TOW #10- "What are Masterpieces and Why are There so Few of Them?"

           Written in the 1900s, during the time of the great depression, this controversial piece of literature reminds us of the time when the Americans, including Stein, believed that they could no longer be inspired to create masterpieces. In the Essay “What are Masterpieces and Why are There so Few of Them,” Stein displays her opinion on what builds a masterpiece. Through the use of ambiguous sentence structures and repetition, Stein intrigues the readers’ curiosity to get to her purpose in explaining what a masterpiece is, isn’t, and why there are so few of them.

            Stein’s style of writing ignores the rules of grammar and sounds as if she is directly speaking to the audience. However, Stein purposely manipulates her words to display the exact mess of thoughts on why there are very few masterpieces: “I’m I because my dog knows me but, creatively speaking, the little dog knowing that you are you and your recognizing that he knows, that is what destroys creation” (Stein, 131).  This ambiguous sentence structure shows how ironically, clarity on one’s identity consequently make one remember themselves and fail to produce originality, a masterpiece.

            In addition to his unique style of language, Stein continuously repeats words and phrases to emphasize the negative effect of over thinking. By stating that “Remembering is never clear [because it] makes secondary writing [when] one begin[s] to write something and suddenly remember something. If [that person] continue[s] to remember, [the] writing gets very confused” (130). This shows the difference between pieces and masterpieces and how it requires one to avoid labeling and limiting their possibilities on their creations.

            Overall, I don’t think that Stein’s devices are effective, because even though they were insightful and deep, the purpose got lost in the complex ideas that he wanted to share. However, her way of approaching the readers was unique, one of the qualities of having a masterpiece.

TOW #9- “President Obama Offers a Statement on the Attacks in Paris”

            Dozens of people fell to the pools of blood, escaping from the cries that filled the Bataclan Theatre, where gunmen fired towards the crowd of innocent French civilians. In an instant, families were torn as they held onto the motionless bodies of their loved ones. Bombing and shooting up six different places in France simultaneously, terrorists left over three hundred people either killed or injured. On November 13^th, President Obama delivered a statement on behalf of enraged Americans in a conference, where he appealed to pathos to imply his strong desire to support and assist the French government in their war against the terrorist groups.

            His anger aroused by the injustice he witnessed occur in France, Obama uses pronouns such as “we” and “us” as evident in the quote, “This is an attack on all of humanity and the universal values that we share” (para 1,2) in order to morally justify U.S. plans of helping France in the process of seeking justice. He also recalls back to how America has “gone through those kind of episodes ourselves” and could “count on the French people to stand with us” (para, 5) in order to help U.S. citizens remember to give back to France for what they’ve done for us. To emphasize their unity in power, Obama portrays the two nations as victims of terrorist attacks and portrays his strong compassion for the families and friends in Paris, whose lives are now forever changed.  

            For me, the speech was effective, because I wanted to join Obama in offering our condolence to France throughout the speech. Through his appeal to pathos when emphasizing the values the people of U.S. and France share, Obama powerfully depicts his supportive stands.

IRB intro post #2- "The Liars' Club"

The memoir "Liars' Club" by Mary Karr, is a story of Karr's dark childhood that consisted of growing up under an alcoholic father and a neglectful mother. The catastrophic events that she describes makes it hard to believe that this book is a true story. I chose this memoir, because I was intrigued by the narrative tone and small flashbacks that are told in between stories, which reveals the author's humorous tone. Despite the hardships, Karr reveals the conquering of her past and the discovering of the future.

TOW #8- “The Soloist” (Part 2)

            With an ambition to change Ayer’s life, Lopez continues to convince Nathaniel to stay at Lamp, a facility center that could protect him and his instruments. Due to Nathaniel’s lack of trust in doctors who work in Lamp, Lopez struggles to make progress in Nathaniel’s life until Peter Snyder offers free music classes to Nathaniel. Once Nathaniel settles down in the facility, Lopez begins to search for Nathaniel’s lost sister and father to reconnect the three of them. However, when Nathaniel reads all the articles that Lopez has written about him, he is furious and demands Lopez to stop helping him. Lopez is left with a crushing disappointment and a recognition of the limit that has been imposed by the severe disorder of schizophrenia. In order to portray his hopeless defeat against Nathaniel’s condition, Lopez includes repetition of inappropriate diction in the memoir, “The Soloist”.

            Lopez’s dream is broken when Nathaniel yells, “I don’t have to stay in this stinking town that I absolutely motherfucking hate. I despise Los Angeles. I despise you!” (Lopez, 258). The strategic diction creates a sense of frustration that Lopez feels when realizing that even though his column audiences praise him for his actions, Ayers will never be capable of acknowledging Lopez for his guidance or seek help to get treatment for his schizophrenia. Not only that, but Lopez, as an author includes the repeated sentence, “get out”, spoken by Nathaniel to build up the tension that is present in the atmosphere. Nathaniel’s harsh diction in response to Lopez’s articles is what makes this text portray Lopez as a failure in his battle against Nathaniel's schizophrenia.