The essays by Susan Sontag and John Updike are dramatically different from each other. Susan's writes of the cowardice of the media and politicians and the way they "infantilize" the public by talking around the problem, telling us that everything is going to be okay. Susan angrily writes that they are "unworthy of a mature democracy," and that the politics of a democracy "has been replaced by psychotherapy." Throughout the entire essay, Susan boldly voices her negative opinions on the actions of the government and media. The only break from this negativity is in the last few sentences of the paper: "'Our country is strong,' we are told again and again. Who doubts that America is strong? But that's not all America has to be." The hopefulness of her conclusion somewhat softens the harsh words in the rest of the essay while remaining refreshingly honest.
It was also very interesting to read about the horrors of 9/11 from John Updike's unique perspective. There is beauty in the way he describes what he witnessed that day. When he first saw the twin towers, "smoke speckled with bits of paper curled into the cloudless sky." Shortly after, the second tower "burst into ballooning flame." He isn't dismissing the death and sorrow of 9/11, but he isn't completely focusing on them either. At one point, he mentions the "remarkably calm and loving" last-minute cellphone calls and says that television's repeated footage of the tragedy was like a "nightmare ballet." Though both he and Susan conclude their essays with words of strength and hope, John Updike's conclusion (and the rest of his paper) gave the overall impression that he had deep respect for those who had lost their lives and that he truly believed that America would pull through. Susan Sontag wrote her entire essay with words of anger and contempt. Her conclusion sounded sincere, but it wasn't nearly as encouraging and hopeful as John's.
Hey Celia! Hope all is going well with you and your days are filled with excellent summer adventures.
ReplyDeleteA couple of AP Comp reminders:
In addition to writing your own posts, make sure you are doing some reading and replying to your classmates’ blogs. You can find a list of blog addresses at my web page.
Also, you should be well along in your non-fiction book. Hope it’s a good one, and I look forward to reading more about it once school starts.
Finally, we will be doing vocabulary quizzes the first week of class, so make sure you’re finding some good words.
Let me know if you have any questions, and savor the last few weeks of summer!