Close Reading numero tres

Editorial: Federal flood insurance subsidizes risks

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2012/11/13/flood-insurance-program-rebuilding/1703363/

     After the recent Super-storm Sandy, related news and stories went viral. Editor, Jason Towien, shared his views on the Federal flood insurance, which he found more "flaws" to the program (1968) rather than benefits. Towien has a well-focused strong voice; he uses appropriate diction that pertain to good flow, details with evidence that support his claims, and variety of syntax structures throughout his editorial. 

     In his editorial, Towien uses appropriate diction that flow with the informal language. The Conversational diction of his is evident when he fails to agree with the National Flood Insurance Program, "good luck with that", he says; Towien believes that the program is "foolish, even dangerous" for the future. The opposing force with the informal diction Towien portrays reaches out to those who are affected by this huge disaster. It's obvious to tell that he is strongly against the 1968 program and is pleading for a enhanced insurance. As he states the "flaws" of the program with the use of accurate word choice, it helps readers to focus on his main idea and take his side on the "misguided policy". 

     

     Towien's message is clearly focused when he provides statistics and well-rounded advice which is opinionated, but is strong enough to support his idea. He starts his argument with statistical facts of natural disasters from 2005, Katrina, "now the program faces more than 100,000, and payouts possible of $7 billion." the numerical detail in his claim outweighs the opposing factors. Towien also shows precise detail in writing from more than one viewpoint. He takes into account for the builders of coastal homes, estate agents, and the federal treasury. With the details already provided, the audience is introduced into a broader perspective, but continuously focused with Towien's opinion. Not only does Towien use facts as his detail, but he portrays a stronger opinion with concrete details to what the program should be replaced with. According to Towien, "step one is to decide what should, and shouldn't, be rebuilt," he emphasizes the changes that should be made with details specific to his opinion.

    

     Lastly, Towien's use of syntax is abundant in his editorial. The way he uses punctuation to place emphasis meets his goals of editorializing. A strong syntax structure found in his article is in the second paragraph, "those drowned last year by the Tropical Storm Irene and again by Sandy." This is not just a comparison of the two hurricanes, but a heavier emphasis on Sandy. His use of syntax sounds like Towien is superior to the insurance policy makers showing dissapointment that it happened "again" and no one was able to learn from Irene. Another syntactic structure provided by Towien is his use of colon. "The creators meant well, but here's the flaw: ..." is a great way to use a colon. His fourth paragraph introduces all the errors and misguides of the insurance program. It may have sounded less bold if Towien was to continue without this colon and preceded with a comma. The colon gets the readers to await what the federal flaw could possibly have been.  With his use of syntax, the editorial is more evoking. It helps the audience build up in emotion to place emphasis on what Towien intended to emphasise.

     

     Throughout the article, the mixture of diction, detail, and syntax provides the read with just enough interests. Towien's word choice is informal to the point where readers are persuaded to his side. His argument is well supported with other opinions and factual evidence. Lastly, his syntactic structure creates balance in emotional emphasis which is weaved throughout. With his use of literary elements, the editorial becomes much clear and precise. 

Open Prompt 11/11/2012

1991. Many plays and novels use contrasting places (for example, two countries, two cities or towns, two houses, or the land and the sea) to represent opposed forces or ideas that are central to the meaning of the work. Choose a novel or play that contrasts two such places. Write an essay explaining how the places differ, what each place represents, and how their contrast contributes to the meaning of the work.

     A contrast between two places is significantly evident in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby. The characters in this novel are settled either in East or West egg which represent two distinct forces. East Egg is established with individuals who are wealthy from the roots, while the West Egg is known as "new money", a place that attracts un-original wealthy people-- people who desire to be like the East Egg. The two places in this novel contribute to the flow of Jay Gatsby's ambition to become wealthy and win his first love, Daisy Buchanan, back.

     Fitzgerald represents the East Egg and West Egg as two different classes of  social status and wealth. This is shown when despite Gatsby's lie to Daisy about his prosperous family, she gives up waiting for him  and chooses to marry Tom, a wealthy man from East Egg because East Egg has been home to the elites and upper class. On the other hand, West Egg is consisted with lower/middle class people who made their own fortune and money without being born with it. The people from the West are new to this wealth and they look up to the stable social standings of the East. This sparks Gatsby to work and reinvent himself to get Daisy back; he settles in the West across the bay from Daisy's home.
     While these two cities symbolize the difference in society, Fitzgerald also incorporates the past with East Egg and the present with West Egg. As mentioned before, the East and West are also known as new money and old money. Daisy and Tom who live in the old money, are fixed in the past. When Gatsby throws lavishing consistent parties at his mansion in hopes to attract Daisy; people in the East Egg don't make their way to his party. It takes Nick and Jordan to persuade Daisy and Tom to visit the West. While Tom and Daisy are absorbed to the past traditions and aristocratic values of East, Nick and Gatsby who live in the West, are ready to change and reform from their past; they live in present time and work for the future.
     Throughout The Great Gatsby, readers are able to see the difference in wealth, status, and attitude between the East and the West Egg. Fitzgerald creates Tension between the two contrasting places  to represent opposing ideas to the plot. In doing so, the story not only gets interesting, but it connects to past American history and literature. The way Fitzgerald portrayed the West in comparison to the east showed the opportunities provided in both places. It's obvious to see that Gatsby followed the American Dream towards the West to seek fortune. The divided setting of the novel contributes to the symbolic meaning and theme of Fitzgerald's story as a whole.

Response to Course Material numero tres

     It definitely doesn't seem like it's been a month since the latest response to course material. As of October 7th, we finished discussing and annotating The American Dream. We watched The Death of The Salesman and started prepping for the multiple choice questions of the AP exam. Moreover, we referred back to our textbooks for chapter 4 & 5 and wrote a thesis-driven essay connecting two pieces of writing. New material and old, I find myself learning new things each day in this class.
    At first, (I think I mentioned it in the previous course material) understanding The American Dream was hard. There was no relevance to the repetition and pointless dialogue in the play until we started relating literary techniques to it and discussing it. I now understand the whole theme of consumerism and materialism that Albee displays. I liked how we had a class discussion on each character and their purpose in the play; it helped me think deeper in-depth of the symbols and uncommon dialogue.
   The movie Death of the Salesman was more appealing that starting a new play. I was able to pay attention and actually see for myself, what was going on. I didn't have to imagine my own setting and physical looks of the characters. Death of the Salesman seems quite similar to the American Dream. Similar in a sense that Willie also has his own idea of the American Dream. He cares more for the appearance rather than what it's made up of. He's also very strong willed and controlling like mommy from American Dream; I was surprised to see all these connections between the two plays.
     A thesis-driven essay isn't my strongest point. In American Lit, we had to write numerous personal anthologies and I think that I got into the habit of a personal narrative structure. I find myself writing in first person with a lot of my essays, which doesn't sound formal. I'm hoping to get back on writing more thesis-driven essays to prep for the AP exam along with the multiple choices we practiced.
     That being said, our class is on a roll with new plays and everyday-practice with DIDLS. I'm sure that I know what each of the DIDLS are and how they're used, but the practice exercises can sometimes be challenging for confusing. I don't participate much on the exercises, but I do find it very helpful.