Krista Ramsey- "Locking into the Magic of Legos"

     In this column Ramsey talks about the benefits of their kids playing with Legos, how it can improve spatial and 3 Dimensional relationships.

     Link To Lego Article
     The line that I found was the best and summarized the article the best was "Like sparklers and hugs, Legos are things a child can never have enough of." This line is near the beginning of the article and helps foreshadow the rest of the article. It also shows the tone of which Ramsey view Lego's. She thinks that Lego's are helpful and shows a positive tone. We know that Ramsey is using  a positive tone with this important line because of her diction and syntax. The diction in this line is more informal using no challenging words. This shows a more casual thought towards Lego's. The syntax is a long sentence and uses a comparison to show a point. The words "sparklers" and "hugs" help us identify it is a positive tone because all humans correlate a hug and sparkler as times of happiness.

    Ramsey's style of writing is long sentences that are informal and are about health and lifestyle. We know Ramsey talks about lifestyle because of her titles; "For better vision, kids need time outdoors", "Super Bowl QBs score points for great style", and "Locking into the Magic of Lego's." These all talk about the lifestyle or health of a human life. This is what Ramsey is comfortable with and therefore writes about it. We can tell Ramsey likes to write long sentences because of her syntax, "After watching New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick slouch off the field in his cutoff hoodie, it’s been heartening to see players like Wilson show up perfectly groomed for a post-game interview." This line is in the Super Bowl article and is a rather long sentence. This style is practiced throughout the piece and shows how Ramsey leans to long sentences. Whilst using long sentences, like most columnist Ramsey likes to use informal diction to portray an easy and reader friendly column. For instance in the Lego article, "Many have been waiting with their parents for as long as two hours." Or in the vision article, "Whatever the factors behind the finding – perhaps the benefits of sunlight versus indoor lighting, the influence of vitamin D, the visual benefit of viewing objects at a distance outdoors, a reduction in visual stress – it’s left Zadnik, associate dean of Ohio State University’s College of Optometry, believing “there’s something magical about the out-of-doors.”" These rather long sentences show without them that they use a simpler diction and word choice. This quote also shows the style that Ramsey likes to use, form opinion then state why she thinks that with a quote or fact. This is shown through some of her more opinionated pieces. 

Frodo: The Underdog

     Frodo is the underdog of The Lord of the Rings. He symbolizes an ant. This is a lame comparison for most people, but Frodo is ant. This ant is the persistent hard worker in the background. You never see the work of the ant and they usually are just annoying under appreciated animals. They have great strength for their size and work together. When you see an ant you don't think anything of it until they multiple and become a huge problem, their anthill; or in this case Frodo's ring. Sauron the evil Lord does not take Frodo as a threat because he is a small hobbit that Sauron could crush in seconds, however Frodo is his biggest problem. Frodo works under wraps, the unsung hero. Frodo is currently escaping Sauron's Army in the land of Gondor with Faramir and  his troops. Faramir a man who tries to keep Gondor free from the "Dark Lord" thinks that Frodo could do nothing and is working for Sauron when Frodo is the only one that can save him. Appearances can often be deceptive, when you see that first ant you think nothing of it but when you see all of the ants and there hole you panic. Usually the ant surprises you because you never cared enough or thought you had the time to see if the could be part of something big like an ant hole. This describes Frodo, he is on the good guys but he is not someone you would consider a threat. In this way you can think Frodo as that ant, the thing you don't think of until its too late.

Description of Frodo: Short (3.5 feet), Black Hair, blue eyes eyes, Caucasian, round, green clothes with a grey cape, no shoes, small petite fingers, and gentle face.

More Information of Frodo Baggins

The Two Towers-Setting

      The Two Towers is a great read for people looking for vintage and challenging diction. Most of the diction in the book is describing the setting. Like most Fantasies The Two Towers takes place in a medieval time. I know this because they use swords and live in a time with magic. For the place in which they are, it is a mystical land known as Middle Earth, it has different regions similar to Earth with common features like mountains and forests. "But out of the deep shadow of the dale rose a vast spire of smoke and vapor; as it mounted, it caught the rays of the sinking moon, and it spread in shimmering billows, black and silver over the starry night." (119) This is a great example of the imagery of how Tolkien likes to describe the scene around the characters, that is unfolding. Tolkien creates this world that you feel you could live in, its all most like I'm a ghost following the people around. Tolkien creates this world that not only the characters live in but us as readers do too. I feel as if so many people like Tolkiens book because the setting is so well described that people want to be in this world.