The Ophelia Syndrome. Blog #5

The Ophelia Syndrome

Genre:

I’ll be honest; I am not very solid in my knowledge of genre. I feel like there are one million different genre types, and who is even really sure what they all are.  But for this reading I thought it fit most under the Informational Non-Fiction. Though it was initially given as a faculty lecture, or motivational speech :)

Purpose:

This particular text (or lecture) was given to inspire us to become thinkers and finders of truth, not just mindlessly accepting of someone else’s word. Dr. Thomas G. Plummer is definitely trying to move the audience to action. He wants people to question, refine, and solidify their opinion till it becomes their very own.

Central Message:

Not many of us ask ourselves, “How do I feel? What do I think?”---and wait for an answer. (We should.)

World View: 

I think it is pretty apparent what this specific author thinks about the world. He thinks that people are not taking the opportunity to open their eyes and minds to THINK. He understands that if people were to do so the world would be, (pardon my cliché phrase) a better place. But really. We would be surrounded by people who found truth for themselves, instead of impulsively adapting to the less than perfect leaders before them.

Tools of Writing:

A few examples…

*One of the Major tools of writing found in this text is his use of an affective allusion as he references Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

*He also uses metaphors very clearly. Heck, he tells us that’s his intention of the paragraph as he states “Most of us have metaphors…” and then goes on to share a list of metaphors. I liked the presentation of these metaphors, because though we got the immediate connection and understanding a metaphor brings, he did it in a way that wasn’t cheesy or over the top. Instead of saying, “ a metaphor is like this to me, and should be for you..” he said “these are some metaphors some kids came up with to describe their experience with the Ophelia Syndrome.”

*He also used voice. He did this by adding personal stories and individual reflection. I liked this! It made it easier to read-and I was more inclined to listen to what he had to say because, well, he was saying it; not some computer generated, not thinking, Ophelia Syndrome textbook. Ya know?

Tools of Writing were found all over throughout his writing, but these were the three that I thought were most affective.