Examples of Excellence

I've gotten some red hot mail about how can I improve my scores on posts. First of all, remember, comments are neither positive or negative in nature. They are there simply to demand further research or more insight. Also sometimes they are just words of encouragement. Now some bloggers have "gone hard in the paint" and blogged to a degree that shows they are truly engaging the text. I wanted to point some of these as guidance. These are by no means perfect, but they ARE on the right road in regards to the line of thinking.

This section of the book is mostly about Robbie and him writing an apology note to Cecilia, while McEwan is describing Robbie from the things in his room and on his desk. There is a big allusion in the book from a play by Shakespeare. On page 27 it states, "As the outer reaches of the desk, various photographs; the cast of Twelfth Night on the college lawn, himself as Malvolio, cross gartered. How apt." I wasn’t familiar with the play so I googled it and found a summary on the “Twelfth Night” After reading the summary there is a lot that is in common with Malvolio and Robbie. Both are of lower rank than their beloved, are stewards or a son of a steward, and desire to be above their rank. Malvolio at the end of the play is seen as a villain and suffers from the people around him. Malvolio is seen as a tragic hero. I wonder if this is a foreshadow to what will happen to Robbie in this book? (Hill)

 Reasons this is good:

1. This shows that this blogger is willing to go the extra academic mile for the full understanding of an allusion. She didn't know what Twelfth Night was or who Malvolio was, but she looked it up. This shows commitment
2. This blogger then goes and tries to synthesis and connect old information to new information and make conclusions

Another great example is the following:

This section is composed of two chapters, these two chapters show the loss of innocence for both Briony and Cecilia. [...] I looked up a symbol for the innocence and the color white came up. It is a great representation because of Brides. They wear white to show their innocence and purity. The loss of innocence for the two sisters however are different. For Briony, "The very complexity of her feelings confirmed Briony in her view that she was entering an arena of adult emotion and dissembling from which her writing was bound to benefit." This states that she is moving on into a chaotic world leaving back a childish way of life. This also foreshadows a major conflict of Briony between Robbie's & Cecilia's relationship. [...] Of course, the reason why Cecilia lost her innocence is pretty obvious, her relationship with Robbie is pretty "blossoming". [...] A great example of dramatic irony was when Leon said "Briony's hotheaded decision. On a cooler day we'd be in the library watching the theatricals now." (page 122) This made me crack up because unlike Leon, we know that there were some pretty good theatricals going on right before the dinner(Hill).

Reasons this is good:

1. Again research. 
2. The integration of research into the post
3. She hits SEVERAL literary devices  (Symbolism, foreshadowing, and irony) and thus address the craftsmanship the author is putting into the overall work. 
4. On a personal level, I like this post because she takes the academic be still discusses an emotional and personal reaction to the humor of the scene. 

A different approach is done by this blogger:

Spoken directly from the author in the Forward, Toni Morrison writes, "Beauty was not simply something to behold; it was something one could do." I think this is very true. Beauty isn't just one's looks, but is expressed through one's words and actions. I think beauty will have a lot to do with the theme of this book; especially since the title relates to one's looks. You can already look at the characters and tell which one's are beautiful by their actions. Obviously Pecola's father does not show beauty because Pecola becomes pregnant by him. I think Mr. Henry shows beauty when he speaks to the girls when they weren't introduced and weren't even expecting him to speak to them. Also, when Frieda tries to help Pecola without getting in trouble shows beauty. However, people have different perspectives on what beauty is, so I wonder how that will play out in the novel...(Herndon)

Reasons 

1. This person goes to the source of the text. She makes the logical equation that if the author said it, it must be a big part of the work. Some of you might think that it's playing Captain Obvious, but sometimes the simplest answers are the best.
2. This person address the motives and actions of the characters. The characters MAKE the story, so looking at the characterization is always worth doing. 

There are a few more examples I wanted to list--one involving the color red and another about whores, but I think this post is running long as it is. 

Please look at these as examples of avenues of attack. Again these are no means perfect, but each one is a good way of coming at a text. Please DO NOT just copy their formulas. Be yourself, but address the terminology of the class. 

Herndon, Camilla. "Beauty." My Thoughts. 12 Jul 2011. Web. 16 Jul 2011. <http://my-thoughts-00.blogspot.com/2011/07/tuesday-july-12-2011-page-xi-quote-1.html>

Hill, Katlyn. "Shakespeare is Found Everywhere"."Rambling Peculiarly. 10 Jul 2011. Web. 16 Jul 2011. <http://iramblepeculiarly.blogspot.com/2011/07/shakespeare-is-found-everywhere.html>.

--"No More Innocence."Ramgling Percularity. 11 Jul 2011. web. 16 Jul 2011. <http://iramblepeculiarly.blogspot.com/2011/07/no-more-innocence.html>