Responding to Course Material and Connecting to Other Works

        Analyzing literature for the basic elements of diction and syntax has really enabled me to

absorb more of an author’s intentions than I figured possible. I believed that the only way to

understand a play or novel was to recognize motifs, symbols, and abstract concepts. In the first

two weeks of class that we devoted to diction and syntax, my respect for writers increased as I

realized how they use the simplest concepts to explain major ideas. For example, when the class

dissected excerpt by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I had no knowledge of the original work the excerpt was

taken from. However, when asked to focus on the author’s word choice, I slowly began to piece

together the main focus of the story. Fitzgerald’s narrator used colloquial diction while offering

little description. The simple language suggested a “simple-minded” narrator. Not to say the

narrator was lacking intelligence, but rather an inclination to use pretty, descriptive words. The

class agreed that this was because the narrator did not have time to describe his surroundings in

detail because he was in a moving bus. The narrator also noted that the bus was steadily

approaching a steep incline. Ms. Holmes told us that Fitzgerald is known for being meticulous

about his word choice and had a purpose for each word he used. We came to the conclusion that

approaching a steep incline was an allusion to upcoming challenges for the speaker. It turns out

the narrator was a young soldier on his way to an army camp. In this exercise, I learned not to

ignore descriptive words when reading literature. Authors, unlike most students, do not just

throw descriptive words because they want to “spice things up”; they use description because it

is a means of telling the story without overtly stating the obvious. By just paying attention to

diction (and a little assistance from Ms. Holmes) the class was able to use this short excerpt to

predict that the rest of the story followed a young soldier’s harrowing adventures in war and

journey to manhood.

         The activity that helped me understand how authors use syntax as a literary tool was

analyzing The Lottery Ticket by Anton Chekhov. The short story begins with the humble Ivan

Dmitritch and his wife talking about checking the newspaper for the winning lottery numbers.

The dialogue is pretty flat. They seem like a couple who are past the “honeymoon” stage of their

marriage and idly respond to one another just to keep the peace. The matching ticket numbers act

as a catalyst in the story and Ivan comes to life. He indulges in lengthy monologues about how

wonderful his new life will be slips into a daydream about the beautiful estate he desires. When

describing Ivan’s daydream, the sentences grow longer and lacks conjunctions—providing a

lofty, poetic structure. After Ivan awakes from his daydream, he is very irritable. Chekhov

expresses this through heavy use of punctuation. For example, Ivan begins creating hypothetical

situations in his mind concerning his wife and begins to distrust her,” she had spent so much

money. . . . At the stations he would continually be having to run for boiling water, bread and

butter. . . . She wouldn't have dinner because of its being too dear. . . .” This use of punctuation is

seen in the rest of the story when Ivan is thinking to himself. It makes him sound sort of crazy. I

could not help but picture him hunched over, writhing his hands together while he goes through

this Jekyll and Hyde routine. I think ultimately I learned that analyzing syntax is mostly paying

attention to patterns.

          Connecting Existentialism and the Theatre of the Absurd to Albee’s The American

Dream has been insightful and helps me better understand other “absurd” works. Although I

believe The American Dream deserves a category of its own, the play has qualities that follow

the Theatre of the Absurd. A main one being Albee’s parody of everyday language. The

characters in the play speak with little logic or coherence. He makes fun of stereotypical adult

speech to point out to the audience the necessity of having meaningful and authentic

conversations. Albee’s bizarre characters and dialogue, in the perspective of the Theatre of the

Absurd, is a technique used to raise awareness in the people. In Crabb’s essay, Theartre of the

Absurd, he writes,” The Absurd Theatre hopes to achieve [making man aware of their realities]

by shocking man out of an existence that has become trite, mechanical and complacent.” This is

an important issue in the The American Dream. Albee highlights how society is merely breeding

consumers and lacks traditional morals. Grandma is a foil to the young American Dream,

however, the two are drawn toward one another. Grandma has the most substance of anyone in

the play, but her appearance is undesirable. In contrast, the young American dream is very

attractive, but admittedly lacks emotion. Together, Grandma (old American Dream) and the

young man would be complete but, that is not possible considering the age gap between them.

Crabb later states how some critics say Theatre of the Absurd “has gone the way of the

dinosaur.” However, there are others (including Albee and Martin Esslin) who think otherwise.

Theatre of the Absurd encouraged a broadening of human perception and opened up new

methods of expression, and therefore will always be a reference for writers.

        Just yesterday, I watched a film called Ruby Sparks about a genius novelist, Calvin, who

has found himself crippled (not literally) by writer’s block. He loathes leaving his posh office

and interacting with anyone besides his older brother, shrink, or pesky dog. After having a dream

about a girl named Ruby, Calvin is inspired to write again. The absurd element comes into play,

when Calvin wakes up to find Ruby physically in his apartment. Everyone can see and interact

with Ruby, however, her actions are still at the will of what Calvin writes with his type-writer. A

key element in Theatre of the Absurd is a lack of reasoning for something absurd. Calvin is

bewildered when Ruby comes to life and doesn’t try to seek out an explanation. After realizing

Ruby was not a hallucination, Calvin leaps on the opportunity to be with his dream-girl. Even

Calvin’s, “no nonsense” brother goes along with Ruby’s absurd exisience for the simple fact

that it makes his brother happy. I immediately recognized the motif of an absurdist play.

Average guy has a dream, followed by a surreal series of events. In Existentialism 101, it says

characters are overcome with anxiety once they realize they must take responsibility for their

actions and will try to escape them. This flight usually results in self-denial, which Calvin

demonstrates by telling himself he will not write anymore—which would alter Ruby; It isn’t

until she starts growing independent from Calvin that he abuses his power to control her. In a

moment of rage, Calvin shows Ruby how much power he has over her by openly commanding

(actually, writing) her to list the reasons she loves him while spinning in circles, simulating a

strip tease, and acting like a dog. This was a bizarre way of showing how men will try to change

and manipulate perfectly functioning women for their own convenience. Calvin quickly regrets

his actions and completes his novel by directing Ruby to leave the apartment and forget her past.

The final words he types are “Ruby was free.” All Calvin wanted was a normal life. He didn’t

want to be a “genius” because it implied he was above average—which, to him, entailed a lonely

life. “If an individual is to live meaningfully and authentically, he or she must become fully

aware of the true character of the human situation and bravely accept it (Existentialism 101).”

When Calvin assumes the responsibility as both Ruby’s creator and lover, and gives her freedom

and the ability to truly be human. I think this movie is influenced by existential view on life by

emphasizing choice, freedom, and responsibility, done in a manner that could be considered

Theatre of the Absurd. Had I not read The American Dream and had access to resources such as

Existentialism 101, I probably would not have enjoyed Ruby Sparks as much and appreciated it’s

deeper meaning.

2005 Student Response: Student 1C

    The third student's response to the prompt lacks the deep analysis, literary knowledge, and supportive detail of the other two essays. The student is able to recognize the narrators' conflicting views toward God,however, they fail to provide direct evidence that supports it. Instead, the student uses their own presumptions to back up her argument. Another flaw in this students argument, is that this is the only one they make in there essay. It is true that religion played a significant role in both poems but, the student could have explained how syntax, diction, and imagery were used. There actually was one more argument this student had, but they mentioned it in their intro and never mentioned it again. The student argued, "the poems are different...because of the hopeful tone at the end of the first, and the hopeless tone at the end of the second." This is a good start for her literary argument, but the student never shares the contents of the different endings. This detail, and more frequent usage of literary vocabulary,might have resulted in a higher score for the student.

2005 Student Response: Student 1B

    In the case of the second student’s essay, it is clear that they have adequate analysis skills and literary knowledge. However, they fell short at times to abide to the prompt. They focused mostly on the comparisons between the poems ,  and though providing evidence; they ignored the contrasts until the third body paragraph. The third paragraph focused on the poems narrators’ conflicting views on religion. In poem one, the student states that “God can be seen as a protector of the children…”, and provides a direct quote from the poem. In the next sentence, the student begins the second poem “ establishes God as the creator of their suffering, and thus, creates a much different tone. This was the shining moment in the essay. The student then expands on the eighteenth century poet’s purpose of writing the two poems to enlighten his local politicians. The student adds how the power of art is still strong today and could help solve  modern societal issues. I really liked how the student included that and made the essay come full circle. I think what would’ve improved the student’s score would’ve been to either provide more details on how the poem’s use of syntax were related. The paragraph devoted to syntax/rhyme scheme was very weak compared to the others, or as the AP commenter said, “The discussion of rhyme, however, is perfunctory.” The brief paragraph might have been an eye sore for the judges which explains why the student received a 6 rather than maybe a high 7or, low 8.

2005 Sample Student Response: Student 1A

     The first student’s essay is not only insightful, but it demonstrates a fine knowledge of literary terminology. After reading the essay a few times, it struck me how simple the student’s essay structure  was. They had a lengthy introduction, a body paragraph dedicated to the poem’s similarities, and a final paragraph discussing the differences. There was no conclusion paragraph, yet the student still received an 8. The student’s deep analysis made up for the short essay. One of the student’s brightest moments was their ability to attribute the poet’s frequent usage of the “ampersand”. They stated that by using the symbol, the poet wanted to “show readers that he has working class sensibilities, in contrast to the aristocratic tastes of many of his contemporaries,”. In the second body paragraph, the student provides examples of the conflicting tones between the poems. The first poem is in the voice of an optimist chimney sweeper. Unlike the other essays, this student gave specific examples of how the first poem ended with hope and the other was in the voice of a defeatist. The student has a wide, impressive vocabulary and likes to show it off. My only suggestion for the writer is to swap a simpler words for a few “stuffy” ones. This would cut down on the pompous-style and enhance sentence flow.

Close Reading: Dark Years of Connecticut's 'Holy Land' Theme Park

       Last month, Atlas Obscura covered the dawn and death of John Baptist Greco's theme park, Holy Land U.S.A. The biblical-inspired theme park was in it's prime during the 60's, but in 1984 the site was lacking it's original luster and shut-down. When I first skimmed the article, I was stuck on the campy idea of a theme park devoted to God with  a "miniature Bethlehem" and a "56-foot steel cross that could be seen for miles, especially when lit up at night." However, reading through it again, I understood the tragedy (and perhaps eerie message) of such a place falling to ruin. This I believe is the intention of the article.  The title , A Theme Park Gone Dark: Connecticut's Abandoned Holy Land, makes the reader aware of the contradiction of a intended harmonious place being shrouded in darkness. Through diction and imagery, the author gives a dismal tone and highlights the paradox of the abandoned 'Holy' theme park.

       The author uses words with negative meanings such as; dark, abandoned, and destroyed to set the tone of the article. They do not want the reader to miss the gloom of this particular rundown park. There is a scarcity positive words used in this article; except for perhaps the town joke that Jesus was electrocuted on the massive park's cross. Even then, something sinister still lingers. Diction is also used to emphasize the park's failed intentions. The writer explains how "Greco had hopes of expanding the site to attract more visitors..." but had died before any progress was made. In the next paragraph, the writer describes the helpless efforts of nuns to revive the "Holy Land" but, the park only "attracted vandals". The writer's decision to use the word "attract" in both cases is a method of distinguishing the difference between the early years of 'Holy Land" and the present.

       The "Abandoned Holy Land" is painted clearly for the reader through the physical description and adjectives. To give an idea of the property's current state, although owned by nuns, the writer states "local teenagers and foragers who have made their mark". My favorite description of the park were the "beheaded" statues, "destroyed" dioramas  and "blocked" tunnels. It sounded as though the "Holy Land" had been pillaged by a band of thieves from a rivaling town. An example of an adjective used that candidly described the park, was "seedy". This word allowed me to grasp the sagging and worn appearance of the abandoned lot.

  

        The article's melancholy tone is made though diction and imagery, while accentuating the contradiction of a spiritual place being a symbol of demise. Just the idea of a man named John Baptist creating a biblical theme park, is fascinating alone. However, the glorious past of 'Holy Land' is only a memory. This article focuses on how this intended heaven-on-earth is now notorious  for vandalism, danger, and even murder. The author's diction emphasized this by using words that evoked darkness, and connecting them with words like "nun" or "haven". The imagery provided in this article makes the point that  'Holy Land U.S.A" has lost it's intended meaning since the founder's death. This makes the reader not only sympathize with Greco but, realize the disturbing message this site projects- that a place like the "Holy Land" can't exist in our society.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_obscura/2013/08/22/once_popular_with_pilgrims_the_holy_land_usa_religious_theme_park_is_now.html?wpisrc=obnetwork

Illiterate But Not

    Grasping the message behind a poem can be a fulfilling achievement. I personally get very excited after reading a classic poem and using it to further comprehend other works of art-regardless if the poem inspired it or not. However, I wish that decoding the fancy talk in classic poetry was easy for me. The works of  poets like Shakespeare, Donne, and Shelley interest me but, it is also discouraging when you have to break each line into little pieces. This method, while preventing " word indigestion", makes me feel like a toddler learning to read all over again. I realized that after about 14 years of reading, I am not that skilled at it. I hope that taking AP Lit will give me confidence in the face of Complex Syntax and Elizabethan English; because with practice and a noble guide to light the way, I can slay any poem. Huzzah!