This happened only five years before the antibiotic that could have treated him and prevented his death came to be. In illustrating this story, she describes the event as one that “scarred his family with a grief they never recovered from.” (188) Through this story, as a reader, it is almost impossible not to imagine yourself in her shoes. That, along with the use of these very emotionally provoking words, she captures the audience from the beginning with this pathetic appeal that carries on throughout the essay. She goes on to appeal to logics as well.
This week we read and discussed The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. This book is an in depth novel about a human being experiencing grief. So far, we have read books about institutions and cultures of death. However, this is the first book we have read that is a personal experience. The discussion in class about this book was a different feeling than the rest of the books we have discussed.
Minerva Mirabal was the leader and the voice of the butterflies before their murders on November 25, 1960. Minerva was the leader of the group because of her extroverted attitude and her disgustion of oppression. Minerva consistently portrayed the image of the butterfly to the public despite the struggles she had going on in her personal life. From a young age, Minerva’s identity is rooted in her struggle against oppression. Throughout her life, she transforms her identity into a national symbol.
Going to the store. We need milk.” (1179). One can consider that to be denial of her death, but it is, in fact, Actor’s way of coping with her death and allowing his life to continue as it normally would. Through the progression of Actor and Actress’s relationship as seen in Post-its (Notes on a Marriage), one can see how quickly life passes by.
“The writers, I do believe, who get the best and most lasting response from readers are the writers who offer a happy ending through moral development. By a happy ending, I do not mean mere fortunate events: a marriage, or a last-minute rescue from death; but some kind of spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation, even with the self, even at death.” – Fay Weldon Imagine one Janie Crawford, back in Eatonville, once again under the watchful eye of the jealous townspeople, scrutinized and harshly judged. Janie has been in this situation before, a long time ago, but what is different this time? The difference, among many others, is that Janie has taken a look at her core values, her goals, and her aspirations, and changed her outlook on life.
Wednesday, October 22 Reading Response 2 “Living Will” by Danielle Ofri is about an author who is a doctor who came across a patient that is suicidal. “They All Just Went Away” by Joyce Carol Oates is about a young lonely girl who finds herself attracted in entering abandoned house and is entranced by other peoples lives and what they left by. Although these stories are very different, I believe both the authors share a similar idea, but different outlooks, of how the main characters in each essay struggle to do the right thing. “Living Will” gives us a better perspective of what doctors today have to face with their jobs. The author, Danielle Ofri, came across a severely ill patient, Wilburn Reston, which really makes her think.
Jeannette thought positively about both of her parents even though she could have her doubts. “Maybe I wasn’t a complete fool for believing in mine. Or trying to believe in him. It was getting harder” (Walls 168-169).
When people are traumatized by an event they are pushed to experience the five stages of grief. The “Gospel”, by Philip Levine and “the boy detective loses love”, by Sam Sax both use characters that are going through one of the stages of grief. Levine and Sax both explain the thoughts and process of what a person thinks when they go through these stages with imagery. Levine uses symbolism, a sad tone, and a set setting in “Gospel” to illustrate that grieving takes you into a depth of thoughts. Sax uses anaphoras, an aggressive tone, and an ambiguous setting to convey that grieving takes you into a tunnel of anger and rage.
The Dark ages describe a period of time which is also called the Middle Ages ranging from approximately 500AD to 1500AD. The Dark Ages were in Europe. The Dark Ages was debatable. There should be a reason for why they were called Dark. So the question is where they really dark?
In Los Angeles, there is a well known stormed called the Santa Ana that often occurs during the colder months. Joan Didion writes an essay that discusses what the storm is and how it affects the Los Angelenos. Although primarily writing for everyone’s knowledge, being she is a fellow citizen, she directs her thoughts towards Los Angeles’ people She gains a connection with her audience and their emotions. After doing this she selects specific words to help enhance the intensity of the storm. She also uses long sentences to further describe the intensity of the storm through her writing techniques, but towards the end of the essay she uses short sentences to provide information and to show she is knowledgeable to the audience .
Life changes in the instant. You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends. The question of self-pity.” (p. 3) These are the first words of the book, and the first words Didion writes after losing her husband, John Gregory Dunne, to a sudden massive coronary event on the evening of December 30, 2003.
Dark Romanticism evolves from works of the Romantic Period (1798-1870) with characteristics of horror fiction and death. It is taken as a reaction of the Transcendental Movement, which originated abreast the Romantic Period from 1830 to 1860. Known writers like Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, and Nathaniel Hawthorne found that the ideas displayed in the Transcendental works were idealistic and rose-colored, as a result, they opt to alter these works adding their own element hence this was the birth of the subgenre. To explore more about this subgenre we have three Americans mentioned above that are considered as major Dark Romantics authors. Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809.
The people in those books never lived. Come on now! She shook her head.” (Bradbury 35). Here, one is demonstrated that the old woman is emotionally, mentally, and even physically attached
When Richard’s heard the news of her husband’s death, he assumed Mrs. Mallard would be devastated. While everyone knew Mrs. Mallard was “afflicted with heart trouble” (57), him and her sister, Josephine, wanted to give her the news with “great care” (57). Josephine broke the news to Mrs. Mallard in “broken sentences”
When writing her personal essay “In Bed”, author Joan Didion intended it for an audience very familiar with migraines, however, it has the potential to be written for an audience of people just beginning to experience migraines. Didion’s use of personal anecdotes, factual information, and inspiring acceptance are all points that can be altered for this new audience. Didion begins her essay with personal accounts of her experiences with migraines, setting the stage for an introduction that relates to newcomers. She describes the suffering in which she endures during her migrains, composed of imagery that brings the reader into her situation. Where she begins with stating that she “spend[s] the day in bed with a migraine”, she could instead present this as a question to the reader.
