Interview with August Wilson

In the Interview with August Wilson,David Savran and August Wilson displayed many truths about African Americans and society today.Reading the interview, "we're all like our parents' caught my attention because it is truthful. Our parents teach us as Wilson states " the things we are taught  in life , how to respond to the world, our sense of morality - everything, we get from them" shows that he's  not putting all the blame on parents. He indirectly says that even though you are like your parents you control your own life. Wilson puts the blame on no one while  explaining himself on how he feels about today's society.   The interview displayed reality among-ts the society.

Tragedy of the Common Man

     I found Arthur Miller’s “Tragedy and the Common Man” to be surprisingly interesting.  I think that the common man is actually even more tragic than any king or higher power.  I agree with Arthur Miller saying “the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were”.  Characters really connect with me if they are relatable.   The common man is much more relatable to me than a king or god..  On the other hand, I feel like Arthur Miller’s Willy Lowman was much more relatable and therefore I greatly enjoyed Death of a Salesman and found Willy a “common man” to be very tragic.  Willy was a character “who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing-his sense of personal dignity”.  Willy spent his whole life looking for his dignity and will sacrifice anything to achieve the American Dream.  There was nothing wrong with Willy wanting to have pride and live a successful life.  His  flaw was “not necessarily a weakness” but prevented him from enjoying his life and being happy.  A common man is more relatable than Kings, Gods, and the fairy-tales they introduce people to.

On Close Reading

In Peter Rabinowitz "On Close Reading" he explains the various types of reading and  the effects they have on the reader. I appreciate how he understands that we should not read that same piece over and over again because your mind can not grow if you keep reading the same things.Mr. Rabinowtz sort of gives you a new way to think; he makes you understand that being open minded is actually good for you. while reading this I understood more that it is important to read different types of literature to understand how people write and perceive things. This reading was the honest truth.

On the minimalist Fiction

In John Barth's "Minimalist Fiction" he talks about minimalist fiction is and  preaches less is more.When I read this I found it strange that the author was emphasizing less is more but throughout the writing he used  parenthesis and constantly used ellipsis. The author also conveyed that a writing needs to be simple and straight to the point so people can understand. I quite frankly can understand where John Barth is explaining because sometimes i just want to read a book or any type of writing that is straight forward and to the point.  John Barth writing is very realistic and easy to relate to.

On the danger of reading fiction

The story “On the Danger of Reading Fiction”, Thomas Jefferson clearly shows his hostilty for reading fiction novels. Jefferson has stated that fiction novels are “time lost in that reading” and thinks it should be instructively employed. It is obvious that if a person read this that they would get offfended about the comments about fiction reading.  Jefferson’s take on fiction novels takes a very negative and closed-minded approach. while, reading this i saw that it was crystal clear that Jefferson does not like ficton. It is understandable why the author felt this way about fiction because fiction is just an imagination and it can infect the mind. However, fiction is not all bad; it can be enjoyable to read.

FIGURES OF SPEECH

Figures of speech is defined as a way of saying one thing in the terms of saying something else. Many poets, writers, and inteligent people use figure of speech to capture the imagination of a reader; it puts an image in a person's head. Examples of figures of speech are: similes, metaphors and oxmorons. The author of Figures of  speech proposed an example of figures of speech with saying  "the diner leaped from the table and roared at the waiter," by using this vivid sentence, it painted the picture of a heated diner wanting to attack the waitor;using this sentence, it compares the diner to an animal. Many people respond more to figurative language rather than literal language because it grabs your attention.

Figuring out Metaphors

       In the perspective Figuring out Metaphors, It explains the usage of metaphors and the way people perceive  metaphors.A metaphor is a trope or figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something in common. For example, Sally is a block of ice and Sam is a pig are some metaphors that people understand easily. People can understand that this is a metaphor because a block of ice is dull and unemotional.Metaphors are used for variety reasons such as sarcasm, exaggeration, or repetition. Metaphors are used for creation to add flare in the poem or story to make it more fancy.