Book Review Outside Reading: March 21

Book Review Outside Reading

“A Thriller Revisits the Cambridge Spies” by Jacob Heilbrunn

A review of The Trinity Six by Charles Cumming

The New York Times March 18, 2011

            In “A Thriller Revisits the Cambridge Spies,” Jacob Heilbrunn reviews the novel The Trinity Six by Charles Cumming.  In this work, Cumming suggests that there existed a sixth Cambridge spy that helped the five known spies who betrayed Britain during the Cold War.  Heilbrunn’s use of rhetoric allows him to offer an admiring, and yet somewhat skeptical, review of Cumming’s work.

            Heilbrunn’s diction suggests that Cumming’s novel is both praiseworthy and mediocre.  He employs words such as “lively,” “thriller,” and “notable” to describe The Trinity Six, but he also chooses words like “hallucinatory” and “slackens.”  The opposing nature of these words suggests that Heilbrunn does not admire nor mock Cumming’s novel; his diction functions to suggest that Cumming’s novel is praiseworthy in and of itself, but because there are so many novels similar to it, Heilbrunn also relays that the book is one-of-several “accounts of the Cambridge Spies” (Heilbrunn 3).  However, these contradictory portrayals of Cumming’s work are fairly discreet and thus serve as Heilbrunn’s weakness.  His weak and oxymoronic review hinders his ability to communicate how he actually views Cumming.

            However, Heilbrunn’s portrayal of The Trinity Six is not entirely contradictory.  He uses detail to commend Cumming for his work by stating that his “view acutely mirrors the sour mood in Britain” (Heilbrunn 3).  Heilbrunn then goes on to describe the historical events that Cumming correctly chronicles, and thus employs New Historicist criticism.  This emphasis on history reminds me of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, in which understanding the history of antebellum America is vital to understanding the basic premise of the book.  Heilbrunn does summarize some of the basic history in his review as well, so those that are unfamiliar with the Cambridge spies can grasp the essential nature of their betrayal; this is his biggest strength.

            Heilbrunn’s syntax allows him to craft an academic voice that the reader can trust.  His use of complex sentence structures creates a formality that infuses his review with reliability.  This formality would be entirely appropriate for an AP essay; Heilbrunn completely deconstructs Cumming’s novel and thus can effectively communicate how he views it as a literary work.

Reflective Essay Outside Reading: March 21

Reflective Essay Outside Reading

“So You Wanted to Be President of the United States” by Scott C. Reynolds

From “Dream Jobs You’re Glad You Didn’t Pursue”

McSweeney’s February 2, 2011

            In “So You Wanted to Be President of the United States,” Scott Reynolds discusses the hilarious attempt of an ambitious boy to become the president.  Through his use of humor and the tone that he creates, Reynolds is able to construct an essay that leaves the reader laughing and wanting to read more.

            Reynolds crafts a tone that is ultimately academic and political.  He employs complex syntax in doing so; the long sentences he uses create an appearance of intellect.  However, Reynolds also carefully adds in humor and sarcasm to appeal to the reader.  The language that he chooses involves a lot of non-sequiturs and metaphors that allow the reader to compare this man’s attempts to secure the presidency to the president himself.  Reynolds use of the second person also significantly strengthens his essay; by talking directly to the reader he creates the illusion of giving a speech.  Reynolds’s tone is also crafted through his clever use of repetition and parallel ideas.  He begins his essay by discussing the president and his roles.  “That man was the voice of the nation.  The voice of the free world,” (Reynolds 2).  The repetition of “the voice” in this passage furthers the oratorical tone that Reynolds adopts.  The complex tone that Reynolds employs is definitely his biggest strength; he is able to more fully appeal to the reader and leave them laughing.  Ultimately, this multi-faceted tone adds character to his essay; I loved reading the article and want to read more of Reynolds’s work.  However, the informality of this piece would be inappropriate for an AP essay.

            Reynolds also cleverly uses detail to subtly critique our government.  He alludes to President Obama and the “change that the country needed” (Reynolds 2) and mentions that the presidency comes with “a target on your back” (Reynolds 5).  These details add even more humor to the essay and allow the reader to enjoy a few quite pokes at government.

Editorial Outside Reading: March 21

Editorial Outside Reading

“Aftershocks” by Evan Osnos

The New Yorker March 28, 2011

            In “Aftershocks,” Evan Osnos discusses the tragedy that shook Japan earlier this month.  Through his construction of a strong voice and his use of rhetoric, Osnos is able to pull on the reader’s heartstrings and place an image of the catastrophe in their minds.

            Osnos crafts a strong voice through his story-like portrayal of events.  By leading the reader through the chain of events that struck Japan, the reader is able to better understand the situation prior to, during, and after the earthquake and tsunami.  This is a major strength of Osnos’s; by appealing to the reader’s emotions he is able to better communicate how severe the crisis actually was and still is.  Osnos also employs diction in helping the reader to relate to those affected in Japan.  He begins by constructing the normal landscape of Japan, prior to the earthquake, as “cool” and “serene.”  Immediately however, the diction shifts to words such as “shake,” “violent,” “thundering,” and “charging.”  This shift in word choice allows the reader to visualize how sudden the catastrophe struck Japan, and furthers the sympathy that they feel towards those affected.  Osnos’s syntax furthers this as well; he employs a lot of long sentences that reflect the agony and severity of the tsunami.  A similar effect is created by Osnos’s use of metaphors.  He compares this earthquake and tsunami to the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 and the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings in 1945.  By employing such comparisons, Osnos introduces ideas with which the reader is familiar, and thus helps them to relate even more.  This ultimately allows the reader to feel as if he or she is actually experiencing the events in Japan; I definitely was completely mesmerized by this editorial.

            These comparisons, however, also serve as Osnos’s biggest weakness.  The comparison to the end of World War II, in particular, detracts from the current crisis in Japan.  Osnos saves this metaphor for his last paragraph, which in moderation could help him to fully develop his ideas.  However, his comparison is drawn-out and lengthy, taking away from his portrayal of the current situation.

            Although the content of this editorial would be inappropriate for an AP essay, the style in which it is written and Osnos’s voice would be appropriate.  The academic-nature of the article fits the AP examination well.  

Class Notes: March 7-18

Class Notes March 7-18

Modernism

·         Disillusionment following World War I (a horrific, bloody conflict with no clear purpose)

·         A generational conflict: changes occur while soldiers are off at war (view this as a cultural betrayal)

·         Stein’s Lost Generation

·         A complete break with the past

·         Want to create an entirely new contract between author/artist and audience

·         Suspicion of the tools/techniques of their own art (platonic conception)

·         New narrative techniques: more objective, more points of view, audience is active

·         As a result we have: unreliable narrators, multiple narrators, minor characters as first person narrators, nonlinear narratives, stream of consciousness, no constant shaping for the audience, superimposition (Picasso, cubism, multiple points of view in the same space)

Post Modernism

·         Happens in America at different times (America: post WWII, Great Britain: early 1960s)

·         Partially a result of television (America gets TV first)

·         Era of unprecedented wealth and unprecedented leisure

·         New influx of ideas and ideologies

·         “all truth is local”; there is no universal truth

·         Post Modernism = Modernism – Universal Truth + Irony

·         Irony added as a self-preservation instinct

·         Blending of high and low culture (opera about Homer Simpson, etc)

·         Self-reference

·         The simulacrum

Self-Reference

·         Characters can go from place to place (Anna Karenina can show up in a videogame, etc)

·         Characters are “real” in their fictional world, so they can break the fourth wall, etc

·         Self-reinforcing mediated culture

The Simulacrum

·         Jean Beaudrillard

·         A world where a flawed copy has replaced reality

·         A simulated world that has replaced the real world

Surrealism

·         A subunit of Modernism

·         A movement in the arts between World War I and World War II

·         Uses unexpected juxtapositions in ways intended to activate subconscious associations

·         Thinking is too self-conscious

·         Psychological thought processes rather than logical thought processes

·         Comes out of French philosophy

·         “reality plus” – joins fantasy and reality

·         Freud and Jung contribute to

·         Dreamlike, playful, sometimes eerie or bizarre

·         Ex: Salvador Dali (a Surrealist), Vladimir Kush (a contemporary surrealist)


During these two weeks, we also read the poems "The Hollow Men" and revisited "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot.

Class Notes: February 20-March 4

Class Notes: February 20-March 4

We’ve been studying comedy as well as reading Huckleberry Finn or Pride and Prejudice.

Humor is…

·         an appeal to intellect instead of emotion

·         mechanical

·         inherently human

·         concerning a certain set of societal norms

·         an action that is inconsistent with said societal norms

·         perceived as harmless or painless by the observer

·         If any of these is absent, the attempt at humor will FAIL.

“To that extent comedy may only appear to be more comforting than tragedy; its real view of life is not optimistic.  In tragedy the individual retains integrity even in death; in comedy the individual is made to conform” (Holmes’s handouts).

The theories of humor include…

·         “superiority theory”

·         “frustrated expectation” (incongruity theories)

·         “relief theory”

The techniques of humor to be familiar with…

·         Caricature (distinctive features/peculiarities are exaggerated)

·         Colloquialism (regional dialects)

·         Deflation (something is given an elevated status and then deflated)

·         Disparagement (to belittle)

·         Euphemism (a less offensive word for one that is normally taboo or unpleasant)

·         Hyperbole (exaggeration)

·         Incongruity (ex: Our Father, who art in heaven, / Howard be thy name)

·         Invective (harsh, abusive language)

·         Irony (verbal, situational, and/or dramatic)

·         Knaves and Fools (rogues and suckers)

·         Litotes (ex: “she’s not uninterested in boys”)

·         Malapropism (inappropriateness of a word resulting from a close word that means something entirely different)

·         Non-sequitur (conclusion that does not fit the evidence)

·         Oxymoron (ex: jumbo shrimp)

·         Paradox (statement that appears to contradict itself but is nevertheless true)

·         Parody (a work that closely imitates another and is meant to ridicule)

·         Pun (a play on words based on the similarity in sound of two words with different meanings)

·         Sarcasm (something that appears to be a compliment)

·         Stereotype (set of characteristics that are assigned to a group)

·         Understatement (when the literal sense of what is said is short of the reality)

·         Wit (clever uses of language to cause laughter)

Three aspects of incongruity

·         Literalization: taking a figure of speech and performing it literally

·         Reversal: simply reversing the normal, taking what is normal and expected and doing or saying the opposite

·         Exaggeration: taking what is normal and blowing it out of proportion

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

·         A lampoon (or funny satire)

·         Also includes aspects of high comedy, low comedy, burlesque, etc.

·         Twain condemns the slavery institution and discusses two different freedoms: an intellectual one and a physical one

Reflective Essay Outside Reading: February 21

Reflective Essay Outside Reading

“Paranormal Activity” by Stef Willen

(Column 8 of Total Loss: A Column About Inventorying Other People’s Tragedies)

McSweeney’s February 17, 2011

            As the title “Paranormal Activity” alludes to, in this piece Stef Willen discusses her encounter with a ghost.  While staying at a Bed and Breakfast, she meets a couple who is determined to convince her of the reality of the three ghosts that inhabit the Bed and Breakfast as well.  At the beginning of her essay, Willen is entirely skeptical of the existence of ghosts.  However, as her piece continues, she begins to believe in the possibility of “paranormal activity.”   By making appropriate rhetoric choices, Willen is able to lead the reader through this hilarious progression and keep him or her engaged along the way.

            Willen crafts a humorous, and almost ridiculous, tone in this essay.  When one character, Bob, attempts to convince her of the ghost that is sitting on the couch next to her, she juxtaposes her explanation of him as a character and is able to introduce sarcasm to her essay.  “Yesterday, I learned that Bob’s special power was guessing the gender of unborn things…  Now, where I saw empty chairs and throw pillows, he claimed to see the souls of people who were not of this world” (3).  By adding this sense of humor, Willen is able to keep the reader engaged and leaves them wanting more.  She also seems to exaggerate a lot that happens in her recount of her stay at the Bed and Breakfast.  She lends an entire paragraph to discussing the lust she feels towards this ghost and uses a lot of short sentences to keep the tension high.  “I closed my eyes and felt myself fall further into a warmth, and it was exactly like falling into the dress of a beautiful woman, all the way to the buttons.  The warmth was real” (5).  Such language definitely adds to the ridicule of the piece and kept me completely engaged as I read Willen’s essay.  However, the tone that she adopts would not be appropriate for an AP essay.  Despite the informality though, the humor that Willen employs is definitely her biggest strength.  In crafting such a hilarious essay, she leaves the reader wanting more. 

            Willen is also effective in constructing sentences rich in imagery, which further adds to the ridiculous tone she adopts.  The reader can picture everything that Willen explains, and she thus is able to communicate efficiently.  “I opened my bedroom door a crack, … put on tinted lint balm, and got into bed and waited” (6).  Willen often also goes into so much detail that not much is left up for imagination.  “I could lounge in the parlor on a Victorian medallion-back sofa and flop my hand into one of several nearby bowls of bon bons, pop two into my mouth at once” (2).  This imagery is vital in creating the ludicrous tone that Willen implements in her essay, and as a result, the reader is able to simply sit back and enjoy an outlandish tale.

Editorial Oustide Reading: February 21

Editorial Outside Reading

“The Information” by Adam Gopnik

The New Yorker February 14. 2011

            In “The Information,” Adam Gopnik discusses the effects of technology on society.  His editorial focuses on the Internet, but in analyzing its ramifications, Gopnik also discusses television and Gutenberg’s printing press.  For the majority of the piece, Gopnik addresses society’s contrasting opinions of the Internet, and then concludes by revealing his own thesis.  This approach is extremely effective; Gopnik makes appropriate rhetoric choices in this piece that allow him to clearly communicate, and in the end, the reader is left unsettled and convinced.

            Gopnik connects to the reader in his first paragraph, and in so doing makes his essay relatable.  In contrasting J.K. Rowling’s Hermione Granger to the Google-oriented youth of today, Gopnik is able to frame his argument and introduce a scenario to which the reader can relate.  As the analysis that follows the first paragraph is detailed, this hook is essential.  Gopnik also employs language in helping the reader to stay engaged.  Although his argument is undoubtedly complex, he adds a lot of humor to the piece that lightens the mood and thus helps the reader to remain interested.  Although this informality would be inappropriate for an AP level essay, these constant connections to the reader are Gopnik’s biggest strength.  The little bits of humor and allusions to works such as Harry Potter leave the reader wanting more and prompt him or her to continue wading through Gopnik’s analysis.  It’s also important to mention the alliteration that Gopnik employs; in adding this to the language, he is able to point out to the reader what is really important.

            Gopnik also makes his piece fairly ordinary.  He chooses diction that he knows the reader will be able to understand.  In addressing the three main schools of thought about the Internet, instead of using a complicated name to characterize them, Gopnik refers to them as “the Never-Betters, the Better-Nevers, and the Ever-Wasers” (2).  This choice in particular is essential in helping the reader to understand Gopnik’s thesis.  As mentioned, Gopnik is effective at prompting the reader to continue reading.  However, if the reader just continues for the sake of laughing at the few sentences of humor that he uses, then Gopnik’s editorial will all be for naught.  He therefore uses diction to give his essay meaning.  He knows that his thesis is complex, and he thus employs diction to help the reader glean something worthwhile from his editorial.

            Despite the regularity and commonness that Gopnik introduces however, “The Information” is still written in an academic style.  Gopnik accomplishes this through syntax.  Because his diction is rather ordinary, he uses long sentences to give his piece a strong voice.  This helps to solidify his argument, as the complex sentence structures that he employs give credibility to what he’s saying. Without this syntax, Gopnik would lose his academic voice and thus would lose authority in the eyes of the reader.  Although essential, this is Gopnik’s weak point.  His syntax is often so complex that meaning is lost entirely.  However, despite this setback, Gopnik is effective at communicating his thesis and leaves the reader disconcerted and completely persuaded.