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.
You mention great points of imagery, details and diction but I think you could have had more direct examples and quotes instead of a general statement. Also, remember that diction has to be single words or a group of single related words so "churning through the night" can't be a part of diction. Because I don't know if close readings have a specific form or things you can or can't do I could be totally wrong about this but I don't think you need to include so many of your reactions or how you saw things. I think if you focus on the techniques and effects specifically in the piece and what they accompish you'd be able to be more analytical.
ReplyDeleteI love your analysis and the voice you adopted. The voice keeps the analysis interesting and readable. I see your techniques and effects, but I don't see the meaning. You also have no introduction or thesis. I really like a clear one topic paragraphs, and maybe you don't like that, but I think your second paragraph is just a little muddled since it deals with two techniques and serves as the conclusion. But really, I just love your voice, it's entertaining.
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job of adressing imagery and diction, and it's effects, but I think you could have elaborated more of the "hidden so what" question- the meaning. you did use some qoute from the article, but perhaps you could have used more, or pulled more support evidence to discuss how these examples are used as specific techniques. like Lindsay, I do like like your overall anlysis though.
ReplyDelete