Sunday, October 9, 2011
Close Reading 2 "Grover, You Need to Fix Your Pledge." http://domemagazine.com/mberman/mb093011
Maxine Berman in this article has a very strong and expressed opinion about this "pledge" where if you sign it, you agree that there should be no more new income taxes made. The diction she uses portrays her opinion very well by using words like "pussyfoot", "snickers", and "effing" create almost a condescending tone to the piece, or as if she is mocking the people who have signed their names to this pledge that she finds incredibly stupid. Along with the words, she also has phrases like "congress has never been known to act immediately" to show what she thinks of congress. She uses the phrase "After all, poisoned drinking water is not an immediate threat. Probably, you would die slowly." This phrase shows that she really just wants people to see this as a joke, and that this "joke" should not be taken seriously. This use of diction and syntax is helping the author seem very sarcastic and apathetic, not caring that other people may take this offensively.
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You talked about Diction and Language and mentioned Syntax and Diction. So that was confusing. Its also kind of short, maybe because you needed to discuss one more element of DIDLS. I think you described the caustic attitude of the writer nicely though. Your direct quotes could have been integrated more effectively into your piece, you incorporated them both essentially the same way.
ReplyDeleteHi Laura! I thought your analysis of diction in this piece was good. Berman obviously feels strongly about what she is talking about in this article. In your essay, you talk a lot about specific word choice of the author, when there are a few more things that could be considered. Imagery is one technique that I usually use in my close readings, since I get a clear picture in my mind when reading articles like these. I think the assignment requires the analysis of three literally techniques, so you might want to consider adding more. If you structured your thoughts like an actual essay with an introduction, three body paragraphs and a conclusion, you might be more effective in getting your point across. Also, you didn't exactly talk about how any of these factors relates to the author's meaning. If you fix these things, I think you'll have a great analysis! :)
ReplyDelete-Nikki
Good article choice, but I feel that you could have done more with DIDLS in this close reading. You provide examples of diction without really explaining what they mean, and also mention syntax without any evidence or expansion on the subject. I think analysis of another literary technique would be beneficial as well! However, you do a good job of finding the opinion of this article--it just needs to go a bit more in depth.
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