Best Parts Of Blog:
Amanda,
Since Amanda only posted homework 10, I will comment on that homework and what I think she did well in that homework. I really liked the fact that she put an image in her post, because it captured my eye and made me want to read what she wrote. Visual images help people become interested in an article.
Comment To Blog:
Amanda,
I really liked the fact that after you incorporated a link of the article you were reading, you explained the main point of the article thoroughly, and included the most important thoughts in your mind while reading the article. After I read the articles you read, I realized that we both had almost the same thoughts. Another thing I like is the cool facts you found on the website. They were interesting to read, and I learned new things that I never knew before.
The main part of your post was that videogames have good and bad sides. You incorporated ideas from people who think video games are good, and from people who thinks video games are bad.
I think that your post connects to the world in a strong way. I like the topic you picked, because video games are an extremely controversial topic. I know people who spend all their times on video games and who think video games are the best things in the world, and people who don’t own any type of video game console and think it’s a big waste of time. It was nice to read both points of the argument.
I think that in order to make your post stronger, you should write about your view on video games. Do you think video games are a good or bad thing? Are they a waste of time or do they help us develop important skills? What’s your opinion on all of this?
Your post made me think about video games and whether or not they are a good or bad thing. I am still unsure about the topic, since it depends on the game itself; however your post made me further analyze my arguments.
I really enjoyed reading your blog; and can’t wait to read more of them!
-Rachel (:
Best Parts Of Blog:
Sam,
I really enjoyed her last post, Feed B homework 13. I would like to talk about the best parts of this post, since I think this was one of her best posts so far. One thing I really enjoyed about this post was the way she connected Feed to our world today. Most people know that Feed is an allegory of our world, yet they deny that we are anything like the characters in Feed. Instead of denying that fact, Sam found the parallels between the two worlds, and listed them. I also liked that she incorporated the quote about art and talked about what that quote meant to her and how it related to Feed.
Comment To Blog:
Sam,
I really enjoyed your last post, Feed B homework 13. One thing I really enjoyed about this post was the way you connected Feed to our world today. Most people know that Feed is an allegory of our world, yet they deny that we are anything like the characters in Feed. Instead of denying that fact, you found the parallels between the two worlds, and listed them. I also liked that you incorporated the quote about art and talked about what that quote meant to you and how it related to Feed.
Your main point in this post was that Feed is a perfect allegory of our world. We are so consumed with technology but we didn’t notice that fact until someone told us straight out. We had to read a book over dramatizing what our world is like before we understand that it’s true, the Feed world and our world are not much different from each other.
I think your post connects to the discussion we had in class when we discussed the parallels between the Feed world and our world. You summarized what was said in class, while also adding your own opinions to it.
In order to further develop your post, you should talk about what you are going to do to stop acting like Titus or the other characters in the book. You say you are addicted to these devices, but maybe you can find a strategy that can stop your addiction, what can you do instead of using technological devices?
Your post makes me think about what I can do to stop myself from being addicted to technological devices. Reading your post made me see that yes we are like Titus and his friends, but I also decided that I did not want to be like that. I am going to try and change my technological ways.
I enjoyed reading your posts and can’t read to red what else you have to say.
-Rachel
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Homework 14 -Second Text
For this homework I chose to read the two short excerpts. In these excerpts, I found that the main argument was even though people believe that television, video games, and other forms of technological devices are bad for us, there is a flip side to that argument. Steven Johnson, the author of "Everything Bad is Good For You”, wants readers to realize that there are benefits to our digital devices. In a way he is playing devil’s advocate to ever person who has the same generic response, “television and video games corrupt young children’s and teenager’s minds.” However, Johnson argues that video games actually stimulate our brain, because we make challenges for ourselves without even realizing it. In a video game, you must complete a level before you can reach the next one. As each level goes on, the challenges become harder and harder, and that is when skill levels come in. To many people, you just need to know how to shoot a gun or kill an enemy, but when analyzed further, one realizes that there is skill behind these techniques. Also, by trying to get onto the next level, a self designed goal in created in the player’s mind. They have a target they need to reach, and have the urge to succeed. When it comes to television, Johnson also argues that television also stimulates the mind. While some people think that we are just mindless bodies watching a box with images, Johnson argues that some shows make us think, and analyze what is going on. Shows such as ER, House, Lost, and Flash Forward, make the viewers analyze what is happening, and in the case of Lost and Flash Forward, predict an outcome. In the case of ER and House, viewers are able to actually see what goes on in a medical room, an experience they would not likely have in their daily lives. All though they are not actually in the hospital, they can imagine themselves as if they are.
I think that Johnson brought up a lot of good points about the pros of technology. People are always focusing on the bad, and how it “corrupts” our minds, but nobody focuses on what it can do for our minds. It was refreshing to see someone play devil’s advocate, because in order to make a decision, one must see both sides of an argument. I think that now that people can see the pros and cons of technology, they can further deepen their argument, and choose which side they want to be on.
One thing that I found interesting was the fact that Johnson hardly listed any cons to technology. Although I know he likes to focus on the good things, I am surprised that he did not want to include an alternate argument. In our exhibitions, we have to write an opposing viewpoint, even if we do not feel that way. I was surprised that Johnson did not want to include an opposing viewpoint, because if he did, he could have used evidence to shoot down the viewpoints. However, by not including a viewpoint, it shows that he is one-sided on the whole controversial discussion, which means he might not be a reliable source.
I do believe that Johnson brought up a good point about the video game use. I never thought about it before, but now I realize that video games do create a challenge for our brains. Even though we are not learning on an intellectual level, and are not using one of the academic subjects to complete our challenges, we are still improving our skills. We improve our hand-eye coordination, which is an important skill not taught in school, and we also learn how to better our characters in the games so that we do not get injured or die as often as we would in the beginning of the game.
Johnson and M.T Anderson have two completely different views in their books. In Feed, Anderson was all about how technology is bad for us, and how it is corrupting our minds. He went on to explain that our world is consumed with technology, and that we are hit with it 24/7. However, Johnson is claiming that television and video games are good for us, and that it is not corrupting us. Although I believe that the two authors contradicted each other, I also believe that they were talking about two different aspects of digitalization. In Feed, Anderson was talking more about a “Feed” representing a cell phone or laptop in our world, and how we are always connected, every minute of the day. Like the Feed, most people will not turn off their cell phone or laptop, and find that they cannot live without it. Johnson is talking more about television and video games, and how they stimulate our minds and make us set up personal challenges for ourselves. Anderson does not touch on televisions and video games too much, as it is not his main focus. He wants people to see the fact that we are always connected. Johnson did not focus on cell phone or laptop use, rather the entertainment use of technology.
I think that Johnson brought up a lot of good points about the pros of technology. People are always focusing on the bad, and how it “corrupts” our minds, but nobody focuses on what it can do for our minds. It was refreshing to see someone play devil’s advocate, because in order to make a decision, one must see both sides of an argument. I think that now that people can see the pros and cons of technology, they can further deepen their argument, and choose which side they want to be on.
One thing that I found interesting was the fact that Johnson hardly listed any cons to technology. Although I know he likes to focus on the good things, I am surprised that he did not want to include an alternate argument. In our exhibitions, we have to write an opposing viewpoint, even if we do not feel that way. I was surprised that Johnson did not want to include an opposing viewpoint, because if he did, he could have used evidence to shoot down the viewpoints. However, by not including a viewpoint, it shows that he is one-sided on the whole controversial discussion, which means he might not be a reliable source.
I do believe that Johnson brought up a good point about the video game use. I never thought about it before, but now I realize that video games do create a challenge for our brains. Even though we are not learning on an intellectual level, and are not using one of the academic subjects to complete our challenges, we are still improving our skills. We improve our hand-eye coordination, which is an important skill not taught in school, and we also learn how to better our characters in the games so that we do not get injured or die as often as we would in the beginning of the game.
Johnson and M.T Anderson have two completely different views in their books. In Feed, Anderson was all about how technology is bad for us, and how it is corrupting our minds. He went on to explain that our world is consumed with technology, and that we are hit with it 24/7. However, Johnson is claiming that television and video games are good for us, and that it is not corrupting us. Although I believe that the two authors contradicted each other, I also believe that they were talking about two different aspects of digitalization. In Feed, Anderson was talking more about a “Feed” representing a cell phone or laptop in our world, and how we are always connected, every minute of the day. Like the Feed, most people will not turn off their cell phone or laptop, and find that they cannot live without it. Johnson is talking more about television and video games, and how they stimulate our minds and make us set up personal challenges for ourselves. Anderson does not touch on televisions and video games too much, as it is not his main focus. He wants people to see the fact that we are always connected. Johnson did not focus on cell phone or laptop use, rather the entertainment use of technology.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Homework 13- Feed B
“Art is not a Mirror with which to reflect the World. It is a Hammer with which to shape it." -Bert Brecht
In my opinion, Feed is a work of art. One might doubt that a book can be art, but Feed has proven those otherwise. Referring to the above quote, I believe that Feed is actually a mirror with which we reflect OUR current world. It could also be a hammer, however, since it is an allegory of our current day society, I believe it to be more of a mirror. Feed is reflecting what happens in our society with some twists. The mirror Feed reflects on could be like one of those fun house mirrors, it reflects the image while adding a twist to it. Nether less I believe Feed is a mirror because in the novel there are so many parallels between our society and their society. M.T Anderson wanted readers to connect Feed to our daily lives, which he succeeded in doing.
I also believe Feed is a work of art because of the way the words flow into each other, and the organization of the plot. Anderson clearly thought out what he wanted to write, and how all the characters would interact with each other. Art doesn’t have to be a painting on the wall, it can be a novel filled with words, which is what Feed is. I believe that in the case of Feed, having art as a mirror with which to reflect our world is a good thing. Most people are ignorant or oblivious, and cannot see what is happening before their very own eyes. With Feed mirroring our society, people can finally open their eyes to how technologically driven our society is as a whole. In the same way, Feed can act as a hammer with which to use to build our foundation. Now that we are aware of our over use of digitalization, we can use Feed as an example of how to change our daily use. Now that we saw a dramatized consequence of the overuse of technology, we can learn to limit our use in our daily lives.
I don’t believe that Anderson had a specific age group in his mind when creating Feed, however he was targeting to an older audience. I believe that he figured more adults would be willing to read this book than teenagers, because adults did not have as much technology back then as we teenagers do now. However, I think he believe that if a teenager was to indeed read this book, as we did, we might be able to connect to the lives of the characters and change our ways. I also believe this book would be classified under the genre of realistic fiction, because even though it is a work of fiction, it is also extremely close to reality and our society.
In my opinion, Feed is a work of art. One might doubt that a book can be art, but Feed has proven those otherwise. Referring to the above quote, I believe that Feed is actually a mirror with which we reflect OUR current world. It could also be a hammer, however, since it is an allegory of our current day society, I believe it to be more of a mirror. Feed is reflecting what happens in our society with some twists. The mirror Feed reflects on could be like one of those fun house mirrors, it reflects the image while adding a twist to it. Nether less I believe Feed is a mirror because in the novel there are so many parallels between our society and their society. M.T Anderson wanted readers to connect Feed to our daily lives, which he succeeded in doing.
I also believe Feed is a work of art because of the way the words flow into each other, and the organization of the plot. Anderson clearly thought out what he wanted to write, and how all the characters would interact with each other. Art doesn’t have to be a painting on the wall, it can be a novel filled with words, which is what Feed is. I believe that in the case of Feed, having art as a mirror with which to reflect our world is a good thing. Most people are ignorant or oblivious, and cannot see what is happening before their very own eyes. With Feed mirroring our society, people can finally open their eyes to how technologically driven our society is as a whole. In the same way, Feed can act as a hammer with which to use to build our foundation. Now that we are aware of our over use of digitalization, we can use Feed as an example of how to change our daily use. Now that we saw a dramatized consequence of the overuse of technology, we can learn to limit our use in our daily lives.
I don’t believe that Anderson had a specific age group in his mind when creating Feed, however he was targeting to an older audience. I believe that he figured more adults would be willing to read this book than teenagers, because adults did not have as much technology back then as we teenagers do now. However, I think he believe that if a teenager was to indeed read this book, as we did, we might be able to connect to the lives of the characters and change our ways. I also believe this book would be classified under the genre of realistic fiction, because even though it is a work of fiction, it is also extremely close to reality and our society.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Homework 12 - Feed A
When M.T Anderson wrote the book Feed, he meant it to be an allegory of the modern day teenage life. He didn’t want readers to think that he was capturing what he thought would happen in the future, more he wanted readers to see what our world is like right now. I do believe that Feed is on target because it perfectly captures the life of a teenager in our current period of time. While reading this book, I realized that the Feeds in the character’s heads represented the technology we teenagers use. Even if we do not have a chip in our head generating information for us whenever we need it, we do have cell phones and computers that can retrieve information with the click of a button. In a way, we are always connected to technology, like the characters in Feed are. People might argue that we do not have our digital devices on us 24/7, which are true, but everywhere we go we are faced with a source of technology. Whether it be the cell phones in our pockets or the iPods attached to our ears, we are practically always connected in one way or another. Everywhere we turn, we see representations of technology, whether it be the huge televisions in Times Square or the moving advertisements on television screens on our local city buses or taxis. We can’t escape from this technological oppression, even in our own homes.
There are also a lot of parallels between the world the characters in Feed live in and the world we live in. For one, like I previously stated technology is everywhere. We cannot escape from digital devices, no matter how hard we try. Another parallel is on page 278, when Marty gets a Nike speech tattoo. After every sentence, he would say the word Nike. In our world, people wear clothes that advertise logos of companies. For example, two years ago, Jacara wore a white t-shirt that simply said Google on it. To her, it was just another shirt, but to the public, it was Google’s way of getting people to be their advertisement. People always look at each other’s clothes, and by putting logos on their attire, companies are creating walking advertisements. Another parallel is on page 191, when Quendy had fake lesions made in her skin. She cut up her skin in order to be more attractive to Link. These lesions are just like plastic surgery. People use plastic surgery as a way to make them more attractive to the people they are trying to impress. All though plastic surgery isn’t making huge cuts in your skin that ooze blood, it is chopping away your natural skin to replace it with artificial skin.
I believe that Violet’s character was the most interesting and influential character in Feed. Her character went against the Feed, and tried to get everyone else to see how bad the Feed was to them, but they did not believe her. She was the only one who was able to see that the Feed was ruining their lives, but nobody would believe her because they thought she was just crazy. People choose to believe what people tell them to believe, we don’t have a mind of our own. Corporate companies tell us to always buy the next best thing, because it’s always better then the last. No matter the price, people buy it, because we are told to. In our current day and age, we are mere puppets to the capitalists’ leaders of our society.
There are also a lot of parallels between the world the characters in Feed live in and the world we live in. For one, like I previously stated technology is everywhere. We cannot escape from digital devices, no matter how hard we try. Another parallel is on page 278, when Marty gets a Nike speech tattoo. After every sentence, he would say the word Nike. In our world, people wear clothes that advertise logos of companies. For example, two years ago, Jacara wore a white t-shirt that simply said Google on it. To her, it was just another shirt, but to the public, it was Google’s way of getting people to be their advertisement. People always look at each other’s clothes, and by putting logos on their attire, companies are creating walking advertisements. Another parallel is on page 191, when Quendy had fake lesions made in her skin. She cut up her skin in order to be more attractive to Link. These lesions are just like plastic surgery. People use plastic surgery as a way to make them more attractive to the people they are trying to impress. All though plastic surgery isn’t making huge cuts in your skin that ooze blood, it is chopping away your natural skin to replace it with artificial skin.
I believe that Violet’s character was the most interesting and influential character in Feed. Her character went against the Feed, and tried to get everyone else to see how bad the Feed was to them, but they did not believe her. She was the only one who was able to see that the Feed was ruining their lives, but nobody would believe her because they thought she was just crazy. People choose to believe what people tell them to believe, we don’t have a mind of our own. Corporate companies tell us to always buy the next best thing, because it’s always better then the last. No matter the price, people buy it, because we are told to. In our current day and age, we are mere puppets to the capitalists’ leaders of our society.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Homework 11- Digitalization Experiment
For my experiment I decided to experience digitalization through use of my iPod. Many people have different views on whether or not listening to an iPod while studying/doing homework actually increases your concentration, and I decided to conduct my own experiment to see which the correct answer was was for me. I decided to listen to my iPod while doing my English homework for Kinory. When I first started my homework, I started singing and humming along to the music, but after a while my music faded into the background of my mind and I was able to focus on my homework. I forgot that I was even listening to my iPod, and was able to concentrate extremely well on typing up my essay. The only downside to listening to my music was when my music stopped for an unknown reason and I had to choose a new song. I couldn’t get back into my thinking zone for a couple of minutes, and was completely thrown off for a while. However I did get a lot of work done while listening to my iPod. After doing some of my English homework with my iPod, I decided to test my experiment and shut off my music. For a while I could not concentrate because I kept getting distracted by the sounds of my surroundings around me, such as the television, or my mother talking. It took my longer to gain a focus and get into my thinking zone without the use of my iPod then it did with the use of my iPod.
By experiencing digitalization through my iPod, I was able to realize how much I really count on my iPod. I never realized that without my iPod I could not get into my thinking zone when doing homework as well. Before the experiment I thought my results would be different because I thought my music interfered with my homework (which is what adults always like to tell you), but after I looked at my results I realized once I blocked out my music I was able to concentrate extremely well. However when I was doing my physics homework and listening to music I could not get into my zone because I kept getting distracted. I had to shut off my music because I wasn’t able to focus on the numbers and equations in front of me. I think that listening to my iPod while doing humanities homework helps, as listening to music is what I am doing right now as typing this. But when listening to my iPod while working on math and physics homework I get distracted and cannot clearly think.
I am really glad I did this experiment because I use to take my iPod for granted, and never really realized how much it actually does help me focus. I use my iPod all the time, as a way to block out my surroundings, especially when I am on the train or walking down the street. However I never thought listening to my iPod while doing homework actually helps me concentrate, so I am glad this experiment helped show me that.
By experiencing digitalization through my iPod, I was able to realize how much I really count on my iPod. I never realized that without my iPod I could not get into my thinking zone when doing homework as well. Before the experiment I thought my results would be different because I thought my music interfered with my homework (which is what adults always like to tell you), but after I looked at my results I realized once I blocked out my music I was able to concentrate extremely well. However when I was doing my physics homework and listening to music I could not get into my zone because I kept getting distracted. I had to shut off my music because I wasn’t able to focus on the numbers and equations in front of me. I think that listening to my iPod while doing humanities homework helps, as listening to music is what I am doing right now as typing this. But when listening to my iPod while working on math and physics homework I get distracted and cannot clearly think.
I am really glad I did this experiment because I use to take my iPod for granted, and never really realized how much it actually does help me focus. I use my iPod all the time, as a way to block out my surroundings, especially when I am on the train or walking down the street. However I never thought listening to my iPod while doing homework actually helps me concentrate, so I am glad this experiment helped show me that.
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