Washington Versus America Voice analysis http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/opinion/sunday/douthat-washington-versus-america.html?ref=opinion

In the article Washington Versus America, Douthat clearly is upset about the concentration of wealth in DC, and uses a war metaphor, negative adjectives, and statistics to appeal to the common American.
Knowing that most Americans know about The Hunger Games, Douthat alludes to it in his essay, and relates our own capital to the capital in the story. The Capital is the only wealthy district in the movie, while the districts are poor. This comparison makes readers want to rally against our own capital in the same way Katniss does. His word choice also labels the government as the enemy. The government is
 "gilded", "inside the Beltway bubble," and full of " armies of lobbyists and lawyers..." These simple labels stick into any reader's mind and make them feel the government is corrupt and privileged. To prove his claims, Douthat includes details about just how rich DC is. He states that" 7 of the 10 richest American counties in 2011 were in the Washington, D.C., region." and that the city has grown dramatically since 2002, while the rest of the country has declined. Details like this offer some proof for his claims instead of just accepting what Douthat says. His diction, detail, and slight use of figurative language appeals to the common American and convinces them that the governement has too much wealth.

Open Prompt #1986

1986. Some works of literature use the element of time in a distinct way. The chronological sequence of events may be altered, or time may be suspended or accelerated. Choose a novel, an epic, or a play of recognized literary merit and show how the author's manipulation of time contributes to the effectiveness of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

The novel A Prayer for Owen Meany uses a nonlinear narrative to reveal the characteristics of Owen Meany in order to reveal his characteristics gradually instead of at the beginning of the book. The book is set in the present from the perspective of John, Owen's best friend, but most of the book flashes back to when John and Owen were boys, and within those flashbacks are flashbacks to when John's mom was alive, since she died at the beginning of the book. These flashbacks show both how Owen influences John, and how John's mom influenced both of the boys.

In the present day, John is a teacher in Canada at an all girls' christian school. It isn't clear at first how he got to be there, but a huge factor is Owen Meany's influence on Johns' ideals and character. John wasn't very good in school as a boy, but Owen was the best student in his class. Once high school came around, Owen was invited to gravestone academy, a private school for better students. John, on the other hand, would only be invited if he spent his freshman year in public school and then entered the next year as a freshman again. Owen decided to do the same. John felt like Owen threw his chances away, but Owen wanted to help John get better grades and stick with his only friend. John did get better in school, and went on to college. Owen decided to join the army, which was very controversial, since it was right in the middle of the Vietnam War. Owen didn't want to ruin John's chance to finish school, so he cut off one of John's fingers at his dad's stone cutter to avoid the draft. If not for Owen's sacrifices and friendship, John wouldn't be where he is today.

John's mom dies at the very beginning of the novel to point out that even after she is gone, her presence is still with everyone she knew. We don't know anything about her before she dies except that she is very attractive , always wears sweaters, and doesn't tell John who his father is. John is positive that when she turned towards the stands at the baseball game, and Owen's ball hit her and killed her, that she was looking at his father. Owen shows his guilt later by chopping off the hands of their favorite toy armadillo, symbolizing how John's mom left an empty space in their lives. Later on, we discover that she makes her own clothes based on expensive ones at the store on a mannequin in black in white. Owen takes the mannequin to his house a while after she dies, since he still misses her. Also, as John and Owen continue their search for John's father, we discover how John's mom dated John's step dad for many years before marrying, since she wasn't married to John's dad. The boys find out that she sang at a club in a red dress, even though she never wore any color. Her mysterious past continues to draw the boys in long after her death. 

 If the narrative were linear, the characters would be less interesting and there wouldn't be much suspense about John's mom.  The reader has to think hard about what time each section is in, and realize why the author writes in that order.The nonlinear narrative in A Prayer for Owen Meany makes the novel more suspenseful and interesting.

Response To Course Material

Our first week of school along with the summer assignments have me thinking about literature and writing in new ways already.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor, the forum assignment, an the literary terms test showed me new depth into stories I already read and in movies I've seen. I can't see the archetypes or literary devices yet, but I've started to ask questions about them while reading or watching something. The terms test showed me the most that I have a lot of work to do. I didn't do very well on it, since I didn't understand a lot of the definitions, let alone how to apply them. Once we start reading our books, I will practice searching for different devices on the first read. The forum assignment was a lot more interesting than last year in American Lit. People don't just agree with what I said, they also share their opinion with lots of text to back up the answer. I look forward to more discussions, especially if I understand the text well and support my opinion effectively. 

The slideshows about essay writing were helpful, but not as helpful right now as the other assignments. In the future, I think they will help more when we start writing AP essays. But, The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing is helpful for my college application essays. Writing plainly makes a lot more sense than trying to act smart. It is very important to write plainly and concisely with the word limits. Although I will also have people edit my essays, Nuts and Bolts helped me write pretty good first drafts and helped me edit my own essays.

Summer Blog #3

    In the essay “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” David Sedaris writes about his school in France and the difficulties of learning the language. He writes very well, but does not follow all of the guidelines for college writing. Sedaris uses plain style like The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing suggests, but he doesn’t focus on a main thesis for the paper.

    The language in “Me Talk Pretty One Day” is easy to understand, like Nuts and Bolts suggests. In the essay, Sedaris goes off to school to learn French, but faces many difficulties. He notices improvement by the end of the essay, and hopes that one day, he will master French. Even though in the essay Sedaris tries to prove to his teacher that he is smart, he doesn’t try to seem smart with his language for the essay. Therefore, the ideas in the essay aren’t clouded. He states plainly that “I’ve moved to Paris with hopes of learning the language,” and he also describes his teacher by comparing her to a wild animal so that the readers understand his challenges. The clear language allows the reader to understand the essay and experience all the things that happened in the story.

    Since “Me Talk Pretty One Day” isn’t a college essay, it doesn’t follow all of the rules in Nuts and Bolts, like talking in first person and not sticking to a thesis. The point of the essay is to tell a story about Sedaris’s experience in France at school, not to prove a claim. So, it only makes sense to write the essay in first person. He also wants to entertain the audience more than a college essay would. Sedaris describes the school and the city in more detail, and explains how many different nationalities that are much younger than him are gathered to learn. This adds more depth to the story, since the readers now know that Sedaris has to perform at a very high level to keep up with the other students even before the teacher is introduced. This style may not be fitting for a college essay, but Sedaris uses it well to tell a personal story.

    The Nuts and Bolts of college writing provides very useful writing tips that can also be used in other types of writing. However, it is okay to bend the rules when the essay isn’t meant to persuade the audience or prove a point.