when the children are put in the situation of being alone and with no adult, and having to provide for themselves. Savagery and power are intertwined in the novel and the pigs head is only one of the objects that symbolize this.  

1980. A recurring theme in literature is the classic war between a passion and responsibility. For instance, a personal cause, a love, a desire for revenge, a determination to redress a wrong, or some other emotion or drive may conflict with moral duty. Choose a literary work in which a character confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with his or her responsibilities. In a well-written essay show clearly the nature of the conflict, its effects upon the character, and its significance to the work.

In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, the male protagonist, Mr. Rochester, confronts the conflict created by the innocent governess Jane Eyre and the responsibilities he has to his wife, the mad woman secretly locked in the attic. For much of the novel, Mr. Rochester's behavior reflects his indecision regarding what to do about this conflict. 

Mr Rochester through out the novel wanted to give Jane the luxury of the life she never had by claiming her as his wife and treating her like so. As the love grew between them, Rochester starts having more internal conflict about his secret wife in the attic. He felt he had been mis led by his in laws about his wife's history and character. Jane represented good, to which Rochester is deeply drawn too, while the crazy woman in the attic represented evil, which he is bound to preserve and keep safe.  Rochester's conflict is that the two can not coexist in his world. 

Rochester through out the book is a dark and mysterious persona, he is brusque yet occupies a high place in society. People who have worked for him for years still felt they didn't know all of the aspects of his character. Although he seems cold, he adopted his former mistress's little girl and brought her from France to England with him. Having to keep his wife a secret from Jane enhances his mysterious quality. To try and resolves this conflict, Rochester tried to keep his wife a secret and marry Jane. This shows how complex and desperate Rochester was. 

Gothic novels have many melodramatic plots settings and characters. Jane eyre includes all of these, in particular, Rochester's conflict between his passion and his duties provides one of the central elements to the novel. 

Close Reading 1 "A Shock to Bucolic Vermont" http://www.cnn.com/2011/08/31/opinion/parini-irene-hits-vermont/index.html?hpt=op_mid

Diction. Imagery. Details. Language. Syntax. DIDLES.

In the very beginning of this essay, you can already tell that the author is planning on using a lot of imagery. Within the first few sentences, the author says "To some degree, it has been like eden itself, a shelter from the American storm." This is the second sentence of the article, and already I am imagining Vermont as a place of heaven, where the weather is always nice out. After this he goes to describe how Vermont looks in his eyes, and you really do picture the perfect town, one that you never thought existed. Later on the author describes the effects of Irene on his home town, he goes on to describe what happened to his yard by saying, "We had winds that tore up trees by the roots. Power lines were down. Branches still littered the ground around my 150-year-old house, and several shingles were blown from the roof." This description immediately produced an image of almost a horror film in my mind. I pictured a deserted town, with trees and power lines fallen down, with an old creepy house still standing, but just barely.
     The diction of this article also plays a big part in giving you the feeling and giving you pictures out of this author's mind. The author uses words like "bold experiment" making something that really isn't that big of a deal seem like a whole new thing, thats never been heard of. In the last paragraph, the author talks about his "awe" towards Irene, and he uses the phrase "churning through the night" to describe how Irene swept through the town, these few words really help get that erie feeling of a huge storm late at night.
The details of this article really help you feel for this town, the author describes how a bridge from the community had fallen in the storm, and normally okay you think you can build another bridge, but he describes the bridge and how it will be a great loss to the community and it will never be the same. Details like this through out the whole article really add a certain touch to the whole piece.