Final assignment!

1. Book groups: the additional texts have been a key component of the course. How has the work in your book groups differed from that which takes place in our discussions of the other texts in class and elsewhere (plurk & blogs)? What kinds of discussions are possible in the setting of the book groups? What is not possible within these settings?
The online book discussion and plurk has been my favorite way to converse with my classmates and professor this quarter. There are many major differences between the classroom discussions, and the discussions that take place behind a computer screen.
One major reason I like online discussions better then classroom discussions is the physical comfort factor. When I am responding to book discussions and plurks, I am usually in my comfortable dorm room, with music playing and in a setting I am aware and in control of. When we are in the classroom setting, it consists of being in a huge cold classroom, in uncomfortable seats. To be heard by the whole class you have to really speak up. I am surrounded by strangers, and have no control over what other people are doing in the class.
Speaking up in class is more difficult than it sounds for me. I am usually not a shy person, but I am when it comes to hard topics. In discussions it is easy for the subject to get changed. Especially in this class, which makes you think about unreal instances, people’s minds start jumping beyond the topic that was initially being discussed. It is hard when during a discussion, ten people have their hand up which means you have to wait your turn, and then by the time you are able to speak the topic has been changed. For the discussions online, I have not faced this problem. If the subject is changed, I am able to read back in the discussion, see exactly what people said, and respond to that rather then being forced to move forward. This has let me share my point with my classmates, and they too are able to read back and see how my point fits in with what was being discussed at the earlier time. This guarantees everyone has an equal right to talk, rather than just the discussion hogs during class.
What is not possible with online book discussions is being able to see peoples expression, hear their tone, or experience their devotion to the subject. During class, people can get heated about a topic, and just argue with anyone that dares to disagree with them. Humor is another factor that is added into classroom discussion. There have been many little side jokes and sarcastic remarks which makes everyone laugh in the class. With online discussions, you don’t get this kind of interaction. It is almost dull, you are silent, you don’t hear anything and don’t speak, just typing whatever comes to mind. You cant see the reactions to your comments. You don’t see the nodding or shaking heads, the curious faces, and the hands of your classmates up ready to respond. All you experience emotionally, is the previous response, and the satisfaction after hitting the submit button.
Reflection is something you get to do while having online discussions. Rather then having to think on your feet, you can read someone’s response, think about it, type your response, and then go back to see if that’s what you really meant to say. It is nice to be able to go back to conversations even a month ago, and see what mine and my classmates thoughts were about the book in the beginning and now as I have progressed. Also to be able to use different points of an argument to agree or disagree with the discussion. Rather than in class, my short term memory span is so horrible. I forget what people have said within seconds, only remembering the things that stuck out in my mind to talk about. This makes it easier to talk about what I want to talk about, not what the subject has been changed to.
Overall I would have to say I enjoy the online discussions better rather than the ones we have during class. Although it is weird to be talking to people online who I have no idea who they are, it does offer up an opportunity where I am able to be more open, and get my point across more efficiently. It has also made me speak up. In class it is so easy to sit there and let other students do the talking, rather now I actually have to share and argue my opinion.

3. Blogs: Read all the blog entries for the quarter from one of your peers—hopefully someone you don’t know well. Using the text of your own blog and his/her blog compare and contrast your experiences in the course.
The blog I selected to follow was rachellosek because I noticed that she is also in my book discussion group, and I enjoyed reading her posts about the diamond age.
When reading the blog posts about the Invention of Morel, we have similar ideas about the fact that the main character was stalking Faustine. And the fact that Faustine was being looked at like she were on a tv screen, and the main character was obsessed with this actress, just like the boy down the hall from me is obsessed with Angelina Jolie. The love he had for her was a real obsession, but she had no idea he even existed. Rachel thought that this was cute, how he would go to great lengths to do things for her such as making her a garden, and then she mentioned it was stalkerish. But I believed he was being a stalker from the beginning, which is nice to see how the same thing can be interpreted into two completely different meanings.
While reading Rachel’s blog about ‘The Ticket that Exploded” it was like reading a version of my own blog. She too talks about how hard it is to understand the novel. Images in this novel are disturbing, and how the style of this novel is weird. I really like it how she researched the writing style of this author, much like I had to turn to the internet for answers also. In my blog, I mentioned that I can not understand the book because the author keeps changing subjects on me. Rachel explains that this is the authors writing style, to bring two opposite subjects together. This was why it was confusing for me but now it makes sense. I am happy I picked this blog, because it gave me a lot more understanding about the “ticket that exploded” then what I previously had!
On Rachels reflections on the filth, it is much like mine. She comments on the difficulty of being able to read a comic book, which was new to me. Rachel also makes reference to the nudity in the filth also, but she brings up a really going point about how all of the women are very muscular and “masculine” I had never thought of that before, and am also wondering what the author was trying to show by this. Rachel seems to have been more observant of the pictures in the comic more so then I was. Which was nice because she pointed things out that I completely missed. I was more focused on the words rather then the pictures, which makes me wonder if I would have been able to essentially read this comic book without even reading the words that were on the pages. The fact that Slade was so worried about his cat also stood out to both of us. She talks about how it shows how much people care about their pets. Rachel also talks about how she doesn’t enjoy the sex parts, and comments on how much there is in this book.
I agree with Rachel’s thoughts on communication, based off of the discussions we had in class. She talks about how some people argued that technology ruins relationships. I don’t believe that that is true either, she brings up the point that if two people are forced to be apart, wouldn’t texting or IM’ing be a better communication tool then none at all? She was also happy that in the ending of the book, the nants did not take over the world. That was something that I also expressed made me happy. The whole idea that something like that could take over the world is enough to scare anyone. But I guess that is why it is science fiction, we have to remember that all of this is coming from the authors imagination.
Overall, me and Rachel seem to share the same opinions. Our ideas were shared for a lot of the different subjects, but she also introduced me to new ideas. After reading another persons ideas, I wish I would have done it more throughout the quarter, so I could have gotten new opinions and ideas about the subjects. She pointed out things that I completely missed in the readings. That is what I liked about the online book discussions, I was forced to read other peoples opinions. In class, it is so easy to zone out into your own world and not pay attention to what other people have to say. But when you have to read someone’s opinion, it makes you think about every sentence they have written and gets your mind working.
2. Limits: one of the ways that we have approached the small is with our plurk assignments, in your opinion how have these limits: 1) made you think about language 2) made you think about the small 3) helped you with your writing
Through the plurk assignments, we had limits as to what we can write. For instance one time we had to come up with sentences without including the letters in our plurk name, and for my case I couldn’t use ANDREGO, and this made me think about language in a different way because I had to actually be conscious about what I was typing. Usually, I would not think twice about the words I was using. They are all “fair game.” But when I was forced to not use letters, I had to come up with synonyms and new sentences all together. This made me realize the endless possibilities of sentences that can be composed in the English language, and how much I have limited myself throughout the years. This made me think about the small, because I realized that the small letters that we are writing with can be formed to make very powerful words. Size doesn’t equal power. This has helped me with my writing because it has shown me that one thing can be expressed many different ways. I shouldn’t be constricted to everyday language, but explore the many possibilities that I have in front of me. It also helped my writing because I was conscious of the fact that everything I posted on plurk would be viewable to the whole class, and I would be judged on it. Every time I was about to send a plurk, I would double or triple check it to make sure the grammar was correct, and it wasn’t offensive. This has helped my writing because I am seeing myself double checking my work more often. Aware of the fact that anyone can see anything I put out in the world, wether its turning in an essay to a teacher, facebooking, plurking, or blogging.

3. Animals and Machines: our texts have been filled with both of these things. Working with Ronell & Kac’s text Life Extreme, make a case for the difference between animals and machines. Is there such a difference? And where do humans fit in all of this?
Life Extreme offers a variety of different philosophical thoughts. I believe they make more comparisons between animals and machines. I believe that there is a difference between animals and machines, but many humans don’t see that difference. For instance, when you think of a machine like a computer or a car, you can treat it poorly because you know that it doesn’t have feelings. You can yell at it, throw it around, run it into things, and it wont feel pain or sadness. In a way I feel like that is the way some humans treat animals. Hunting for fun is one example. Some humans look at hunting as a sport, where they feel accomplished after killing an animal that may be hard to shoot, such as a deer. Not taking into consideration that in that process, they are taking away the life of that deer. In comparison, how many times have humans sat behind a computer screen, and played video games for fun, wanting to beat the computer. And when they do they feel a sense of accomplishment. Or when they get angry they throw their computer against a wall. In both instances, the objects feelings isn’t taken into consideration, the emotions that are running through the humans head are the ones that are being played out. Even though the difference between killing an animal and killing a computer is different, it is looked upon the same way. Only humans believe that they are the dominate beings. Animals emotions are not equal to theirs. Animals have been demoted to be on the same level as machines. Which is think shouldn’t be the case. There are huge differences between animals and machines. Animals are living breathing creatures, they feel pain, and joy, and sadness. Take for example the family dog, how many times has it jumped on you happy to see you when you got home from work, or whined as your leaving it alone, or yelped when you accidently stepped on its paw. These are the same things humans feel. We experience joy when seeing someone that was absent, or sadness when we have to part, or pain when our foot gets stepped on. But how many times have you seen a machine do that? When you accidently dropped your computer or crashed your car has it ever cried? Or when you left your computer sitting alone on your desk, it didn’t express any emotion when you came back. I feel as if humans are trying to make people feel as if computers and machines do have humanistic characteristics. For example my microwave at home says “enjoy your meal!” when the timer goes off, you almost want to say “thank you!” Or when I turn on my car, my screen flashes “hello!.” Greeting you. This is humans way of giving personality to inanimate objects. This makes us forget the fact that my microwave doesn’t care wether or not you enjoy your meal, and my car is programmed to say hello.

4.Filth/Censorship/Mores/Sexuality and Technology: There have been interesting reactions to both The Ticket that Exploded and The Filth. In each instance the resistance to these texts has been given voice in a variety of forms (on plurk, blog entries, and in classroom discussions). How does each of these formats allow for anonymity or not? And then consider for example the consumption of porn in red states. How then do the positions put forward by Burroughs and Morrison allow one to read the real world phenomena of porn consumption? Again another question that one might consider in this question is: why does pornography work?
I feel as if when people are talking on plurk or hiding behind their blog, they are more honest and open to saying what they really mean. Sex is a topic that makes a lot of people uncomfortable. It isn’t something that is usually brought up in a conversation throughout the day, and for many people it isn’t something they want to think or talk about. In classroom discussions, when the topic of sex comes up I really don’t want to share my input. The day that the video was shown of two, then three condoms doing various sex positions was very uncomfortable for me. I am not willing to share my thoughts about it out loud to the class, but on plurk and over blog I am more willing to share my opinion because no one knows who I am. Which is weird, I feel like it’s a taboo topic. Something that shouldn’t be discussed, but you know its happening all day everyday right around you. I feel like the consumption of porn in red states is high, because with conservative families, (this may be stereotypical of me) sex is way less accepted and talked about. This may come along with the Christian families, who practice not having sex until they are married, and only watch and do ‘acceptable’ things within society. An example of what I mean by that is not watching movies that have anything to do with sex, such as American Pie. This may be weird, but it seems like everyone in my entire junior high saw that movie when it came out, and I was only in seventh grade. This was a movie that introduced all of us to sex. And I feel like because of that movie, and movies like it, our curiosity was gone about sex. But to the boy whose conservative family screened him from everything to do with sex, I feel like the curiosity level is high there, and it seems like that would make him want to investigate this new topic. Burroughs and Morrison allow us to read the real world phenomena of porn consumption, because it is something that is out there, and should be read about and talked about. Porn isn’t an acceptable topic within society every day, but in the books, they force us to think about it. It is almost as if they are having a discussion with us about sex, which makes it more acceptable because it isn’t being spoken out loud. Same with the plurk or blogs, we can talk about sex online because it isn’t actually being spoken out loud. Seeing a conversation about sex online isn’t as bad as hearing one in person. I feel like pornography works because it is something that can fulfill the needs of one person, without anyone else having to know or having to talk about it. Porn is something that is out there, but not something that is talked about.
Overall I wanted to say I really enjoyed this class! It FORCED me to think about things I had never thought about before. And it made me think in ways I have never thought about before. It introduced me to a whole different side of literature which I had never explored before, and I feel this was a great opportunity for me to get my mind working, and forced me to go outside the box of what I would normally choose to read or write about. Thank you!