Book Review
10/10/10
"Read This Book If: The Idea of Having Kids Makes You Nervous" by Eileen Reynolds
In her book review of The Monster Within: The Hidden Side of Motherhood by Barbara Almond, Eileen Reynolds takes a mainly formalist approach to analyze a psychoanalytical work. She points out the specific structure of the book, such as Almond’s presentation of evidence and warrant in the form of case studies of different women. Reynolds also makes note of the allusions Almond makes to other famous literary pieces, such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. In addition, Reynolds picks out the theme of Almond’s novel: “Almond’s central point is that mixed-up thoughts about motherhood are in fact very common; by discussing them openly and exploring their causes, she argues, we can keep ambivalent feelings from paralyzing us with guilt and shame.” Finally, Reynolds points out some specific stylistic choices of the author, such as “There’s a lot of Freudian jargon to wade through here—particularly in the chapter about the Oedipal origins of fear of monstrous births—and Almond has an unfortunate tendency to overuse italics for emphasis.”
Reynolds enjoys the book and communicates this to the readers in a variety of ways, such as deliberate use of punctuation in her syntax. In the very first line, “Vampires, incest babies, and infanticides, oh my!”she emphasizes her surprise by ending her statement with an exclamation point. She uses rhetorical questions, such as “Haven’t we all known mothers like these?” to assert that the book holds a universal appeal for all mothers and thus should be read. Sometimes, Reynolds disagrees with part of the book and she uses parenthetical asides such as “(Ambivalence, yes, but sheer horror? I'm not sure.)” to indicate her point. In general, Reynolds maintains a casual tone, creating more of a conversation than a piece which lectures at readers.
The informal nature of this piece is its greatest strength: it draws readers in. Furthermore, Reynolds’ quick-witted, fast-paced review urges the audience to read Almond’s book and form opinions for themselves. Her emphasis on the universal nature of the book also promotes the idea that it appeals to a wide range of readers. From a literary point of view, one weakness of the review is its lack of depth in analyzing the text. Reynolds points out basic stylistic elements and overarching themes, but focuses more on the general novelty of the book more than anything else. This type of book review is exactly how we usually analyze texts in school, except we usually delve deeper than Reynolds does. The analysis of a psychoanalytical text reminds me of the psychoanalysis we did last year of Macbeth. This review is engaging and persuasive, but the syntax is not suitable for the AP exam because the author’s style is a bit spontaneous. Her rhetorical questions and exclamation points are appropriate for this context, but they make her writing somewhat disorganized to be appropriate in an AP essay.
Editorial Column
10/10/10
"Call Me! But please, not by videophone." by Joel Stein (from "The Awesome Column" in Time Magazine)
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1952314,00.html
Straight from the start, Joel Stein establishes his voice in the title of his editorial: “Call Me! But please, not by videophone.” He directly addresses readers, establishing immediately that they should pay attention to his voice. Throughout the column, he repeatedly switches from first person to second person, as shown by “As soon as you begin to talk, I feel trapped and desperately scan the room for tasks I can do to justify the enormous waste of time that is your talking.” Normally, this would be a distracting element, but in this context he actually manages to bring the audience in, almost as if he were confiding in all of the readers. This then causes readers to become more engaged in Stein’s writing.
Stein’s syntax is very distinct throughout his piece: he specializes in the deliberate usage of short, choppy sentences, which help define his blunt style. Furthermore, using such sentence structures sometimes adds humor, especially when the sentences are shaped more like punch lines. For example, in the second paragraph, he says “Both involved a lot of help from tech people and drool. Yes, I find Meredith Vieira that attractive.” Stein’s anticipatory response in the latter part of that quotation adds to the humor that is prevalent throughout the piece. The sentence fragments serve another function: they make Stein’s voice more casual and nonchalant. He sounds very relaxed; the audience feels as if it is reading something that is streaming real time, as opposed to something which has been edited and revised to perfection. The last few lines wrap up the whole article in a cavalier way: “The truth is, my editor will never even call me. She’ll just email. Which is actually fine with me. There’s plenty of video online of women in silver bodysuits.”
The strong, witty voice prevalent throughout is this editorial’s strongest suit. As a reader, it captivated me from beginning to end simply because I felt like I was meeting someone in person, not simply reading a boring piece written by someone very distant from me. However, one criticism or weakness I have of this piece is its trivial treatment of people’s tendency to shy away from face-to-face communication. I know that Stein’s position is largely one of ambivalence, but his lack of concern towards the matter brings down the overall message of his piece. Of course, that goes along with his voice, but to me personally, it brings down the value of the piece. Although Stein’s voice is very strong and engaging, this editorial column is not fitting for an AP essay because it is far too casual. The sentence fragments and asides which shape his voice actually distract from an overall thesis. Therefore, this style would not be appropriate for an AP exam.
Reflective Essay
10/10/10
"Consent" by Carol Fletcher
http://www.pifmagazine.com/2009/02/consent/
In her reflective essay “Consent,” Carol Fletcher hair as a motif to set a deeply tragic and desolate tone. From the very first line, Fletcher establishes the theme through the line “The kids to feel sorry for are the ones with hair.” The power of this statement lies in its irony; readers usually associate lack of hair with cancer, and therefore the “kids to feel sorry for” should be the ones without hair. However, Fletcher focuses on the presence of hair because all of the Stage Four neuroblastoma kids are there hoping to receive an “experimental new” treatment involving chemotherapy and radiation. Therefore, they need to receive the treatment and lose hair, because not having hair is a sign that they are getting treatment, that they have a chance of survival. In particular, she employs the “power of three” with “The parents to feel sorry for are the ones whose kids have hair” halfway through the essay and then once more at the end of her essay with “The ones to feel sorry for are the ones with hair.” Furthermore, Fletcher isolates these three statements from the rest of the piece by allowing each one to stand alone in its own paragraph. This simple manipulation of structure adds enormous weight to the statements. When Fletcher describes the different children, she focuses on their hair, such as “black bangs falling over his eyes” and “tousle of red curls.” The imagery of healthy hair juxtaposed with the bleak situation of the kids’ diseases creates a sentimental and regretful mood.
To add to the hopeless tone of the piece, Fletcher contrasts the world inside the hospital to the world outside of it. She belongs to both worlds, yet she only feels happiness in the one outside of the hospital because she feels that any hope is stifled by the impending doom of death in a place where kids aren’t even “on the news when they die.” To illustrate the desolation, Fletcher incorporates two brief anecdotes: the doctor’s phone call to the outside world and the relapse of Rhonda’s child. The latter especially adds to the tragedy of the entire piece, simply becauseRhonda is so sure that her child has been cured.
I was deeply moved and saddened by this essay, which means that its strength lies in its ability to emotionally affect readers. However, intellectually, the essay is too specific about the type of disease the children have. The greatest appeal of the tragedy described in this essay is that the sadness and regret so prevalent in the hospital can be applied to any disease, to any suffering child, to any heartbroken parent. Therefore, the piece may be more powerful if Fletcher does not specifically name the disease. The tone of this piece would not be appropriate for the AP exam because it is more like a stream of conscious than a structured piece of writing. There is little analysis because the author doesn’t seek to persuade as much as to reflect.
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