When I first started this class, I did not think I would enjoy it one bit. I usually hate reading assigned books in class, but when we read Feed, I quickly realized this was not going to be a normal literature class. I actually liked the topics we would talk about it in class and read about, so it was not hard to participate and engage in conversation during class. The book I enjoyed the most during this course was Hunger Games. I couldn't put it down when I read it and I might even read the rest in the series. Hunger Games and the Lottery definitely made me think about our culture and just how far we would go for entertainment.
The documentary on the most hated family in America really triggered my emotions. I couldn't understand why those people would do that to the soldiers defending our country. It was very upsetting to watch. This course has also made me think about topics that I would normally not think twice about; such as, the "dumbest generation," book burning, and censorship. It never really bothered me before that everything we see and hear and even read is usually censored, but now that we have talked about, it does bother me a little bit.
One thing I have definitely started doing is responding to literature. Not just for this class, but my others too. I find myself comparing my reading to other things I have read for that class, just like we had to do for this class. So, I guess it worked!
I really enjoyed this class and working with my group. I was not looking forward to taking this because I thought it would be all boring literature, but I was completely wrong. I think I can sum up the semester with one picture..
Without books, the world would be a lot different. I think that we would definitely be the "dumbest generation" if we could not read books. There are so many different books on many different topics, reading makes people smarter. I don't know if I would necessarily miss books right away, but it would be a new experience being forbidden to read them. I think after time, I would miss reading. None of us would be where we are today without books. For each and every one of our classes, we are required to read and a lot of our education has been based on the books we read, especially this class. I don't usually read leisurely because I don't really have the time during school, but I enjoy reading in the summer, so it would be crazy to have that privilege taken away.
Metaphorically, I guess you can say we burn books every day. By using the internet to look up information we are burning books. I wonder when the last time someone went out to buy a dictionary or a thesaurus. I know that every time I need to look up the definition of a word, I go to dictionary.com or just simply google it. Also, by using Kindle and other types of online books, you could say we are burning books. Maybe in the future, we won't even have real books. Maybe all of our books will be on the internet. It would not surprise me, considering the amount of things that are already on the internet. I think this is because our generation is lazy. We don't want to look up words in the dictionary, we need answers at the snap of our fingers and that is exactly what the internet does.
I really enjoyed the novel The Hunger Games. I like reading books that keep my interest and once I started Hunger Games, I couldn’t put it down. I finished it in one day. It was definitely my favorite novel we’ve read so far. This novel relates to the conversations we have been having in class about reality TV and the viewers. Reality TV is just for entertainment and we all have no idea why we love it so much, and that is kind of how the Games are portrayed in the novel. Everyone watches their own families being killed, and yet no one does anything about it. Obviously, we don’t watch people killing each other on reality TV, but they certainly do some pretty dumb things.
While I was reading the novel, I felt like I was one of the viewers of the game. Haymitch was fabricating the whole Katniss and Peeta relationship, but I wanted them to really be together and that is exactly how he wanted people to react when they watched, so I thought that was pretty interesting. It just shows how much people enjoy watching love stories or other types of drama.
Last week, I was flipping through the channels and stumbled upon the movie “Death Race.” I think it is very similar to The Hunger Games because in the movie, the characters are all prisoners that want their freedom. To do this, they must enter a car race, and fight to the death. There is only one winner, and it is controlled entirely by the people operating the prison. These matches are also televised, like the Games, and they even say that they have more viewers than the superbowl. Here is a preview of the movie, starring Jason Statham:
Also... I was reading E!News and Hunger Games is actually being made into a movie right now! Jennifer Lawrence will be playing Katniss, but they are still casting for Peeta.
Gabler’s article, “Behind the curtain of TV Voyeurism,” was very interesting to me. I thought it was funny how he talks about Survivor and Big Brother because it was written in 2000. Now, eleven years later, there are so many different reality shows, you rarely even hear about Survivor or Big Brother. You can find a reality TV show about anything you want to see. Models, housewives, chefs, teen moms, Rich people, poor people, anything you can think of. I agree with Gabler on the idea that people watch these shows for the fact that we can relate to them. These were just ordinary people before they got their “big break” on TV. And of course, the sex appeal. Almost every reality show puts a group of good looking people in a house together and hopes that they will have sex and create drama.
The reality show I decided to write about is The Real World. This show has been around for a while; it is currently on its 25th season. This season it’s in Las Vegas.
In this episode, Adam goes out to a club, Vanity, and he acts out of control and eventually has to be carried out of the club by the bouncers. The next day, the owner of the club warns him not to act like that again. The roommates think Adam has a problem and they learn more about his childhood and background and that he used drugs in high school. Also, Heather and Dustin are beginning to like each other. During a game of truth and dare, the roommates dare Heather to kiss another roommate, Mike, and she does it. Dustin finds out and gets angry and more drama ensues.
I think this show is real people in real situations. I know that some people drink way too much when they’re out and act like idiots when they are drunk. In this episode, Adam gave a good example of someone that does not know their limit. Also, this episode had a lot of relationship drama, which MTV knows their viewers love to watch. I do enjoy watching reality TV because it’s entertaining to see people act like idiots I guess you could say.
I couldn't find a good clip of this episode, but you can watch full episodes of Real World on www.mtv.com. Here is a preview of the whole Las Vegas season.
In this preview you can see drunken Adam, and Heather and Dustin's drama as well.
After the activity in class where we would agree or disagree with the statements about 1984, I started thinking about if "Big Brother" exists today. I would say yes, big brother does exist in some sense. Definitely not to the extent in the novel, but our government does play that role. Our government plays the role of big brother by taking away some of our privacy. In class, we discussed if that was good or bad and there were some arguments from both sides. I think it is okay to take away some of our privacy, in order to keep us safe. I wouldn't say I agree with the government spying on us, but then again, if you have nothing to hide, it shouldn't matter. I like that there are security cameras in public places in case something were to happen. If a store is robbed, we can easily track that person down by watching the surveillance tapes. However, we still have a lot of our privacy. It's not like the government is going to go around and install telescreens in our homes. The information that we give up is usually our choice. For example, facebook. We all choose how much to share with our "friends" on facebook. And if you don't want people to know where you are or what you're doing, it's simple. Don't write it!
It's been a couple days since my feed stopped working. I actually enjoy not having the feed, except for the fact that Titus and his friends completely rely on it, so I can't join their conversations. I think the feed was a mistake. I would like to go back in time to before the feed even existed, I bet the world was a much better place then. You know, back in time when everyone could think for themselves and use actual language. The feed ruined a lot of things in this society, well that's what my dad has told me. He says people used to want to learn about things and that SchoolTM wasn't owned by the corporations. It's really weird thinking about how far our world has come in such a short amount of time. I'm scared for what's to come in the future, but I probably won't be around for any of that. The doctors tell me I don't have much time since my feed isn't working. My dad blames Titus for taking me to that club on the moon, but it's not his fault. He was just trying to make me have fun, for once. But that's all for today, I have another appointment with the feed technician. Wish me luck!
--Violet
In class, we were given and extra credit opportunity to take the "Thoreau Challenge," which consists of not using any technology for seven days. I did not accept the challenge, considering my blackberry is pretty much attached to my hand. Thoreau secluding himself in a cabin in Massachusetts for a year because he couldn't deal with all the technology of the nineteenth century. It kind of makes me wonder what Thoreau would think of people in this day and age, with all of our technology and devices within reach 24/7. The quote "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us" really got my attention. It reminds me of the quote in the novel "Feed," when Violet says "We do not have the feed, we are the feed." The railroad and the feed, in this case, being technology. We don't own technology, it owns us.
On an unrelated note, while reading Feed it made me think of this movie I watched one time called Idiocracy. The movie is about how generation after generation just keeps getting less intelligent. Here is the trailer:
While I was reading the article about Bauerleins text "The Dumbest Generation," I thought about what my opinion is. I found some of the of his statistics unbelievable, "Two thirds of high-school seniors in 2006 couldn't explain an old photo of a sign over a theater door reading COLORED ENTRANCE." High school seniors have definitely learned about segregation by then which is why I think that statement is so surprising and pathetic. I think Bauerlein's book might have some merit regarding my generation. Also, in his interview, he raises some good points as well:
Mark_Bauerlein: Today, only 43 percent of 18-24-year-olds every reads a novel, short story, poem, or play on her own. That's down from 60 percent in 1982.
Mark_Bauerlein: In 1984, only 9 percent of high school seniors NEVER read for fun. By 2004, that number had more than doubled (19 percent).
Mark_Bauerlein: If voluntary reading is a sign of intellectual curiosity, your generation is a lapse. As an avid reader, your an exception to the general rule.
I think it's sad that these numbers are decreasing over time. With all the information we have at our hands, these numbers should be going up! We may be a technology crazed generation, but that doesn't mean we have to stop reading and learning.
"Bauerlein acknowledges that 'kids these days are just as smart and motivated as ever.' If they're also 'the dumbest' because they have 'more diversions' and because 'screen activity trumps old-fashioned reading materials'—well, choices can change, with maturity, with different reward structures, with changes in the world their elders make. Writing off any generation before it's 30 is what's dumb." I agree completely with this quote from the article because hopefully things do change as we mature and we stop playing videogames and letting technology do everything for us.
Over the weekend, I watched the five part video "Killing Us Softly". It is a lecture given by Jean Kilbourne about advertising's image of women. This video really opened up my eyes. She says that we see three thousand ads per day, which sounds outrageous, but believable with all the television and billboards we see. Also, the average American spends three years of their life watching television commercials! That seems like a lot of wasted time to me. Especially when the commercials we are watching are degrading women more and more each day. In every ad Kilbourne shows, the women are shown as objects, not human beings. Women are shown as beer bottles, scissors, ads, everything. Also, the ads tend to focus on certain parts of women's bodys, not even the whole thing. These advertisements are giving the wrong messages to young women who see them. They are being told that they are supposed to look like these models when the models don't even look like that! The models we see in magazine ads are airbrushed and photoshopped and this is the image girls see. Kilbourne also says that one in five american women have an eating disorder. I believe that this statistic is directly related to these advertisements. With quotes like "the more you subtract, the more you add" and "soon, you'll both be taking up less space." It's hard not to take those words to heart. Some ads even tell you how to make your body perfect, with wonder bras and plastic surgery. It's sad that these are the images being forced into young girls minds.
My name is Carmen Pulcinella. I am a sophomore at Shippensburg University and my major is currently Accounting but I am thinking of changing it to Management Information Systems. I am from a suburb outside of Philadelphia called Ridley. I love it there but I thought it was time for a change, which is why I decided to come to Shippensburg.
In my spare time I like to do what every other college student does. Hang out with friends, listen to music, go shopping, watch movies, etc. I have a very broad iTunes library, everything from Lil Wayne and Drake to Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood. I like all kinds of music, I guess it just depends on my mood. My favorite shows are Desperate Housewives, Friends, One Tree Hill, and True Blood. I have hundreds of favorite movies but my top three are probably Love and Basketball, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Knocked Up. I am horrible at video games so I don't play them but I've watched my guy friends play call of duty and all those other shooting games millions of times. I chose to take this class, mostly because I needed a gen-ed, but also because I find it interesting to read different books and poems that I wouldn't normally read outside of class. My favorite author outside of class is Jodi Piccoult. I have read almost all of her books. I also like Chelsea Handler's books. I hope to learn more about literature in this course since I don't really know a lot about the subject.
