Close Readings

(Close Reading #3)
Who Needs Stability?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/opinion/sunday/who-needs-financial-stability.html?ref=opinion
"Who Needs Stability?" is an editorial I found in the New York Times that I found to have an extremely strong voice and opinion on the matter. The article is discussing the bankers' fight against regulations that would encourage banks to have more cushion and stability and hopefully avoid another financial crisis. The author demonstrates a strong bias against the bankers and for the regulations; we can see this as early as the sarcastic rhetorical question in the title.

The author embraces diction in the article in order to create a negative tone towards the bankers. The author states that the bankers are trying to "undercut" the regulations. Undercut has negative connotations and creates the feeling that the bankers are doing something wrong. The author describes the Institute for International Finance's (bankers) report as being "dubious" and "self-serving." Both of these words are extremely negative and cause the reader to question the possibly selfish motives of the bankers as well. When the author says the bankers are "claiming" that regulations would discourage growth, the diction of "claiming" makes us again question the bankers. The word tends to imply that whatever is being claimed is not true. Throughout the article, the author uses the term "meltdown" to describe the financial crisis. This term dramatizes the situation and causes the reader to feel panic and share a bias towards baking regulations.

The author uses details in order to criticize the bankers as well as demonstrate the seriousness of the financial situation. The author includes a quote from the Institute of International Finance, "“There is an acute danger that the pursuit of financial stability imposes too great a cost on economic growth and job creation at a fragile time for the world economy." The author notes the irony of the quote, which makes the readers view the bankers' stance as the author does- wrong and self-serving. He furthers this view by noting the detail that the group "issued its own report." The author includes the detail that "the bankers hate the new restrictions because every dollar set aside is a dollar they cannot lend for profit." By including why the bankers dislike the restrictions, the author makes the reader believe that the bankers are simply being selfish and are too concerned with making a profit. At the end of the article, the author makes the dramatic statement that "the real danger is that without more regulation — and larger cash cushions — risky behavior from the banks will set off another meltdown." To an extent, it is true that lack of banking regulation could possibly cause another financial crisis, but the way in which the author states this fact is extremely dramatic and obviously biased.

In "Who Needs Stability?" the author has no problem showing his bias and opinion on the matter. By using dramatic diction and details, and words with heavy negative connotations, the author persuades the audience into thinking as he does and seeing the bankers in a negative light.

(Close Reading #2)
Up From Ugliness
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/opinion/sunday/douthat-up-from-ugliness.html?ref=opinion

Ross Douthat's "Up From Ugliness" both praises the innovative mind of Steve Jobs and all of his accomplishments and crtizicizes the temporary manner of such advances. Douthat uses details, imagery, and diction in order to convey his opinion and pursuade the reader to feel the same.

Douthat effectively uses details in order to support his ideas and give the audience something tangible to connect to. In his praising of Steve Jobs, Douthat mentions the Macintosh, the iPhone, and Pixar as examples of some of Jobs's great accomplishments. Most readers are familiar with these products and can understand their impact on society. The author also cites the "new urbanist" movement that Jobs was a part of. The "new urbanist movement was the transition of our society into something beautiful and artsy. His use of this detail further exemplifies the nature of Jobs's accomplishments. When later analyzing the possibly short-lived nature of Jobs's products, Douthat compares it to "Barack Obama's 2008 march to the White House." Obama is commonly known for his outward popular appearance, and how he has failed to deliver on many of his promises. By making this comparison, the author is using the detail to make the point that the Apple products may be glamorous now, but also may be short-lived.

Douthat uses imagery in the article mainly in order to present images of the ugly state from which our society has progressed from. When the author says "We built public buildings out of raw concrete. We wore leisure suits and shoulder pads, buried heart-of-pine floors under shag carpeting," he creates an image of the raw ugliness our society once was, and how the people of society covered up its beauty. "Our churches looked like recreation centers, our rec centers looked like re-education camps," explains Douthat. This image strikes at the hearts  of the audience and evokes a negative feeling because we like to think of churches as beautiful and sacred and recreation centers as safe havens for the youth. By stating that "newest additions to the Washington Mall, the World War II and Martin Luther King Jr. memorials, look like rejected rough drafts for monuments rather than inspiring finished products," Douthat creates a tattered image of some beloved monuments in our country. This further creates an upsetting and negative feeling because we would prefer to think of these monuments in a positive light.

Douthat uses diction in his article in order to pursuade readers to feel the way he does about certain topics.When describing the formerly ugly society, Douthat uses diction such as "artificial" and "defaced." These words have negative connotations that cause the reader to feel negatively about the subject, just as the author does. When he describes society after the "new urbanist" movement, he uses descriptive words such as "exquisite" and "beautiful", which have positive connotations. This makes the reader feel good about the movement, just as the author does. Douthat again switches the nature of his diction when criticizing the "glamour" and "vanity" of the Apple products. These words make the reader feel that these products are shallow, fake, and only beautiful on the outside. Often things like this do not last long, which is the point Douthat is trying to make.

In his article about society's transition to beauty and the impact Steve Jobs had on this movement, Douthat uses diction, imagery, and details effectively to pursuade the audience to feel a certain way and agree with his opinions.

(Close Reading #1)
The Enlightended Rich Want to be Taxed
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/10/opinion/the-enlightened-rich-want-to-be-taxed.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

This article from the New York Times editorials discusses the interesting opinions of many of the wealthy individuals in both the United States and Europe. Surprisingly, a majority of the wealthy are willing to be taxed more in order to help reduce the ever-growing debt. In this article, the author uses imagery, diction, and many details in order to give the reader a vivid image of situation.
Imagery is used mainly in this article to portray an image of the social unrest of the middle and lower classes in facing high taxes and low incomes. When the author recalls "Mercedes-Benzes burned in Berlin and riots broke out on London’s streets, the rich were watching on TV" it not only gives us a vivid image of the unrest, but contrasts it to the situation of the wealthy. The burning Mercedes-Benzes and riots on the London streets are in high contrast to the image of a wealthy individual watching the riots on a plush couch in his or her comfortable home. Imagery is also used when the author uses the term "explosions of social rage" in this article. While the author could have just used the word "riot", he instead decides to use the words "explosions" and "rage" which portray an image of fiery anger among the rioting lower classes.
I found that the diction in the article was used effectively to contrast the situations of the higher and lower classes. The author uses the words "justice, enlightened, elite" and "wealthy democracies" when discussing the upper classes. These words are all commonly associated with high morality and American tradition, which evokes positive emotions. Justice and democracy are two things we are trained to react positively to in this country, so the author makes us feel good when discussing the rich. When talking about the lower classes, the author uses terms like "walloped" and "austerity." The term "walloped" is aggresive and conveys negative feelings. "Austerity" is promoting the general idea that the poorer people in the country must live with hardly anything.
Finally, the details used in this article help attribute to promoting the realness of this current economic system. By dropping names like Warren Buffett and Luca di Montezemolo, the reader can link the idea of the wealthy to someone real and commonly associated with wealth, like Buffett. When the author mentions "slashing funds for education, infrastructure and other vital needs" it helps explain exactly the consequences of the huge debt and its effects on the common american. This makes it more real for the reader, instead of just simply saying "slashing funds." By using numeric details like "unemployment above 9 percent" and "1 percent of American taxpayers — about 750,000 families — pocket more than 20 percent of the nation’s income," the author gives proof to back up the points he is making. These numbers are pretty astonishing and further attribute to the scary reality of the current economic situation.