"Reading Critically" Summary

The intro of the passage educates the reader on how to get the most out of the piece. It advises the readers to eliminate all distractions and read in a quiet place. The first part of "Reading an Essay" is to examine the preliminaries. These can be simple like Title and Author. However, they can also include where and when the work was published. The passage then guides readers to "The Broken Chain" by M.F.K. Fisher. Readers are advised not to start off examining the piece, but to read "what Fisher has to say". The essay itself dealed with the subject of punishment on children by their parents. Fisher recalls her childhood when she was spanked, and said she was never actually beaten, however. After the selection, the passage advises readers to write while reading and gives tips on summarizing. The passage then switiches to the topic of critical thinking methods. These included Analysis, Inference, Synthesis, and Evaluation. It goes on to talk about Meaning, Writing Strategy, Language, and Visual Images.The passage advises readers to: get the big picture, Analyze, Infer, Synthesize, and Evaluate when reading.

American Tongues 9-19-11

1. Voice- The way one expresses oneself in writing

2. "Y'know the ....." IT's just more convient than the phrase "Do you know....."

3. I tend to talk around religion and politics. They are generally very fragile topics among people.

4. a. Voice is important in non-fiction because it helps create professionalism.
    b. Casual Phrases, Vulgarity, Slang, etc.

5. Practice writing more non-fiction phrases.

SOAPSTone: Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out by Dave Barry

S- The subject of this essay is the roles/attractions of both the sexes. In the first part of the essay, Barry identifies that women are attracted to cleaning. He mentions the idea of women being able to see individual molecules of dirt. On the other hand, Barry points out that men are more attracted to sports. He particularly highlights a party in which all of the men ends up watching the World Series away from their wives in a separate room.

O- The occasion for the essay was the changing roles of men and women throughout history. The norm in historical precedents usually follows a constant system. Women run the house while the men are away. The men are the bread earners and do minimal cleaning. However, Barry mentions that the civilization in Pompeii actually had men as the house cleaners.

A- The audience is indeed members of both genders. However, it is more specific than that. The audience is people who think the opposing gender's way of life is primitive. For example, women typically don't have a high place in their heart for sports. Men, on the other hand, frown upon microscopic cleaning. Barry's audience is truly divided.

P- The purpose of the essay is simple. It is to show the opposite members of each sex that the other sex thinks their way of life is primitive, even though they think the same way towards them. Men think life revolves around sports and that cleaning is for the birds. Women don't usually care about sports, but take a sense of pride in having a clean living environment. There are two sides to every story.

S- The speaker is author Dave Barry. He has written multiple humorous essays. Many of them poke fun at certain aspects of life. These include the overuse of facts and American politics. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for "distinguished commentary".

Tone- Barry's tone has two parts. On one hand, Barry writes humorously about he and his other male acquaintances tried to get out of a group conversation with their wives so that they could see the World Series on TV. This act was both desparate and hilarious. On the other hand, Barry shows a feeling of sensibility in his essay. He pokes fun at himself by showcasing his lack of deatil in cleaning the bathroom and how he complains about doing it. However, he realizes the other side of the argument. Women take a sense of pride in cleaning, and that must be respected.

Listening Journal from 9-15-11: PAIN vs The Beatles vs Dubstep

My opinion: I liked the Dubstep version because I thought the music variety was good. I heard both an opera-like sound and a techno sounde in the piece.

Aesthetically Pleasing: The Beatles original version is the most aesthetically pleasing because of it's simplicity. The other two versions had to much going on. This took away from the talented vocals, thus making it less aesthetically pleasing.

Kandinsky vs Pollack: Art Journal 9-12-11

1. I liked the Kandinsky painting better because their is a greater variety of shapes and colors. I also prefer geometrical abstract art over freeform abstract because it is more finite.

2. The Kandinsky painting is also more pleasing to look at because of the feeling it generates in the mind. It is more positive than the barren feeling generated from the Pollack painting.

Film Journal 9-9-11

Single Effect: A sense of community

3 specific things:
-pleasant acoustics
-the messages on the signs
-relationship of the sign workers

One change: Having the facial expressions be more positive may have indicated a greater sense of community early on. Instead, the beginning of the film expressed some isolation that would later be wiped away at the end.

"The Importance of the Single Effect" by Edgar Allen Poe

Summary: Poe basically goes through the mental dynamics of poetry. He examines different kinds of poems such as epics and rhyming poems. He offers his opinions on the topics and compares them to each other.

What I noticed: Poe seems to care strongly about the nature of poetry. He is very in depth and tries to show his respect to the nature of poetry. This was something that I hadn't felt in Poe's work before reading this piece. Normally, he is very erratic mentally and gets paranoid easily in his poems. This was definitely something new to think about.

Listening Journal 9-6-11: "Good Old Desk" by Harry Nilsson

S- His Desk (God)
O- 1960's (time of religious uncertainty due to war)
A- Those who are not very religious
P- To show people the simple pleasures one can have with God
S- Harry Nilsson- somewhat popular singer in te 1960's and 1970's
Tone- Soft, Pleasant

He is basically talking about the simple joy he has with God on his side.

SOAPSTone: "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell

S- The subject of this essay is the author’s experience in Burma. He worked as a police officer in the British-controlled country. This essay deals with the personal conflicts the author has with his job, most particularly having to shoot and kill an elephant.  He is very troubled and feels both guilty and antagonistic towards the Burmese people. The author feels especially antagonistic, however, to the British Empire ruling Burma.

O- International conflict is the main occasion in the essay. The British Empire was at that time reigning over Burma. 1922, the year when George Orwell wrote this essay, was in the middle of the two World Wars (I and II). The world was in a transition phase. The balance of power was changing hands, and Britain at that time held control of Burma, a country in Southeast Asia.

A-The audience of Orwell’s essay is politically active readers. One of the issues that Orwell covers in his essay is the dilemma of Imperial governments. Specifically, he stated the pros and cons of the British Empire. Politically active readers are more likely to be interested in Orwell’s essay than those who aren’t as active politically. Plus, those who are involved in government agencies may also hold an interest in Orwell’s because of its relevance.

P-The purpose of Orwell’s essay is simple. He wants to persuade readers that the British Empire’s control of Burma was bad for everyone involved. First of all, the Burmese population was basically enslaved by another country. Having police officers watching your every move is definitely not the optimal lifestyle. On the other side of the coin, the British were dealing with a potentially rebellious group of people. They were faced with the difficult job of keeping some sort of order in Burma. Overall, it was definitely not an ideal situation.

S- The speaker is George Orwell, a British Journalist and political activist. He is against the political model of totalitarianism. Instead, Orwell supports democratic society. This is good potential for Orwell to have some potential bias in his essay, specifically where he attacks the British Empire.  His experiences in Burma (the subject of the essay) also have a great emotional influence on him. All of this is justification for Orwell’s opinions to the situation he encountered in Burma.

Tone- The tone I felt when the Orwell shot the elephant has depressing. It made me feel really sad.  I felt like there was nothing I could do to save the innocent (my opinion) elephant. It made feel negative towards the rowdy and rebellious Burmese people, who were apparently cheering Orwell on as he painfully shot the elephant. In addition, Orwell’s description of the elephant’s harsh and slow death was hard for me to take in. I really didn’t feel great after reading it. In a way, that helped drive his main point home about his antagonism towards the British Empire.