http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/14/opinion/martin-gun-control/index.html
This article is titled "Now is the time to talk gun control, mental illness," and as I'm sure you've guessed, is in response to the Connecticut elementary school shooting that occurred on Friday morning. Roland Martin, the author, voices his opinion on gun control throughout the article.
Syntax: Martin uses syntax from the very beginning of his article, and he uses it well. The article starts with a one-word paragraph, "Enough!" This grabs the reader's attention as well as lets the reader know the author is serious. Then, in the following paragraph, Martin uses repetition and parallel structure as he starts each sentence with "Enough," followed by a strong statement about either guns or mental illness to keep the reader focused on what he wants him/her to know. The repetition of "Enough! Enough! Enough!" has the same effect. Martin also uses rhetorical questions such as "So, please, exactly when is the time?" to enforce his opinion that gun control needs to be discussed now.
Language: Martin uses a few very strong examples of figurative language. When discussing America's fascination with guns, he compares it to "heroine shooting through the arms of an addict." No one wants to be a heroine addict, so this comparison does one of two things: the reader either denies what Martin is saying, thinking the comparison is crazy, or he realizes how "addicted" to guns America is. Towards the end of his article, Martin uses the phrase "sure as hell" to emphasize his complete aversion to having to be a first responder on the scene of a mass shooting.
Diction: Diction plays a big role in this article. From the very first paragraph, Martin chose his words to be strong enough to get through to the reader. He describes elected officials as "cowardly" and NRA supporters as "ardent," which enforces the feeling in the reader that these issues need to be discussed now. Martin uses "hailed" versus "vilified" to show his support for Bob Costas' comment during a football game. He uses words like "fiercely" and "flagrantly" to describe how people defend the second amendment, making it seem like a bad thing to do. He says we've "shirked" our responsibility, instead of just avoided, giving the reader the feeling he's done something personally wrong. Martin says the parents of those Connecticut kids are "eschewing" their Christmas plans to emphasize the horrible timing of this tragedy. And to end his article, Martin says we need the "courage" and "conviction" to step up and talk about gun control and mental illness, making the reader WANT to do those things so he'll be courageous and have conviction.
Aloha,
ReplyDeleteAgain, stellar work, evidence, support, etc. but I have a few minor suggestions:
1. On my blag someone suggested putting the Close Reading into an essay form, just for the sake of practicing essays and working on general flow of writing, so I will pass that information on to you as well.
2. Pretty much just focus on the flow of organization within the paragraph
3. In your diction section, you might want to add some more about the connotation vs. denotation of each word and how it contributes to the authors meaning and effects.
Good Job!
Erin Donahue
Hi Bri,
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job explaining why the author chose to use certain syntax, figurative language, and diction. Unlike Erin, I liked how you formatted this close reading (and I think I have told you that before). If it's okay with Ms. Holmes, I'm sure it will be fine to format it this way. It makes it easier to read.
I only have one suggestion, which would be to include how the syntax contributes to the bias of the author. Of course, he supports gun control, but how does he try and convert advocaters of the second admendment to see his point of view? Other than that, I think you did a wonderful job. Keep it up!
Hello Bri!
ReplyDeleteWow, this was very well done again. You support yourself very well in this, I have never done my close reading in this format, but it was easy to see when you were talking about which aspect of DIDLS, so that was very interesting. I always do mine in essay form but this is really new and I like it. I don't know if that is how they want it for the AP but you could always ask Ms. Holmes.
Great job though!