Close Reading 3

This article is a political article called “The Liberal Gloat.” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/18/opinion/sunday/douthat-The-Liberal-Gloat.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss 

            “The Liberal Gloat” is a political article by Ross Douthat written about the Democrats’ attitude after their win of the Presidential election. The use of the author’s syntax and figurative language really emphasize his opinion and help the reader see what he’s thinking.

            The author’s syntax is used for specific reasons, especially the use of the dashes. Most of the time, when he makes a statement, he follows it with a dash, and multiple examples or more details that show what he is trying to say. This emphasizes his point, because it provides real-life examples or more specifics that the reader can relate to. For example, he says “Liberals look at the Obama majority and see a coalition bound together by enlightened values — reason rather than superstition, tolerance rather than bigotry, equality rather than hierarchy.” Following the dash, he gives examples of the values he thinks the liberals see about themselves. While this statement seems as if he’s favoring the Democrats, it’s actually quite the opposite. This statement merely mentions that delusion he thinks the Democrats are living under, and then he goes on to refute it. Another example of when he uses the dash, is when he says “What unites all of these stories is the growing failure of America’s local associations — civic, familial, religious — to foster stability, encourage solidarity and make mobility possible.” Here, Douthat again goes into more specifics, of exactly which types of local associations are going in the negative direction.

            Douthat also makes comparisons between the two political parties multiple times. In this specific quote, he again scorns what the liberals think of themselves. He says according to Democrats, “Republicans are now Radio Shack to their Apple store, “The Waltons” to their “Modern Family,” a mediocre Norman Rockwell to their digital-age mosaic.” Through a couple of common-place comparisons, the reader can get a better feel for the supposed attitude of the Democrats, because most of them can relate to the pop culture examples. In another instance, he talks about how Republicans think of Democrats, mentioning that they view “Democratic-leaning voters as lazy moochers or spoiled children seeking “gifts.”’ In using these comparisons, Douthat again is making sure to use an example that his readers can relate to, so it’s easier for them to understand him.

            Overall, the syntax and figurative language used in this political article were strategies used by the author to help the reader with the understanding of the article and to make his position clear. The syntax structure with the dashes allows for more information and the comparisons make the point easier to understand for the reader.  

Open Prompt 3

2001. One definition of madness is "mental delusion or the eccentric behavior arising from it." But Emily Dickinson wrote

    Much madness is divinest Sense-

    To a discerning Eye-

Novelists and playwrights have often seen madness with a "discerning Eye." Select a novel or play in which a character's apparent madness or irrational behavior plays an important role. Then write a well-organized essay in which you explain what this delusion or eccentric behavior consists of and how it might be judged reasonable. Explain the significance of the "madness" to the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

           

            Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller has a classic example of a character that goes through eccentric behavior. Willy, the main character, is a salesman, a father, and a husband. He has reached the point in his life where everything seems to be falling apart, which is when this play takes place.

            It is mentioned throughout the novel that the rest of the business world thinks he has officially gone crazy. He mumbles and talks to himself, when looking from the perspective of someone in the story. However, as the reader, we know that he is actually having hallucinations and sees images of people like his brother Ben, whom he thinks he is talking to. He has flashbacks of memories from the olden days, when everything seemed to be going right for him, and he imagines himself there talking to the people. He has finally snapped. His wife Linda explains at one point in the story that he talks to himself because he is tired of all the disappointment in his life. Everything that he had looked forward to had failed him, his job was low to begin with then he lost it, not striking it rich in Alaska, losing his relationship with Biff, having Biff be a failure in the workforce and thinking it was his fault; it all piles up. So it makes sense that he tries to remember the times when things were going well and there was still hope for being rich and for his children being rich.

            His mad behavior is important to the play because the entire play revolves around it. We see reality, then it switches to a flashback occurring in his mind, and then back to reality. As the reader, we get an inside view of the madness going on inside of Willy’s head and we can see how the other characters react to him while he is going through that episode. The boys are initially cold to their father but as they see the struggle he goes through daily to make his living, they try to help him overcome his hallucinations by trying to bring success to their own lives, which is all he wanted in the first place, especially for Biff. This is why Biff tries to make a big sports deal. His mad behavior is essentially what threatens to tear the family apart but then ends up bringing the family back together right before his untimely death. 

Response to Course Material 11/4/12

            Over the past couple weeks, we read chapter 4 and part of chapter 5 in the Literature and Composition textbook and wrote an essay comparing the tone from 2 pieces of work from chapter 4. I liked this because we got a firsthand chance to analyze some pieces of work, and I think that’s the place where I need the most practice. Once we got to class, we discussed the pieces with partners, which I also liked because we got to see different perspectives on the same piece, and it helped me realize new ways to analyze pieces of literature for next time.

            We also spent much of the week watching Death of a Saleman. Watching the movie first before reading the book was interesting because now I see the movie actors when I read the book and I see the actual scene being played out in my head. I usually don’t like when this happens, but for this book, I liked it because the scenes and the characters stuck better with me. I think this is because I’m analyzing the characters as I read and it’s not a book for pleasure, so it’s good to have an actual movie actor to go off of. In a normal situation, I wouldn't want to see the movie first because it ruins the way I form personalities in my head for characters.