Close Reading; "Juvenile Injustice"

The New York Times: "Juveniles Injustice"
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/opinion/sunday/juvenile-injustice-and-the-states.html?ref=editorials&_r=0

       The New York Times editorial "Juvenile Injustice"  discusses the criminal justice system when it comes to juvenile delinquents.  The voice of the article strongly suggests it is against how juveniles are being treated unjustly, as shown in the title.
       The discussion of the supreme court's ruling that Miller vs. Alabama was "cruel and unusual punishment", sways the audiences opinion in a very strong way. This detail is a crucial aspect for the evidence pertaining to the authors argument that juveniles are being treated unfairly. The author uses this piece of information so that the reader is automatically drawn to the author's viewpoint. The author uses diction when saying things like "mandatory life sentence", the reader is drawn in and shocked. Such harsh things are interesting to the reader, drawing them in. The imagery used in this article is depressing. It gives the idea of someone fifteen years old, who may have come from a harsh background and made a mistake, sentenced to a life in prison. No second chances. This is a disturbing thought to me as it is to other readers I am sure. These techniques are used in such a way that the reader is curious about other rulings on juveniles and what the courts and the states are doing about the injustices.
     The author's voice is strong in this piece, showing their passion for the topic of juvenile injustice through examples of cruel state legislature that are in effect around America. These states and courts are not giving the juveniles a chance to "rehabilitate" as said in the article. These examples provide the reader with the reasoning they need to be on the authors side of the subject.

Open Prompt

2006, Form B. In many works of literature, a physical journey - the literal movement from one place to another - plays a central role. Choose a novel, play, or epic poem in which a physical journey is an important element and discuss how the journey adds to the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

       The Odyssey is one of the most famous stories of a physical journey in literary history. It contains action, love, villains and a hero. The reader follows Odysseus's physical journey while experiencing his emotional one while he learns lessons and defeats his moral battles. 

          Odysseus's journey is the entire reason for the work as a whole, it is the entire story, and what everything revolves around. The story begins with Odysseus trapped on an island being held by Calypso, then he is allowed to build a boat and move on to his next destination, then his next and his next. He is constantly battling to get home allows the reader to not only read but experience how he changes and fights as a his character grows. Without the journey there would be no story, therefore is a key part in the work as a whole. 

        Physical journeys were a huge theme years ago in writing and still are today, the story of Odysseus and his journey to get back home has been retold and reused countless times in modern literature. This proves the importance of the physical journey and the role it plays in the story of the Odyssey alone.

Response to Course Material

To be honest, I don't know how throughly I can answer this prompt because of all the school I missed but I will try.  Watching Death of a Salesman was quite an experience. I have not watched a play/movie that was so confusing but so fun to watch at the same time. The movie made no sense to me until we discussed it later on which was when I caught on to all the deeper meanings in the movie that I did not catch while watching. I had to finish the movie on my own and obviously found the ending sad but inevitable. I'm glad we watched the movie before reading the book, I feel like it will help when I do the close reading.

Unfortunately, I do not know what we did in class this entire week so don't have much else to say. But I can say that I feel like I have learned a lot so far in this class. I love in the morning when we do those poem analysis things, and we have to write our own as a class. It keeps everyone involved and although I know it has educational value, I especially like how in my class especially it seems to unite us which I love in an English class because it is so much easier to discuss when you feel comfortable with your class.