Open Prompt 3

1978. Choose an implausible or strikingly unrealistic incident or character in a work of fiction or drama of recognized literary merit. Write an essay that explains how the incident or character is related to the more realistic of plausible elements in the rest of the work. Avoid plot summary. 

It's hard to judge people when they go through their daily lives. They just go with the routine programmed in their heads. But if an new element throws it off, we get a more in depth view. That's the principle behind adding the Young Man in The American Dream by Arthur Miller. His presence lets Grandma leave and so he come her replacement, symbolizing the departure of the Old American Dream and the drive to achieve satisfaction by the current one.

When the Young Man is introduced into the play, Grandma is the first to meet him. When they meet, Grandma immediately breaks out of her act. He is the new element that causes her to leave her routine and become genuine. She tells him what she has secretly been doing behind Mommy and Daddy's backs. She becomes more attentive and sympathetic to whats around her. Grandma understands what happened to the Young Man after he tells her his story. Grandma is shown to much more caring than when she was going through her day. But it also shows she wants to leave. The Old American dream has no place in the world of consumerism. 

The Young Man is advertised as not only as a replacement for Grandma, but as a replacement from the previous child Mommy and Daddy had. His presence shows that all they care about is satisfaction. When they realize Grandma has left, they are a little upset but it goes away as the much more handsome Young Man comes in. Now they have a product they can be satisfied with. Even Mommy tries to hit on him to get more satisfaction. It is an endless cycle in the world of consumerism, 

Arthur Miller hopes that his message about the evils of consumerism will get across. That's why he uses the arrival of the Young Man. He represents what the American Dream will become. Attractive on the outside, empty on the inside. In other words, superficial.

Close reading 3

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/richard-lugar-the-unlikely-target-of-conservatives/2011/10/21/gIQA31om4L_story.html

In his article, George Will discusses the political vulnerability of Richard Lugar, a well-known senator from Indiana. He talks about how Richard Lugar, who despite having a strong resume, is a casualty of the times.

Richard Lugar has been a conservative for his entire political career. George Will enforces this with facts like when Ronald Reagan was president, "Lugar supported the president 88 percent of the time". He also cites that other prominent Republicans had supported some of the controversial votes Lugar has made during his career too. Adding to that, he points out the notable bills important to liberals Lugar has voted against such as: Obamacare, Cap and Trade, the stimulus, and Dodd-Frank.

Will later uses diction to describe why Lugar is vulnerable. He tries to portray Lugar as a sensible figure in a time of chaos. He talks about the "restless" energy of conservatives fueling a tough primary challenger. His use of the word restless carries a negative connotation, as of the conservatives were being rash. Will then describes Lugar with words like "courtliness and Midwest aversion to rhetorical flamboyance". Those carry positive connotations, and paint Lugar if he was rational and level headed.

The use of repition in this article is to signify importance. When Will talks about Lugar's credentials, he repeats who and the accomplishment to signify how accomplished Lugar has been. The repition of Yes, followed by a counterargument is used to help persuade the readers of Lugar's conservativeness.

I think overall George Will supports Lugar and how Lugar carries himself. But he realizes times have changed as the conservatives have shifted more to right. Will understands that it will not be Lugar's fault if he loses, but rather the environment he currently is in.

Response to Course Material 3

I actually thought the American Dream was alright. The Theater of Absurd has a purpose, it is to display the message the author wants to convey. I think it is more realistic than any other form.

When people go through their everyday lives, they like to stick a routine. Why not? But with the Theater of Absurd you force them out of their comfort zone. They can show more of their character that way. Nothing better showing a man's character by putting him in a situation he doesn't understand.

I am trying to figure out how long my annotations should be. Right my annotations aren't even full sentence length for the most part. But I have been getting full credit and I understand the play so maybe I shouldn't change it.

Open Prompt 2

1981. The meaning of some literary works is often enhanced by sustained allusion to myths, the Bible, or other works of literature. Select a literary work that makes use of such a sustained reference. Then write a well-organized essay in which you explain the allusion that predominates in the work and analyze how it enhances the work's meaning.

Thomas Foster once said that authors use references to the Bible to help summarize the message the author is trying to send. This is because we have been around Biblical references our whole life, so it is easier to relate to them. William Golding understands this, in his novel The Lord of the Flies, he uses the character Simon's path of enlightenment and death as an allusion to Jesus Christ. The allusion depicts the lost of innocence in the book's microcosm, showing the dark side of human nature.

Simon is one of the choir boys stranded on the island. But he is completely different in attitude. He is quiet and peaceful as oppose to the rowdiness of everyone else. He is also a naturally caring person much like Jesus. Simon prefers to spend most of his time in the forest, relaxing and being one of nature. It seems like that he is on a whole other level. Consequently, all the path reaches its end and Simon hallucinates the pig's head speaking about the true nature of humans. He becomes enlightened with the darkness of humans and tries to spread the word and save his fellow comrades. This is similiar to Jesus to being enlightented about God and his attempt to spread the message to save his fellow citizens. Golding's effort to depict Simon in this light is to be a foil to the the degrading of the people around him, or the unenlightented ones.

After learning of man's true nature, Simon realizes what he must do; he has to warn everyone to stop the destruction of their society on the island. He journeys back to the camp, only to be mistakened as the beast and murdered by the tribe. This parallels Jesus's betrayal by Judas and his crucifixation on the cross. Both are depicted as dying while being pure and trying to help others. Golding makes this connection to portray the lost of innocence in his novel.

40 min up.

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Response to course material 2

Syntax was kind of interesting. I already knew some what about syntax before hand so the topic overall wasn't too complicated. I was a little surprised by the use of colons for syntax because I was already thought people use colons to be confusing and fancy.

I think the Theories of Comedy made something simple way too complicated. There is no formula to make someone laugh, there might be a repeating pattern or two, but this is something completley abstract. I mean people laughing at the Jackass series and I don't remember any of the theories applying to that.

I did think the theatre of absurd is interesting. In a normal day life situation, we don't make complicated enough decisions to show who we are. The hard decisions we make reflect our character. This is shown with The American Dream, where the toilet that was broken for 2 weeks brought out things from mommy and daddy and grandma that we wouldn't see in a normal working day.

Open Prompt 2

1987. Some novels and plays seem to advocate changes in social or political attitudes or in traditions. Choose such a novel or play and note briefly the particular attitudes or traditions that the author apparently wishes to modify. Then analyze the techniques the author uses to influence the reader's or audience's views. Avoid plot summary.

The goal of a writer is often to entertain their audiences, but sometimes they try to advocate change, an example being Harper lee. In one of her novels To Kill a Mockingbird,  she sets the story of Scout and Jem in Maycomb, Alabama, a rural Southern town filled with racism. Lee writes about how Scout and Jem grow up and see the world in a different light in an effort to get readers to do the same, hoping to end this injustice. 

Maycomb is not depicted as a particuraly special town, but is described as being racist towards African Americans, something not uncommon for the South. When Atticus decides to take the case to defend Tom Robinson, Scout and Jem's friend make fun of them for their fathers actions. They use racial slurs because Atticus took such an unpopular action. A mob also forms around Tom Robinson's cell, hoping to hang him for being accused of rape. The mob doesn't give Tom a chance due to his race. Though the mob does not get to Tom, the all white jury still convicts Tom despite substanstial evidence he is innocent because Tom is an African American accused of raping a white women. 

In the beginning of the novel, Scout and Jem are depicted as innocent. They daydream about what Boo Radley, their secret gift giver looks like. They had no understanding of racism, when the mob approaches Tom's cell, Scout, clueless of the situation asks how Mr.Cunningham's child was, snapping him back to his senses. Their eyes are finally opened when they attend the trial. Scout and Jem realize that Tom is innocent, but are devastated when Tom is pronounced guilty. The act destroys their innocence and is a milestone in their growth. More importantly it shows to them for the first time the cruelty of racism. Harper Lee does this on purpose, showing the reader, who was previously oblivious to the sins of racism, the reality and impact of it.

In modern times, the issues of racism has died down a bit. With the Civil Rights movement powered by the previous generation, we can worry less about it. But this book still serves as an eye opener to the historical role of racism.