Close Reading - (11/18/2012)

Goodbye to My Twinkie Days

By: Bich Minh Nguyen

        Bich Minh Nguyen, writes about the impact the Twinkie has had on America. Nguyen captures the nostalgia that most Americans are beginning to face. He analyzes the path that American is headed toward using the Hostess cake company. His use of diction, detail and imagery makes this a very memorable article. 

  Nguyen use of diction to describe the decision is represented when uses "demise". It shows the Hostess cake company has slowly been losing business. I found that the work demise tends to have a negative connotation. Especially since this is talking about a company which going out of business. This word almost makes it seem like the Hostess cake company has turned out as a failure. 

  The imagery used in this articles adds some depth to it. Nguyen describes the Twinkies to be "...sugary, fake, buttery-ish vanilla…". This builds up the image of a fatty, sweet treat that many people used to indulge in. The imagery of the Twinkies takes the reader back in time to when they were young where they enveloped in the memories of their childhood. 

  Nostalgia is a major point that Nguyen hits on through the use of details. One thing I found to hold a lot of meaning was how Nguyen transports the reader to their childhood. When he shared the memory of finding a Hostess treat in his lunch box, he mentioned he "...traded them, saved bites of frosting and cream for last...". To me, this is something that many kids do which makes it very connectable to the reader. Nguyen seems to show that the Twinkie has becomes a common symbol that Americans have identified with for many years. Now, through his writing, his readers are able to rekindle those memories. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/17/opinion/goodbye-to-my-twinkie-days.html?_r=1&

Open Prompt - (11/11/2012)

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.  

  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain observes the growth of the characters through their journey on the Mississippi River. For Huck and Jim, their adventure on the river symbolizes freedom, each escaping the struggles in their life. Huck begins to understand the society for himself as he comes in contact with various obstacles throughout the journey. He unveils the corruption in society and realizes the truth for himself. Jim wants to escape a life of slavery and reunite with his family. 

  Originally, due to Huck's old fashioned upbringing, he tried to not interact with Jim. However, he soon began to realize that Jim is an actual person whose feelings should not be hurt. This allows Huck to grow as a person and accepts people based on their personality, not color. Together, Huck and Jim try their best to overcome the obstacles thrown at them. 

  The river they travel on represents more than just a traveling method. It holds a deeper meaning for Huck and Jim which symbolizes the responsibilities and challenges that accompany a life of freedom. Their journey shows the development of the character turning into a more well rounded human being as opposed to the one viewed person they were. 

Response to Course Material - (11/04/2012)

         Since my last blog post, we have made some progress. One thing that we did was analyze The Century Quilt by Marilyn Nelson. Upon analyzing the poem we learned how to the writing portion of the AP exam is scored. I think it was really helpful to look at the sample essays because it gave me a better idea on what I need to do to improve my writing in time for the exam. In addition to the writing component of the test, we also covered a couple of strategies for getting through the multiple choice questions. Some of the common structures that we looked were rhetorical function, context, antecedent, style and the tone. This really informed me about how I need to approach each type of question on the exam. Especially since we formulated our own questions for the Marriage by Gregory Corso. 

  Then this past week we partnered up and performed a skit that included a poem we read from the chapter four in combination with The American Dream. Finally, after spending a few weeks on The American Dream, we finished all our annotations and in class discussions. To wrap it up, we finished it off with a blog post that touched on the important topics in The American Dream. The next play we will be annotating is The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller since we have finished watching the movie it will give some guideline. In class we started to talk about the deeper meaning that is in the play. I found that the discussions in class are very helpful in shaping my understanding of the play/novel.