I felt that the first submission by John Updike had a very reassuring feel to it. Updike gave his whole account of the day to capture the terror of the moment so that he could get his final point across. His final point was that even in the face horror, America can recover and stand tall. He says in the second to last paragraph that 'this is worth fighting for'. Even after all of our mistakes, blunders, and setbacks, America is worth fighting for. This essay seemed to be very patriotic and uplifting in a time of emotional need, but I believe that it was only for that purpose.
The second essay hit more of the technicalities of the event. Susan Sontag, I believe, was trying to say that things aren't always all 'America', 'guns', and 'apple pie' anymore. Don't get me wrong, 9/11 was a terrible thing to happen on our home front. But when Sontag questions 'How many citizens are aware of the ongoing American bombing of Iraq?', she is saying that things like this happen almost daily on their home front. This only happened once here. She states that calling the enemy 'cowards' is invalid. Terrorism is always cowardly. They gave their lives for a cause, and there is at least a shred of bravery in that. She covers most of this in her first and second paragraphs, and then she moves on to criticize the way that our government handles situations like this. From what I interpreted, she says that our government is trying to console us when what they really should be doing is figuring out what to do next. I liked this essay because it challenged what the norm believed, and looking at it, it brings up some good points that show that some of what our media and politicians had been saying was wrong.
Good to have you aboard, Hartman! Nice job comparing these two very different pieces. I like how you support your points with quotes from the text: this is an important aspect of academic writing.
ReplyDeleteGood job on getting your blog up and running. One thing to do now is check out some of the other students' blogs and leave them some feedback. A couple of comments a week would be just fine. Make sure you keep a record of where and when you comment so I can give you credit for it. A list of all the blog addresses is on my teacher web page.
Hope your summer is going well, Hartman-- keep cool!
I agree with you Hartman: John Updike's article was more reassuring and Susan Sontag's was more technical. Both Articles were very different but covering the same issue.
ReplyDeleteI think you and I interpreted these articles in the same way. I feel like Updike was writing more to assure that America will survive, even though it has endured a tragedy. I think he did that by using very emotional writing and plenty of first-hand accounts on his part of that day. Though emotional, which it truly was, it doesn't hold much more value than that. I like the way you think, kid.
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