Response to Course Material

Sorry it's a bit late, i didnt hear anything about it until today.

      After learning about the five aspects (DIDLS) that comprise tone and contribute to meaning, I like to think im better at it than when i started. Previous to the class, I had already used Imagery, Details and, to an extent, Language to analyze pieces, but i had never heard of Syntax and Diction was fairly new to me as well.  That being said, i haven't yet had a chance to apply these ways of looking at literature outside of highly structured packets where the feature in use is written in bold at the top of the page. Also im a bit worried that when shoved out into the ocean of a real work of literature, a lot of this practice will abandon me and I'll forget the difference between diction and language.
     I didn't find the reading from the textbook helpful at all. Most of it was a repetition of things we covered in class, or already learned. There were some small things, like the definitions of different types of poetry, that seemed like they could be important later, but seemed out of context to what we were doing in class at the time and thus not useful.
    The first essay we took was s startling experience, but after feeling the true panic of a sink or swim moment, I pulled through for myself. After reading the two poems and feeling no spark of understanding or comprehension or really anything, I just started to get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as a realized i would have to some way write an entire paper about poems that i didnt understand, as precious time continued to tick away. Fortunately, after staring at them for a while, i was able to understand and analyze them, but that left little time for my essay, which turned out fairly sloppy, and was rushed. I learned my lesson though. In the future ill have to force myself into enlightenment faster.

Open Prompt (1979 prompt)

1979. Choose a complex and important character in a novel or a play of recognized literary merit who might on the basis of the character's actions alone be considered evil or immoral. In a well-organized essay, explain both how and why the full presentation of the character in the work makes us react more sympathetically than we otherwise might. Avoid plot summary.

To somebody that didn’t know anything about his life, and to many that do, Jay Gatsby could be considered a morally corrupt, petty, and generally deplorable man. He spends time with gangsters, illegally peddles alcohol, and cares desperately that people view him as wealthy and a member of a social class he will never be a part of.  In the Great Gatsby though, Fitzgerald does not portray him as such. Instead we see a deeply flawed man, like many of ourselves, who pulled himself up by his bootstraps to get to where he is, and ultimately only ever wanted the attention of the woman he loved.

The cast of characters in The Great Gatsby doesn’t feature many shining stars of morality; most everyone is petty, and overly concerned with class, Tom Buchanan is a misogynist and a racist, and Daisy Buchanan is only surpassed in superficiality by Gatsby himself. However, Nick Carraway, the narrator, the man who guides and informs the reader’s conscience, tells Gatsby that “you’re worth the whole damn bunch put together”. Perhaps not the most impressive sum, but it illustrates Fitzgerald’s intent of characterizing Gatsby more sympathetically than his other characters. Unlike Tom, or Daisy, or Wolfsheim, Jay Gatsby has an ultimately noble pursuit; to be with the one he loves. Everything that he does, however morally bankrupt, is to fulfill a noble dream. The dreams and ambitions for other characters are not nearly so virtuous, only concerned with wealth and power.

Unlike the old money, privileged East Egg residents, Gatsby lives on the West Egg. He is set apart. Gatsby is a decorated war hero, who dedicated himself to self improvement. Fitzgerald makes sure the reader sees this dedication, in the form of his meticulous and rigorous daily schedule he made for himself as a youth. Gatsby is far from perfect, desperately concerned with being accepted into the high society East Egg and having acquired much of his wealth illegally, but he was not born into the snooty, high society of the old money, making him more relateable to the reader.

Fitzgerald uses The Great Gatsby to comment on the degradation of America’s founding principles, and the death of the American Dream. Because of this, the glimpse into the microcosm of the American experience he presents is not a pleasant ones, and few sympathetic characters can be found, but Jay Gatsby is meant to draw some sympathy from the reader. His dream is a noble one, and his story is relateable. Ultimately though, his society keeps him from pursuing that which he desires and he dies young, symbolizing the death of the American Dream.

Close Readings: A Post Gender Normative Man Tries to Pick Up a Woman at a Bar by Jesse Eisenberg

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/a-post-gender-normative-man-tries-to-pick-up-a-woman-at-a-bar

Diction
Eisenberg's diction is perhaps the most noticeable aspect of this piece. In order to emphasize the humor of the piece and the speaker's complete lack of game. The speaker's tone is overly formal, mentioning the "proverbial man" instead of simply "The Man", or worrying that he would be perpetuating out dated gender roles by offering to buy the object of his affections a drink. He is uncomfortable and awkward in his speech, not allowing the girl to respond, and further isolates himself by mentioning dull politically correct conversation pieces such as the election of the first female african head of state.

Details
Eisenberg includes several details for humorous effect in this piece. The speaker mentions that his name Terri, a gender neutral name, with a heart over the eye. The heart is not simply for decorative purposes though, but instead says that he has a (figurative) heart, which he is not afraid to wear on his sleeve. When rejected by the girl at the bar, the speaker cheerily says that he will probably end up sobbing in a bathroom stall while texting his mother. These details paint a picture of an effeminate*, desperately cheerful, but hapless, bitterly lonely man who just wants somebody to love him like his mother does.

Language
The language of this piece serves to emphasize the over educated and self-aware friendliness of the speaker. The opening lines "Hey, hows it going? Mind if i sidle up?" illustrate the over eager, desperate to please nature of the speaker, which becomes abundantly clear when he follows them by letting the woman know that he admires her self sustainability and that the current trend of salary equability in the work place is "important and compelling". There is a dichotomy throughout the piece between the speakers aggressively "post gender normative" academic rhetoric and his friendly small talk like asking what she does, or if she would buy him a drink. This is for humorous effect, as we watch a highly self conscious man try to be debonair and pick up a woman from a bar, all while remaining gender neutral.