Florida Suit Says Arrests Are Retaliation for Atheism

This last article by Lizette Alvarez really struck my interest. The title of this captivating article is called "Atheist in Florida Files Suit Citing Harassment in Arrest." I must admit, this title is was reeled me in, but this particular article seemed different than the rest of Alvarez's. Although it shared the similar writing style, this one had more of a narrative-base than solely details and facts. No slang really stuck out to me, but I did notice the extraordinarily formal writing type. She used a lot of  functional statement syntax in her sentences meaning there was usually only statements, rather than interrogative or exclamatory sentences. One of the only rhetorical devices I noticed was the repetition of sentence and ideas. Another reason this particular article stuck out from her others is that this one was written in cause-effect format. Everything was in a process. There was no persuasion or argumentation in this article or simply in any of her articles that I read. Alvarez has a certain swing to her writing that makes it unique from other typical writers. She exhibits a very rare sense of biased opinion in all articles, and she certainly made the article effective for her readers. My personal favorite technique of hers is that the writing style is concise and extremely down-to-the-point. Her readers can get the facts in a quick, short, interesting manner.

Ready to Swim 103 Miles with Sharks

Again, I have found another very intriguing article written by Lizette Alvarez. It is titled "Swimming From Cuba to Key West, Without Leaving the Water." This article was soley based off of interviews. I didnt happen to find a single biased oppinion or judgement from Alvarez. She again was very consise in her writing. Although I'm sure unintentional, Alvarez used a bit of alliteration in a few of her sentences. Now considering this article consisted mainly of interviews and statements of facts, I didn't find a single personification or onomatopia usage. Perhaps more of a story or narrative would alter the interest of more readers. It could just be her type of writing, but a high suggestion would be to add more similies, metaphors, or simply any rhetorical device. Because this was written with only facts and interview, there was no point of view or plot. This was well written, but could definitely be more interesting if written differently.

Casey Anthony Not Guilty in Slaying of Daughter

I chose to follow Lizette Alvarez, a very skilled writer of the New York Times. I found one article, "Casey Anthony Not Guilty in Slaying of Daughter" particularly interesting. Not necessarily the information, but more of the writing style of the author is what stuck my interest. Alvarez used very little slang; at least none stuck out to me, and she made this report very formal; yet concise. I did notice; however, a syntax pattern of excessive compound-complex sentences. Nearly every sentence was written the same. There were very few simple sentences. The biased stand also stood out to me. Just the title alone, "Casey Anthony Not Guilty in Slaying of Daughter" makes me feel like the article will be about the wrong outcome for the alleged, Casey Anthony, by Alvarez's choice of slaying. I must admit though, the title is what reeled me into reading it. At one point in Alvarez's article, I felt she tried to sway the readers against the jurors. She states how the jurors had little difficulty reaching a verdict, and that might have been due to their sequestered stay for six weeks. The structure of Alvarez's article was a split between descriptive and narrative. I also noticed that there was no climax in the article. It was all simply down to the point; solely the facts and details. The honest effectiveness this author had on me with this particular article is that it was well-written and interesting, but nothing spectacular or extraordinary.

Another major theme is recognizing past from present with sanity and disorder. Willy would lose himself in the past when the present was too difficult to accept. The worse reality becomes, the more Willy creates an alternative reality. Willy's memories distracted him from the reality.

DENIAL

One of the largest themes in death of a salesman is denial. All members in the Loman family are living in denial or are allowing others to live in denial; for example, Linda. Both of Willy's sons adopt his habit of denying reality. Linda is the only one who recognizes the family is living in denial but simply goes along with it.

Willy finally achieves some type of success because he knows biff loves him. Although Biff says "there will be no pity for you, you hear it? No pity!" (II.14) Willy is certain he can make Biff love him even more by his death and leaving him with the insurance money. By the end of tbe play; however, Willy contradicted his own intentions. Instead of being the well-liked, respected man he aspired to be, his unimpressive funeral with lack of people demonstrates his fail. Willy believed his suicide would resolve all disorder when in reality that was not in the least what happened.

CRAZY

Willy openly discusses his plan to commit suicide. Willy thinks it's his only way out. He will make amends to Linda for betraying her by leaving her financially stable. He cannot admit his unfaithfulnessm so leaving her with money is his way to alleviate the guilt. He also feels that Biff will respect him for sacrificing his life. Willy is entirely insane.

It was the scene that began in a hotel room when Biff learns of his father's affair that led to the entire mood and explanation of the current situation. It was during this scene when Biff loses all respect for Willy. He no longer felt motivated to attend summer school or graduate; since he would have only done that to please his father. Now that Biff realizes that his father is not perfect, in fact, a traitor, he is incapable of achieving success because he no longer has faith in his father of himself.

By Scene 9, we see just how unreasonable Willy and Happy both are. Biff is the only mature, sane one. He doesn't deny the truth. He lives in reality. It's unfair that his life turned out this certain way because of his father and the way he raised him. Biff begs Happy to help Willy, but Happy just refuses, blames Biff for Willy's condition, and leaves without paying the tab. Willy is completely mentally collapsing. He knows that all is lost--both his job and Biff's chance of success--so he resorts to the past to escape the present. He feels that the only way to regain order in the present is by making sense of the past. Its very difficult as a reader to determine what is happening in the present and what's in the past.

All of Willy's family including Linda, Biff and Happy are aware of Willy's problem. When Willy learns of Biff's new attempt to start a new business and gain success, he gets excited again. Biff and everyone else; however, realize that this peace and order in the house is only temporary. We also learn that Linda is not oblivious to Willy's disorder, but that she is just choosing to play along with it and act like nothing is wrong. Biff, being the mature one, refuses to do that and removes the hose in which Willy had attempted suicide before with.

Willy is again exhibiting strange behavior by hallucinations. Willy refuses to acknowledge that certain opportunities no longer exist. He is re-creating his life by imagining what could have been. In Act I, Scene 9; however, we really understand Willy's insecurities and necessity of approval and recognition from everyone. He is constantly trying to prove to other that he is successful, as a salesman and a father. He denies the truth that he is actually a failure.

Guilt over Affairs

Through the mix of present and past events, the audience can see Willy's guilt over his affair. Whenever he is in Linda's presence, the guilt and reminder of his affair comes out. Willy likes to believe he is a respected, successful salesman, but the reality of his betrayal to Linda wont leave his mind. Willy shifts all his anger and guilty from his infidelity to Biff.

I wonder..

It's difficult to determine what's past and what's happening in the present. How old is everyone now? I wonder what Linda really thinks of her husband. Is she aware of his affair?

Denial

In the later scenes, the audience might get the idea that Willy cared too much of his pride, popularity, and being well-respected. That goes for his children too. Willy stressed being "well-liked" rather than accepting the possibility of failure to Biff. This being in the past could be a foreshadowing of their current unhappiness. Also, the audience sees Willy's manipulation of reality. He attempts to deny it and exaggerates the truth. He is simply unable to accept the truth about himself and the reality of the world he lives in. He denies his own failure because it is easier to invent a reality in which he is successful which explains his current disorder.

Death of a Salesman

Today I started reading Death of a Salesman. To my surprise, it was quite intriguing. I read up to Act 1-Scene 3. As the story progresses, the protagonist, Willy Loman appears to be a struggling character. In the first scene, Willy acknowledges something is wrong with him; he struggles to reconcile memories from the past with the events of the present. Linda, his wife puts up with him even though it's clear Willy takes her for granted. In Scene 2, Willy's two sons, Biff and Happy, are introduced. Both are dissatisfied with their current lifestyles. As the story shifts back in time, the audience can see the past events that will lead up to why everything is as it is now in the present. For example, in the past, Happy rats on Biff to Willy saying how Biff stole a football. At first Willy reprimands him, but then praises him for stealing it. This miniscule even in the past could have lead to the disorder later in Biff's life. After reading these three scenes, I got the idea that in the past, the two boys used to highly respect their father and wanted nothing more than to make him proud; however, since the story is set in the present and the audience sees the current opinion of their father the two sons have, it's clear that there was an event that lead up to this current position.