Response To Course Material #2

These past few weeks have served as a way to apply our knowledge on DIDLS and close reading. While analyzing The Century Quilt in class, I realized how important DIDLS is. Because I had its meaning memorized, I was able to go through the poem and pick out the examples of each one. I didn’t have any problems picking out the different types of diction, imagery, details, language, and syntax, but I found it confusing on how to apply them in an explanation of how they affect the work as a whole.  For example I found that the poem was split into four different time periods: the narrator’s past, the narrator’s present, the narrators mother’s past, and the narrator’s future; but I was not able to explain how this affected the work as a whole.

The peer response to the blogs was helpful in that they opened my eyes on what to do and not to do.  In the open prompt post, I failed to address an important aspect of the play that would draw Romeo and Mercutio to be more similar not different (which was my argument). While Romeo bounces between the heights of ecstatic love and the lows of deepest melancholy, Mercutio continues to act as the voice of reason. When Romeo is overly idealistic about love Mercutio cautions him against impulsive action, but when Romeo is despairing about love Mercutio tells him to think rationally and to pursue Juliet if he truly loves her. Therefore while Mercutio may seem to be a proponent of passion, he is in fact still acting as the voice of reason and advocating for Romeo to act upon his love for Juliet if he truly feels it. And regarding the Queen Mab monologue, I would state that Mercutio does not necessarily believe in this fairy, but rather is using the most romantic of poetic language and description to appeal to Romeo’s romantic nature in order to galvanize him into action. If I had included this in my essay and had effectively argued it my way, the reader may have been convinced even though on the surface it seemed the opposite.

This week we also began reading The American Dream. While reading it the first time, I was extremely confused on Albee’s purpose of writing the play and I felt that he probably intended it to be read and seen by a more mature audience with greater life experience. However, after reading the article on how the hardworking but aging Grandma actually represents the gradual death of the old “American dream” and the handsome but vapid young man represents the concern with superficiality and lack of substance of the new “American dream.” This was mind-boggling at first, but as I started reading closely through the play these ideas made more sense. Grandma was old, useful, not used to the new social ways, and caring, unlike most people of the next generation; and while the young man was good looking, he seems to have no useful purpose in the world.

I feel that the allusion presentations were useful in that they summarized all the important events in each story so we would not have to read them individually in order to understand the reference. I have not yet found any allusions to these stories in the readings we have done in AP Lit, but I am sure that I will soon.

I have learned how to apply the important aspects of AP Lit, such as DIDLS and close reading in these past few weeks, and I am excited to apply them in my future close readings.