"Young Life" by Bo Bartlett

• The man in the picture is a hunter as evidenced by the dead deer atop the car and the gun in the man's hand.
• The artist, Bo Bartlett implies that men are meant to be strong and protective while women are meant to be weak and afraid. The woman is cowering next to her husband and son who both stand firm and tall each with weapons in hand ready to protect the woman.
• The little boy in the painting plans on living a different life from that of his parents. This is true because the little boy is not only physically distanced from his parents, but also his dress is unique because it's contrast to his parent's rural fashion.

Th young child in the painting "Young Life" ,by Bo Bartlett, will live a different life from that of his parents as evidenced by clothing and position. His parents, dressed in typical rural clothing with hunting gear, contrast the boy's starkly urban attire with a sweater and dress shirt, odd choices for a hunting trip. This difference in clothing style symbolizes the child's obvious difference from the other individuals in the piece. Considering the child's position in relation to the others as an important factor, Bartlett reflects the divide between the child and his parents with the long distance, moreover the child's back is turned away from them showing a new beginning and eventually life.

"Reading Critically"

The essay “Reading Critically” provides a great map for analyzing for school assignments.  While I knew that writing critically was important, it did not occur to me that reading critically was equally important.  I now understand that if I read critically, the critical writing will come much easier. 

           

            With respect to “the preliminaries” outlined in the essay, I already knew that it was important to understand the writer’s background, when the piece was written and for whom it was written, but I never gave much thought to analyzing the title of a piece to lead to a better understanding.  I admit that I am not always diligent in annotating what I read.  I know that I should use a pencil and highlighter more when I read.  The quote in the essay that “the more you write in an unstructured way, the more you’ll have to say when it’s time to write a structured essay” really is true.

            The first step to reading critically is to summarize the content of what you are reading.  This should be a two step procedure:  first, summarize each paragraph (or group of paragraphs if they are related); and two, summarize those sentences into two or three other that reflect the writing’s total meaning.  Next, you need to analyze which involves looking at the main idea of the writing, finding support for this idea, and identifying special writing strategies.  Third, you need to use inference to draw conclusions about the piece using your own knowledge and experience.  It is through inference that you are able to discern the writer’s assumptions that drive the piece.  Fourth, you need to synthesize the piece by taking “reconstituting” the original elements of the piece and relating them to the writer’s ultimate purpose. 

            The final stage in critical reading is to evaluate the quality of the piece.  This means that you will answer whether the writer has moved you as it was intended, whether the writer has proved a point or whether it was even worth the effort to make the argument in the first place.  In order to conduct an effective evaluation of a piece, you need to ask yourself, “What is the writer’s purpose?”  You can answer this question through the effective use of analysis, inference and synthesis.  An well written piece uses effective strategy in the writing such as narration and description. 

           

            The most crucial step in effective writing  is finding an appropriate structure.  Good writing has unity (everything relates to the main idea) and coherence (the relations between parts are clear).  Chronological sequence is common, but it is important to emphasis important events and minimize others.  Finally, the effective use of language is always found in a well written piece.  Language creates the tone of the piece.

"Shame"

This song is about a romantic breakup. The author's feeling toward the subject is remorseful, yet sincere. The adjectives and verbs that indicate this tone are: "Swear; "Lift"; "Different." These verbs/adjectives communicate his feelings by expressing specifically how he feels. "Different" shows how he regrets his old actions, but he is "different" now in comparison. Using the verb "swear" shows his sincerity by promising forever more to be a better person. "Lift" personifies the weight of the guilt and the shame as well as the pain he is feeling as a result.

''Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out''

The subject of Barry’s essay, “Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out” is his humorous take on the differences between the sexes and the value each places on cleanliness.  His references to “Standard Male Cleaning Implements”, essentially Windex with a wad of paper towels, make it clear that Barry believe the issue of cleanliness is of utmost importance in relationships.

            “Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out” was written during the last twenty years with its references to a male friend offering to change his baby’s diaper in an effort to avoid a discussion on relationships.  The esssay’s date of creation is conveyed with references to Barry’s female friend, Maddy.  It is doubtful that a man would refer to a female as friend any earlier than the middle of the 1970’s.  By providing contemporary examples to which they can relate, Barry is able to effectively get his readers to invest in his argument.

            The specific audience for Barry’s essay is young to middle-aged couples with children.  From watching adult couples, I know that every couple has flash points that lead to heated discussion even on such mundane topics as the cleanliness of a bathroom.  Barry references the “look that [his wife] has perfected” when she wants to convey that he is an idiot.  The general audience for Barry’s essay is men and women who interact on a regular basis, regardless of whether it is at school or work.  Barry’s reference in his essay to the importance that the men place on the World Series game is one to which almost all men can relate.

Barry’s purpose in writing this essay to demonstrate the men and women view life through very different lenses.  However, Barry is careful not to take a position on which view is the correct one.  What a man considers appropriate dress for his school age son, a pair of pajamas, does not pass muster when his mother catches him before he goes out the door.  Barry is self-deprecating when he states that the time he spends cleaning his son’s bathroom would be put to better use in constructing a drawing on his Etch-A-Sketch.  Barry knows by mocking his wife’s unattainable standard of cleanliness, he would be wise to offset such sarcasm by using the example of a mindless activity like the Etch-A-Sketch as his alternative.

            Women take life much more seriously than men if you are to believe Barry’s essay.  They are able to spot “molecules” of dirt, while men seemingly do not notice dirt until they are literally covered in it.  The Pompeii example used by Barry is extreme, but gets his point across that men are largely obvious to dirt.  The sexes should be allowed to pursue their separate interests and agendas unimpeded by the value placed on them by the opposite sex.  In the end, the men are thrilled to watch a World Series game, while the women are left to discuss relationships.  Forcing your spouse to do what makes you happy leads to misery on both sides.

           

            Barry demonstrates a self-effacing and slightly sarcastic attitude about the importance women place on cleanliness in the home.  His self-effacing statement that “men tend to do extremely little in the way of useful housework” is supported by his half-hearted attempt to clean his son’s bathroom at his wife’s request.  His sarcasm is evident where he references the “escape” of “second male” from the attempts of the women to direct the group discussion to one about relationships.

American Tongues

1. Voice in literature is the way an author addresses his/her audience and how they make their writing unique in comparison to other writers.
2. "Wait, what's the point of this exercise?' My tone is always hesitant because I try to question other people's reasoning. My parents are both attorneys, which has an effect on my tone because I emulate their behavior.
3. I would try not to directly address a personal issue like a parent's divorce or a fight with a friend. I would handle the topic this way because I would not want to upset someone for my own benefit.
4. Voice is important in non-fiction because genre would become just a listing of facts without personality being less interesting to the reader. In academic essays, writers attempt to avoid voice because it looks unprofessional as well as writing in the passive voice.
5. We can develop voice by adding specific characteristics to our writing, which makes the writing recognizable.

"Eleonore Rigby"-PAIN vs. The Beatles vs. Dubstep

I personally enjoyed the remix dubstep more than the other two versions because of the modern element incorporated into the original song. The new twist to the song makes the rythym much more upbeat and energized, which makes listeners like me that are not usually interested in music from the time-period to be interested and to like listening to the song. The original song would be more aestheticly pleasing though because of it's relaxed tone and audible singer in comparison to the screaming of the metal and the faint singer of the remix.

Kandinsky vs. Pollock

The Kandinsky work appeals more to me because of it's uniformity. Kandinsky uses geometric features such as triangles, lines, and squares while incorporating vibrant color into each aspect of the painting. On the other hand, the Pollock work is definately more visually pleasing with organic lines and rich colors creating the feeling of warmth as well as the thickness of the paint popping out at the audience.

"Sign Language"

The filmaker would like the audience to understand that there is more to menial work and the little things in life than meets the eye. He executes this single effect by using a personal narative, talking about the habits of each worker, and explaining the sense of community felt by the sign holders. If I could change one apect of the film, I would take out the personal narative aspect even though it would affect the film negatively.As mentioned before, it would ruin the single effect because it gives the menial job of being a sign holder a personality and a face.

Shooting An Elephant

The subject of George Orwell’s essay Shooting an Elephant is to discuss the injustice and brutality of a colonial occupation. The inequality and inhumane treatment of the Burmese natives is illustrated by Orwell’s graphic description of prison life and the analogy of the shooting of the elephant. By describing the gruesome conditions that were endured during the colonial era, Orwell can relate the injustice suffered by the natives at the hands of the British. Orwell’s act of the shooting of an elephant symbolic of the British harsh treatment of its subjects.  Orwell uses the obvious wrong of shooting an innocent elephant to portray his negative view of the colonial occupation in Burma.

Shooting an Elephant was written in 1936 during the waning years of global British imperialism. Orwell conveys the timing of his essay with references to the British “Empire” and “Raj” which essentially means colony.  Further details help to date the essay with references to “an old .44 Winchester and a cataloging of the atrocities committed against Indians by the British.

George Orwell’s specific audience for Shooting an Elephant was the British public. The author’s intended audience is revealed with the quote, “ I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British…In a job like that you see the dirty work of the Empire at close quarters. The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lock-ups, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been flogged with bamboos.”  This quote would shock the British people because many of their Empire’s brutal practices were kept a secret from average British citizens. Orwell is trying to educate fellow citizens about the brutality of their government toward its conquered colonies.  The author’s wider audience is the “civilized” Western World where many countries similarly colonized countries whose resources they needed while committing unjustified atrocities against the local population .

Orwell’s purpose in Shooting an Elephant is to educate the British people about the atrocities committed against the Burmese people. Orwell wants his audience to realize that the British government is harming its colonial population and native British citizens need to stop the colonial brutality.  The injustice of imperialism is evidence by the quote, “One day something happened which in a roundabout way was enlightening. It was a tiny incident in itself, but it gave me a better glimpse than I had had before of the real nature of imperialism- the real motives for which despotic governments act.”  In this quote, Orwell is referencing the shooting of the elephant, which symbolizes the brutal acts committed against the Burmese and how these injustices shocked Orwell a British subject upon his arrival in Burma. This purpose is further revealed by, “With one part of my mind I thought of the British Raj as an unbreakable tyranny, as something clamped down, in saecula saeculorum, upon the will of prostate peoples…” In this situation, Orwell explains how the Raj is an unstoppable menace that can only be killed by the will of the British people if they act against the monster.

Orwell believes that colonialism with its inherent suppression of other human beings is wrong and he expresses revulsion at his own role in the process.  He states that “[he] was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British.”  The killing of the elephant, an obvious symbol for the vast British Empire, causes controversy in the town when it occurs, much like the idea of imperialism can divide the citizens of a nation.  The British living in Burma view the elephant’s death as a waste because the value of the “coolie” or native killed by the elephant was miniscule.  Of course, the Burmese natives viewed the elephant’s death as justified under local law.

George Orwell articulates a brutal and conflicted attitude about British imperialism and its treatment of the Burmese people. The attitude of brutality is expressed by his use of words such as “crucified” and “bayonet”, while the conflicted attitude is evidence by his use of words like “helpless” and “impress”.  The words “crucified” and “bayonet” are graphic words that shock the reader’s sensibility while the words “helpless” and “impress” convey the narrator’s inherent conflict over the role in which he finds himself.  Orwell’s tone serves the essay’s purpose of convincing his intended audience, the average British citizen, of the savagery found in imperialism, while recognizing the conflict in need to subjugating native peoples in order to gain control over necessary resources.

Harry Nilsson's "Good Old Desk"

S- God is the symbolic subject, but a desk is the literal subject of the song.
O- 1960's and 1970's United Kingdom
A- People who are experiencing hard times.
P- To inform the audience about how God can be a postitive influence in their lives.
S- Nilsson believes that God stands by him no matter what may happen and is always there.
Tone- Affectionate and appreciative

Harry Nilsson is discussing his personal relationship with God and uses the symbol of a "Good Old Desk." He solidifies his symbol through the quotes as follows: "My old desk never needs a rest, and I've never once heard it cry"; "Such a comfort to know, it's dependable and slow";"It's always there."