Literary Analysis #1

Go Ask Alice
By. Anonymous

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read.
Go Ask Alice is a realistic fiction. This book is in a diary style that is written by unnamed 15-year-old girl. The diarist moved because of her father's job. She goes to a party and she gets drugged, and she loses her virginity. After this party, she becomes worried everyday. With all the stresses, she gets addicted to the drug. She meets college boys who selling drug. She meets with them and sell drugs for them. After realizing that they are using her to earn money,she turn them in to the police and runs away to San Francisco. She finds a job there but soon gets drugged again by the woman she meets there. Diarist misses her family and wants to get away from the drug. She drifts through homelessness, prostitution, hitchhiking, and homeless shelters, before a priest reunites her with her family. Diarist finally is free to of drugs. Now she does not need diary to talk about her problems, she has her family. The epilogue states that diarist found dead in her home three weeks after the final entry, either by an accidental or premediated overdose.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
The theme of this book is the problems of adolescent identity. Since the diarist was young as fifteen years old, she needed a care from her family. but her family was always busy and they had to move to nuew place because of her parents' job. All of these situations lead the diarist to miserable life by starting the drug. She did not want to start the drug but at the part her friends mader her to do it. In the book the diarist says, "Oh dear god, help me adjust, help me be accepted, help me belong, don't let me be an outcast and a drag on my famil." This shows that she wants to stop her miserable life for her and her parents, it is just too difficult to go through for her age.

3. Describe the author's tone. Include three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
The tone of this story change over time. Beginningo fthe story, the tone is happy and naive. But after the diarist moves to San Francisco and start taking drug, the tone become gloomy, world-weary, sad and miserable. And then by the end of the story, the tone change to happy and sweet agian.
4. Describe five literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthen your understanding of the theme and/or your sense of the tone. Include three excerpts (for each element) that will help your reader understand each one.
Tone-change over time. happy-sad-miserable-horrify-sad-happy-sad.
Diction- simple, because it is a point-of-view of 15 year old girl.
Mood-Gloomy through out but bright mood comes out in the beginning and the end.
Characters- diarist used to be happy 15 year old girl but she becomes very gloomy person.
Symbolism-diary, she does not have anyone to talk about her problems. Diary symbolize the loneliness of her life.
Style-This is a diary style.
Flashback- She flashback her old, happy memory often to compare her life right now.

CHARACTERIZATION
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization. Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?

Diarist is a indirect character because the reader can find out her characterics by how she acts. Since this is in a diary-style of novel, she does not directly tell her who she is. We don't even know her name.
It is hard to choose characters becasue diarist is the only character that appears in the story often. Other charcters are people who appears for little bit to give the diarist hard time.

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character? How? Example(s)?

This book is a diary-style so she does not change her syntax and diction when she focuses on characters. She does not describe each characters deeply becasue they are not the "main" character in the story. They appears for little bit.

3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or round? Explain.

The protagonist of the novel is dynamic and round. In the beginning of the novel she was a ordinary bright 15 year old gir. But after she moves to the place she never been before and she gets into drug, she becomes gloomy and sad everyday.

4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character? Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.

I would love to meet the diarist. I feel very sad about her. She had to go through all these difficulties because she could not get care from her parents. They were so busy. That is why she made this diary to talk about her problems. At the end, we know that she died when she finally finds the happiness of her life. I wish we can go back time and I can meet her to tell her that I care about her and maybe we can become a great friend.

LIT TERMS 31-56

31) Dialect- A particular form of a language that are used in specific region..

32) Dialectics- formal debates usually over the nature of truth.

33) Dichotomy- split or break between two opposing things.

34) Diction- choice of words in speech or writing.

35) Didactic- intended to teach

36) Dogmatic- rigid in beliefs and principles.

37) Elegy- a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead.

38) Epic- a long poem narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figure.

39) Epigram- witty aphorism

40) Epitaph- any brief inscription in prose or verse on a tombstone; a short formal poem of commemoration often a credo written by the person who wises it to be on his tombstone.

41) Epithet- a short, descriptive name or phrase that may insult someone's character, characteristics

42) Euphemism- the use of an indirect, mild or vague word or expression  for one thought to be coarse, offensive, or blunt.

43) Evocative- a calling forth of memories and sensations; the suggestion or production through artistry and imagination of a sense of reality.

44) Exposition- beginning of a story that sets forth facts, ideas, and/or characters, in a detailed explanation.

45) Expressionism- movement in art, literature, and music consisting of unrealistic representation of an inner idea or feeling.

46) Fable- a short , simple story, usually with animals as characters, designed to teach a moral truth.

47) Fallacy- from Latin word "to deceive", a false or misleading notion, belief, or argument; any kind of erroneous reasoning that makes arguments unsound.

48) Falling Action- part of the narrative or drama after the climax.

49) Farce- a boisterous comedy involving ludicrous action and dialogue.

50) Figurative language- apt and imagination language characterized by figures of speech

51) Flashback- a narrative device that flashes back to prior events.

52) Foil- a person or thing that, by contrast, makes another seem better or more prominent.

53) Folk Tale- story passed on by word or mouth.

54) Foreshadowing- in fiction and drama, a device to prepare the reader for the outcome of the action: "planning" to make the outcome convincing, though not to give it away.

55) Free Verse- verse without conventional metrical pattern, with irregular pattern or no rhyme.

56) Genre- a category or class of artistic endeavor having a particular form, technique, or content.

DICKENS MAP

1) your reading schedule to complete your reading/review of the book by Monday, February 4;
I am almost done with the book. I am going to finish them whenever I have time.
2) five AP questions (with source URLs) that you intend to be able to answer by the time you finish;
 1.Discuss at least one way in which Dickens parallels the personal and the political in A Tale of Two Cities. (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/twocities/study.html)
  2.Is revenge ever justifiable? If so, when? (http://www.shmoop.com/tale-of-two-cities/questions.html)
  3.Discuss Dickens’s use of foreshadowing in A Tale of Two Cities. (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/twocities/study.html)
  4. Why was Charles Darnay able to see the unfairness of the class structure that benefited him and then able to extricate himself from it? Are there other characters as capable of seeing beyond their own circumstances?(http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/A-Tale-of-Two-Cities-by-Charles-Dickens-Reading-Questions-Oprahs-Book-Club#ixzz2JKpbHKUi)
  5.Compare and contrast the difference between England and France at this time. (http://narhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/2012/02/10-reading-questions-tale-of-two-cities.html)
3) how you think you should be tested on these ideas, and/or how you intend to demonstrate your expertise on your blog. 
I am tired of written test or anything that are just boring. I think we should be in a small group and write some topics about the book and gather in a big group and discuss about each topics.

Lit Term 6-30

6)Analogy- A comparison made between two things to show the similarities between them.

7)Analysis- a method in which a work or idea is separated into its parts, and those parts given rigorous and detailed scrutiny.

8)Anaphora- a device or repetition in which a word or words are repeated at the beginning of two ore more lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences.


9)Anecdote- a very short story used to illustrate a point.

10)Antagonist- a person or force opposing the protagonist in a drama or narrative.

11)Antithesis- a balancing of one term against another for emphasis or stylistic effectiveness.

12)Aphorism- a terse, pointed statement expressing some wise or clever observation about life.

13)Apologia- a defense or justification for some doctrine, piece of writing , cause , or action; also apology

14)Apostrophe- a figure of speech in which an absent or dead person, an abstract quality, or something inanimate or nonhuman is addressed directly


15)Argument(action)- the process of convincing a reader by proving either the truth or the falsity of an idea or proposition; also, the thesis or proposition itself.

16)Assumption- the act of supposing, or taking for granted that a thing is true.

17)Audience- the intended listener or listeners

18)Characterization- the means by which writer reveals a character's personality.

19)Chiasmus- a reversal in the order off words so that the second half of a statement balances the first half in inverted word order.

20)circumlocution- a roundabout or evasive speech or writing, I which many words are used but a few would have served.

21)Classicism- art, literature, and music reflecting the principles of ancient Greece and Rome: tradition, reason, clarity, order, and balance

22) Cliché- a phrase or situation overused within society..

23)Climax- the decisive point in the narrative or drama; the pint of greatest intensity or interest at which plot question is answered or resolved.


24)Colloquialism- folksy speech, slang words or phrases usually used in informal conversation.

25)Comedy- originally a nondramatic literary piece of work that was marked by a happy ending; now a term to describe a ludicrous, farcical, or amusing event designed provide enjoyment or produce smiles and laughter.


26)Conflict- struggle or problem in a story causing tension

27)Connotation- implicit meaning, going beyond dictionary definition

28)Contrast- a rhetorical device by which one element (idea or object) is thrown into opposition to another for the sake of emphasis or clarity.

29)Denotation- plain dictionary definition

30)Denouement- loose ends tied up in a story after the climax, closure, conclusion.

POETRY ANALYSIS

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night
By. Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce teas, I pray,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

St. Crispin's Day Speech

 

So.. I am really bad at memorizing ..  And especially this poem, I really couldn't understand it. All the words are jumbled and it was really hard to memorize word for word...
Even if I fully memorize them, I cannot recite them front of people. I get too nervous that I won't even be able to start. Hopefully I will get better soon.
And in this video, my eyes roll everywhere and that's my bad habit when I get nervous...
My arm was hurting after shooting this haha

Lit Terms 1-5

1)Allegory: a tale in prose or verse in which characters, actions, or settings represent abstract ideas or moral qualities; a story that uses symbols to make a point.

2)Alliteration: the repetition of similar initial sounds, usually consonants, in a group of words

3)Allusion: a reference to a person, a place, an event, or a literary work that a writer expects a reader to recognize.

4)Ambiguity: something uncertain as to interpretation

5)Anachronism: something that shows up in the wrong place or the wrong time