Close Readings

Your smartphone is a pain in the neck

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/20/health/mobile-society-neck-pain/index.html?hpt=he_t2

    Year 2012, and humans are able to send messages instantly, watch videos without a hassle, and browse the web anywhere at anytime made possible by one device, the smartphone. "Your smartphone is a pain in the neck" by Jacque Wilson proves to readers that with the advantages of this useful device follows negative effects to one's body. Wilson emphasizes her voice with various rhetoric techniques including imagery, detail, and diction. 

     Wilson opens up the article in a casual tone reaching out to the audience. It's hard to avoid checking your own posture while reading her guesses,"Chances are you're reading this while leaning over a table or slumped back in a chair. Your head is tilted forward; your shoulders are curved.If you're on a mobile device, your arms are bent by your side and your back hunch is even more profound," truth be told, she was right. Imagery pertains to a technique writers use evoking the five senses providing sensory perceptions. This one specifically refers to visual imagery to prove how much these postures can lead to damage. Imagery is displayed again towards the end when Wilson brings up Dr. Collie's tip on good smartphone use posture, "Keep your feet flat on the floor, roll your shoulders back and keep your ears directly over them so your head isn't tilted forward," similar to the introduction."

     Detail can be concrete or abstract; it could be honorific or pejorative. One extra adjective can change the whole phrase. Wilson uses detail throughout her article by being precise with her words. "The average human head weighs 10 pounds in a neutral position -- when your ears are over your shoulders," according to Wilson, the pressure on your spine double with this position. By no means does she put the weight of a human head just for the sake of it. This is a concrete detail that makes the story factual. So, what can this cause? "A lack of oxygenated blood flowing through the body can potentially lead to vascular disease. And gastrointestinal problems can be caused by pressure placed on the organs in a bad posture," what kind of blood? what kind of disease? these are are specific details provided by Wilson.

     Even though detail and imagery seems fairly similar, diction is something unique about the writers tone; it's their choice of words. As mentioned before, Wilson has a casual/ informal tone; readers can relate to her article because  of her colloquial diction, "So what's an iPad-cradling, smartphone-texting, laptop-loving guy or gal to do?" As much as these electronics are used, people come up with slang nick names for them. Wilson does not hesitate to use these. Not only is her slang language emphasized, but the way she rhetorically questions her readers and assumes the answer is part of her diction. It only makes the writing more casual than appeared.

    Jacque Wilson does a phenomenal job of using diction, imagery and detailed all weaved within her article. It doesn't exert any forceful tone and her techniques contribute to the flow. With her choice of words, visual context, and detailed language, it persuades readers to follow through and watch their postures. 

    

    

Open Prompt 9/16/2012

1990. Choose a novel or play that depicts a conflict between a parent (or a parental figure) and a son or daughter. Write an essay in which you analyze the sources of the conflict and explain how the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid plot summary.

     '"It's not God. Just my parents," I say. "I want to sue them for the rights to my own body"' (Picoult 19). Going to court due to family conflicts is not too rare. Parent's getting sued by their 13 year old daughter, is indeed uncommon though. "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult portrays an overwhelming but excellent example of a conflict that lies between a parent and child. 

     From the very beginning, Anna was fully aware why, how and who she was born for; she was born to keep her sister, Kate alive. Picoult does a fine job of providing readers with a perspective from all directions, and from Anna and Brian's perspective, Kate was priority to their parents. This marked the first of their conflicts and the story would not have been able to progress if it were not for the hard relationship between Anna and her mother, Sarah. As an infant, Anna donated her blood cells to Kate without a choice. She constantly had to keep by Kate's side just in case her organs suddenly failed to do its work. When in an argument, Anna was held accountable despite being the younger sibling. With these situations, Anna is shown struggling to know if her mother even cares for her.  

     The setting/situation of the story is a main reason why readers can't question Anna's behavior. Imagine going through numerous operations and surgery not because of yourself but because of another person. It strikes Anna when she tries to recall a time of being asked to do all this; she was never asked. Throughout  the novel, Anna is known to listen, to understand, to take action, and to show responsibility. She takes part as a mother but as a 13 year old. Minor conflicts arise as Sarah cannot control her emotions and lets it out on family members other than Kate. When it comes to a time where Kate is in desperate need of Anna's organs once again, Anna rebels. As she seeks a lawyer to sue her parents for her medical emancipation, it marks the climax of the conflict. 

     While this is going on, Anna is shown having second thoughts on suing her family until she sees her mom understanding her decision as an outcome from the lack of attention she has received. Anna goes on with the legal action despite the fact that her parents are strongly against it. Picoult also brings out another side of Sarah that was not revealed in the beginning, even more evidence that allows readers to understand Anna better. The surgery that is involved with this trial has many risks that Kate and Anna both have to endure. Anna may not be able to play her favorite sport ever again. She may not be able to have kids of her own. Kate might not end up surviving even with this operation. Sarah is being stubborn and willing to do anything to save Kate whether anyone agrees or not. Especially when the donor, Anna, does not want to donate. 

     Even though the denouement of the story has a total twist to it, if Picoult did not display the minor conflicts Anna and Sarah had prior to the court trial, "My Sister's Keeper" would not have worked out. It would've been much more unnatural if Kate were to sue Sarah herself, because Kate knows why her mother decided on the decisions that she made. On the other hand, Anna is the one who was purposely made, "built" for Kate. She is given (allowed) the choice to rebel against her mother for what she's gone through. Though the conflict resolves different than imagined in the beginning, the parent-child conflict portrayed by Picoult contributes best to the plot and meaning of "My Sister's Keeper".

* I actually timed myself to finish within 45 minutes. This sounds and looks so messy... I'm not even sure if i wrote to the prompt correctly... is this too much of plot summary?

     

Response to Course Material

     First week into AP Lit, and we've covered and learned so much material (including all the summer work). I can't really help but also talk about the summer material even though this post is suppose to start from my latest post. The set of poetry that we had to read, comparison of  David Sedaris' essay and Micheal Harvey's book, and the diagnostic test all had a common direction; it was preparing me to become an AP Lit student. A good AP Lit student. Following up, we had three pages of vocabulary & three pages of presentation notes, which i won't deny-- i was very rusty prior to these. 

     I started making small connections between what I've learned thus far. That three-page vocab i was talking about, majority of them tied with poetry terms. Well what a coincidence, most of the students, myself included, posted on their blogs that studying poetry terms is a new goal. Despite the statistics, I came about with poor grade on the terms test. What did i get out of that? Well, first of all, definitions aren't definitions unless I know how to use the word in a sentence, point out examples of that word and most importantly, genuinely understand the definition. I also found myself surprised when there were not just one, but many words with similar definition: anadiplosis, anaphora, antistrophe, and diacope (repetitions... say whaaaat?). I wondered why i never came across these before when studying poetry, but I know the answer now-- i never really knew what they meant so i never really looked for these examples either.

     The Essay Writing Basics, Rhetorical Situation, and Argument presentations had one main focus to it that many writers would've caught on to. All the types of arguments (logos ethos pathos), the claim, warrants, and premise are techniques that authors use WHICH THEN leads to communication a.k.a, a rhetorical situation. Moreover, there are things readers can literally point to in a passage and some that are not possible. This was so confusing that the prezi presentation was just overwhelming in general until Ms. Holmes gave the examples of diction, syntax, images and metaphors; atmosphere is something we cannot touch. I can't say if this was review or not, but i feel like i should've known this: there are a whole lot of purposes to write about. I can write to entertain, persuade, inform, and reflex and most likely, these need communication or rhetorical skills. 

     If i had to summarize this up, there's actually too much i've learned the past week, but I can see that i'm absorbing all the information. I can make connections not with what we learned on the same day, but also with the other course material in general. This makes me happy & gives me hope that AP Lit isn't going to be too harsh after all.