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Sunday, November 14, 2010
Week 13
What amazing sentence, phrase, moment pops out? Since you know the writer well — I hope — try to find something new. Wow us with your selection and tell us why you think your selection is wow inducing — good, bad or ugly.
16 comments:
Betsy Dimas
said...
"That left many Mexican Americans in a true diaspora: not fully American by the standards of many in the U.S. and cut off from their "homeland" culture as well."
This sentence really stands out from the article because it is an issue many Mexican-Americans have to deal with. They are rejected by both countries because of the label they carry. In the U.S. they are seen as immigrants or Anchor babies, someone that does not belong in American society. However, Mexico doesnt want them either because they are not Native to Mexico. Both countries say they belong to the other but neither actually wants to accept them. Mexican- Americans are usually left in the middle and at times can conflict with their identity. I thought it was a well written sentence that popped out very well.
"That burden is inflicted not just on the debt but on the very idea of America — our Horatio Alger faith in social mobility over plutocracy, our belief that our brand of can-do capitalism brings about innovation and growth, and our fundamental sense of fairness."
There is a lot that stands out about this sentence to me. First, "can-do capitalism" is just an awesome use of alliteration that both sounds good and clearly describes what the author is discussing. Second, the allusion to novelist Horatio Alger is also super sweet, although I had to look up who that was. Third, plutocracy is a nifty word (I had to look it up as well). Its much easier than saying "a government in which the rich has all the power". And lastly, I just think the list form of this sentence flows really well, and it is organizes the author's thoughts in a logical way.
This is the starting sentence to her article. I really like this because it sounds nice, and also created the exact image in my mind that she described later in her article: I thought of difficult to visualize memories. She was creating an image of memories that are "misted over", and therefore hard to envision.
The word "watercolor" was what really gave me a clear idea of what she was trying to describe. Watercolor painting is almost transparent and therefore difficult to see. This showed me that what she was describing was things that one could think about and kind of remember, but really cant wrap his or her head around.
This is a really good start to the article because not only is it a really pretty and descriptive sentence, it also embodies what the rest of her writing piece is about.
"My present worry is that denial may be the new normal and that the hot language of the past summer has cooled and hardened into a permanently warped perception of the very meaning of discrimination and racism." --Charles M. Blow, "Let's Rescue the Race Debate"
Not only does the sentence have beautiful imagery, but it also presents a fantastic metaphor that eloquently captures Blow's diagnosis of what's happening to race relations in America. While I think the first part of the sentence could have been formed into its very own sentence (or at least be ended with a comma), that's a personal opinion, and I'm not even sure such modification is necessary. Its presence in the sentence doesn't stop the reader from understanding Blow's masterfully worded argument at all. In an essay that deals with racism in America today in relation to the Tea Party movement, a subject a tad more inflammatory than Blow's usual topics, this eloquent and very well written sentence serves as a clear articulation of the point Blow is trying to make.
"The inability of these people to cope with their six-figure salaries suggests not simply that they are, well, entitled jerks, but that they also have their heads in the clouds."
This sentence is talking about the greed and inefficiency of those working on wall street and about how they show the wrong financial example to the public. I feel that what the author is saying is what many have been thinking through out the last few years so it seems very honest. I like this sentence because the author shows her opinion but does not do it in a forceful way. This helps the reader know what she thinks of the story but she does it in a way that also lets the reader form his/her own ideas. I also like the way she uses humor to make her point. Tackling on a serious topic the topic uses humor to her advantage to make the article relatable to everyone.
"Can you imagine the furor that would erupt if a white player told Michael Vick he plays quarterback well despite being black?
Or if people told Tony Dungy they didn't expect him to be a good coach because he's black?
But for some reason, it's OK to say that white men can't jump or, in Hopkins' case, that Pacquiao doesn't stand a chance against a black fighter."
This part of the article on racial stereotypes in sports hit me right in between the eyes. I was so amazed that this was in an ESPN article because I always thought that racial issues in the media go swept under the rug or "hushes" very quickly when pointed to the "minority". I have never heard of or read about anyone speaking openly about or against he issue.
The fact that Hill includes examples of other sports related issues surrounding race makes her argument a lot stronger because the reader is able to put it into context. Talking about Vick and Dungy made me think of racial stereotypes in a whole new way. I noticed that in sports (basketball in particular) that it is almost okay to say white players are worse than black players because they are white. It's almost never talked about that a black person can't complete something or master something because they are black. Interesting.
This holiday season, Americans will dig into their pockets for good causes. But these gifts will sometimes benefit charlatans or extremists, or simply be wasted. Partly that’s because religious giving — and a good deal of casual secular giving — isn’t vetted as carefully as it should be.
This whole phrase really popped out to me when it said "But these gifts will sometimes benefit charlatans or extremists, or simply be wasted," because it talks about the holiday donations. The author really goes deep into the different charities and how only a insignificant amount only goes to the people who really need the resources.
“There are three basic skills that students need if they want to thrive in a knowledge economy: the ability to do critical thinking and problem-solving; the ability to communicate effectively; and the ability to collaborate.” This sentence caught my eye with its colons and semi-colons. The colon sets the stage for the list that Friedman creates; and the semi-colons give the eye a rest after each “ability” that is listed. In addition to the helpful punctuation, I also like the repetition of the word “ability” that begins each item on the list. This is very visually pleasing because it keeps the sentence focused and orderly.
"However you want to define the American dream, there is not much of it that’s left anymore...the U.S. needs to develop a full-employment economy that provides jobs for all who want to work at pay that enables the workers and their families to enjoy a decent standard of living. In other words, a resurrection of the American dream." Bob Herbert, "Hiding From Reality"
Here Herbert, grabs the reader's attention by making a big, significant claim about the current state of the nation and what needs to happen to make the state of the nation better than it is. He puts it so bluntly and even makes it sound simple, and I thought that it really stood out, especially so early on in the article.
"It can, but without much sympathy. This was a vintage Cal loss, a true heartbreaker by a school that has mastered the art over the last half-century. Get Cal to the very precipice of glory - one moment, one game, one season - and something inexplicably disastrous happens. Their fans have come to expect it, but the sheer experience - the priceless atmosphere of a college-football afternoon or evening - is always too rich to bypass"
I was "wowed" by this portion of the article because Bruce Jenkins has summed up my bottled up emotions I have had for Cal football my entire life. Cal football always manages to choke in some way during their regular season games. However, I agree with Jenkins, something about the mystical atmosphere that college football brings always grabs my attention. It is like Cal football is a drug, you try to stop supporting them, but they always make their games so exciting that it reels you back in (that is until they choke in the last minute of the 4th quarter). Once again this piece illustrates that Bruce Jenkins has mastered the art of relating his writings to his audience, as I was able to understand exactly what Jenkins was preaching.
"The physiologically confusing term of art... is the 'urine dump.' And, believe it or not, space pee is pretty. 'A number of astronaut memoirs mentioned how these flash-frozen droplets, illuminated, would look like this silvery snowstorm." - Steve Mirsky, from "Scientific American" in his essay "Oh, We Have Liftoff All Right"
In this article, Mirsky discusses the smelly repercussions of being an astronaut. He sums up this idea best by saying, "Space, when done with people living together in close quarters, stinks." He goes on to specifically address the matters of bathing and human waste disposal in space. That's where the urine dump idea comes into play. Okay, so I realise that the description he adds is completely disgusting (when you keep in mind what the snowstorm is actually made of), but you've got to admit, it's pretty hilarious at the same time. What I love about this moment in the article is how he describes it so casually, and with such dripping nonchalance in his tone. He goes on to describe another method of urine recycling that he borrows from another author that I just had to share:
"As on the International Space Station now, treated urine would be a treat, sort of. 'Once the salt is taken care of and the distasteful organic molecules have been trapped in an activated charcoal filter,' Roach writes in the book, 'urine is a restorative and surprisingly drinkable lunchtime beverage. I was about to use the word unobjectionable, but that's not accurate. People object. They object a lot.'"
So there you have it: why being an astronaut is not actually as cool as it sounds. 'Nuf said.
"Those who wish not to submit to the body scan, whether out of modesty or concerns about radiation exposure, can submit instead to intimate frisking. Children under 12 are given modified pat-downs, though this isn't much comfort. Touching a 13-year-old boy or girl, possibly the most sensitive creature on the planet, is supposed to be just hunky-dory?"
I like the hint of satire Parker uses in these sentences. You asked us to "find something new": normally Parker writes in a manner that is very straightforward; there are not many subtleties, but here, she has some nuances in her tone. I have also noticed that she tends to throws in colloquialisms and other slang words in her writing. For example, here she uses "hunky dory", but one article in particular that stands out is when in the middle of a serious analysis, she made a new paragraph containing the single word, "Dude" (italicized) and then continued with her analysis, but in a different direction -- it was as if that word served as a transition. Adding these informal words in is fun both for her and the reader and it certainly makes her writing more accessible.
"In this age of DNA, with for-profit companies scanning customers’ genomes for DNA variants associated with disease and the “$1,000 genome” within reach, it seems positively antediluvian to bother with family medical histories. Why ask aging relatives what Uncle Harry died of when you can scrape some cells from your cheek and ship them off to a sequencing company to learn which diseases your DNA—which you might or might not share with Uncle Harry—has in store for you?"
I like this paragraph because it contains humor, statistics and information. It also contains large, complex words like "antediluvian" which means old or outdated, but still makes sense. I also like how she relates it to the reader's life talking about "Uncle Harry" and possible experiences the reader has had. It is also a great way to set up the reader for the rest of the article.
"It wasn't so much a game as it was a three-plus-hour colonoscopy." This short sentence really popped out because of how extreme he made this game seem. To put the quote in context, my writer is talking about how the Chicago Bears are the most criticized team in the NFL. The sentences prior to the quote were discussing how the Monday Night Football game against the Dolphins went. This popped out to me because of how gross the image is, and he must have really have been trying to prove the point by using such an extreme image.
"It wasn't so much a game as it was a three-plus-hour colonoscopy." This short sentence really popped out because of how extreme he made this game seem. To put the quote in context, my writer is talking about how the Chicago Bears are the most criticized team in the NFL. The sentences prior to the quote were discussing how the Monday Night Football game against the Dolphins went. This popped out to me because of how gross the image is, and he must have really have been trying to prove the point by using such an extreme image.
"It wasn't so much a game as it was a three-plus-hour colonoscopy." This short sentence really popped out because of how extreme he made this game seem. To put the quote in context, my writer is talking about how the Chicago Bears are the most criticized team in the NFL. The sentences prior to the quote were discussing how the Monday Night Football game against the Dolphins went. This popped out to me because of how gross the image is, and he must have really have been trying to prove the point by using such an extreme image.
16 comments:
"That left many Mexican Americans in a true diaspora: not fully American by the standards of many in the U.S. and cut off from their "homeland" culture as well."
This sentence really stands out from the article because it is an issue many Mexican-Americans have to deal with. They are rejected by both countries because of the label they carry. In the U.S. they are seen as immigrants or Anchor babies, someone that does not belong in American society. However, Mexico doesnt want them either because they are not Native to Mexico. Both countries say they belong to the other but neither actually wants to accept them. Mexican- Americans are usually left in the middle and at times can conflict with their identity. I thought it was a well written sentence that popped out very well.
"That burden is inflicted not just on the debt but on the very idea of America — our Horatio Alger faith in social mobility over plutocracy, our belief that our brand of can-do capitalism brings about innovation and growth, and our fundamental sense of fairness."
There is a lot that stands out about this sentence to me. First, "can-do capitalism" is just an awesome use of alliteration that both sounds good and clearly describes what the author is discussing. Second, the allusion to novelist Horatio Alger is also super sweet, although I had to look up who that was. Third, plutocracy is a nifty word (I had to look it up as well). Its much easier than saying "a government in which the rich has all the power". And lastly, I just think the list form of this sentence flows really well, and it is organizes the author's thoughts in a logical way.
"Talk about your misty watercolor memories."
This is the starting sentence to her article. I really like this because it sounds nice, and also created the exact image in my mind that she described later in her article: I thought of difficult to visualize memories. She was creating an image of memories that are "misted over", and therefore hard to envision.
The word "watercolor" was what really gave me a clear idea of what she was trying to describe. Watercolor painting is almost transparent and therefore difficult to see. This showed me that what she was describing was things that one could think about and kind of remember, but really cant wrap his or her head around.
This is a really good start to the article because not only is it a really pretty and descriptive sentence, it also embodies what the rest of her writing piece is about.
"My present worry is that denial may be the new normal and that the hot language of the past summer has cooled and hardened into a permanently warped perception of the very meaning of discrimination and racism." --Charles M. Blow, "Let's Rescue the Race Debate"
Not only does the sentence have beautiful imagery, but it also presents a fantastic metaphor that eloquently captures Blow's diagnosis of what's happening to race relations in America. While I think the first part of the sentence could have been formed into its very own sentence (or at least be ended with a comma), that's a personal opinion, and I'm not even sure such modification is necessary. Its presence in the sentence doesn't stop the reader from understanding Blow's masterfully worded argument at all. In an essay that deals with racism in America today in relation to the Tea Party movement, a subject a tad more inflammatory than Blow's usual topics, this eloquent and very well written sentence serves as a clear articulation of the point Blow is trying to make.
"The inability of these people to cope with their six-figure salaries suggests not simply that they are, well, entitled jerks, but that they also have their heads in the clouds."
This sentence is talking about the greed and inefficiency of those working on wall street and about how they show the wrong financial example to the public. I feel that what the author is saying is what many have been thinking through out the last few years so it seems very honest. I like this sentence because the author shows her opinion but does not do it in a forceful way. This helps the reader know what she thinks of the story but she does it in a way that also lets the reader form his/her own ideas. I also like the way she uses humor to make her point. Tackling on a serious topic the topic uses humor to her advantage to make the article relatable to everyone.
"Can you imagine the furor that would erupt if a white player told Michael Vick he plays quarterback well despite being black?
Or if people told Tony Dungy they didn't expect him to be a good coach because he's black?
But for some reason, it's OK to say that white men can't jump or, in Hopkins' case, that Pacquiao doesn't stand a chance against a black fighter."
This part of the article on racial stereotypes in sports hit me right in between the eyes. I was so amazed that this was in an ESPN article because I always thought that racial issues in the media go swept under the rug or "hushes" very quickly when pointed to the "minority". I have never heard of or read about anyone speaking openly about or against he issue.
The fact that Hill includes examples of other sports related issues surrounding race makes her argument a lot stronger because the reader is able to put it into context. Talking about Vick and Dungy made me think of racial stereotypes in a whole new way. I noticed that in sports (basketball in particular) that it is almost okay to say white players are worse than black players because they are white. It's almost never talked about that a black person can't complete something or master something because they are black. Interesting.
This holiday season, Americans will dig into their pockets for good causes. But these gifts will sometimes benefit charlatans or extremists, or simply be wasted.
Partly that’s because religious giving — and a good deal of casual secular giving — isn’t vetted as carefully as it should be.
This whole phrase really popped out to me when it said "But these gifts will sometimes benefit charlatans or extremists, or simply be wasted," because it talks about the holiday donations. The author really goes deep into the different charities and how only a insignificant amount only goes to the people who really need the resources.
“There are three basic skills that students need if they want to thrive in a knowledge economy: the ability to do critical thinking and problem-solving; the ability to communicate effectively; and the ability to collaborate.”
This sentence caught my eye with its colons and semi-colons. The colon sets the stage for the list that Friedman creates; and the semi-colons give the eye a rest after each “ability” that is listed. In addition to the helpful punctuation, I also like the repetition of the word “ability” that begins each item on the list. This is very visually pleasing because it keeps the sentence focused and orderly.
"However you want to define the American dream, there is not much of it that’s left anymore...the U.S. needs to develop a full-employment economy that provides jobs for all who want to work at pay that enables the workers and their families to enjoy a decent standard of living. In other words, a resurrection of the American dream." Bob Herbert, "Hiding From Reality"
Here Herbert, grabs the reader's attention by making a big, significant claim about the current state of the nation and what needs to happen to make the state of the nation better than it is. He puts it so bluntly and even makes it sound simple, and I thought that it really stood out, especially so early on in the article.
"It can, but without much sympathy. This was a vintage Cal loss, a true heartbreaker by a school that has mastered the art over the last half-century. Get Cal to the very precipice of glory - one moment, one game, one season - and something inexplicably disastrous happens. Their fans have come to expect it, but the sheer experience - the priceless atmosphere of a college-football afternoon or evening - is always too rich to bypass"
I was "wowed" by this portion of the article because Bruce Jenkins has summed up my bottled up emotions I have had for Cal football my entire life. Cal football always manages to choke in some way during their regular season games. However, I agree with Jenkins, something about the mystical atmosphere that college football brings always grabs my attention. It is like Cal football is a drug, you try to stop supporting them, but they always make their games so exciting that it reels you back in (that is until they choke in the last minute of the 4th quarter). Once again this piece illustrates that Bruce Jenkins has mastered the art of relating his writings to his audience, as I was able to understand exactly what Jenkins was preaching.
"The physiologically confusing term of art... is the 'urine dump.' And, believe it or not, space pee is pretty. 'A number of astronaut memoirs mentioned how these flash-frozen droplets, illuminated, would look like this silvery snowstorm." - Steve Mirsky, from "Scientific American" in his essay "Oh, We Have Liftoff All Right"
In this article, Mirsky discusses the smelly repercussions of being an astronaut. He sums up this idea best by saying, "Space, when done with people living together in close quarters, stinks." He goes on to specifically address the matters of bathing and human waste disposal in space. That's where the urine dump idea comes into play. Okay, so I realise that the description he adds is completely disgusting (when you keep in mind what the snowstorm is actually made of), but you've got to admit, it's pretty hilarious at the same time. What I love about this moment in the article is how he describes it so casually, and with such dripping nonchalance in his tone. He goes on to describe another method of urine recycling that he borrows from another author that I just had to share:
"As on the International Space Station now, treated urine would be a treat, sort of. 'Once the salt is taken care of and the distasteful organic molecules have been trapped in an activated charcoal filter,' Roach writes in the book, 'urine is a restorative and surprisingly drinkable lunchtime beverage. I was about to use the word unobjectionable, but that's not accurate. People object. They object a lot.'"
So there you have it: why being an astronaut is not actually as cool as it sounds. 'Nuf said.
"Those who wish not to submit to the body scan, whether out of modesty or concerns about radiation exposure, can submit instead to intimate frisking. Children under 12 are given modified pat-downs, though this isn't much comfort. Touching a 13-year-old boy or girl, possibly the most sensitive creature on the planet, is supposed to be just hunky-dory?"
I like the hint of satire Parker uses in these sentences. You asked us to "find something new": normally Parker writes in a manner that is very straightforward; there are not many subtleties, but here, she has some nuances in her tone. I have also noticed that she tends to throws in colloquialisms and other slang words in her writing. For example, here she uses "hunky dory", but one article in particular that stands out is when in the middle of a serious analysis, she made a new paragraph containing the single word, "Dude" (italicized) and then continued with her analysis, but in a different direction -- it was as if that word served as a transition. Adding these informal words in is fun both for her and the reader and it certainly makes her writing more accessible.
"In this age of DNA, with for-profit companies scanning customers’ genomes for DNA variants associated with disease and the “$1,000 genome” within reach, it seems positively antediluvian to bother with family medical histories. Why ask aging relatives what Uncle Harry died of when you can scrape some cells from your cheek and ship them off to a sequencing company to learn which diseases your DNA—which you might or might not share with Uncle Harry—has in store for you?"
I like this paragraph because it contains humor, statistics and information. It also contains large, complex words like "antediluvian" which means old or outdated, but still makes sense. I also like how she relates it to the reader's life talking about "Uncle Harry" and possible experiences the reader has had. It is also a great way to set up the reader for the rest of the article.
"It wasn't so much a game as it was a three-plus-hour colonoscopy."
This short sentence really popped out because of how extreme he made this game seem. To put the quote in context, my writer is talking about how the Chicago Bears are the most criticized team in the NFL. The sentences prior to the quote were discussing how the Monday Night Football game against the Dolphins went. This popped out to me because of how gross the image is, and he must have really have been trying to prove the point by using such an extreme image.
"It wasn't so much a game as it was a three-plus-hour colonoscopy."
This short sentence really popped out because of how extreme he made this game seem. To put the quote in context, my writer is talking about how the Chicago Bears are the most criticized team in the NFL. The sentences prior to the quote were discussing how the Monday Night Football game against the Dolphins went. This popped out to me because of how gross the image is, and he must have really have been trying to prove the point by using such an extreme image.
"It wasn't so much a game as it was a three-plus-hour colonoscopy."
This short sentence really popped out because of how extreme he made this game seem. To put the quote in context, my writer is talking about how the Chicago Bears are the most criticized team in the NFL. The sentences prior to the quote were discussing how the Monday Night Football game against the Dolphins went. This popped out to me because of how gross the image is, and he must have really have been trying to prove the point by using such an extreme image.
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