Thursday, September 27, 2007

The Textual Analysis Essay

The selection I chose was The Fourth of July by Audre Lorde. In this essay the main themes are obviously racism (man vs. society) and coming of age. Throughout the text the tone, symbolism, and choice of words slowly but continuously alter according to the girl’s experiences.
In the beginning the tone is very peppy and comfortable. The family is about to go on a vacation. Soon the tone takes a change for the worst. The delightful family vacation becomes an ill one and is overall disappointing.
Lorde uses vivid and alluring words as well as some alliteration to describe items as the foods the mother prepares for the train ride: “…brown bread and butter and green pepper and carrot sticks…little violently yellow cakes…” (Lorde 567). She also uses food words that are more gustatory: “…sweet pickles…dill pickles…peaches…rosewater and glycerin…” (Lorde 568).
There is a stress on the color white throughout the entire essay. This makes sense of course because the young girl is a member of an African-American family traveling from New York to Washington, D.C. in the year 1947. This wasn’t such a jovial time for black people in the United States, which was deliberately meant to contradict the date of which this family trip occurs—Independence Day. This holiday is well renowned as a day of the country’s remembrance of freedom and liberty. The girl, having just graduated from the eighth grade becomes fully aware that at this point in time the previous statement is only a half-truth. “I viewed Julys through an agonizing corolla of dazzling whiteness, and I always hated the Fourth of July, even before I came to realize the travesty such a celebration was for the black people in this country.” (Lorde 569). The day she finally acknowledges this, she considers the day she officially “stopped being a child” (Lorde 567).
The silence of this whole essay is apparent on multiple occasions. Her parents refuse to be riotous and infuriated (though it can be inferred they feel this way on the inside) and quietly take the absurd injustices as they come: “As usual, whatever my mother did not like and could not change, she ignored. Perhaps it would go away, deprived of her attention.” (Lorde 568).
Ultimately, when the family is refused dine-in service at a Washington ice cream and soda parlor, the youth grows up and realizes what kind of ridiculously racist society in which she is living. The color white has never been as unfair and hideously blinding as it now appears. Lorde does a superb job conveying a distinct tone, symbolism, and word choices. The themes of both racism and coming of age are clearly delivered.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Prime Directive

One of the first writing elements I recognized in this essay was when the author mentioned a "darkening sky" on page 125. From this use of foreshadowing, it is apparent that the text will be serious in tone. Nonetheless, the author soon fools the reader when he brings up Halloween, a day known for both death and childish frivolity-- opposites placed together.
He also mentions to Star Trek as a war reference stating they should stay out of the affairs of alien nations. His wife is mentioned a few times as well. He misses her and feels like he should be with her, as do the Iraqui soldiers.
It is, after all Halloween, so the author and his buddy decided to party hop. This constant change of location refers to the way the soldiers are constantly being shuffled around in the arid climate overseas. Each "party" they attend is the same, as is each party.
The author has a hard time accepting how things should be versus how things are.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

THEME: MUSIC - Group Essay

Group Members: Jonathan, Mauricus, Jannica

For centuries, music has played a role in society. As a group, we have discovered that music has affected each of our lives through our relationships with family and friends, school, and controversial lyrical themes. To further explain music’s effect on our lives, we give you our personal encounters:

Jonathan-

Ever since I was a child, there has always been music in the background of my surroundings. There was always something either playing on the radio or a track spinning in the background. My brothers and I were always practicing our instruments. I played the drums, two of my brothers played the saxophone, and the other played the bass guitar and cello. I had many cousins who played instruments as well. Also, one of my uncles is a professional drummer. If you ever listen to the Shaft soundtrack, you might hear him playing the drums, or you could possibly see him at a concert on stage with Patti Labelle, Ronald Isley, R. Kelly, Isaac Hayes, and many more artists. Music followed me throughout middle school and high school and allowed me to meet many friends along the way. In middle school, I was a member of the seventh and eighth grade band-- the marching band and symphonic band. I also participated in All-West Band which allowed me to meet many of the friends who I still communicate with to this day. We still get together and reminisce on our old performances, talk about music in general, life, and our pursuits in music.
In high school, I was a member of the concert band and marching band. I met so many people from across the country in marching band. We would travel every weekend to different states for competitions. Everyone I met, we all shared a common interest, and I still talk to some of the people I met while in marching band as well.
After my freshmen year, I grew out of the whole marching band concept and wanted to pursue my own musical interest. A friend I met while I was in marching had a makeshift type studio at his house. A group of my friends and I made up a name for a sort of record producing project. We would just go there after school and come up with songs and go in the studio (my friend’s closet) and just record the songs. We even sold our recordings at school for five dollars. That was one of the best periods of my life so far.As of today, music is somewhat the root of my relationship with my family and friends. If there is nothing to talk about we always seem to find a subject in music. I even wrote this blog while listening to music.

Jannica-

“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” A Jamaican reggae singer and musician, better known as Bob Marley, once spoke these very words.Music is something to which everyone can relate. I have yet to meet a person who has a burning hatred for such a universal theme. It has the power to do anything from inducing an insane amount of adrenaline for a football game to easing a person's frustration after a hard day's work. And unless an electric guitar gets smashed on your head or your fingers get caught between some symbols, music definitely isn't painful. There's such a wide variety of music on this earth that it's impossible not to enjoy something. A person might also change their mind about their musical preferences. For example, I used to dislike Bob Marley, or reggae for that matter. Then one day I sat down with my Jamaican friend and really listened to what this influential, Rastafarian man had to say. His lyrics made me rethink my perception of life at the time. I had constantly being given home suspensions for ridiculous reasons. Particularly this was due to the recently recruited and not to mention crooked school administration in charge."Don't worry about a thing cause every little thing is gonna be all right," he proclaimed. Hearing this made my presently hectic, unrighteous world far more manageable. I felt as though I had always longed to hear these words from somebody throughout the course of my life. I was overcome with a sense of calmness though still engulfed in the upbeat reggae rhythms.I continued on for the remainder of my high school career inspired (only enduring a few more unjust issues) and received my diploma on that momentous day. Now here I stand-- a college freshman ready to take on life.

Mauricus-

Has music lost its content? This issue has been bought up many times in the last decade. Most of the answers are very opinionated. I personally believe that in some cases it has, but in some ways its still the same or maybe even better. I have had many personal encounters and influences with music. Music has always been used to send out various messages such as love, hate, and problems. The same issues are still talked about today. There have been many controversial issues with today’s music. Themes such as sex and violence have really stirred up America. People fail to realize that this has always been talked about in music, the styles of discussion were just different. For example, Marques Houston’s hit song “Naked” was on the verge of being banned because of its title. On the other hand, some of the same people who had problems with this song loved the 1980’s hit “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye. These two songs have the exact same topic, but the one from today’s society was considered controversial. This is just one example of why I think music has some of the same content. On the other hand, topics such as robbing and killing do take away some content from music. Even with this, no matter what, you will always have a couple of bad apples in the bunch. Will we let this be the overall deciding factor of today’s music?

Although the three of our personal encounters don’t overlap perfectly, they share one major aspect: music tremendously influences all of us.

THEME: MUSIC

"One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain." A Jamaican reggae singer and musician, better known as Bob Marley, once spoke these very words.
Music is something to which everyone can relate. I have yet to meet a person who has a burning hatred for such a universal theme. It has the power to do anything from enducing an insane amount of adrenaline for a football game to easing a person's frustration after a hard day's work. And unless an electric guitar gets smashed on your head or your fingers get caught between some symbols, music definitely isn't painful. There's such a wide variety of music on this earth that it's impossible not to enjoy something.
A person might also change their mind about their musical preferences. For example, I used to dislike Bob Marley, or reggae for that matter. Then one day I sat down with my Jamaican friend and really listened to what this influential, Rastafarian man had to say.
His lyrics made me rethink my perception of life at the time. I had constantly being given home suspensions for ridiculous reasons. Particularly this was due to the recently recruited and not to mention crooked school administration in charge.
"Don't worry about a thing cause every little thing is gonna be all right," he proclaimed. Hearing this made my presently hectic, unrighteous world far more manageable. I felt as though I had always longed to hear these words from somebody throughout the course of my life. I was overcome with a sense of calmness though still engulfed in the upbeat reggae rhythms.
I continued on for the remainder of my high school career inspired (only enduring a few more unjust issues) and received my diploma on that momentous day. Now here I stand-- a college freshman ready to take on life.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Themes

M U S I C
Groups members: jannica, mauricus, jonathan


- played clarinet in middle school
- Bob Marley-- when it hits you, you feel no pain
- favorite band for five years was the Vines
- started taking piano lessons in 3rd grade; stopped in 7th
- was in Orff All City in 6th grade
- trophies for musical excellence
- learning to play my Fender DG-7 acoustic guitar
- subs are bumpin; iloveBASS
- i can tolerate any music playing
- muck sticky = awesome local music
- musicfest
- hear songs on the radio and teach myself to play them
- i sing
- music is everywhere.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Tools of Writers, Esquire

This article in Esquire titled "Milkenize Me" is based on men's generally bad eating habits. The author, Cal Fussman, hopes to influence his readers to eat healthier by explaining his own mistakes and those of his parents. He uses Michael Milken as an aid for his health-conscious cause since his name is already so familiar and appeals to the business world.
The article is chronologically structured around the major events in Fussman's life and includes his choice of foods during these selected time periods. At first he is disappointed in the photo hanging on his wall which is a visual aid suggesting obesity. He tells how his mother has presently been diagnosed with cancer, a disease which Milken (the author's main inspiration) overcame. He also informs his readers of his father's poor eating habits--

"If you gave me a choice between living a few more years or eating good steaks, I say: Give me the steaks." (Esquire 100)

The tone the author displays is serious, vital, and straightforward. Eating healthy can potentially save your life, and your health is obviously nothing with which to play around. Fussman is attempting to tell his audience that getting in shape is possible. Since he's giving his own personal account, more of the audience can relate. He starts out the article saying he never believed in diets. The Buddy Diet failed him miserably, so he gave up all hope until the esteemed health nut Michael Milken told him that he can still eat what he wants--

"I've found that through creativity, I'm able to eat almost anything I desire." (Esquire 97)

What Milken meant by this was any foods a person longs for can be mimicked with a more nutritional but tantalizing alternative which will in turn enhance the body's immune system.
Words of diction such as fat, belly, Hagen Daas, and cancer offer a negative connotation while fruits, vegetables, exercise, and diet suggest the opposite. The voice Fussman is trying to get across is a healthier lifestyle is feasible for anybody willing to make the jump. You don't have to try painstaking diets or meticulously keep count of tiny, useless weight loss pills. It's just a matter of altering the dishes you desire all the while keeping the tastes you love.
Food is something every human being can relate to, so this article immediately grabs most readers' attention. It certainly caught my eye.