We are off to a smashing start this week, AP Lit! In our two days of class, we've gotten after a new set of mentor texts to examine how professional writers approach analysis. Yesterday, we read (and confusedly yet joyfully watched) the David Pumpkins article, and today, an essay on Goodnight Moon. So far, you've come up with a pretty solid list of writers' moves. For homework tonight, you are to read Dear Any Solider: Vonnegut During Wartime. As discussed in class, there's no need for YouTube clips -- you've already got the context! Here's your official task:
*Please preface your comment by whichever you are offering, e.g. "In the Vonnegut essay, I noticed..." or "I noticed all three mentor texts..." Oh, and I'm just gonna leave this here:
33 Comments
Brittney Brossart
11/1/2016 04:43:05 pm
I noticed within all three mentor texts, the authors kept the essays conversational.
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Danielle Knott
11/1/2016 04:49:20 pm
I noticed in the Dear Any Soldier: Vonnegut during Wartime that the writer used a lot of dashes like commas could be used.
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Kat Tidwell
11/1/2016 04:50:21 pm
When analyzing the works, the authors used a lot of quotes throughout. They also used personal stories and anecdotes to supplement their writing.
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Juneau Daggs
11/1/2016 04:52:15 pm
In Dear Any Soldier, the author talks in a voice in the beginning that could potentially be any soldier's voice until turning it into a first person viewpoint. (Also, this is just a side note, in all three essays, the stylistic approach taken of writing in mainly first person gives it a more personal touch. I know that many newspapers and such write from this perspective to relate with readers as a ploy for interest and sales, but I enjoy the feel.)
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Hannah Brown
11/1/2016 05:10:57 pm
With all three pieces I noticed the writer wrote the feeling of the topic they had. What I mean is with the first one they made it light hearted and funny, the goodnight moon one was calming, and Dear Vietnam was solemn and meaningful.
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Ashley Hess
11/1/2016 05:56:25 pm
In Dear Any Soldier, the author writes about his wartime stories and how Vonnegut helped him to become a writer. He uses a lot of Vonnegut-esque sentence structure. Short and chopped : "It was lovely." And "Whatever." He also steals Vonnegut's "Hi-ho."
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Kaitlyn Boyd
11/1/2016 05:59:32 pm
In Dear Any Soldier: Vonnegut during Wartime I noticed that Odie Lindsey reflects Vonnegut's style very well, which makes sense since Vonnegut was clearly a very important mentor for Lindsey. Also, I like how he ties the idea of Any Soldier boxes to the idea that Vonnegut's stories and what he tries to write can relate to anyone.
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Hailley Manfull
11/1/2016 06:14:18 pm
Reading all of these mentor texts I noticed that they all used simple sentences that could be interpreted into more complex ideas or meanings.
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Trey Hull
11/1/2016 06:31:15 pm
The text had a lot of simple sentences and try's to relate to "every soldier" at one time I really this this text digs into the way the he wrote slaughterhouse 5.
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Tiffany Samples
11/1/2016 06:41:47 pm
All three of them were conversational. The authors kept it going back and forth.
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Taylor Bailey
11/1/2016 07:37:15 pm
In the Goodnight Moon essay, the author provides an anecdote to start everything off. This provides such a "welcome, sit down and listen to what I feel," type of feeling to her article. She provides so much insight into how the work makes her feel, and she asks questions. Even so, some of those questions are left unanswered.
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Noah Gross
11/1/2016 08:09:49 pm
I noticed that in "Dear Any Soldier" the author, Odie Lindsey, uses a similar style of writing that Vonnegut does. The simple sentences that are scattered throughout the essay connect it to Vonnegut's own writing.
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Sydney Shaw
11/1/2016 08:19:36 pm
I noticed that in all three mentor texts the authors' used 1st person. This allowed the text to be more conversational and was a way to connect more with the audience.
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Luke McGoldrick
11/1/2016 08:22:54 pm
I've noticed in all three mentor texts that the piece has a casual tone to it and the author uses personal anecdotes to make a connection with the piece.
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Karie Myers
11/1/2016 08:23:44 pm
In all three pieces the authors mimicked the work they were writing about, with specific regard to the last to essays. In "What Writers Can Learn From 'Goodnight Moon,'" Bender takes special care to use simple language overall and repetition, and though I haven't read other works by her, I would assume she is writing differently than her standard style, riskier writing, if you will. "Dear Any Soldier: Vonnegut during Wartime" was so convincing in the first couple paragraphs, I had to flip forward in my reading to see if the first page was a quote from Vonnegut.
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Alaina Hilditch
11/1/2016 08:30:26 pm
I noticed In all the writings we analyzed the way the authors shared the theme of elevating the grammar by using dashes or flipping the sentence structure but still using simple, impactful language. Elevated writing style with simple everyday words.
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Katie Unger
11/1/2016 09:09:39 pm
In "Dear Any Soldier: Vonnegut during Wartime" I noticed the author used crud, blunt words like "asshole" and "sparrow fart" to both keep his conversational tone and imitate the type of language Vonnegut is notorious for using.
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Jessica Hammersla
11/1/2016 09:15:27 pm
In all three articles, the writer references works that are similar to the main subject. David Pumpkins essay brings up other SNL sketches. Goodnight Moon analysis discusses Dr. Seuss. Vonnegut article mentions Hills Like White Elephants.
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Mallorie Rudy
11/1/2016 09:17:27 pm
I noticed in Dear Any Soldier that the author referenced other works of literature through the work, just like Kurt did in SH5.
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Eric Johnson
11/1/2016 09:31:18 pm
I noticed that in "Dear Any Soldier-Vonnegut During Wartime," the author not only talks about Vonnegut's books but emulated his style. He occasionally uses the same crass language and describes people in much the same way. For instance, he directly characterizes President Obama when he calls him "the only politician brace enough to oppose the invasion of Iraq..."
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Fina
11/1/2016 09:31:56 pm
I noticed in all three mentor texts that the authors keep the essay's easy to read and conversational. You feel like the author is talking to you rather than just reading an essay.
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Amy
11/1/2016 10:06:26 pm
I noticed in all 3 essays that the authors use quotes from the text they are analyzing to enhance their writing.
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Mya Junkin
11/1/2016 10:44:53 pm
In "Dear Any Soldier: Vonnegut during Wartime," Odie Lindsey doesn't just say that he loves and take inspiration from Kurt Vonnegut, your can see the words gleam with traces of Vonnegut's style. Long, drawn out sentences the size of a paragraph while describing the environment he was in during the his time as a soldier, the times when he was a child, how because he was privileged his past could be looked over. Contrasts between curt sentences. "Point here was the Any Soldier box, unopened. No return address." "There was nothing there. Nothing but books." Lindsey even utilizes some of Vonnegut's own catchphrases from his books like the phrase "Hi Ho." Where He decides to cut off sentences seems to be an essential element of his impression of Vonnegut's work. He is always so careful to choose just the right punctuation. My favorite example is "I went on a search: through humor, pain, sarcasm, critique, polemic. Filth. Violence. Quirk." Notice how he separated the laundry list of items from the main part of the sentence. Then see how he even separates the last three. This deliberate choice of sentence structures feels so alive. It emphasizes this journey through own psyche for his own story. His own voice to use. And I believe he is on the road to finding it.
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David Carvajal
11/1/2016 11:53:34 pm
One thing that stuck out to me was the use of first person point of view in all of the articles. The texts still seemed complex, but more understandable as they include the author's own opinion and random thoughts on the subject.
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Mercedes
11/2/2016 12:03:35 am
I noticed in all of the texts that the authors mimic the original work's style and makes references to real life things to piece together their analysis and help the reader gain a better understanding of the material.
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Samantha Dodson
11/2/2016 12:14:10 am
I noticed in the Dear Any Soldier: The writer told about the reason he started writing,much like Vonnegut did in the beginning of Slaughterhouse Five. This helped connect his admiration and inspiration of Vonnegut's work. Loved this. He used senté ce structure similar to Vonnegut when he jumps from thought to thought and adds short, blunt sentences. "Filth. Violence. Quirk." he noted that he didn't want to be exactly like Vonnegut, he wanted to be so thing of his own. However, Vonnegut's work shows prominently through his writing.
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Nicholas
11/2/2016 12:19:47 am
As stated in the last line with a quote of "locked inside a story" it indicates how the author himself has placed his own life experiences into a character through one of the books. By doing this it allows him to have a deeper insight, one such as Billy's, about the world around him and gives him reasoning on questioning life's hardest problems. Questions such as the necessity of war. Answering such questions with a replaced "so it goes" and saying "hi ho" instead.
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Lee Curran
11/2/2016 07:49:42 am
I noticed in Dear Any Soldier that the author would interestingly mention the satire in the text and then almost replicate that same writing style.
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Julia Gilpin
11/2/2016 10:42:16 am
With all three texts, they were each written in a "simple" way that made you feel like they were talking to you on a personal level.
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Aneyla Dozier
11/2/2016 12:02:25 pm
I noticed that in all three mentor texts, the authors used conversational language to connect to the reader on a more personal level. This was especially helpful in the Goodnight Moon essay, as it served to give the reader a cozy, bedtime feeling.
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Braxton Roman
11/4/2016 12:07:42 pm
Most of them use personal anecdotes & they also use past references that are similar and relate to the text
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Kameron Cale
11/4/2016 12:12:10 pm
I noticed that all of the stories have simple sentences, but also have impactful language.
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Adam Gary
11/28/2016 09:17:24 pm
All three mentor texts were much more conversational. This allowed us to relate much more to them. They made you resonate to them on such a personal level.
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