More Outside Readings

1. Book Review
Rat Girl
Kristin Hersh
Reviewed by Rob Sheffield in the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/books/review/Sheffield-t.html?_r=1&ref=books


Rob Sheffield’s review of Rat Girl by Kristin Hersh in the New York Times reads more like a short biography of the author, Kristin Hersh, than a review of her book. Sheffield inserts his opinions about the book between expertly chosen passages paraphrased from the book. This format for the review makes sense, as Rat Girl is a memoir based on Hersh’s diary.  Sheffield writes in a formal tone, yet the review still reads very casually. He intersperses his own analysis and paraphrasing with quotes from Rat Girl, often inserting them in parentheses to help affirm a point. This somewhat liberal use of parentheses combined with the relatively informal tone Rat Girl is written in makes Sheffield’s review a more relaxing read than, say, a review of a more formal novel.
Sheffield is especially suited to reviewing Rat Girl, as he reveals halfway through his review that he has actually been to see Throwing Muses, Hersh’s band that she writes about in her book. This allows him to respond to the book on a much more personal level. Sheffield uses his own opinions of Hersh as well as quotes from her book to help establish her as a free spirit, someone who lives in the moment. This clear definition of who Hersh is makes Sheffield’s review much more exciting to read. How did her bipolar disorder and pregnancy affect her ability to write songs and perform? How did Hersh’s band achieve their success? Sheffield carefully leaves the answers to these questions out of his review, leaving the reader wanting to know more.
Sheffield seems to hold Hersh in high esteem, as evidenced by his choice of words to describe her. Sheffield focuses primarily on her strength and will to succeed. The question of the moral implications of Hersh becoming a mother at 19 never crossed my mind.
I really can't connect this piece with any I've read, since I haven't had the chance to read many biographies. I can, however, relate Hersh's story to movies like Juno, which also deals with a teenage mom who manages to succeed in life.


2. Reflexive Essay
"The Joy Of Photoshopping"
Oyl Miller.
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2010/8/17miller.html


This essay my Oyl Miller seems to be a simple paper about how much he enjoys photoshopping pictures of Chuck Norris, and how he likes adding different pieces to his face for no apparent reason.  Reading deeper into this paper shows a different idea altogether: that changing a picture is much like a person's personality.  Although some things can be added to it, it can never truly  be changed from what it started as and it is futile to attempt to change it.
The paper is kicked off with the introduction of "Hello friends," and the tone becomes even more informal with the first person format ("I've already prepared the canvas") and rhetorical questions added: "Let's see, what kind of Photoshop image...?"  The informal tone makes the paper seem almost careless and lighthearted, and as I read it I was constantly thinking that the author appears to almost be making an inside joke that the reader is not aware of.
Diction in this essay is very immature, as Miller uses phrases such as "happy little -----" (which he uses three times) and words like "silly," "totally," and "magic."  He actually uses the word "little" nine times.  As a matter of fact, this entire essay seemed insultingly condescending to me as I read it.  When Miller said "Isn't that majestic, kids?" and "Now I'm just getting silly," I was hesitant to believe that this kind of word choice would be used in an actual published essay.
The grammar throughout this entire essay is also very condescending.  This is seen when he says he picked out a "real deep, dark, tentacley green," and with all of the sentence fragments he uses, for example when he says "There we go.  Happy little lasers."
The final paragraph switches the tone to a more mature, serious feel where he compares the picture to a personality.  This becomes evident through the diction and word order, such as when he says "Keep some reality in your fantasy," and "There are no right answers."  The diction is still very deficient, though, and the final sentence ends with "...feel like turning those happy little pixels into next."
Although the goal of this paper was clearly to be humorous and amusing, I was bored  by the informal tone used in it, and slightly insulted by the low level of diction throughout the paper.  This essay would not work well on an AP English test because one of the main goals of the AP English paper is to tell how advanced the vocabulary of the writer is, and this paper did not display a high level of vocabulary at all.


3. Editorial
Why Firemen Let That House Burn Down
Anonymous
The New York Times

The author gives a clear voice by bluntly supporting the Cranicks family and believes that in this situation, the role of government should be to help whoever is in need, no matter the financial tensions. The author also incorporates of conservative commentator of Glenn beck who insists that this whole issue is more about “paying the $75” rather than just having “compassion”. If the firefighters would have put out the fire, then others who saw this event would believe that they wouldn’t have to pay their dues for such labor. Then what were the dues really for? But the author bounces back by giving a solution. He believes this issue was caused by the government and is in discontent about how they are handling it. The firefighters need to examine their conscience and that if the government can’t trust the people (in financial terms), they should do something about it, even if it means raising taxes
He also gives a last punch to his argument and opinion stating that the founding fathers would have objected the way this situation came out and the actions of the firefighter. They would not have supported the government “make an object lesson of a neglectful citizen” by letting the Cranicks’ house burn down. He also states that Cranicks “deserve an apology” from (probably) the firefighters. So he is clearly critical of the firefighters and what they did.
The intro is crafted to support the opinions of the author of the editorial because he starts off with a strong point. He states that even with all of this political arguing and fighting, nothing will bring back or fix the house that burnt down just because the owners did not pay the annual surcharge. The author also believes that it was not a good idea to just let the home burn down; assuming he also believes that it was not morally right.
In another sense, instead of just writing that the house burned down, he wrote that Mr. Cranicks, owner of the home, actually “watched” his home burn down. This added a personal touch. Instead of just stating the house burned down, it gave the statement a personal touch that sympathized with Mr. Cranicks and put the firefighters in a negative light. In addition, the family is described as being “helpless”, while the firefighters are described as being “idle”. The two contrasting words really impact the tone of this editorial, creating a good guy and bad guy effect. The author obviously believes that the family is the victim while the workers were the ones at fault. Such use and choice of descriptive words really help carry out the purpose of the editorial.
This editorial would be appropriate for an AP exam because it gives a very clear stance. Points are very nicely organized and the voice of the author is very easy to follow and understand. In addition, the impression that the whole piece of writing creates is simple, apparent, and structured well. But it would also be very inappropriate because it provides no concrete evidence for claims, which would not be useful on an AP exam.