Response to Course Materials, December 11

             In the past two weeks of AP, I've actually learned a lot about American Indian culture.  Because of reading Ceremony we've been discussing it a lot in class, and also I was in the group that read two essays on culture for the forums (technically one was the Silko Essays, but really it was just a lot of cultural background).  One thing I found really interesting (as I'm sure many others did, seeing as it's an English class) was when Ms. Holmes told us the American Indian languages are verb based.  It was hard for me to even imagine that, and when Ms. Holmes gave us an example, I still couldn't get past it, but at least now I understand what she meant.

            The discussions we have in class are amusing and informative at the same time, for example in my hour we really like discussing the color yellow and male pregnancy.   It's taking us forever to get through our sections (we just started going through the second group's section) but I know that we're really going in depth in the novel, and I'm glad that we are.  Discussions have gotten a bit less hostile, and people are actually listening to others more now, so that's always a good thing.  Well, I've never known how to end these posts, so bye everybody.

Close Reading, December 11

         Women are being harmed all across the world, and only because they volunteered to help people.  Women in the Peace Corps are sexually assaulted or raped on much too regular of a basis, and when they report it, almost nothing is done.  The author of the article "Peace Corps must do more to protect volunteers abroad" (http://articles.boston.com/2011-05-20/bostonglobe/29565413_1_peace-corps-volunteers-young-volunteers-sexual-assault) tries to show us how much the Peace Corps needs to change using diction, details, and syntax.

            The author uses diction with pejorative connotations such as "culpability" and "recalcitrant" to give the reader an almost instinctive bad opinion of the Peace Corps leaders.  I say that because if someone uses a word that you automatically recognize to be pejorative or that puts someone in a bad light you are more likely to begin thinking of the person badly.  This is why the author's diction is so persuasive, they have you edging closer to their point of view on the issue before you even notice yourself being swayed.  Another spot where you see diction coming into play is in the sentence where the author describes how the leaders of the Peace Corps are "paralyzed, perhaps, by a desire to protect the agency’s own mission".  The word paralyzed calls to mind the phrase paralyzed with fear, which is often reminiscent of a hunted animal trying to save its life.  This idea of a single animal helps point out how selfish the agency is being.  We see that again when it says "the agency's own mission", the use of the reflexive adjective blatantly shows the reader how self serving the agency is.

            The author craftily manipulates the usage of detail to keep the reader on their side.  For example, in this sentence "From 2000 to 2009, more than 1,000 volunteers reported sexual assaults or rapes." the author gives us a factual detail that shows us how many volunteers are harmed, and that makes the article seem more valid.  However, the author makes sure not to tell us how many volunteers there are total, which could make the number look smaller.

            Sentences such as "There’s much more to do." or "But the corps must confront this issue head on." are short and blunt, which conveys the author's idea of what should happen next.  The shortness of the sentences shows almost a form of anticipation or impatience; like the author can't wait to start reforming the agency.  The bluntness also helps show us this idea of immediate action by not wasting time with too many words.

            The author really gets their point across and helps pull the reader onto their side by using diction, detail, and syntax in interesting ways.  Now let's hope that the agency itself is getting the message.

Open Prompt Response, December 4

1997. Novels and plays often include scenes of weddings, funerals, parties, and other social occasions. Such scenes may reveal the values of the characters and the society in which they live. Select a novel or play that includes such a scene and, in a focused essay, discuss the contribution the scene makes to the meaning of the work as a whole. You may choose a work from the list below or another novel or play of literary merit.

                During a wedding you don’t often hear people speak against the marriage, saying “I object!” or any such thing.  Though rare, that is exactly what happens to poor Jane during her wedding to Mr. Rochester in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.  The wedding scene in Jane Eyre contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole by revealing details about the society in which the Brontë sisters lived.

            By the time we get to the wedding scene in Jane Eyre we’ve had enough foreshadowing to know that it cannot end well.  For example, in the middle of the night on the eve of the wedding, Jane sees a woman enter her room and rip her veil in half.  Lo and behold the next day, part way through the wedding, a man enters the church and says that they can’t legally be wed.  It is revealed that he is the brother of Bertha Mason, the woman Jane saw, and that Bertha is already married to Mr. Rochester.

            In British society in the days of the Bronte sisters, people rarely got married for mutual love.  It was possible that the man loved the woman, but rare that they both loved each other.  Typically one or both was trying to be raised a social class, or gain a fortune.  Charlotte Bronte uses this scene in the novel to show how unlikely it was for a love based marriage to succeed.  They were normally blocked by an ugly impediment, family.  Families often wouldn’t accept a marriage where they did not stand to gain anything, and Bronte uses Bertha Mason to act as the unaccepting family.

            We also see some feminism showing through, as Bronte uses the scene to enforce her ongoing theme of how hard it was for a woman of her time to be truly happy, and get what she wanted.  Throughout the novel Jane has her happiness taken away from her, the moment that she is happy something comes and ruins it.  This scene shows her ultimate happiness, being with Mr. Rochester, being taken away from her.  After this scene her life continues to go downhill, until she eventually returns to contentment.  But true happiness isn’t something she achieves again until she is reunited with Mr. Rochester at the end of the novel. 

            All in all by ruining the wedding, Bronte makes multiple comments on her society and the place of a woman in that society.  Bronte herself was well known to lean towards societal commentary in her novels, and this is just one scene in one novel that particularly outlines that.  And so we see how the simple ruining of a wedding can show us two meanings of a novel.