Red Sox Nation Hits the Reset Button
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8307572/red-sox-nation-hits-reset-button
Bill Simmons who wrote this article is a die hard Red-Sox fan who is reflecting on the Red Sox season after they made a blockbuster trade with the Dodgers. The diction, imagery, and details all add to Simmons's view on the Red Sox's season.
This column is full of pejorative diction describing both the Red Sox season and their management. Simmons uses words like illogically, recklessly, and senselessly describing the way management has constructed this team. Words used to describe the team include broken-down, swoon, and squandered. The use of pejorative diction really emphasis his frustration with the whole franchise.
Bill Simmons also uses Imagery to help explain what it has been like to watch the Red Sox this year. He sums it up using a readers email describing watching the Red Sox the last couple years being "married for twenty years, no longer loving one another, but still staying together for the kids." This evokes feelings of struggle and misery. People know couples who are in this situation and can relate to what Red Sox fans are watching because of this analogy.
In this column, Simmons also uses details to help describe what the last two Red Sox seasons have been right. He references the "beer and fried chicken team" which was a scandal last year it was reveled that pitchers who weren't playing would have beer and fried chicken during games in the locker room. He also adds how the general manager fled town after last season and the team has already quit on the new manager this year. These details all help get across Simmons' view of the dysfunctional Red Sox.
Diction, imagery, and details were all used to help portray the Red Sox's struggles. By using these rhetoric devises Bill Simmons is able to comunicate what it has been like the last two years as a Red Sox fan by relating it to peoples daily lives.
Great Job on this post Nathan. You did a good job of using examples from this article to show how Bill Simmons uses DIDLS in his essay. And this was great essay to pick. It was full of examples for everything. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteGood job on this post, Nathan! It seems like you picked an article that interested you, and that prompted you to dig deeper in what the author was doing. I think one thing that could make this essay stronger is if you had a stronger intro and conclusion, as they are pretty brief. For the intro, you might want to elaborate a little on Simmons' opinion of the Red Sox's season. Also, you should sight Simmons when you use quotations from his work. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteHi Nathan-
ReplyDeleteYou did a really great job on this response. Although I am not a huge baseball fan, I thought this article was quite interesting and I could tell you have a real passion for the sport. I liked how you included a lot of specific examples, especially the marriage one because that one was my favorite. You described Simmons' disappointment with the Red Sox, but I think you should also describe his past love for them, espcially because he was about to name his child after one of the players. Since the names were a common theme in the beginning and end, I think you could incorporate that theme into why Simmons' chose to write about the Red Sox. Overall, I think you did a good job!