Building upon our knowledge of diction, imagery, and detail, we began to explore the concepts of language and syntax in class. The practice pages really enhanced my understanding of syntax by allowing me to analyze a specific piece for the technique in the context of a few lines from a work. The "Apply" section gave me an opportunity to utilize my understanding of syntax and prepare myself for analyzing the work in an AP essay using the technique as my evidence to validate my claim. Reading George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" gave me a unique chance to actually use syntax as a basis for elucidating my interpretation of a work. The group discussion further enhanced my understanding and assured me of my accurate understanding of the technique. As for language, the different examples that we read painted a nice collage of the impact that effects such as tone and atmosphere had on allowing the reader to perceive the work as distinct and bring in his/her mood to complete the experience.
The Theater of the Absurd was a very exciting avenue that we began to pursue last week. The initial reading about the history of comedy gave me a nice perspective on where it all began. I had encountered the phrase "Absurd drama subverts logic" in a different form and the reading allowed me to add my own perspective in order to create a harmonious blend of background experience and new information. The five different types of theories that adhere to different aspects of humor and how they all combine to convey the intricacies of comedy was previously unknown to me. I am now able to view humor from a learned perspective and truly analyze its complexity.
Reading The American Dream by Edward Albee was a great experience. The role play added a nice touch of ingenuity to encountering the play and encouraged me to approach the piece of drama with genuine interest and participation. Throughout the play, the various different underlying indications were referred to by Ms. Holmes and explained in detail, thus making the reading process a lot easier and more understandable. By reading this novel, I have understood the importance of beyond reading more than just once that points to profound analytical thinking to compile all the separate aspects of the play into a wholesome conglomeration that facilitates analysis.
We started writing an essay based on one of the open prompts by using The American Dream as a work of considerable literary merit. Reflecting on the writing process, I really valued the input of my group in contributing ideas that I had never considered before. The effective cooperation between my group members allowed us to consolidate our best ideas in order to create an effective argument. This essay will truly help me to practice for such similar essays on the AP test. Overall, my perception of literature has changed slightly over the duration of the class and I hope to mold it into a beneficial aspect of my reading skills that will aid my reception of a piece and contribute to greater understanding.
You have long course responses! :)
ReplyDeleteI think I had a great group as well to work with. I like this class because no one's apathetic about what were doing. Everyone positively contributes to the class.
I love the theater of the absurd. I wish we could have a class just on the theater of the absurd. If I ever wrote something it would be something like the theater of the absurd
I agree with seeing the importance of reading things more than once. American Dream has definitely taught me the importance of a close read.
ReplyDeleteRegarding theater of the absurd, I considered what we read in the packet to be a bit disturbing. The fact that it subverts logic is very uncomfortable for me. It makes is seem as if the author has no idea what he is doing when he writes the play. I got in trouble with this fact when reading the American Dream. I, along with a few of my class mates, made the mistake of claim that Albee has no point through a lot of his absurdist writings. However after the 2nd read i realized this certainly wasn't the case, and I consider Albee to be a critic who writes in an absurdist manner to camoflague his ridicule.
ReplyDeleteI have encountered theater of the absurd before, but this is the first time ive ever had to delve deep into the significance of an absudist work, which can be frustrating and confusing. The groups definitely help. Also, i always value help with my syntax analysis, so i loved the packets.
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