Monday, April 16, 2007

Point of View: Shooting an Elephant

Shooting an elephant by George Orwell is based on his experience as a police officer in Burma, India. He uses in his narrative essay a deal of techniques in order to transmit his main point. He uses persuasive techniques such as symbolism. As a colonial police officer he was a symbol to Burmese. He was able to maintain control because his power. The second technique that he utilizes is several metaphors. For instance:
“seemingly the lead actor”
“an absurd puppet”
“he wears a mask”
“a conjurer about to perform a trick”
“posing dummy”
He uses these metaphors in order to describe a people, represent the scene as a theater where cultural characteristics play a fundamental role. Finally, he handle with irony when he explain that he was forced to shot the elephant, but if anything went wrong and then he describes what was in his mind in an irony manner. In summary, I liked because the event happened is represented with persuasives arguments using convincing techniques.

Television Addiction

Marie Winn establishes a comparison between drug or alcohol and television habit. Winn draws this habit as a destructive addition. But, I think that is not the same consequences. Drugs and alcohol provide a biological destructive response. The negative effects of drugs do not compare to the negative effects of television. Physical harms are involved in drug and alcohol addiction. Although drugs addiction and television habit are dissatisfied by fall into the same habit and return and return, the painful consequences are not the same. And both activities offer an escape from the difficulties daily life. In other words, it can blot out the real world as a Winn describe in her essay. Definitively, nobody die because the excessive hours in from of TV. Certainly, television habit causes adverse results such as distorts time and social relationships. It represents a lose time that is a negative effect. But, the physical side effects are not the same in drug addiction and television habit. My point of view is that the key of television habit is the negative impact caused because the current content television. It is disastrous and harmful. This main point is not addressed in her essay. I think it is a strong argument and appropriate reason to convince people that television habit must be harmful and destructive addition.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Observations: Two views of the Mississippi

This essay provides a magic description about the great river. He recalls a memory about his reflections of a beautiful sunset, the fading sunlight, and the delicate waves of the water. He feels that he had made a valuable acquisition. But, at the same time he had lost the grace, the beauty, and the poetry. He could not longer appreciate the beauty of the river when he becomes a riverboat pilot. After that, he only could see the dangers of the different details. Through this new experience, he learned several signs of the river that would be vital for the safety of his steamboat. I believe that it is a real situation that happens in every situation. People associate magical qualities for the first impression to something unknown. Then, all magic qualities could or could not be true.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Desmond Morris and Visual Sings

Desmond Morris describes three territorial levels: tribal, family, and personal. Each level is associated with different symbols that give us an idea of security. First, on the tribal level that consists in nations, clubs, unions, gangs, and associations. The sings are territorial boundaries-lines such as forts, posts, and great walls. Also, can be emblems such as flags, military uniforms, anthems. Morris also points that each of modern pseudo tribes sets its home base where it exists a powerful feeling of security and importance. Second, the main symbol in the family territory is the bedroom. It is our most territorially secure. A garden fence or a wall is a mark of boundary lines. Design, colors, wall paper create the characteristics that identify specific family home. Third, personal space is the space surrounding a person. The author states if our personal space is trespassed, we feel threatened. We use personal markers to maintain a distance that feels comfortable to us. Morris illustrates his essay with excellent examples.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Summary: “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift

“A Modest Proposal” is a satirical essay with an irrational reasoning. J. Swift suggest that Catholic poor Irish families should fatten up their children and then sell them to the Protestant rich. So, starving children and poverty in one blow are solved. In summary, in the first paragraph he calls attention to female beggars accompanied by children. The, a one years old child become the best solution to the problem. A great advantage of the plan is presented in paragraph five that is the prevention of voluntary abortions. Reducing the number of papists (i.e., Catholics) is another advantage of this proposal. Also, a gentleman should be prepared to pay ten shillings for “the carcass of a good fat child.” Increasing the care and tenders of mothers toward their children, bringing “great custom” to taverns, serving as a great inducement to marriage, and relieving “constant breeders” of the expense of raising their children beyond a certain age are some advantages to his proposal. Furthermore, because “the flesh of too tender a consistence to admit a long continuance in salt,” the meat of infants can be consumed in the taverns, in the mansions of wealthy people landlords, in the rural parts of Ireland, in Dublin; but it will not be consumed in England. Finally, he attempts to prove his lack of self-interest by making an observation that his youngest child is nine years old and his wife is beyond child-bearing age. To conclude, J. Swift presents a satirical and cruel solution to the situation in Ireland at that time.

About Property

E. M. Forster’s essay is about owning property and its effects. He discusses four main effects the wood may have on him. First, property makes people avaricious. Secondly, it makes people want more and more each day. Third, people need to demonstrate what they possess. So, they need to do something with their possession. Finally, people turn too egoist as a result of their wood. In other words, people cannot share their stuffs. These are author’s point of view. In my opinion, most people experience such feeling. The property signifies personal self-governing in the minds of most people. Property makes people in a way that they behave in conformity with wanting more and more and nothing is enough. In this essay the author uses various tones, such as serious and a little sarcastic.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Symbol

“With Woody Allen, a house is not a home” by Mia Farrow is an example of illustration and example, narration, and description essay. She does a fabulous description of her own landscape, so the reader can represent every thing there. It is a very sensitive description. Also, the author does an anecdote through a representative symbol that reflex evident problem in the relationship with Woody Allen. The shower represents their poor relationship. She uses a satiric technic in her essay. Therefore, the impressive, bigger, and new house that Woody Allen buys in the East Hampton represents something a trouble. “It was a big house,” she mentions in her essay. Something sarcastic and something humor is showed brilliantly in this magic picture. Their relationship had gone through the mysterious drain. In the same talking, she does a Woody Allen’s characterization as a special man, extremely neat, and complex person.

Reality about Environmental Pollution

A fable for Tomorrow” by an American biologist Rachel Carson is an excellent comparison and contrast essay structured by blocks. In the first block she describes an imaginary town in the past. All in that town was perfect and beauty. In the second block she contrasts that harmony town with an imagined tragedy about its possible environmental pollution. How pollution might affect so imaginary beauty town is the question she discusses. The essay is a warning of natural disaster that it may become a tremendous reality if people do not care our environment. Pollution has a negative impact on our planet. Environmental pollution is caused by pollutant emissions into the air by industries such as energy, nuclear, and chemistry industries. Oil pollution is one of the most harmful to ecology that cause to climate change. Climate changes put forests and water supply in risk, endangers plants and animals, and harm human health. Therefore, most people should pay attention to proclaim, through this good comparison, which has been done in this essay. Be careful what people do! It is the message set up.

Suitable System

Procrastination is important for everyone who pursuing a career because it afflicts most of them. In the essay “Procrastination” Dr. Joyce Brothers gives its definition. Then, she illustrates the consequences that procrastination may cause with an anecdote that contain implicit evidence. Also, she explains psychological and effective tools that can help people to prevent procrastination. She gives the following steps:
*Do a Reinforcement List or Procrastination List.
*Organize the list in order of the importance.
*Scheduling the task in order of the severity of the penalty.
*Set a goal.
Step by step she gives extraordinary examples with very good details. Also, she explains little tricks that people can use in order to obtain better result. I like the system that she has of the three “To Do” baskets because of her tendency to procrastinate. I think is a genial idea. She details what she does. It is amazing how these three baskets are a useful tool to obtain appropriate effectiveness. She explains that the first basket is for things for today. The second one is for after emergencies. And the third one is for everything else. She ends the essay with a subtitle “The Glorious sense of Accomplishment.” This part is an important advice that people should do. Reward yourself when something is done!

A Little Mess is OK!

A very common and useful method of essay organization is comparison and contrast. Anything can be compared or contrasted. When you make a comparison, you show how certain aspects of one item are similar to another item. When you contrast two things, you point out the differences between them. In other words, you point out how they are not alike. So, the elements of the comparison and contrast are similarities and differences. It is a very useful tool because all people do in every day situation. Neat People Vs Sloppy People by Suzanne Britt is an excellent example of comparison and contrast essay. She has arranged it in blocks. It means she discusses the point of sloppy people and then takes the point of neat people. You can infer the author is a sloppy person. She establishes sloppy people have extreme moral rectitude. And they have certain normal defect as a human being. So, it is normal a little mess. Little messes make up part of human being. Therefore, a net person never is a human. This is the idea you can get about the author's point of view.

Restorative Artist

In the essay “Embalming in the U.S.A.” J. Mitford explains the process what is done in order to prepare a body before it is held open house for a few days and then buried. In summary, the process is performed in several steps by the embalmer who the author refers to “restorative artist.” The author presents very good description of the following steps:


*Lay the body in the morgue or in the preparation room.
*Remove all the blood.
*Replaced the blood by the embalming fluid which is pumped through the arteries.
*The trocar is done.
*Restoration, the author classify this step in a way that the embalmer plays a roll of sculptor and cosmetician .


Step by step she explains every thing in great details. She develops a great process essay that the reader can become aware of surrounding embalming. And its execution involves steps that most people are unaware of this natural event, but it is probable that most reader would feel something uncomfortable due to it is extremely details. “A most extraordinary procedure” she refers to embalming. I really thing so!

Spectacular Turkey

Have you need to carve a great turkey? How to do that? Do you thing is it an easy task? Russell Baker provide instructions step-by- step in chronological arrange in his essay “Slice of Life.” He uses key words such as begin, thus, now, and repeat which indicate a process essay. One thing that you can detect immediately is his sarcastic tone when you read that the list for carving a turkey have to have bandage, sutures, and iodine. He continues in the same mood through it. Another observation about this essay is its unbelievable details that involve caring a turkey. Also, you may conclude this chore is not really easy; contrarily, it may be very muddle. In addition, the author shows a great deal skills concerning carve a turkey. Finally, he closes the essay with a sarcastic statement, but just appropriate “No one who cares about the artistry of carving can be expected to work upon the mutilations of amateurs, and it would be a betrayal of the carver’s art to do so.” Excellent details and incredible originality!

Friday, January 26, 2007

Obervations

“Why Don’t We Complain” is an example of an illustration essay. The author presents six examples where establish an idea of why don’t Americans complain in irrational situation. The author raises through the essay the apathy of Americans, in other words their lack of interest for important senses and finally he clearly felt frustrated. He analyzes those situations in special structure essay. He begin his recount of facts with individuals and finish it with the behavior of the society, so in order of importance named emphatic order. The author wonders why people don’t complain about the high temperature inside the train, the out of focus the picture, of the situation on airline, of political apathy. When he was standing in line, he decides do a complain resulting an embarrassing situation. He emphasize “when we have finally suppressed the natural instinct to complain, we shall we become automatons, incapable of feeling”

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Reflexion

“Death of a Moth” by Virginia Woolf is a reflexion about her own life. She was sitting, looking out the window, pencil in hand, and representing in this moth all that was happening into her mind. She expressed the moth was dancing and zigzagging, so the moth was happy like her outside life. But, when the moth was trapped inside that house, the moth dies like her inside life. I did not like this pathetic description around of insignificant insect. Even though she describes as an extraordinary effort made by the moth, it plays a roll very weak fighting for its life. She was trying to represents what life really is in her point of view. Her sorrow showed the loss of hope when she writes “I knew, had any chance against death”.

Thinking about "The Way to Rainy Mountain" by N. Scoot Momaday

In The Way to Rainy Mountain analyzes personal feeling about Kiowa Indian history. The author does a meticulous description around his personal memories of Kiowa culture and traditions. Also, he presents the tribal stories when his grandmother was a child and explains how it is on contemporary time. Therefore the author revokes his ancestors in order to generate an impression of the tribes’ life. In other words, he narrates the way of life of his descendants. This description is a remarkable, cultural and historical study of the Kiowa Indians. He refers to the Indian religious rituals, their legends, and their reverence for the sun. Aho, his grandmother took part in the sun dances. In these ways, the author combines the history, his beliefs, and his costume’s ancestors. Revealing his own emotional he links to Rainy Mountain and the Kiowa anecdotes.

Similarities and Differences Between two Great Essays

“Salvation” by Langston Hughes and “A Chase” by Annie Dillard have few similarities and some very significant differences. First of all, both are chapters from autobiographies. Another similarity is the main characters are children who live in the United States. Also, both use narrative strategies and center on an internal belief.
The major difference is in their plots. In “Salvation” the main character is a twelve-year-old boy, the scenario is a religious family, and the main message refers to the child’s mind that the can not do a just interpretation of metaphors as adult assume. On the other hand, in “A chase” the plot happens in the city, in the winter, and the main character is a seven-year-old girl who looking for actions on the street. She thinks and expresses her feelings of exhilaration and fear refers to the infant’s mind.