Close Reading: "Lack of soap means illness, death for millions of children"

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/15/health/cnnheroes-soap-hygiene/index.html?hpt=he_t3

The author of this article describes how the lack of soap can kill millions across the world. The author uses diction and imagery to further the readers understanding on how soap leads to proper hygiene and prevents death for the underprivileged.
When analyzing the cause of death in countries that are on the brink of war and that are "politically vulnerable", the author comes to a consensus that these stress factors contribute to the cause of illness and poor sanitation. These choice of words such as "politically vulnerable" shows that the author is targeting the less fortunate to portray how more privileged countries, such as America, take objects such as soap for granted. This shows that the author wants to make it clear that we undermine the power of soap, as it could be "worth more than a day's wage to afford" in other countries. Thus, the author tries to convey her message with such  power with words and phrases to make the readers appreciate the advantages of soap.
The author uses imagery when describing the earthquake that hit Haiti and how millions were forced to live in communal tents and "use water that was contaminated" to further exploit her message that soap can save millions of lives. By describing the spread of cholera through out Haiti and how millions had to share bathrooms with contaminated water, the author over powers us with her strong sense of words and images that she paints in our minds of these consequences of the earthquake that hit Haiti. The readers can feel sympathy for those that are less fortunate, and can only be thankful for the fact that they are able to wash their hands. The author also describes how Dia, a member of the hotel staff that cleans rooms, "retrieves gently used bars of soap in each room" and keeps them for herself. Through this image, the author conquers our emotions by making us feel grateful that we can afford soap while simultaneously making us feel guilty that we take it for granted when people such as Dia takes used soap to keep herself sanitary. While we waste away our money on more materialistic possessions, Dia considers soap to be a luxury. Thus, the author conquers our emotions through this powerful image. 

Response to Course Material 11/20

After revising my work from this past month, I have come to realize how much I have improved on my organization skills when it comes to my essays. Not only have I learned how to keep my paragraphs in an essay relevant to the topic, but I have made sure that my essays flow in a sequential manner. In this aspect, I have redeemed myself from all of my lack of coherency in my previous essays. 

On another note, the in class essay we had to do on "A Barred Owl" and "The History Teacher" opened my eyes to finding DIDLS when it came to comparisons and contrasts of both poems. I accurately found the meaning of both poems, but failed on giving valid explanations for both of them. I will make sure to improve on doing so throughout the year. Another flaw I noticed in my writing is the way I insert quotes in my essays, I will be sure that they sound like they belong there rather than throw them in there as evidence. Finding errors in my writing allows me to fix them and flourish as a writer. Thus, it will only get better as the year progresses. 

Annotating "Death of A Salesman" helped me understand common Western rules in stories such as the conflict between father and son in Western society or how the West represents a new beginning. I am glad that our in class discussions helped me further my understanding on these subjects, as they appeared to be vague to me before. 

Open Prompt: November 13th

1993. "The true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter." Choose a novel, play, or long poem in which a scene or character awakens "thoughtful laughter" in the reader. Write an essay in which you show why this laughter is "thoughtful" and how it contributes to the meaning of the work.

A true piece of comedy is said to evoke "thoughtful laughter" which causes one to think intellectually about a joke or subject. In "The American Dream", Edward Albee promotes thoughtful laughter by presenting scenarios where intellectual thought must be applied. Albee uses various techniques such as tone and diction to show how the manipulation of power and contrast of idealistic values promotes laughter. 

 Mommy is proven to be masculine; she is given more power than Daddy. This represents the idea that women have more power than men shows a "backward society" , which contrasts the idealistic value that men have more power than women. Albee uses this technique to promote laughter through a series of events such as Mommy forcing daddy to laugh at her jokes or forcing Daddy to answer the door upon her command. When Daddy is hesitating to answering the door, Mommy states "You're indecisive, you're a woman" ( Albee 18), this shows that Mommy is well aware of the lack of coherent thought that women possess but also that Daddy's inability to be more masculine is a flaw in his character, as if being a women makes him less authoritative. It is evident that Mommy is strong and firm in her actions, and Daddy is weak and has no control. Through this contrast of idea, the audience can clearly see how the manipulation of power promotes laughter.

Mommy and Daddy commonly address each other in a child-like tone. When Mommy goes shopping and ends up buying the same hat twice just to feel that she bought a "beige colored hat" rather than a "wheat colored hat", Daddy applauds at her immature behavior when she throws a fit in the store. The idea that Daddy would promote childlike behavior presents how Mommy needs attention at all times. This promotes thoughtful laughter because the audience is forced to think about how once one has grown up, society does not address each other in a childish manner and constantly nag for attention. In this sense, Mommy is once again given more power, and Daddy is forced to encourage her immature behavior; he is less authoritative in this respect and has no control. 

Albee uses diction and tone to show how Mommy is given more power than Daddy. Through a series of events that contrast to idealistic values, he promote "thoughtful laughter" that displays the manipulation of power in a backwards society. 

Open Prompt: October 29th

1975 Also. Unlike the novelist, the writer of a play does not use his own voice and only rarely uses a narrator's voice to guide the audience's responses to character and action. Select a play you have read and write an essay in which you explain the techniques the playwright uses to guide his audience's responses to the central characters and the action. You might consider the effect on the audience of things like setting, the use of comparable and contrasting characters, and the characters' responses to each other. Support your argument with specific references to the play. Do not give a plot summary.

The playwright Hamlet focuses on the central conflict between the protagonist Hamlet and his desire to kill his uncle, King Cladius, for betraying his father to claim the thrown. To show the audience the struggles that Hamlet faces, this play uses techniques such as blank verse, soliloquies, and foils to guide the audiences responses to characters and actions of the play. 

The playwright uses blank verse to add emphasis on the emotions of the characters. This technique gives the audience a sense of what the character is feeling as he speaks and how strongly he or she may feel about what is going in the play. For example, lines 33-68 in Act 4 scene 4 form a blank verse as a part of a monologue spoken by Hamlet that adds emphasis on how he is feeling. He compares the bravery of the soldiers to that of his conscience of killing King Cladius. Hamlet is trying to help himself understand that bravery is found behind the principal of one's action, and not in the manner in which it is performed. Thus, the audience is able to interpret that Hamlet is not killing out of honor, but rather out of the love that he has for his father. 

The soliloquies Hamlet gives during briefs moments of the play gives insight to the audience about what Hamlet's motives are, and how the audience can relate to the complexity of emotions he feels. For example, when Hamlet states "Oh what a rogue Peasant Slave Am I" ( Act 2 Scene 2) ,he discusses how nervous he is to kill King Cladius yet how badly his desire is growing to kill him. Thus, the audience understands Hamlet's selfishness and anger. 

The character Fortinbras foils Hamlet to allow the audience to understand why Hamlet acts the way he does. Fortinbras has many similarities to Hamlet such as he is also a son of a deceased king whose uncle has taken over the thrown and he also seeks avenge death of his father. However, Hamlet seeks revenge on his uncle, King Cladius, purely out of hatred as Fortinbras seeks avenge out of honor and dignity for his country of Norway. These two contrasting motives to kill are shown in action when king Cladius is praying and Hamlet does not kill him because he believes the act of personal vengeance will send King Cladius to heaven as Fortinbras is not considering these morals when he kills his uncle. Thus, showing the audience that Hamlet has morals and a strong faith in his religion. 

This playwright uses these techniques to show the complexity that the Hamlet feels before killing his uncle, King Cladius, and how the audience is to respond to these actions of the play. 

Close Reading: "Study: Nearly 1 in 8 Shy Teens May Have Social Phobia"

Social Phobia, also known as social anxiety disorder,occurs when the anxiety that people feel becomes so persistent that it interferes with their daily lives.  It is linked to other health problems such as depression, anxiety and drug abuse and studies show that it is more prevalent in teens who are 17-18 years old rather than teens who are 13-14 years old. A new study done on teens with this disorder has shown that it complicates the way they interact with others and their environment, but that treatments such as behavioral
therapy can cure it.

Depression, anxiety and drug abuses have shown a link to social phobia, but have not proven whether or not it is either a cause or an effect of the disorder, but it has shown that it impacts the way teens interact with the environment. Those who have this disorder have more difficulty in school, family and peer relationships. This type of behavior results in the lack of ability to interact with other people properly, and the outcomes could be vital to how the other person may not be able to work in a social environment. In this day and age, social interaction is critical for finding a job, even if it is a job that requires you to work in a cubicle or work from home, one still has to be interviewed for that job. This could affect the success or failure of one's life, and may lead to depression, drug abuse and other mental health disorders.

Behavioral therapy is a tactic that reinforces a positive outlook on social activities. The goal is to get one acquainted with his or her environment, and make him or her feel comfortable in getting out there. It is also a way to make one realize how their behavior affects their feelings. This can easily make those with social phobia have a normal life again.

Social phobia is a disorder most prevalent in teens, and can negatively impact the way they interact with their environment. However, behavioral therapy and antidepressants can cure this disorder and give teens a positive outlook on those that surround them.

3rd Response to Course Material

As the year progresses, my ability to apply and annotate literature only becomes better. In this past week, I have learned how to find DIDLS in my readings and how to analyze it. This is a mandatory skill needed for the AP test, and I am sure that the amount of work I am doing in preparation for the test will only benefit me.

I will admit that analyzing Albee's The American Dream seemed like a tough task to me, since I had very little experience with annotating literature, but through practice in class and in small groups, I have figured out how to break each dialogue down and find DIDLS. This play had a lot of hidden meanings that were symbolic of ideas, but if it were not for our group discussions on how diction, imagery, language, detail and syntax relate to these ideas, I would never have made the correlation later on in my own readings. The diversity of annotations that were brought up in conversations also helped me understand on how I am supposed to annotate my own readings. Although we are now supposed to annotate individually, I feel as if I am ready to assess my own annotations in the same aspect that we did in class.

I am glad that I now have learned how to accurately annotate literature using DIDLS, this should help me next week when we start annotating Death of a Salesman. I am sure that I have learned another mandatory skill for the AP exam, and it will only get better as the year progresses. 

Open Prompt: October 16th

1984. Select a line or so of poetry, or a moment or scene in a novel, epic poem, or play that you find especially memorable. Write an essay in which you identify the line or the passage, explain its relationship to the work in which it is found, and analyze the reasons for its effectiveness.

Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken"  is symbolic for the struggles that people face in life when it comes to making decisions.  The last 2 lines of the poem "I took the one less traveled by, and the has made all the difference." relates to the work because it shows the outcomes of the decision making process and this is effective because it claims that the "road less traveled" is actually the better decision to be made. 

The last 2 lines of the poem shows the outcomes of the decision the author makes on which road to travel and is glad that he took the one less traveled by. In the first stanza, the author is "sorry" that he was unable to travel both roads, and "stared" down both paths, deciding which one would have a better outcome. These concepts are idealistically metaphorical for when one has to look at both decisions that are presented to him or her and acknowledge which one would be more beneficial to him or her later on in life. 

These last two lines are effective because it claims that the "road less traveled by" is the decision that is less favorable but, "...that has made all the difference." meaning that it is more beneficial. The traveler saw, "two roads diverged in a yellow wood" but had taken time to contemplate why he would choose one road over the other. This describes when one is portrays the pros versus the cons in a decision. Thus, it is effective because it shows how the author conclusively was led to the road less traveled, and how it impacted him. 

The "Road Not Taken" is symbolic for the the tough decisions that people have to make in life, and analyzes the decision making process and how the outcome is effective because it is least favorable.