Monday, May 9, 2011

House of the Scorpian by Nancy Farmer: What does the American Experience mean to me?


House of the Scorpian by Nancy Farmer:
My big question during this semester was “What does the American experience mean to me?”  This book helped to answer this question in a similar way to Brave New World.  The plot of this book consists of a boy harvested as a clone to one of the most powerful drug lords in the country of Opium. Throughout the first part of this book clones like himself are segregated against for their origin and mental composure.  The American experience however can easily relate to how certain individuals and how they can discriminate against others for not only what they wear, or how they present themselves; but entire races and origins of people.  This is like Brave New World in the sense that a visualized class system as believed by Aldous Huxley would be one of the only ways to make this system work.
This book helped me to better understand my big question in how these very simple metaphors found in books, or these two specific ones, that the American Experience is decided by the origin of the Experience.  In both of these books different classes of people are decided through class how to be placed on a social ladder.  The American Experience you could say is based on what others make, which you could easily connect to advertisement, reality television, and other forms of advertising that have worked there way into peoples’ lives telling them how to act, what to look like, etc. to gain a social conformity.
I would recommend this book for the reasons of how this metaphor can relate on a large scale of how America functions and how individuals filtering themselves into the American society are affected.  This book encompassed a clear plot, and an ingenious setting that makes the book a must read.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. What does the American experience mean to me?

Reading Log


Brave New World by Aldous Huxley:

My big question posed during this second semester was, “What does the American experience mean to me?”  However this book fulfilled the answer to this question and all pieces that accompany this question.  In Brave New World a world of conformity, an extreme class system, and the common use of drugs to escape reality encompassed the answer.  The American experience is composed of social status.  On account of wealth, race, etc. conforming to others is a part of being accepted into society.  Brave New World portrayed this through people absent of genetic alteration and exactness, spending life in exile; while those composed on common grounds “enjoyed” there life.  
This book I thought was a perfect example of how a world could be taken and transformed with the extremes of profiling and conformity to show the bare exaggerated fundamentals of acceptance.  Whether that be through respect, economic foundation, or actions.  But how can this be associated with my view of the American experience?  I believe that everyone has a choice, however skewed by media and even peer views, etc.  As this society has been running reliably for a large amount of time, one odd member within society was able to transform the outlooks of other persons.  In a society, more the teenage society, a commonality based around drugs, sex, and conformity proves that this book provided a detailed answer to what can be found in the American experience.  
I would recommend this book on account of extreme fiction and a powerful metaphor.  I believe anyone who reads this book will be able to make a quick connection to society and general, and the knowelege of extremes within it.  

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Short Story "The Edge"

The Edge
    The time was seven o’clock in the morning, and the glowing ball of heat had began to take its ascent into the sky over the desert.  A loudspeaker with a voice connected to every part of the town produced an obnoxious ring, then proceeded to say, “good morning citizens, another fine day in the town of Limbo.”  The coordinated town members awoke in exact relation, while others had been awake for hours sitting in chairs behind there houses, there gaze being met by a barbed wire fence.  Its twines and curls at the top of the chain link yielding twisted razors placed ten feet of the surface of the sand.        
As the day began its creep through minutes and hours, one by one the citizens of Limbo would arrive at the center of the community.  If you were to look directly down at the town of Limbo, you would notice one single street leading through the center. On either end weaving left and right  to accommodate the citizens residences lining the back roads.  This street you would notice, even though having the expanse of a ⅕ mile, retains a median down it’s focus, with glowing red stop signs positioned at each end of this two lane passage.  The loudspeaker then again came to life, “Don’t forget, citizens, today outlet one, nine, and thirteen will be selling at 50% off, get there fast, before there’s nothing left.”  
Beyond the chain barriers of Limbo, sometimes during the height of the day, or the dead middle of night the bombs would fall.  There magnified oval appearance met by the fins guiding them to the earth.   The pockmarked landscape was showered with downpours of black sand as the falling metal detonated on impact sending shrapnel from the charge in guidance to the area around them.  The citizens of Limbo could hear the concussion, could see them, but only a handful of the town members gave it modest study.       
As the residents of the town resided to there homes for the evening, the cold crept across the desert.  At nine o’clock sharp the loudspeaker switched on with contortion in the background.  The words vented themselves into every household, as the loudspeaker proceeded, “Citizens of Limbo, we hope you have a good evening, we would permit you to get some rest, tomorrow outlets eighteen and nineteen will open there doors.”
 
Explanation:
    The theme or message that this story is revealing is the fact that living in the American society, our perception of the rest of the world is very clouded.  To a point a majority of us, as many of us believe can be very one-minded, resulting in more focus from the population on things of little importance like materialistic objects.  This certain story shows this through the portrayal of a small town placed in the middle of a desert, miles from any other civilization.  The name of the town, Limbo, gives the meaning that in history it has been referred to as the edge of hell.  However I am in no way relating these two, but putting across that meaning that the lifestyle and citizens found in this town are somewhat are not in the violence and conflict present in other countries around us, therefor showing that this town or, the American experience is on the edge of conflict while the majority of American in a way look over while not being involved.   
The setting incorporates falling bombs around the town of Limbo, displaying the little attention the citizens present to the destruction around them.  This also relates to the barbed wire fence, and the safety that it poses to the town.  The reason for the old American, wealthy cliche society is to present to the reader the setting of the American experience, and while this kind of a lifestyle does not apply to many, I exaggerated in my writing.  Apart from the setting, the only dialogue within this story is through the town intercom.  I tried to make this the only dialogue as to make the lifestyle and the town itself the only voice that sent the citizens into action.
However the main focus of this short story was to posses the theme of materialistic objects, and how they steal our concentration from other, more important situations around the world that the majority do not personally come in contact with.  This is shown not only through the exaggerated life style, but the towns focus on sales, stores, and unnecessary objects like cars.  These known to exist through the median and street signs running down the streets of a town all accessible by walking.  The town of Limbo, a town built around the purchase and selling of materialistic objects, surrounded by destruction.                    

Friday, January 7, 2011

Hyperlink Project

Joey B.  Even though the chances are close to nothing for creationism.  What if there was acual proof that creationism exsited.  Causing conflict, and also a mass increase of followers for certain religions.  If evolution never existed, or lacked any proof, would the world fall under one religion, stay the same as religious to non religious, or result in violence as an outcome.

Mike R. Talking about prostitution laws in Sweden this paper opens the door to a reality.   You could present this as freedom.  As the United States is a free country, what if prostitution was legal in the US, and only in the US.  would the health safety bring down the freedom.  Resulting in a piece taken out of the capitalist system.  Could you consider this the same as the government helping a company, would this be fair?

Abby H.  When taking into account euthanasia, what if it was neccessary.  Do you think more people would would go against it if it were.  Or do you think it would be welcomed.  You could represent this as one releife outweighing the another.  If it were mandatory, would it create violence or a continued system.  If choice was completely taken out would there be a right answer?