Close Reading, November 18th

In the article, The Quiet Ones by Tim Kreider, he discusses the many problems that people face in the quiet cars on Amtrak Trains.  Staying quiet is a very large deal to these riders, and they take that simple rule very seriously. Throughout the article, Kreider uses strong diction, vivid imagery, and syntax to convey his points to his intended audience.

His strong diction helps create instant feelings within his audience. When he says, “those of us who despise this tendency don’t have a voice, or a side, let alone anything like a lobby” he is evoking emotion in the reader that will make them feel belittled and weak. He is saying that these people can’t find it within themselves to speak up, and these are the people who are making the “quiet train” not so quiet today. If it weren’t for his use of such strong diction, the article wouldn’t be as impactful on each reader. He doesn’t just say that the noise isn’t staying quiet enough, or that it is rising above preferred levels. He says, “until this last bastion of civility and calm, the Quiet Car, has become the battlefield where we quiet ones, our backs forced to the wall, finally hold our ground”. By this, he means they are doing something about it, and not just letting ignorant people take over their quiet zones.

Kreider’s use of imagery is also very impactful in this piece. He compares the “soft but incessant…background silence, as maddening as a dripping faucet at 3 a.m.” When he explains how annoying and continuous this talking is, he also compares it to other things that we can all relate to. He goes back to our childhood, and says that the conversations between a couple is “like a grade-school cafeteria after the lunch monitor has yelled for silence, the volume [of the people has] crept inexorably up again”. People just don’t know when to stop, and they don’t know how their small chatter can be creating a large problem for many who go to these Amtrak cars to find peace. The audience can easily picture these events happening, seeing as they have happened more than once to the most of them.

Finally, his use of syntax helps pull this piece together. To help engrain this idea of togetherness of the riders, he says very formally that “we’re a tribe, we quiet ones, we readers and thinkers and letter writers, we daydreamers and gazers out of windows”. This helps us know that he is being serious about everything he has said, and that every little hint of noise affects them all. When he says, “this is how we talk in the quiet car”, we know that they all take it very seriously, and if it weren’t for the rude “barbarians who would barge in on our haven with their chatter and blatting gadgets like so many bulldozers” then this article would have never been written.

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/18/opinion/sunday/the-quiet-ones.html?pagewanted=1&ref=opinion

Open Prompt. November 11th

2006. Many writers use a country setting to establish values within a work of literature. For example, the country may be a place of virtue and peace or one of primitivism and ignorance. Choose a novel or play in which such a setting plays a significant role. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the country setting functions in the work as a whole.

                  In Arthur Miller’s Death of A Salesman, he uses the setting to help convey certain meanings to the audience. The Loman family is based in a city like setting, surrounded by apartment buildings and other individuals. However, their house hasn’t always been like this. It was originally more in the open, and during this time the two boys, Biff and Happy, were merely men. As they were growing up, Willy had taught them that the only important thing to success was being well liked and having a good physical appearance. As soon as they were faced with life after high school, they realized this was false the hard way. The country setting helps show individualism, self-discovery, and potential.

                  After high school, Biff was forced to find a way to make a living for him self. He traveled out to the far west, and found work on a farm. Unknown to him at the time, the audience could eventually tell that on the farmlands, Biff was content with himself and free from being forced to do something he didn’t want to do by his father Willy. When around Willy, Biff feels that he needs to lie to him in order to make him happy about what he has done with his life. While out in the country, Biff has opportunity. He can do what ever he wants with his life. While he is out west, he realizes the importance that he has. However, all of that goes away when he finally comes back to visit Willy

                  The American West symbolizes potential and future success. Biff could have a lot going for him, yet he grew up in such a materialistic society. Miller tries to show his audience that Biff needs to find himself by leaving his hometown. Going out West is just the way to do it. His escape from Willy’s delusions and the American East’s materialism suggests how he is discovering himself. Biff needs to realize that looks and being well liked won’t get you anywhere in life, and growing up on a farm, away from material society is just the place to discover himself. When he comes back, he knows that he screwed up his life. He realizes how he grew up with such a false view of success, and that he would have to start all over again.

                  If Miller didn’t include this part in the play, Biff would not be a dynamic character. He would simply always be living in the falsity of becoming successful the “Loman” way. Including the American West in the play helped convey ideas of individualism, self-discovery, and potential. Without these, the play would simply be a depressing story about how some people simply can’t get anywhere in life.

Response to Course Material, Nov. 4th

     Well, what do you know? It's been another few weeks of school already. So far senior year has been flying by, as well as all of the information we have learned in AP lit. Though we have learned a ton of information, we have also been reviewing the same information over and over again. Normally, I would say that this is extremely boring in classes, but for this particular class, I believe that it is necessary. Literature isn't math or science, there is never only one correct answer, and two different people can have two completely different views on one piece of literature.
     As we saw when we deeply analyzed The American Dream, there were many different ideas floating around. After many, many discussions, our class came as close to a consensus as is possible. I'm sure people still have their own opinions about it though. We just started Death of A Salesman (well we watched the movie). I can tell that this play is about to be just like The American Dream. Already, I am very confused. I even read this last year in lit and watched it and I totally forgot what it is supposed to be about. Our discussions though greatly help. Applying everything that we learn almost everyday is very helpful for me, and I'm starting to enjoy doing it more and more.
     I also enjoy how we have started looking at elements of the AP test. Being told to write multiple choice questions seemed like almost an impossible task at first, but it proved to be a lot easier that what I anticipated. Reading other groups' questions was also a good way to practice. Everyone is going to have different questions, and the more we answer, the more practice we get in. Along with the AP test, we did the writing about the Century Quilt. I have to say, I wasn't as bad at that as I thought I was going to be. I was off in a couple areas, but overall I didn't find it to be too bad.
    Lastly, we have the terms test. I was a little confused on how to go about studying for it this time, because I knew that what I did last time definitely did not work. However, last time I was also completely unaware as to what the format of the test would be like. With that said, I did the exact same thing to study as I did last time, hoping that my familiarity with test questions would help my score. Surprisingly, it did, only by 5%, but I'll take it!