Close Reading
It Was the Best of the Worst of Times: Breaking Dawn, Part 2
Mary Pols, Time Magazine
http://entertainment.time.com/2012/11/15/it-was-the-best-of-the-worst-of-times-breaking-dawn-part-2/
So, in a half-ironic, half-nostalgic attitude, I found myself reading a review of Breaking Dawn, Part 2 in Time Magazine. The details, imagery, and syntax were very effective in convincing me of the reluctant mediocrity of the final installment of the Twilight series.
The details which Pols chooses are all humorous but uninspired quotes. In one of the first direct quotes, Pols gives an example of Bella's new-found humor, "Vampire Bella is even funny. "You think you have some sort of moronic wolfie claim on her?" she bellows...". I highly doubt this is what the script writers would consider one of their golden lines. Neither is "You named my daughter after the Loch Ness Monster?", but these are the longest direct quotes from the movie, among precious few. Note that she does not insert the inevitable diatribe about the value of love, family, and post-marital sex that we all know will make an appearance sooner or later. Her focus is on the shallow, quiet chuckle-worthy jokes which she sees as the best part of the movie. Not the highest compliment. The entire review focuses on the minor improvements in dialogue and aesthetics while choosing to ignore the essential details of the plot and culmination of saga, because it deems them unworthy or uninteresting.
The ironic imagery in this review mocks the attempted effects of the "wildly campy" film. A wry description of "the Irish vampires- dressed in various shades of green, fisherman sweaters and tweed caps" eludes to the stiff, one-dimensionality of many characters in the series. Further snorts of derision are buried in an observation of the "cozy, ivy-covered, fully decorated cottage" which is so disgustingly charming it repels the Volturi from harming their daughter Renesme. Pols' manipulates objective imagery into something comic using her descriptive language, "Now she and Edward... sparkle like disco balls" to support.
This review is arranged with many (parentheticals) and side comments, like a real conversation. This syntax lends itself better to an informal voice, and doesn't recommend the professionalism that a typical movie review requires. Some of these concisely and smirkingly address plots points "(He imprinted. It’s a wolf thing.)" while others are blatantly teasing "(Why the delay? Soccer season in Italy?)". This effect reminds me of a friend muttering snarky comments to you at the back of a theater. And its just as funny. The lackadaisical organization of paragraphs is a little tricky to follow, but its informality is appropriate for the tone.
I have already spent way too much time on this analysis. The DIDLES definitely support the humorous tone of this essay, as well as its suggestion that Breaking Dawn: Part 2 was a small improvement on its predecessors, but amusing if viewed with the right attitude.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Open Prompt
1984. Select a
line or so of poetry, or a moment or scene in a novel, epic poem, or play that
you find especially memorable. Write an essay in which you identify the line or
the passage, explain its relationship to the work in which it is found, and
analyze the reasons for its effectiveness.
My favorite line of poetry in the world goes "Since feeling is first/ who pays any attention/ to the syntax of things/ will never wholly kiss you" (cummings 1). This is the opening phrase in a poem by e.e. cummings. It introduces the theme of impulse over mind. It also sets up the construction of the poem, as an appeal to his love. This short phrase is full of rich language and deep meaning.
"Since feeling is first" is the first line, and it makes a powerful assumption, that feeling trumps all other senses (cummings 1). This condition holds true throughout the piece, as when he declares "kisses are a better fate/ than wisdom", valuing emotion over reason (cummmings 8). He reasserts the power of small emotive motions, like kisses, in his line "-the best gesture of my brain is less than/ your eyelids' flutter..." (cummings 11). Without an opening line to introduce and establish this theme of intuition and romance, the entire poem would be an argument, rather than evidence to an undeniable fact.
Whenever one analyzes a poem, one of the most important questions is 'who is this written for?'. In the case of "since feeling is first", it is answered in the opening lines. As he explains "who pays any attention/ to the syntax of things/ will never wholly kiss you", he describes what he can offer her that many men cannot (cummings 2). He is confessing and he in convincing, "my blood approves", as he woos the object of his passion (cummings 7). In the final stanza, he speaks the vow he has been working up to all along, "We are for each other: then/ laugh, leaning back in my arms" (cummings 13).
The opening and most memorable line from "since feeling is first" is effective because it introduces the themes and message of the poem with conviction. The claim in the first stanza is warranted in the following stanzas, as his message of love unfolds. These important functions of the opening phrase are expressed artfully and skillfully. The message comes across effortlessly, "for life's not a paragraph/ And death i think is no parenthesis" (cummings 15).
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Reflection on Course Materials 11-4-12
As of late, our energies have been focused on Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Like The American Dream, it focuses on every day Americans' quest for satisfaction. Willy Loman, a salesman who has relied on his 'personal attractiveness' to succeed in the business, is losing his touch. A desperate, aging child is not attractive to customers, though his eager-to-please persona used to work. His two sons represent the reasons for his failure; Biff is moody and overly-idealistic, while Happy has no work ethic or principals. This book condemns the fate of salesmen- spending their lives convincing people to choose this brand over another- meaningless, right? But someone has to do it, and if you do it for your family, isn't that what matters? No, says Arthur Miller. There are some serious Marxist overtones to this show.
What really gets me is how Linda is stuck with her loser sons and her crazy husband and she is the only reliable person in the bunch. It is so unfair that she has to deal with it all, and she never grows as a character. She is just the responsible mother to all. I think it was rather chauvinistic of Arthur Miller not to empower her, or to even highlight the tragedy of her situation.
I really love the daily vocabulary usage activity, but I am still sort of lost when it comes to our weekly schedule. The chapter about America was more related to what we have been studying, but we didn't have much preparation for the essay. Sometimes the online work and the class work don't completely synthesize, and I feel like I am in two very interesting but separate lit classes. I'm adjusting to it, but its still a little confusing.
As of late, our energies have been focused on Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Like The American Dream, it focuses on every day Americans' quest for satisfaction. Willy Loman, a salesman who has relied on his 'personal attractiveness' to succeed in the business, is losing his touch. A desperate, aging child is not attractive to customers, though his eager-to-please persona used to work. His two sons represent the reasons for his failure; Biff is moody and overly-idealistic, while Happy has no work ethic or principals. This book condemns the fate of salesmen- spending their lives convincing people to choose this brand over another- meaningless, right? But someone has to do it, and if you do it for your family, isn't that what matters? No, says Arthur Miller. There are some serious Marxist overtones to this show.
What really gets me is how Linda is stuck with her loser sons and her crazy husband and she is the only reliable person in the bunch. It is so unfair that she has to deal with it all, and she never grows as a character. She is just the responsible mother to all. I think it was rather chauvinistic of Arthur Miller not to empower her, or to even highlight the tragedy of her situation.
I really love the daily vocabulary usage activity, but I am still sort of lost when it comes to our weekly schedule. The chapter about America was more related to what we have been studying, but we didn't have much preparation for the essay. Sometimes the online work and the class work don't completely synthesize, and I feel like I am in two very interesting but separate lit classes. I'm adjusting to it, but its still a little confusing.
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