I am back from Student Council Leadership Camp and therefore back on the blog. Because I have not yet returned to my house, I do not have my copy of Catcher in the Rye to use in providing an example of how I would annotate diction from the book, but I can explain what I mean by diction, how to mark it, and what I would hypothetically say next to a quote from Catcher in the Rye. For the examples in this post, I am making up the page numbers just so that the quotes can be shown as cited.
Diction means word choice (the words an author chooses to use). There are two different ways you could reference this: one is to discuss the level of words the author is using, and the other is to discuss how the specific words chosen help to create a tone (or emotion) conveyed by the text.
If you are discussing level, you might underline a sentence where Holden says, "I guess I just felt like it" (7). Alongside it, I would make a note like, "Informal, trusts us, doesn't understand sig. of being kicked out."
More often, I expect to see you marking specific words that help convey the feeling or meaning behind the text. In a paragraph like, "This fall I think you're riding for--it's a special kind of fall, a horrible kind. The man falling isn't permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom. He just keeps falling and falling. The whole arrangement's designed for men who, at some time or other in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn't supply them with. Or they thought their own environment couldn't supply them with. So they gave up lookihng. They gave it up before they ever really got started" (158), I would circle the words "falling," "arrangement," and "environment" as meaningful examples of word choice or diction. In the margin next to "falling," I might note that "falling=broken, sinful, fall of man?" Next to "arrangement" I would jot that "Antolini implies the fall is fate, not Holden's fault." Finally, for "environment," I could comment, "Holden-->experiment, natural reaction."
As always, I want you all to remember that annotations are your notes written alongside the text regarding possible interpretations of that same text. They do not need to be recorded in complete sentences or even complete words; you just need to have a way to record your thoughts briefly, thoughts that you will be able to efficiently reference at a later time or date.
Your summer reading will be due either September 1st or 2nd depending on whether you have English I pre-AP on an A day or a B day. Just because your assignment is not due on the first day does not mean you will be homework-free for the first week. You won't. You may turn in your assignment early if you desire. I look forward to your continued questions and to seeing all of you at the Freshmen Orientation on August 8th.
Mrs. Rogers
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Annotation Examples
As requested, here are a few examples of how you might annotate for theme/thematic concept (an idea that seems to keep re-surfacing as a part of the author's overall message). I do want everyone to remember though that you do not have to annotate for theme or point of view; however, it never hurts to start keeping an eye out for them and marking them in your text so that going back and writing your dialectical journal entries may be easier. You are only required to have two dialectical journal entries for each of those. Below, I will provide an example of how to do a dialectical journal entry on each technique as well.
On page 106 of my book I might underline or bracket the part where Holden says, "Grand. If there's one word I hate, it's grand. It's so phony." Then I might circle the word phony and put an arrow out to the margin where I would write a note like, "Everyone being something they're not."
On page 81 of my book I might underline or bracket where Holden says, " What made it kind of worse, it was so quiet and lonesome out, even though it was Saturday night."I might circle lonesome and make a note in the margin about Holden always feeling alone or isolated because isolation is an idea (or thematic concept) that seems to come up repeatedly in the book.
A dialectical journal entry on one of the above quotes would run something like this:
Quote: "Grand. If there's one word I hate, it's grand. It's so phony" (106).
Commentary: One of Holden's chief complaints about the world around him seems to be the "phoniness," or fakeness, of it all. Just like most teenagers, he was raised to view the world in a certain way, and when he finds out that people do not necessarily live out the ideas they preach, he becomes jaded and doubts everyone's true intentions. Salinger raises this thematic concept of hypocrisy over and over again, most ironically in Holden's own life and behavior. For instance, in this case, he is criticizing Sally for being phony on the phone when he is calling a girl to hang out about whose ignorance and idiocy he just ranted for ten pages. He is undoubtedly the fake one! The message Salinger might be trying to relay to us through Holden's frustration with others' phoniness is that if we can only view hypocrisy in others and refuse to see our own shortcomings, we are doomed to isolate ourselves from the imperfection surrounding us--and thereby humanity as a whole.
A student also requested an example for point of view. If I were annotating for point of view in the book, I might mark a passage like the one on page 134 when Holden narrates, "I stuck around for a while, apologizing and trying to get her to excuse me, but she wouldn't. She kept telling me to go away and leave her alone. So finally I did it. I went inside and got my shoes and stuff, and left without her. I shouldn't've, but I was pretty goddam fed up by that time." Then in the margin I would comment, "1st person -->we see only Holden's pitiless idea of Sally."
For a dialectical journal entry on the same quote, it would look more like this:
Quote: "I stuck around for a while, apologizing and trying to get her to excuse me, but she wouldn't. She kept telling me to go away and leave her alone. So finally I did it. I went inside and got my shoes and stuff, and left without her. I shouldn't've, but I was pretty goddam fed up by that time" (134).
Commentary: This portion of the book, and actually the vast majority of the book, is written using first person narration, meaning that the reader is only receiving Holden's perceptions, not other people's actual feelings or motivations, just the way Holden sees them. In this case, Holden is not talking in quotes; he is actually the one telling the story to us. Just like when we tell stories and interpret other people as best we can, Holden does the same thing to Sally. Because he is the one relating the events to us and because he is the only character we have access to understand, we symptahize with Holden's frustration with Sally. In fact, it makes us ready to move on from their whole interaction anyway, just like he does physically. We even remember back to his comment in the beginning that she was stupid and use this event as reinforcement for that accusation.
Hope these examples help. Feel free to post comments when you need help. :) You all are about midway through summer, so if you know people who haven't even looked at the blog yet or started their summer reading, remind them! You definitely don't want them to start begging you for your hard work once school starts!
On page 106 of my book I might underline or bracket the part where Holden says, "Grand. If there's one word I hate, it's grand. It's so phony." Then I might circle the word phony and put an arrow out to the margin where I would write a note like, "Everyone being something they're not."
On page 81 of my book I might underline or bracket where Holden says, " What made it kind of worse, it was so quiet and lonesome out, even though it was Saturday night."I might circle lonesome and make a note in the margin about Holden always feeling alone or isolated because isolation is an idea (or thematic concept) that seems to come up repeatedly in the book.
A dialectical journal entry on one of the above quotes would run something like this:
Quote: "Grand. If there's one word I hate, it's grand. It's so phony" (106).
Commentary: One of Holden's chief complaints about the world around him seems to be the "phoniness," or fakeness, of it all. Just like most teenagers, he was raised to view the world in a certain way, and when he finds out that people do not necessarily live out the ideas they preach, he becomes jaded and doubts everyone's true intentions. Salinger raises this thematic concept of hypocrisy over and over again, most ironically in Holden's own life and behavior. For instance, in this case, he is criticizing Sally for being phony on the phone when he is calling a girl to hang out about whose ignorance and idiocy he just ranted for ten pages. He is undoubtedly the fake one! The message Salinger might be trying to relay to us through Holden's frustration with others' phoniness is that if we can only view hypocrisy in others and refuse to see our own shortcomings, we are doomed to isolate ourselves from the imperfection surrounding us--and thereby humanity as a whole.
A student also requested an example for point of view. If I were annotating for point of view in the book, I might mark a passage like the one on page 134 when Holden narrates, "I stuck around for a while, apologizing and trying to get her to excuse me, but she wouldn't. She kept telling me to go away and leave her alone. So finally I did it. I went inside and got my shoes and stuff, and left without her. I shouldn't've, but I was pretty goddam fed up by that time." Then in the margin I would comment, "1st person -->we see only Holden's pitiless idea of Sally."
For a dialectical journal entry on the same quote, it would look more like this:
Quote: "I stuck around for a while, apologizing and trying to get her to excuse me, but she wouldn't. She kept telling me to go away and leave her alone. So finally I did it. I went inside and got my shoes and stuff, and left without her. I shouldn't've, but I was pretty goddam fed up by that time" (134).
Commentary: This portion of the book, and actually the vast majority of the book, is written using first person narration, meaning that the reader is only receiving Holden's perceptions, not other people's actual feelings or motivations, just the way Holden sees them. In this case, Holden is not talking in quotes; he is actually the one telling the story to us. Just like when we tell stories and interpret other people as best we can, Holden does the same thing to Sally. Because he is the one relating the events to us and because he is the only character we have access to understand, we symptahize with Holden's frustration with Sally. In fact, it makes us ready to move on from their whole interaction anyway, just like he does physically. We even remember back to his comment in the beginning that she was stupid and use this event as reinforcement for that accusation.
Hope these examples help. Feel free to post comments when you need help. :) You all are about midway through summer, so if you know people who haven't even looked at the blog yet or started their summer reading, remind them! You definitely don't want them to start begging you for your hard work once school starts!
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Dialectical Journal Sample: Symbol
One of you posted asking for an example of a dialectical journal entry for The Catcher in the Rye, so I will gladly provide one. I want you to remember that, as I tell my seniors, writing a good dialectical journal entry is less about being exactly right in your interpretation and more about making the attempt to interpret what Salinger means beyond the surface-level of the text. When looking for a symbol, you are usually looking for an object or a person that represents something bigger than just its elements. For instance in our everyday lives, "home" is often a symbol for peace and belonging, not just a combination of wood and nails. The American flag could be a symbol for sacrifice, honor, or freedom, not just fabric that is red, white, and blue. Does that make sense?
Here is an example from The Catcher in the Rye.
Left column: "When I left the skating rink I felt sort of hungry, so I went in this drugstore and had a Swiss cheese sandwich and a malted, and then I went in a phone booth" (135).
Right column: The phone booth is a physical symbol for Holden's mental and emotional separation from his fellow man as well as representing his longing to belong but his inability to do so. Ironically, whenever Holden feels most depressed or alone, he goes into a phone booth, leaving the rest of mankind hurrying around outside the glass walls in which he encloses himself. He separates himself from the noise of the world because he has such a strong distaste for what he views as most people's phoniness. However, once he is isolated from everyone else, he gets these urges to call people, all different kinds of people--people from his past schools, family members, old girlfriends--most of whom he eventually decides he cannot call at that time or place...mirroring how quickly he decides he cannot stand the few people he does meet and once again isolates himself. Even though he cannot seem to fit with the world around him or the people it houses, he desperately wants to, which Salinger conveys through each of his escapes into the phone booth.
I hope that helps. As I explained in my previous dialectical journal example, I do not necessarily expect your entries to be as long as mine, but I do expect insightful ideas and a clear link to the text on a deeper level.
Talk to you all again soon!
Mrs. Rogers
Here is an example from The Catcher in the Rye.
Left column: "When I left the skating rink I felt sort of hungry, so I went in this drugstore and had a Swiss cheese sandwich and a malted, and then I went in a phone booth" (135).
Right column: The phone booth is a physical symbol for Holden's mental and emotional separation from his fellow man as well as representing his longing to belong but his inability to do so. Ironically, whenever Holden feels most depressed or alone, he goes into a phone booth, leaving the rest of mankind hurrying around outside the glass walls in which he encloses himself. He separates himself from the noise of the world because he has such a strong distaste for what he views as most people's phoniness. However, once he is isolated from everyone else, he gets these urges to call people, all different kinds of people--people from his past schools, family members, old girlfriends--most of whom he eventually decides he cannot call at that time or place...mirroring how quickly he decides he cannot stand the few people he does meet and once again isolates himself. Even though he cannot seem to fit with the world around him or the people it houses, he desperately wants to, which Salinger conveys through each of his escapes into the phone booth.
I hope that helps. As I explained in my previous dialectical journal example, I do not necessarily expect your entries to be as long as mine, but I do expect insightful ideas and a clear link to the text on a deeper level.
Talk to you all again soon!
Mrs. Rogers
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