To the world I say, I joined a literature class. An AP course, of course. Yep, I'm already overwhelmed. Who knew there could be so much to writing? Not me, and I'm the one who wants to be the writer.Ha! I figured this year would be dedicated to reading the classics, you know like: The Great Gatsby, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer,Pygmalion...I could go on forever and ever and well ever. And I'm sure we'll get to the classics but I sure didn't realize that I was going to become a scientist. Everything we touch and read and see becomes dissected .Words are not merely words. I was ignorant, but now I'll grudgingly admit that by diving deeper into to literary works, I'm learning to ignore the simple explanations in favor for the more detailed ones.
Remember the paintings we discussed earlier in the month? The ones with Mary and baby Jesus? For me, when my eyes first landed on both depictions of Mary and baby Jesus, I didn't get it. I saw paintings and ignored the little voice in my mind that was telling me that there was something more to them. For example, the positioning of the nobility and the clergy in regards to the positioning of Mary and baby Jesus. What? Why? I didn't think those details mattered. But, as Ms. Holmes urged us, we needed to focus on the details, then it would all make sense. Fortunately, my knowledge of history allowed me to. That day, for me, served as a future challenge. A challenge to see beyond the first viewing, to look specifically at the objects and details as one unit then secondly, as a whole.
DIDLS. Diction. Imagery. Details.Language. Syntax. The literary techniques that turn a blank page into a work plentiful with words and meaning. Oh, boy. I'm familiar with the terms but I admit, I don't usually stop to consider them. Oh yeah, this work is soooo elevated. No. More like, Where is my dictionary . Or if there's a lot of imagery I think, Darn this author for being so good. Why can't I write like that? I mean, I know they all have their own purposes but frankly, sometimes I get confused. Sometimes I start talking about diction when what I'm really discussing is imagery. I'm just not used to spending time identifying each literary technique. But what proved helpful to me were the "Discussing Diction", "Metamorphosis" , and "Syntax as Style" assignments, especially because they involved partners. When I'm working in a group, I feel that in order to do my share, I try and think harder. Suddenly, diction only became about word choice. Imagery became the senses. And syntax evolved into a whole lot of stuff that I didn't even know was considered to be a part of syntax. Well in truth, before this school year I didn't even know what syntax was.
So DIDLS is helpful. When close reading, DIDLS is your pal because instead of commenting on what you think the work means, you can now comment on how DIDLS adds meaning to the work and for you as the reader. By dissecting each paragraph,or maybe even one word/phrase, your knowledge of the story expands because you are able to make connections on how the literary techniques fail or succeed in bringing the work to life. When we read the passages from Hemingway, Morrison, and Hawthorne, I was a bit confused. We were provided with very brief passages from each author and we were expected to use our knowledge of DIDLS to figure out their meanings. A lot of thoughts were going around in mind and I kind of wanted to throw a fit because I didn't think we were intelligent enough to figure it out. But we did. The passages were considerably different. One was more elevated. Another colloquial. One had a party with imagery. One worked to be vague. And from there we gathered up all the information and interpreted the passages( with a little help from Ms. Holmes). It was like the exhausted mountain climber straining and reaching for the ledge that takes him to the top of the mountain.Sigh. A success. Maybe, I'm exaggerating, I am, but we worked together and to be simple, it was cool.
The American Dream. A comedic farce( I think thats what we determined it was). full of coincidences. The first day my hands held that book and I listened to the dialogue through the voice of my classmates, I thought with a very uneducated stream of phrases, This play is weird...Why are we reading this? And a lot of other things that should probably be best left unmentioned. I found though, that as we continued our reading and discussions, the play no longer remained a play with characters with the childish names of Mommy and Daddy. It became about society and the turning of the world into a more materialistic mind form.And as we read the packets on existentialism and the theatre of the absurd, I found that I could see features of both throughout the play. The play has meaning despite it's absurdest elements of repetition and the unusual methods of communication. Existentialist-Freewill. Man seeks what he/she wants. I found it enlightening to read the interpretations of The American Dream through the words of Ervin Beck and Phillip C. Kolin's. Every person is going to react differently to this work. While Beck focused more on Grandma and the allegory in Edward Albee's play, Kolin's compared the work to other works, and focused more on the sexual tension throughout the play. I respect both writers and their opinions of the play and I can even see how they are right in their opinions. I agree with Beck's when he writes: "My point is that it takes one( American Dream, old style) to know one(American Dream, new style)"(Beck 4). Exactly. The American Dream will never end. Humans will always want and seek for something more. We have the space beyond our Earth to look forward to now. The torch keeps passing on as Grandma passes it to The American Dream. For Kolin's I agree with his analysis of the sexual tension but I feel that none of his claims were really new to me because we discussed the role reversals and sexuality's (physical) of Mommy and Daddy.
And now the question of the interpretation of the play and the characters as plastic, lifeless barbies. I just don't know. Yes, the dialogue is childish. Yes, the characters(except Grandma) never seem to be able to find their way around their house. The idea of a child speaking so openly(and possibly innocently) is not surprising. Children will surprise you with what they know and see. I've been witness to it. But, I feel like our class discussion of the doll house went too far. I understand that those who are overly focused on gaining become nothing but a shell after a while. I do, but I feel like we lost sight of the play's message at certain points and introduced transparent claims that made my mind want to explode. Only a little.
I see I have some thinking to do...I think I just want to read an essay where someone proves it. Joy. Writing, you are more than I imagined.
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ReplyDeleteReading your blog post is like reading one of your journal entries (which you know I love to do
ReplyDelete;)). I think we both enjoy how a language arts class is becoming more challenging as we take more
advanced classes. In the past, English classes never challenged us to think outside of the box or, at least
not for too long considering our teacher would reveal the “hidden message” to us eventually. We are
beginning to finally learn and discuss the art behind language. Do you ever feel that by dissecting
literature so much, we miss the author’s intentions? For instance, you mentioned how your class went
“too far” when commenting on how the setting of the American Dream could be a dollhouse. Some kids
in my class struck up a similar conversation and although they made valid points, I felt like we were
digging so deep into the play that we missed our target. However, I do not think we knew our target at
the time; we were pretty much just shooting off ideas and watching them bounce off each other. All in
all, it appears through your other blog posts that you are absorbing the lessons quite well. Power to the
Literary Sisters!
Ludia,
ReplyDeleteYou do a good job of expressing your initial encounter with AP Lit. Laboring over finding the meaning behind the paintings was a good example of describing the humble start. I know I was squinting a lot.
You do a good job on touching DIDLS and how they are to be implemented. I still sometimes find it difficult to distinguish the lines between things like diction and imagery. Good to see that you have a better understanding of the differences.
You are probably not alone in your initial reaction to The American Dream. I know that I found many of its ideas far beyond my reach, only tangible through the help of my classmates. The interpretations from the Beck and Kolin were also very influential: they usually set the agenda of discussion for our class. Doll house! You don't say? The idea was never mentioned in our class. Did your class think that the characters were literally dolls, or were they just taking the comparison too far?
Dear ludia,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post, i'm surprised other people share the same ideas i do. For instanced the picture of Mary and baby Jesus, i thought of the same, not really noting the little details of how the positioning of the nobility and the clergy meant something in a way? also how Mary and baby jesus is always in the center of the paintings and that are somewhat bigger than other people within the paint could possible be just the way the artist wanted to paint because from what i learned in World history like you, during the age of the Renaissance artists and Greece artists, they usually had painted like that to express certain messages. Aside from history, i really liked how you talked about DIDLS, Not really considering them at first and not really understanding them to the fullest, like realizing that DIDLS could be the key to the meaning of the authors work as you said earlier. Like Tone for example is defined as the writer's or speaker's attitude toward the subject and the audience. An appreciation of word choice, details, imagery, and language all contribute to the understanding of
tone. To misinterpret tone is to misinterpret meaning. Connecting this the discussions in class, i did feel the same as Audrey had said where we did focus on the details so much that we could have missed the big picture and what the author was trying to show us. but the question is, what do you think the Tone that Albee was trying to depict on us within the American Dream? because everyone has there own view on things?