Close Reading - 09/23/2012

Eating for Health, Not Weight

By DEAN ORNISH

This article focuses on the wright epidemic that our nation is currently going through. Over half of our population is either overweight or obese and has brought up an important concern to out for.

Details:

Food is an outlet that many people resort to. Healthy alternatives were given in order to show that meals can taste good without having the unhealthy side affects. Ornish gave the reader examples of different, healthy options like "black bean vegetarian chili and whole wheat penne pasta with roasted vegetables". It's always easy to just say that unhealthy food is bad for your body but the impact it can have on the body only makes sense to people when there is an example. The details of how food has the potential to change your health for the worse is shown in the example of common health problems that people live through such as diabetes. 

Syntax:

This article is an influential piece that has potential to change the reader's outlook on food. Influential writing pieces tend to have longer sentences so it doesn't come off as a harsh tone. Longer sentences flow better and make it easier to read. Short sentences usually make for a choppy piece and comes off too strong. Ornish accomplished a happy medium. He incorporated common problem that many Americans think with out coming off as "you're doing the wrong" thing type of voice. He engages the reader by giving advice and keep a warm attitude through his writing. 

Diction:

This influential article, like others, does not contains hidden messages through the word choice. However diction in this piece plays a major role since a message was being put out. The thing that caught my attention was the repetition of the word "disease". Over the years, disease has a negative connotation which catches the reader's eyes. By using the word disease, I feel like it makes people consider what they are doing to their body and think about if they are on the wrong path.


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/opinion/sunday/the-optimal-diet.html?ref=opinion&_r=0moc.semityn.www

Open Prompt - 09/16/2012

2009. A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

  Symbols are major part of any literary works; it enhances the overall meaning of piece extending the work to a new level. When an author chooses any aspect of literary work, whether it is the setting, names, accessories of room or names of characters there is always a motive behind. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is an American classic which embodies various symbols through the novel. Fitzgerald's use of color symbolism is prominent throughout The Great Gatsby. Each color from the color of a cab to the flowers in Gatsby's house. The colors reflect deeper meanings about a situation or personality of a character. 

Gatsby's love, Daisy, means the world to him. He spent every waking moment of his life living in the past and tried to find a way to win her back. Daisy was always described to be wearing the color white. The color white is generally associated with innocence and pureness. However, under that top coat, Daisy was neither innocent nor pure; she shed light into her greediness and importance for wealth. She was more interested in the material goods than the intangible aspects. 

Fitzgerald displays the lifestyles and mannerism of the upperclass and middle class. When Daisy's husband, Tom escapes away into the city, he meets up with his cheap, classless mistress Myrtle. She is always trying to live the high life that Daisy has. One night in the city, Myrtle is adamant about riding in a purple taxi. Purple is often associated with royalty and richness and Myrtle isn't royalty nor does she have wealth. Since Myrtle and her husband George  live in the Valley of Ashes, Fitzgerald uses this opportunity to get cross the message that where they live is like dull and dirty. The word ashes seems to have the feeling of dark and dirty. Dark and dirty is just how Myrtle's life is until she has the chance to escape into the city with Tom. Sadly her efforts to live like Daisy leads her to have her life taken away. 

Fitzgerald has carefully chosen every aspect of his book to have a meaning. Color symbolism is just one technique used to showcase his hidden meanings. 

Response to Course Material - 09/09/12

          The AP Diagnostic Test was a lot of help and helped set the foundation for the things I need to work on this year. One of the things I immediately figured out was that I needed to work on taking time with reading poems and understanding as well as learning a more effective way to read them. When it came time to reading poems for our forum posts I made sure to not rush through them and over look the little things. I wanted to really understand the message that was trying to voiced. When I was analyzing Sonnet 20  by Pablo Neruda, my goal of doing this was to understand the underlying message that Neruda was trying to convey. I noticed the anaphora and verbal irony Neruda used to add to the structure as well as tone of the poem. Starting from the first line Neruda uses verbal irony "My ugly love, you’re a messy chestnut/My beauty, you are pretty as the wind" (Line 1-2). Ugly and beauty are word that addresses a different feeling so using them to describe his love wasn't something you would expect. I was able to interpret the meaning of the poem to be that there's always to sides to a person and both sides are just as important. 

While reading How to Read Literature like a Professor and working on Foster's Presentation I learned that I need to be more aware of techniques that are used in literature and in movies. While I was watching the movie, She's the Man it occurred to me that it was a spin off of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. I feel like after reading How to Read Literature, it has made me identify the little things like the books characters read and their message in the situation. Since college essays are something that I am working on, Harvey's The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing has many important tips that I need to incorporate. I had always thought having an impressive sounding essay is better than having simple voice. However I was quite wrong and realized that Harvey actually stressed that concision will help "...cut the fat.." (Harvey 9). I think making my essays more concise it will also make them flow better. While we discussed the Rhetorical Situation in class, I realized that the elements that make up a Rhetorical Situation in combination with the techniques from Nuts and Bolts will help me improve my writing in time for the AP test and especially college essays. 

"Me Talk Pretty One Day" Analysis

          "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris incorporates many aspects of the guidelines set in Michael Harvey's, The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing. Sedaris describes the reflections of a middle aged man with hopes of learning French in Paris. He applies many techniques from Nuts and Bolts allowing his literary work to be the best it can be. 

Concision is a major point that Harvey stresses. He emphasizes the importance of getting straight to the point instead of beating around the bush. Sedaris has definitely made sure to be straight forward when he wrote, "I've moved to paris with hope of learning the language" (11) or "Her English was flawless" (13). Sentences that use less words to make a point are easier to read and create less confusion. Reducing excess wordiness helps create a more coherent piece of writing.

Word choice, structure and transition are key ingredients that writers need in order to create flow. Nuts and Bolts mentions a few tips to create flow in your writing. When a work of literature begins to introduce character it's best when your "showing characters doing thinks or being described" (Harvey 23). Often times when introducing characters, the flow of the writing gets disrupted. I personally feel like Sedaris has done a pretty good job with his introduction of characters. For example, he states, "The teacher licked her lips, revealing a hint of the saucebox…" (Sedaris 12). The flow of the writing has been maintained without becoming choppy. 

Another aspect that Sedaris followed in his writing is the use introductory phrases. Nuts and Bolts shows the impact introductory phrases can have by saying,  "introductory phrases may provide other kinds of contextual information…" ( Harvey 29). Some examples of introductory phrases used in Me Talk Pretty are, "Call me sensitive,…" (Sedaris 13) or "The World opened up,…" (Sedaris 15). These phrase help the futher reader understand a given situation without over burdening them with too much information. It gives the writer a chance to add some detail with over informing the reader. Sedaris incorporated many of the tips that Harvey used to define a good essay. 

Introductions and conclusions are just as important as body itself. Since the "length for a beginning varies by discipline, assignment, and topic…" (Harvey 78), there is never a given limit for how long or short and introduction can be. Sedaris chose to have a shorter introduction and even shorter conclusion. However Nuts and Bolts states that "a skilled writer doesn't merely repeat what he said at the beginning" (Harvey 84). 

Sedaris made an effort to "Me Talk Pretty One Day" include many of the tips which Harvey used to make anyone's writing better. Many of the suggested techniques from The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing have made "Me Talk Pretty One Day" a better piece of work. 

Poetry Study Goals

• Read through the poem carefully and multiple times 
• Dedicate time for poetry because a lot more thought will go into it compared to reading a novel
• Be able give an summary of the poem and describe what happened, why it happened and things like that. 
• Become familiar with the poetry terms again so answering the question will be easier
• Remembering to read the poem in sentences instead of reading it through line by line.

Often times I find myself reading through the poem and getting to the end but not knowing exactly what I have read. This year I want to focus on understanding the poem first which will help me answer the questions more accurately. If I spend more time understanding the poem it will definitely help me in the long run. I especially need to brush up on the poetry terms which is also beneficial for me to achieve my goals.  

Diagnostic Test

Before I started this diagnostic test I did not expect to do amazing. However, I did end up doing better than what I expected but not as good as I would have liked. I think the most frustrating part for me was the poetry section because I clearly don't know know the different types of poetry and it's not something that I'm good at. Having said that, the selection from Pride and Prejudice was actually my area of strength. I noticed that a majority of the answers from that section were correct. Towards the end of the test, the number of incorrect answer added up. Hopefully before the school year starts I get a better understanding over the material that I missed on the test.