Obama on the War

Long time, no words. Heartfelt apologies for that.

Obama, Obama, Obama. A man I voted for and have much faith in. The topic of the war is an extremely touchy one but after reading this speech I do have to say that it does give logical reasons. No chance everyone is going to agree with me or with President Obama but it is important to acknowledge that he brought up KEY points as to why we went to war in the first place. He brought up hard subject matter, such as the amount of people who died on 9/11 and how bad it could have been. Nobody wants deaths overseas. Nobody wants to see innocent people dead. But people do want to see us fight for our country. Obama didn't put us in Iraq. Bush didn't even put us there. The events did. It's touchy subject matter, like I said. So, I hope I don't get millions of comments from crazies like Erin did.

Like you said, Robin, this is difficult subject matter. The president says it himself, To address these important issues, it's important to recall why America and our allies were compelled to fight a war in Afghanistan in the first place. We did not ask for this fight.

There is no good reason Obama can give us, or anyone can give us. But he tries and I think he does his best. I think he brought up great points in this speech and he has a plan. Of course things can't always go as planned. Time will tell. But for now, I think Obama is trying pretty hard to give some logical reasons for the military actions.

Montaigne

The first thing I noticed while reading "On Some Lines by Virgil" was the length of the sentences. Montaigne creates lengthy sentences using parataxis. I felt like I was reading a lot of run ons, but the thoughts were not all coherent - this made reading this interesting, and somewhat challenging. It is also interesting how he organizes his sentences, or shall I say, his words, considering they are all in one sentence.

Pleasure is a quality of very little ambition: it thinks itself rich enough of itself without any addition of repute; and is best pleased where most retired.A young man should be whipped who pretends to a taste in wine and sauces; there was nothing which, at that age, I less valued or knew; now I begin to learn; I am very much ashamed on`t; but what should I do?

The amount of punctuation he uses in his sentences creates an interesting form of writing. You say he was "perhaps, the ultimate rule-breaker" and I would have to agree. From the beginning of his essay the reader notices his sentences and writing style, and notices how it is different from most other writers.

I don't think there is much structure with it. I think if you could describe this structure it would be a free style way of writing. The words he chooses to use are sophisticated and they don't seem to match up with the sentence structure.

BUT...with all this, I think the unusual writing style makes for an interesting and unique essay.

James Joyce's Grace

Reading Grace kind of reminded me of a detective story. There was different points of view, long run-on sentences, and interesting description that kept the reader wanting more. The run-on sentences were particularly what stood out to me while reading this. The descriptions of each character are lengthy and the reader sees over and over again through each character how detailed Joyce's descriptions are. The tone is ironic but at the same time the descriptions make the reader intrigued by the characters.

"The transept of the Jesuit Church in Gardiner Street was almost full; and still at every moment gentlemen entered from the side door and, directed by the lay brother, walked on tiptoe along the aisles until they found seating accommodation. The gentleman were all well dressed and orderly. The light of the lamps of the church fell upon an assembly of black clothes and white collars, relieved here and there by tweeds, on dark mottled pillars of green marble and on lugubrious canvases. The gentleman sat in the benches, having hitched their trousers slightly above their knees and laid their hats in security. They sat well back and and gazed formally at the distant speck of red light which was suspended before the high altar."

This passage describes in lengthy detail the men sitting down in Church. Joyce describes the clothing in a very interesting way. It is not straight to the point but rather the description is a bit hidden: The gentleman were all well dressed and orderly. The light of the lamps of the church fell upon an assembly of black clothes and white collars, relieved here and there by tweeds, on dark mottled pillars of green marble and on lugubrious canvases.

Joyce describes how "the light of the lamp" brings out the appearance of the men, which I found to be very interesting.

The word "gentleman" is also repeated often throughout the passage.

Lolita

All at once we were madly, clumsily, shamelessly, agonizingly in love with each other; hopelessly, I should add, because that frenzy of mutual possession might have been assuaged only by our actually imbibing and assimilating every particle of each other's soul and flesh; but there we were, unable even to mate as slum children would have so easily found an opportunity to do. After one wild attempt we made to meet at night in her garden (of which more later), the only privacy we were allowed was to be out of earshot but not out of sight on the populous part of the plage. There, on the soft sand, a few feet away from our elders, we would sprawl all morning, in a petrified paroxysm of desire, and take advantage of every blessed quirk in space and time to touch each other: her hand, half-hidden in the sand, would creep toward me, its slender brown fingers sleepwalking nearer and nearer; then, her opalescent knee would start on a long cautious journey; sometimes a chance rampart built by younger children granted us sufficient concealment to graze each other's salty lips; these incomplete contacts drove our healthy and inexperienced young bodies to such a state of exasperation that not even the cold blue water, under which we still clawed at each other, could bring relief.

Right from the beginning Nabokov uses adverbs to make the paragraph flow; madly, clumsily, shamelessly, agonizingly. The repetition of adverbs that describes how in love they are is extremely powerful.

There, on the soft sand, a few feet away from our elders, we would sprawl all morning, in a petrified paroxysm of desire, and take advantage of every blessed quirk in space and time to touch each other: her hand, half-hidden in the sand, would creep toward me, its slender brown fingers sleepwalking nearer and nearer; then, her opalescent knee would start on a long cautious journey;
Nabokov uses adjectives to direct the sentences with beautiful description. The descriptive words used, such as, opalescent brings an interesting twist to describing a knee. Nabokov describes the journey by using these interesting form of words.

Nabokov uses intriguing adjectives throughout this paragraph and I think this is the most important sentence styling to touch upon. In almost every sentence, adverbs or adjectives are used to paint the picture of love. For example, each other's salty lips, slender brown fingers, and the last few words are put together wonderfully: contacts drove our healthy and inexperienced young bodies to such a state of exasperation that not even the cold blue water, under which we still clawed at each other, could bring relief.

There are many run-on sentences throughout this paragraph. He (Nabokov) uses them often to keep his thoughts going and in most every sentence separates the sentences with a colon and semicolon. This is very obvious throughout the whole paragraph.

A Silver Dish

"That was how Woody wanted it all. At the graveside, he had taken off and folded his jacket, rolled up his sleeves on thick freckled biceps, waved back the little tractor standing by, and shovelled the dirt himself. His big face, broad at the bottom, narrowed upward like a Dutch house. And, his small good lower teeth taking hold of the upper lip in his exertion, he performed the final duty of a son. He was very fit, so it must have been emotion, not the shovelling, that made him redden so. After the funeral, he went home with Halina and her son, a decent Polack like his mother, and talented, too—Mitosh played the organ, at hockey and basketball games in the Stadium, which took a smart man because it was a rabble-rousing kind of occupation—and they had some drinks and comforted the old girl. Halina was true blue, always one hundred per cent for Morris."

This passage thoroughly explains a physical and emotional state and Bellow uses very descriptive words to get his message across. "taken off" and "waved back" emphasize the description of his actions in a powerful way and like Lanham Bellow's structure has an interesting pattern. Every sentence flows easily and follows a pattern of intriguing description. He designs his paragraphs almost like a "flow chart" - if that makes any sense. To me, it flows but with pattern and with a sense of belonging. Especially in this paragraph, we read a succession of events that are descriptive of what the characters are doing and how they are reacting. For example, He was very fit, so it must have been emotion, not the shovelling, that made him redden so. After the funeral, he went home with Halina and her son, a decent Polack like his mother, and talented, too—Mitosh played the organ,..."

Bellow beautifully links words together in a sentence to create the easy flow.

"There were Woody’s two sisters as well, unmarried, in their fifties, very Christian, very straight, still living with Mama in an entirely Christian bungalow. Woody, who took full responsibility for them all, occasionally had to put one of the girls (they had become sick girls) in a mental institution. Nothing severe. The sisters were wonderful women, both of them gorgeous once, but neither of the poor things was playing with a full deck."

I love the first sentence of this passage. It demonstrates how Bellow's words combined into a great sentence with emotion and humor simultaneously. His descriptions of the people echo throughout the story because of his organization.

Introduction

Hello,

It is great to be in a class where we can blog - I just started my own blog in May and it has been a very fun experience.

I am not a reader who is only fascinated by the "best writers of all time." Yet, I am much more into the styles of today's authors like Jodi Picoult. I love her style of writing and the fact that she can write books of such mystery and totally leave you hanging but then also writes these beautiful love stories that do the same.

I think Zadie Smith's style of writing is quirky and creative and such a joy to read. She is an author I would love to emulate.


That being said though, I do love the works of James Joyce, who I think is a timeless author with a creative but mysterious style.

I look forward to this class and learning how to read all that I read more closely.