Reading Critically

The reading process as discussed in "Reading Critically": read all the way through first time, read with a pencil, once done reading summarize, then think crtically; analyze the reading, make ineferences from the reading, synthesize the reading, and then evaluate the reading. Once you read the reading all the way thorugh you go back with a pencil and annotate the reading. Once done annotating you need to summarize the reading in your own words. The author provides a two-step procedure for this: summarize each paragraph or related group of paragraphs, and then summarize those sentences into two or three sentences "capturing the heart" of the author's meaning. After summarizing you must "think critically." Analyze the reading; separating it into its parts, classifying it, comparing it with something else, or figuring out what caused it. After analyzing make inferences; drawing conclusions about a work based on your store of information and experience. With inference it is especially important in discovering a writer's assumptions. Once you make your inferences you must synthesize; linking elements into a whole, or linking tow or more wholes. With synthesizing you want to renconstitute the work so that it now contains not just the original elements but also your sense of their underpinnings and relationships. Once you synthesize you must evaluate. Not all critical thinking involves this step, but yuo're just judging the quality of the work.

American Tongues

1. Voice in literature is like the tone. The author's bias, or the characters he/she uses.
2. When i'm texting I'll say "ah tru" or "wow" a lot. I don't know they're just things i commonly say when I'm talking to ppl.
3. When my mom asks for a reason for something. I feel uncomfortable. And she never believes me, or accept the reason anyways.
4. So, that it won't be dry. Bias, opinion, and tone.
5. By adding our opinion/bias.

Soapstone- Dave Barry

The subject of this essay is a comparison of male to female. We see this with the first line of the essay which says, “The primary difference between men and women is that women can see extremely small quantities of dirt.” From this we know what are subject is, and during the middle of the essay he makes a comparison this time talking about “men and sports.”

The year that this essay was written in is, 1988. We know this from the little insert at the beginning of this essay talking about the essay. Besides the paragraph at the beginning of the essay you cannot find anywhere else in the essay where it would allow you to infer the time period.

The audience this essay was written for is, middle-aged men and women. This is illustrated by the anecdotes he uses to prove his points. One is the use of a young boy, and the other, watching a World Series game when you’re supposed to be having conversation with the wife and friends. Both of these things took place during his middle-age (30-50).

The purpose of this essay is to entertain. He doesn’t use any hard facts or brings any strong resources. He just keeps using anecdote after anecdote to try to prove his point. Or he brings stuff into the essay to strengthen his argument; which doesn’t fit but he tries to make it work with what he is saying like his comparison of “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe and the television and radio waves coming from the World Series game. Since he is writing with a humorous tone on a not-so-serious topic we can infer that the purpose of this essay is to entertain.

The speaker of this piece is the author himself. He uses First Person view throughout the whole essay. He uses personal anecdotes from his personal life to support his argument. The speaker plays a role in such that since he’s a humorist this paper is going to have a humorous tone to it.

The tone of this essay is humorous. We see this from all over. The essay starts off with something “humorous,” “The primary difference between men and women is that women can see extremely small quantities of dirt.” From this very first sentence you can infer that this isn’t going to be a very serious essay on a very serious topic. His use of personal anecdotes that are funny to support his argument, just lends more to the humorous tone. The fact that he is a humorist, can give you the cautionary to look out for this essay to have a humorous tone. The humorous tone helped the essay in that it made it funnier, thus more entertaining which was the purpose.

PAIN vs. Beatles vs. Dubstep

I liked the Beatles one better because ity was the most simplistic it didnt have all that other unneeded stuff.
Which is why I think the Beatles version is the most pleasing to listen to, because it's simple. It doesnt make your ears bleed, and it doesnt have a whole bunch of unneeded and unnecessary beats added to it.

Art Journal- Kadinsky v. Pollack

I like Pollack better because to me, Kadinsky's has too much going on in his painting, which makes me not like it. Thus i like the Pollack better by default.
The one that is more pleasing to look at it the Kadinsky because it's polychromatic, whereas, the Pollack just uses brown, black and white.

Harry Nilson "Good Old Desk"

S a desk literally; symbolized God
O 1972
A young adults in the 70s
P to inform
S a young man
T comforting/appreciative
He's talking about God and religion
1. To keep my hopes alive
2. It's always there
3. It's the one thing I've got, a huge success, My Good Old Desk

Norman Rockwell "The Runaway"

The 1950s was a time of struggle and up-rising. During this time period we start to see a counter-culture form. Norman Rockwell, in painting "The Runaway," shows a boy running away, getting talked to by an officer at a diner. But this isn't what 1950s America actually looked like. This painting overlooks the fundamental rift that was rising in America throughout the 1950s- an emerging counter culture that was not concerned with how things were in America but rather how they are.

"Across the Universe" The Beatles

1. "Words are flying out like endless rain into a paper cup"
2. "Pools of sorrow, waves of joy"
3. "A million suns"
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy symbolizes are hardships which we have more of, but out of these hardships come happiness.
A "swoosh" is the symbol for Nike. Everyone knows that the "swoosh" represents Nike.