Columnist Assignment

Krista Ramsey discusses the benefits of children playing with Legos that they don’t get from other activities.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/columnists/krista-ramsey/2014/02/15/krista-locking-into-the-magic-of-legos/5521245/

“Because this is not just the World According to Legos, this is the World According to You.”  This is a quote from Krista Ramsey’s column that is very powerful.  This line shows how kids become very creative by playing with Legos.  Because she makes the World According to You a proper noun, the reader thinks of this as an actual place they can go.  It makes the imagination that comes with Legos seem without end.  This line is very impactful on the reader of the column.

Krista Ramsey uses high diction in all of her columns.  She uses figurative language and sophisticated words to enhance her writing.  She also uses many proper nouns to say where she gets her facts from.  Overall, her writing is very impactful and she makes readers think about things they might not have thought about before.

Questions for Krista Ramsey:

How are you personally impacted by all of the people you interview?

Where did you study to become a columnist?

How do you find ways to incorporate so much figurative language in your writing?

What I like best about A Time to Kill

A Time to Kill by John Grisham is a very exciting and intense book.  It keeps me reading and wanting to turn the page each time.  I would recomend this book to anyone who likes thrillers.  I like the intensity of the book, but another thing  I like is its elevated diction.  Grisham uses many sophistocated words with many syllables. He also uses a lot of figurative language, such as personification.  In one part of the book, Grisham describes a man turning off his alarm clock.  He says, "He found it where he had left it, and killed it with a quick and violent slap."  Grisham uses personification in this passage.  He makes the clock seem alive by saying that the man killed it.  We as readers can understand this personification because the alarm clock is making annoying noises like something that might be alive, and the man silences it.  This is only one of many examples of figurative language in the book that enhances the story.

Characterizing Sheriff Ozzie Walls

Ozzie Walls is the sheriff of Ford County, Mississippi in A Time to Kill by John Grisham.  He is an African-American and he is respected by the citizens of Ford County, who are mostly white.  He played football in college and then went to play professionally for the Rams.  An injury caused him to come back home to Mississippi.  He has authority over others and criminals fear him.  He can relate to Jason Bourne, because he is a good person, but he can be tough when he needs to be.  Like Bourne, he is without fear and he will do whatever is necessary to carry out the law, just like Bourne would do what ever is necessary to protect himself.  Although Boune did not have legal authority over others, he had physical authority over them so Bourne and Ozzie are very similar.  This scene shows how Sheriff Ozzie has authority and he can scare criminals, "Looney handed Ozzie the longest, blackest nightstick ever used in Ford County.  Willard was panic-stricken.  Ozzie cocked it and struck the center of the table, sending beer and cans and foam in all directions."