Final: Back to the Caves!!!!

Back to the Caves!

Stories these days come in all different shapes and sizes. By that, I mean a story or knowledge can be obtained through different and innovative media. Media can mean audio, video, picture, text, etc… Also text can be further enriched by hypertext, mediated texts, or hyper-mediated text. Whatever the particular text variation is, it means there is more than one medium integrated into the text. I feel these mediated texts are a welcome advancement, rather than a distraction as the well-known critic, Sven Birkerts would say, and certainly not the ruin of self and soul. These new text variations provide additional means of engagement within a given text.

Some integrative mediated literature can not only entertain its reader/watcher/listener but also can help them learn. The author needs a way that complements the information they are trying to share, so as to optimize reader absorption. One way is a textbook used for academic study; it contains media of both written literature and picture, Campbell Biology is such a book that is very detailed in not only its language but also its pictures. This textbook holds a vast amount of information and how it is presented means everything.

In books for young children learning to read, using a mixture of pictures and literature can be very effective. These pictures are what kids first look at on the page, which gets them captivated and helps brings the books to life. They expand vocabulary and give a little extra background to the story. The more they look and comprehend both pictures and words, the faster they will appreciate what they are reading. This also means that they will move on to another book more quickly, and with each book they will uncover a bit more knowledge.

There are new novels that are for older kids that have more than pictures integrated into them. By that I mean, although pictures are present they are not there for window dressing; they are not there only to provide details to the written word. These pictures can tell sections of the story all on their own. An example of this type of hyper-mediated text is The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. This is a powerful book that really draws the reader in; so much so, that jumps between the two different media, both written word and picture, become minimized. The author gives more of himself to the reader via two ways instead of one. Some critics (Birkerts, Carr) say that a reader does not have to read as closely, or as deeply because everything is laid out in front of you. That is not true, because getting a story through interpretation of pictures is as private an affair as interpreting words. Take the example of when people look at a piece of art; it does not evoke the same experience for each person. It must pass through each of our individual filters. Secondly, there are definitely places in the book where the reader can peel back layers and find hidden meaning within. An example of this is when the old man recognizes the drawings of the automaton in Hugo’s notebook. The story continues, but we are left wondering what the old man was thinking. Another deeper layer, the reader might explore is the symbolic use of the automaton itself. Here we have a book presented in a new form, mediated text, which focuses on a young boy’s quest to master a new technology, the automaton, to reveal a hidden meaning. We also learn that the whole book is the product of an automaton created by Hugo. By peeling back an additional layer, it shows us that technology, even when it is not apparent, can have a profound effect on us. This is just one type of the many mediated literatures emerging and definitely will not be the end. To me this literature is crisp like an apple, new and appealing. These texts are not a distraction, and they will not destroy a reader’s intellect.

Audio books are also a type of mediated text. Birkerts believes that in an “audio book, everything—pace, timbre, inflection—is determined for the captive listener. The collaborative component is gone; one simply receives.” (Birkerts. 147) Birkerts is saying that the reader loses out when listening to an audio book. They don’t have to imagine a different voice while reading or give the text life because it is all planned out for them. In an audio book the author’s voice is acted out, so there is no need for the reader, or rather, the listener, to infuse their ideas and thoughts into the story because it is already done for them. Audio books go too fast. They don’t give the reader the time needed to digest the information before moving onto a new topic. However, can’t a reader/listener hit pause?  Nowadays the listener has control over the speed of the audio book. A question for Birkerts is, what are we as a people missing out on, now that we have the printed book, instead of the previously dominant oral tradition?  My problem with what Birkerts thinks is that he is not thinking logically. This type of medium is a wonderful advancement that can be helpful to anyone, especially for people with disabilities. One example is a blind person that could only read a book using braille. With an audio book, this person could listen and understand the book, in a shorter amount of time. Now will learning braille become obsolete? It’s possible or maybe it will co-exist. Yes, in audio books you don’t have a choice at the exact tone or inflections the reader has, but you have something else, sometimes even the author’s own voice.  And that’s the point, one man’s loss is that same man’s gain. We might take the elevator, instead of the stairs. We then just lost out on exercise, but gained time, and for some people, a gain in mobility. Hyper-mediated texts, like many advancements, are additional tools. Just like books are tools. He might be upset with me saying that, but even art is a tool – a tool we use to express ourselves, to connect.

With every new achievement in the technological world there is always going to be something someone does not like. So maybe people will get their communication from the author differently, but that doesn’t equate to books having no more use. Communication is communication whether we whisper in an ear, or pass a note, or send a sing-a-gram, it all boils down to one of our species trying to communicate with another. We like options and that will never stop. We also like constantly exploring and creating, hence the fortune cookie, and now a text, and maybe one day a hologram of an oral storyteller. Yes, a thing can become obsolete for us, as a people, if we choose not to use it. How many of us still draw on cave walls?

Another type of hyper-mediated text is interactive software that uses pictures, text, sound and video. Some of these mediated texts are specifically made to help people learn things. For instance the OWL is an online system that can be bought with the textbook, Chemistry The Molecular Science. It has interactive questions, videos, pictures, audio, and additional text that help the user understand the topic, tests them on it, and gives them feedback on how they are doing. Birkerts feels that this type of hyper-mediated text is not literature, but information. I agree with him in that respect if he is saying not all hyper-mediated text is literature, just like not all words are literature. What about blogs? Blogs are not just information, they are a form of literature; they use words to create art. People all around the world are creating new and improved hyper-mediated text that can make gaining knowledge more efficient. Certainly, any advancement that allows for the more efficient or effective transfer of meaning should be considered. Why is this not a step forward for mankind?

Sven Birkerts is known as a strong lover of traditional text and feels that there is only one way to properly read… privately. His viewpoint is interesting, but incredibly depressing. This can be summed up in the following quote “our various improvements not only mark a diminution of the function improved upon . . . but they also work to dissolve some of the fundamental authority of the human itself. We are experiencing the gradual but steady erosion … of the species itself.” (Birkerts. 5) Is he saying that as we constantly strive to advance that we are actually devolving? Humans strive to advance in knowledge of the unknown. Where does he think all the information he is learning from old books is coming from? At some point it came from a great thinker of that time, whose main goal in life, most probably, was to understand and enhance our world. He thinks that the more advanced we become, the more dependent we become on those advances. As if our new technologies will take over the creator. I understand what he is saying, but it seems like he is afraid of the unknown, of losing control, of losing his purpose. Ironically, Hugo was also scared of not having a purpose. Notice how new technology is essential to Hugo’s purpose, while to Birkerts it is the bane of his existence.

There always is going to be change. Why does Birkerts think change is bad? These innovations can help us. Just because we have new technology, lets say houses, does not mean we should be nervous or depressed to use it. We may not be living like early man lived, for example in caves, but that does not mean we can’t get back to our roots. After all, that’s why we have camping. At some point innovations will be replaced by another, it is just a matter of time. But we choose as a society, how we want to advance.

Does something change in use when we use more technology? Nicholas Carr says it does. In his article, Is Google Making Us Stupid?, he says this type of learning, technology-based, affects us by “remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory”(Carr). He might be right. He probably is right, but even so I don’t think it is necessarily a bad thing. Our brains most likely have already been remapped when we shifted from oral storytelling to written literature. I am sure our mind and body has changed repeatedly over time, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop that.

In Janet Murray’s book, Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in cyberspace, she touches on the topic of how the computer helps students learn. She reports that learning theorists “celebrated the fact that students wrote better papers and learned to speak foreign languages with greater fluency”(Murray. 5). This shows that the computer and its different hyper-mediated software, like Rosetta Stone, can really affect users. Murray’s main point that she wants people to realize is, “the computer is not the enemy of the book. It is the child of print culture, a result of the five centuries of organized, collective inquiry and invention that the printing press made possible” (Murray. 8). In this mindset, printed books and cyber literature are not just related they are siblings. People should know that computers are not meant to take over the world of literature; they are trying to expand it such that both readers’ and writers’ thought processes are pushed further. Books and cyber-literature can be used together and will continue to be used together as long as we as a general society continue to find meaning and artistic merit within these types of works.

I am not offended by Birkerts love for books but I dislike how narrow-minded he is when evaluating new technology. Birkerts’ never proves to me, as a reader, why reading printed words alone is the best way to learn. He is all for staying in the past, but that is not an option in a world of constant advancement, and even he knows it. Birkerts wants people to be able to read and understand the older ways of writing but then he generalizes on how no one is reading. He feels generations growing up with technology are becoming less intellectual because they don’t like a certain book that he likes. The only thing I can agree with him on is, yes, the world of technology is speeding up. This means that people learn different things and read in different ways, but that does not mean that reading is going to become extinct. No, not extinct, but instead enriched.

I pledge my honor that I have completed this work in accordance with the Honor Code.

 

Bibliography

 

“Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic July 2008: n. pag. The Atlantic. Web. 27 Apr. 2012. <http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/>.

Murray, Janet H. “Introduction: A Book Lover Longs for Cyberdrama.” Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in cyberspace. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997. 5 and 8. PDF file.

Birkerts, Sven. The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age. Boston: Faber and Faber, 1994. Print.

 

Self-Reflection:

My project is about critically responding to Birkerts’ argument regarding the new forms of mediated literature. My area of strength in this paper is that I know my critical assessment well and I know how different it is from Birkerts. Actually Birkerts’ ideas helped sharpen my views on this critical assessment, because I felt so strongly against his point of view. My area of weakness is not being able to hyperlink pictures in to the blog correctly. I removed my paragraph on McLuhan but added in more on Murray. In the revision I took out, added in, and switched around sentences. In the introduction, I only changed a few things. In the section about Hugo a counter argument was added and also expanded on the automaton. I added a little under a page and a half about audio books; talking about Birkerts view as well as countering and talking about the benefits of audio books. In the academic section a few sentences were removed but a lot on Birkerts view was added in as well as my own thoughts. Overall, the goal of my revision was to clarify my arguments and to make the flow of my paper better. I tried to provide good counter-examples to Birkets’ views, and then to support them as logically as I could. Though out this whole revision process, I have learned that writing is a never-ending process and that editing is extremely important. Doing this course I have learned how to be somewhat comfortable with starting papers.  I used to feel terrified when starting papers, to the point where I had trouble writing anything down on the page for a long time. I think part of the problem was that I felt like everything that I wrote had to be perfect the first time through. Over the course of this semester, I have learned that good writing does not just pop out of someone’s head on the first try. Writing is definitely a process and a major part of that process is going back through your paper, reorganizing your thoughts, clarifying your arguments, and making sure that the whole paper supports your thesis statement. My rhetoric and logic also got better with every paper, so I am happy with my progress in general. I know that I still have a lot to work on with my writing but at least now I don’t feel so nervous about the whole process. This course has given me the tools and enough experience to tackle my future papers with much more confidence.

Back To The Caves!

Self-Reflection: My project is about critically responding to Birkerts’ argument regarding the new forms of mediated literature. My area of strength in this paper is I know my critical assessment well and I know how different it is from Birkerts. Actually Birkerts’ ideas helped sharpen my views on this critical assessment. My area of weakness is not being able to hyperlink pictures in to the blog correctly. I removed my paragraph on McLuhan but added in more on Murray.

Back To The Caves!

Stories these days come in all different shapes and sizes. By that, I mean a story or knowledge can be obtained through different and innovative media. Media can mean audio, video, picture, text, etc… Also text can be further enriched by hypertext, mediated texts, or hyper-mediated text. Whatever the particular text variation is, it means there is more than one medium integrated into the text. I feel these mediated texts are a welcome advancement, rather then a distraction as the well known critic, Sven Birkerts would say, and certainly not the ruin of self and soul. Instead, a stepping-stone for positive growth; to grow is to learn.

Some of these integrative mediated literatures can not only entertain its reader/watcher/listener but also can help them learn. First, the type of information is important to the author when choosing which media to create and display their work. The author needs a way that complements the information they are trying to share, so as to optimize reader absorption. One way is a textbook used for academic study; it contains media of both written literature and picture for the reader to uncover throughout these books. Campbell Biology is a book that is very detailed in not only its language but also its pictures. This textbook holds a vast amount of information and how it is presented means everything.

In books for young children learning how to read, using a mixture of pictures and literature can be very effective. These pictures are what kids first look at on the page, which gets them captivated and helps brings the books to life. They expand vocabulary and give a little extra background to the story. The more they look and comprehend, both media, the faster they will appreciate what they are reading. Also meaning, the faster they can move on to another book, and with each book they will uncover a bit more knowledge.

There are new novels that are for older kids that have more than pictures integrated into them. By that I mean, although pictures are present they are not there for window dressing, they are not there only to provide details to the written word. These pictures can tell sections of the story on their own. An example of this type of hyper-mediated text is The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. This is a powerful book that really the draws the reader in; so much so, that jumps between the two different media, both written word and picture, become minimized. The author gives more of himself to the reader via two ways instead of one. Some critics (Birkerts, Carr) say that a reader does not have to read as closely, or as deeply because everything is laid out in front of you. That is not true because there are defiantly places in the book where the reader can peel back layers and find hidden meaning within. An example of this is when the old man recognizes the drawings of the automaton in Hugo’s notebook. The story continues, but we are left wondering what the old man was thinking. Another deeper layer, the reader might explore is the symbolic use of the automaton itself. Here we have a book presented in a new form, mediated text, which focuses on a young boy’s quest to master a new technology, the automaton, to reveal a hidden meaning. This is just one type of many mediated literatures and definitely will not be the end. To me they are crisp like an apple, new and appealing. They are not a distraction, and it will not destroy a reader’s intellectuality in a negative way.

Another type of hyper-mediated text uses not only pictures and text, but also sound and video. Some of these mediated texts are specifically made to help people learn things. For instance the OWL is an online system that can be bought with the textbook, Chemistry The Molecular Science. It has interactive questions, videos, pictures, audio, and additional text that help the user understand the topic, and tests them on it. There are all sorts of different types of interactive software, like this OWL system out there, that can help a person learn and get feedback on how they are doing. People all around the world are creating new and improved hyper-mediated text that can make gaining knowledge more efficient. I feel that this is a step forward for mankind.

Sven Birkerts is known as a strong lover of traditional text and feels that there is only one way to properly read… privately. His viewpoint is interesting, but incredibly depressing. This can be summed up in the following quote “our various improvements not only mark a diminution of the function improved upon . . . but they also work to dissolve some of the fundamental authority of the human itself. We are experiencing the gradual but steady erosion … of the species itself.” (Murray. 5) Is he saying that as we constantly strive to advance that we are actually devolving? Humans strive to advance in knowledge of the unknown. Where does he think all the information he is learning from old books is coming from? At some point it came from a great thinker of that time, whose main goal in life, most probably, was to understand and enhance our world. He thinks that the more advanced we become, the more dependent we become on those advances. I understand what he is saying, but it seems like he is afraid of the unknown, of losing control. As if our new technologies will take over the creator.

There always is going to be change. Why does Birkerts think change is bad? These innovations can help us. Just because we have new technology, lets say houses, does not mean we should be nervous or depressed to use it. We may not be living like early man lived, for example in caves, but that does not mean we can’t get back to our roots. That’s why we have camping. At some point innovations will be replaced by another, it is just a matter of time. But we choose as a society, how we want to advance.

Does something change in use when we use more technology? Nicholas Carr says it does. In his article, Is Google Making Us Stupid?, he says this type of learning, technology-based, affects us by “remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory”(Carr). He might be right. He probably is right, but even so I don’t think it is necessarily a bad thing. Our brains most likely have already been remapped when we shifted from oral storytelling to written literature. I am sure our mind and body has changed repeatedly over time, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop that.

In Janet Murray’s book, Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in cyberspace, she touches on the topic of how the computer helps students learn. She reports that learning theorists “celebrated the fact that students wrote better papers and learned to speak foreign languages with greater fluency”(Murray. 5). This shows that the computer and its different hyper-mediated software, like Rosetta Stone, can really affect users. Murray’s main point that she wants people to realize is, “the computer is not the enemy of the book. It is the child of print culture, a result of the five centuries of organized, collective inquiry and invention that the printing press made possible” (Murray. 8). In this mindset, printed books and cyber literature are not just related they are siblings. People should know that computers are not meant to take over the world of literature; they are trying to expand it. Expand it in a way where a writer’s thought process is pushed further. Books and cyber literature can be used together and will continue to be used together. As one grows, the other grows with it.

I am not offended by Birkerts love for books but I don’t like how narrow-minded he is when evaluating new technology. Birkerts’ never proves to me as a reader why reading is the best way to learn. He is all for staying in the past but that is not an option and even he knows it. He wants people to be able to read and understand the older ways of writing and then generalizes on how no one is reading; and the generations growing up with technology are becoming less intellectual because they don’t like a certain book that he likes. The only thing I can agree with him on is, yes, the world of technology is speeding up. This means that people learn different things and read in different ways but that does not mean that reading is going to become extinct. No, not extinct, but instead enriched.

I pledge my honor that I have completed this work in accordance with the Honor Code.

Bibliography

“Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic July 2008: n. pag. The Atlantic. Web. 27 Apr. 2012. <http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/>.

Murray, Janet H. “Introduction: A Book Lover Longs for Cyberdrama.” Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in cyberspace. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997. 5 and 8. PDF file.

sad attempt at paper 3(draft 1)

1.     Intro

Newer forms of the media are hit or miss…

How you can learn from hyper-mediated literature

(GO BACK)

2.     Different forms

There are all sorts of types of hyper-mediated texts in the world. Some of these mediated literatures cannot only entertain its reader/watcher/listener but also can help them learn using different types or medias together. First the type of information is important on how the author can create display their mediated work in a way that complements the information they are trying to share as well as optimizes reader absorption. One way is a textbook used for academic study; there is a medium of both written literature and pictures for the reader to uncover throughout these books. (Maybe add more on the benefits and example)

In books for young children learning how to read, using a mixture of pictures and literature can help the child not only to read, but also to understand how to connect meanings to words with the help of pictures. (Think of another benefit and example)

There are new novels that are for older kids that have pictures integrated into them. An example of this type of hyper-mediated text is The Inventions of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. Throughout the book there are many pictures; pictures of the past, the present, and the future. Pictures that exemplify every detail the author speaks of. When reading this book the reader forgets time passing by because it is such a powerful book that really draws the reader in. Even though the reader already know how to read, this could help a reader picture exactly what the author is going for. This means that it the author has more control over the reader’s imagination, which could be argued a bad and good thing. The reader could have fewer questions anon certain areas of the book but that could cause deeper contemplation crating more in depth questions. It could be said that a reader does not have to read at closely because everything is layer out in front of you but that is not always true because there are always going to be laces in the book that a reader can peel back layers and find hidden meaning within. A book created in this manner can cause the reader to be sucked in to the story and forget that they are reading, which can be a good or bad thing based on the readers point of view.

3.     Birkets

“Our various improvements not only mark a diminution of the function improved upon . . . but they also work to dis­ solve some of the fundamental authority of the human it­ self. We are experiencing the gradual but steady erosion … of the species itself.”

4.     Carr

Neuron

5.     Murray

Computer learning and books

6.     My perspective

New forms of mediated literature/hyper-mediated text, a medium between different types of mediation, such as a book using text and pictures together. These mediums are interesting and it might give the reader a newfound understanding of the story if it was only using one media. This type of book couldn’t be pulled off by on all novels but when an author tinkers around with his/her writing and it fits it is wonderful.

Innovation depends on the book, for instance in The Inventions of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, the whole book is an original/new/fresh and it would be hard to recreate in another. This is one type of many and definitely will not be the end. These types of mediated literature are crisp. They are not a distraction and it will not destroy a reader’s intellectuality in a negative way. To me reading in general weather good or bad can help a reader learn what to do and what not to do. Reading anything will help that reader understand writing and how to push the envelope while creating their own.

7.     Conclusion

(Need to do)

Notes

Birkets is all for staying in the passed when that is not an option and even he knows it. He wants people to be able to read and understand the older way of writing and then generalizes on how no one is reading and the generations growing up with technology are becoming less intellectual be they don’t like a certain book that he likes. The only thing I can agree with him on is yes the world of technology is speeding up. This means that people learn different things and read different ways but that does not mean that reading is going extinct. Through out are education we read, through out most peoples everyday life they read a book or article or something that helps them gain new information. Over all Birkets view on things makes me mad. Birkets is the one that thinks “Our various improvements not only mark a diminution of the function improved upon . . . but they also work to dis­ solve some of the fundamental authority of the human it­ self. We are experiencing the gradual but steady erosion … of the species itself.” (talk more about)

Marshall McLuhan on the other hand was all about how “All media as extensions of ourselves serve to provide new transforming vision and awareness.” I can whole-heartedly agree with that statement. Everything in this world is changing, growing, into something magnificent. Everything we think of, design or create alters our understanding of the world be giving us new incite into things we never thought of knowing, doing. McLuhan understood this and he was all for the changing and building of knowledge to create new things. He also created a mediated text, which made people thing differently, it made people try and figure out the secrets that he carefully locked away on each page. For example, The Inventions of Hugo Cabret made you forget the time passing by and merged both the pictures and writing into a form that readers could never forget.

Impact of the Night Sky

This week I read many text that are labeled under electronic literature…I found the audio section extremely interesting I liked a few of the links but the one that had the most impact on me was the Like Stars in a Clear Night Sky. It integrated sound, a man speaking Arabic with different styles presenting written text. The text written was basically subtitles, but at one point I forgot that he was not speaking English because in my head I could hear him speaking what I read. He was giving an introduction to his life, but instead of just going in to all the things he had done or witnessed. He gave the reader control of what order they read his stories, by clicking on stars. I love the creative way the author took on presenting his life. It is all that new by it had an impact and that is what a creator strives to do. Authors strive to be heard this is something that makes the reader get sucked in. The author took a risk on this type of electronic literature, but it is easy to see that lots of effort into this project. That effort paid off because it made me have to stop, watch, and listen.

Related

In the introduction of Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in cyberspace, by Janet Murray, she talks about how some people in society are against the newer media of cyber literature. Others’ think that books will die out because of the computer. She wants people to realize that it is not just a black and white argument of the book and the computer. She talks about how the computer helps students write, learn language, read, and connect to anyone in the world with a click of a button. To her “the computer is not the enemy of the book. It is the child of print culture, a result of the five centuries of organized, collective inquiry and invention that the printing press made possible.” (Murray 8) In this mindset, printed books and cyber literature are not just related, they are siblings. This should show people that computers are not meant to take over the world of literature; they are trying to expand it. Expand it in a way where a writer’s thought process is pushed to the limit. Where people get creative and start playing with the mixture of images and the printed word to create books like Hugo and The Medium of Massage. Books and cyber literature can be used together and will continue to be used together. As one grows, the other grows with it.

The Massage…

In The Medium is the Massage, Marshall McLuhan talks about many un-alike things throughout out his book. Some of his topics are as follows. Trying to understand media and technology. Learning how communities have different opinions. Using more then one sense in decision- making. Exploring how one activity could be done many ways.  Or the way literatures shortcuts are changing. Yes, his book integrates pictures and text in an unique way but it skips around a lot, and to me it is quite chaotic.

McLuhan discusses about when “new technologies come to play, people are less and less convinced of the importance of self expression. Teamwork succeeds private effort.” (McLuhan 123) But that is only true in some cases. For example, in the science and engineering fields; yes, there is a lot of teamwork going on, sometimes, and that is because it is faster to research, design, and gain new knowledge with a group of people helping the thought process of the project. This is not always true but nowadays a group is needed to run things. Only one person may have started the endeavor, but if it is something that people want to learn about, it will then grow and spread out from that private effort.  In other cases, the art world is made of many that can work alone; painters, musicians, sculptors, writers, and so on. These people can also work together to create something but I don’t feel that people are working together just because there is some new technology. A sculptor does not have to collaborate with another because of some new gadget. It is really all about the people involved; some like the company, others like solitude.

How far back do we go back when reflecting on the above-referenced quote? To the atomic bomb, or go back further to the telephone. It was a group effort, more than Oppenheimer or Alexander Graham Bell. And what’s considered new technology? The invention of fire?

What’s the connection between all the information in the book? What is it all trying to represent? Is it how the world is changing? There will always be many questions but that just means there are limitless answers.

Hugo

The book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick, is about a french orphaned boy, Hugo Cabret, that lives in a train station and maintains the clocks. His father died earlier in the year in a museum fire while working on an automaton, a device, in this case, that can potentially write a note.

This is how I summarize this story. Hugo was taken in by his drunk of an Uncle until one night he did not come back. He steals but only when necessary, meaning food and equipment for the automaton.  A toy booth owner, in the station, Georges Melies, caught Hugo taking a toy from his booth and so took all that Hugo possessed right then. This included a very important book that Hugo’s father gave him, with different pictures of the automaton. When Georges flipped through the notebook he saw what was inside and knew exactly what is was. He got Hugo to leave after threatening him with the Station Inspector, but later, Hugo followed Georges home to try and get his book back. He meets a girl, Isabelle, who promised to look out for his book. The next day Hugo appears at the booth again, asking for his book. The old man says he has burned it! And Hugo despairs. One question I still have is, why Hugo doesn’t Hugo go back to his house where he lived with his father, he could get the other notebooks there?

Isabelle insists it is not burned and finally the old man tells him that there is a chance he can get it back.  He must first works off all the debt that he has accumulated from stealing toys. Hugo complies because he wants he’s desperate to fix the automaton. He helps out by fixing toys and cleaning, Hugo later realizes that he can still fix the machine, even without his father’s book. Things start to get better for Hugo. He is making progress with the automaton, hanging out with Isabelle, reading a magic book, and finds enjoyment working at the toy store after he checks the clocks. Then Isabelle steals his notebook from Georges but Georges thinks that Hugo did it. As Hugo runs away crying he hugs Isabelle and steals the key heart necklace. When he gets to his room he finds that the key fits into the automaton. Isabelle finds him, and later she turns the key.  The automaton draws a picture instead of the expected note. Hugo realizes that is a picture from an early movie that his father had spoke of. As the signature is drawn Hugo and Isabella realize whose machine it is. They run to her house and there they find Georges drawings all over the place. Georges has some sort of emotional breakdown and starts ripping up his work but Hugo and Isabelle pick up most of the drawings.

The next day Hugo went to find out more about the drawings and Georges’ secrets so he visited the French Film Academy where he found that Georges was a musician turned cinema owner/movie producer. He set up an appointment at the Melies’ house without their knowledge for a film teacher at the Academy to come see Georges. After the meeting with the teacher  does not go very well,  Hugo runs to the train station to get the automaton.  But the station inspector finds him and chases him around the station until Georges shows up after  pulling Hugo out of the train tracks. Hugo tells everyone his story and goes and lives with the Georges after that. Later on The French Film Academy celebrates Georges Melies and every thing is going well for the family. In the end Hugo becomes a magian and creates his own automaton. An Automaton that wrote this whole story!

Some key words used through the book are guilt, hope, lost, and purpose. I love the part of the book were Hugo talks about how he imagined that everything in the world is part of one big machine. “And that means you have to be here for some reason…”  (Selznick 378.) Hugo’s thought process is in  terms of mechanics, using gears, nobs, screws, and more; he’s in a world of mechanics. He wants and hopes for a purpose and through this book any reader can see that he achieves it. Yes, he starts out feeling like he was the reason his father was killed; he was guilty, but then he starts putting his mind and hands to the test to figure out the mystery of the automaton. He needed to know its secrets because he had no one to guide him anymore. To him having a reason is everything because if you don’t have a purpose then in his mind you are like a broken machine, not “able to do what it was meant to do.” (Selznick 374.) Through out this book readers learn that Hugo is a creator and a fixer, but over all he is a young boy. A boy that wants to learn and go to school, read and build. He was lost and thought he had no purpose but by helping, or fixing Georges Melies, he’s found his purpose and with that he found a home.

In the Beginning

Self-Reflection: My project is about genesis and how it is used in Frankenstein. My areas of strength in the paper are probably when talking about the preparation needed before making a creation and in the Birth/Education/On going care. I had trouble with when comparing the different versions of the bible. Over all I did enjoy opening this door and discovering the path that lay behind it.

In the Beginning

 

In the book Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, there are a multitude of different intertextual passages throughout the text. Some of these are from Genesis, in the Old Testament, and it is mostly an implicit connection. Genesis, the word, from a Greek origin, means origin, creation, and birth. There are many ways to define and explain genesis as you can tell from the definitions above, but genesis is a method, a source, that will always lead back to the beginning, the root. My first reason why Genesis was chosen is because Shelley subtly uses it to shape the relationship between a creator and its creation but in a negative contrast. The second reason is because this invoked the strongest emotional reaction with me due to the pathetically destructive nature of Victor Frankenstein’s disregard for his creation. As Victor crafts his creation he does not put any thought into what will happen to his creation after he makes it. This is similar to how several readers are not reading closely, thus they miss out on key pieces of information gained through the interpretation/thought process. Genesis will open the door for a deeper understanding of the preparation, birth, education, love, struggle, and betrayal every sentient being, should and should not face.

In the first book of the Bible’s Old Testament, Genesis, is a description of creation and the time that God, the Creator, took for preparation of all kinds of life. It started with making the actual earth, then the day and night, followed by water, sky, and ground. Then the actual living organisms were added. Things like plants and animals, and then humans. Victor Frankenstein did not think of what was needed to prepare the world for the arrival of his new “species”, and technically not a hope of being a species without a way for reproduction. He only thought of how powerful he felt as he created, how well he would be known for breaking through the boundaries of life and death. It is all about Victor, and he is irresponsible. As he puts it, “a new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs.” (Shelley. 47) Every creation has an intended purpose; but then a potential is born, and that takes on a life of its own. And a good creator will anticipate and prepare; to maximize the creation’s success in this world. Even in the case of just an inanimate object, say a created car for example, one cannot expect to drive it around successfully without preparing it to meet mandatory specifications.

In Genesis everything in the world is created, or born in a sense. Creator and Creation have a bond that no matter the time that passes nor the emotions between the sides cannot be changed. It should not matter what the creation looks like because the creator, a parent, will unconditionally love its creation no matter what. Victor brought a living, breathing, creature into the world and literally ran from his responsibilities. Bringing someone newly into the world, no matter their size, is bringing a newborn into the world. The moment Victor Frankenstein looked in to his creation’s eyes he realized that what he created was not the handsome new magnificent species he wanted; he fled, because to him he had made a “monster”. He was the creation from a unique situation but still he is at the very least a being no matter what he looks like; and an intelligent being with a strong will to survive. If a newborn baby was left on its own, then it would die; but he, he fought for his life when no one would help. “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2: 16-17) This child was left to figure out the world by himself; left to fend for himself from the moment he opened his eyes. Where are his rules? This child had to live in a world that nearly killed him on many occasions because of appearance. He learned that people judged him because of his looks. This child was called a monster and a daemon by his creator, his father. The “monster” starts off talking about how he was lost and alone. He managed to hide and watch a family for a year, which taught him how to talk. He did not understand why he had to be different, why people hurt him or ran from him. In Genesis, every nonliving and living form had a place, a purpose, and rules that were set down for them. This “monster” was left by his creator, with no apparent place in a strange and hostile world, to defend himself, while growing up with no guidance.

Though Victor runs away in horror, the innocence and innate goodness is seen with his creature. “My heart yearned to be known and loved by these amiable creatures: to see their sweet looks directed towards me with affection was the utmost limit of my ambition.”  (Shelly. 138) And slowly that innocent quest for love and his optimism is beaten out of him. He realizes he cannot find love and companionship in the human world. “Once my fancy was soothed with dreams of virtue, of fame, and of enjoyment. Once I falsely hoped to meet with beings, who, pardoning my outward form, would love me for the excellent qualities which I was capable of unfolding.” (Shelley. 240) This is a genuine human ambition that people can sympathize with. The Creation asks for a female as deformed and horrible as him so that she cannot deny him. Finally, Victor at one point realizes the creature’s loneliness, and so makes him a promise for a companion that he could love and be loved by. Unfortunately for the Creation, Victor’s realization doesn’t last, and a Genesis-like-Eve never comes to fruition.

5) Struggle

Victor’s abandonment sets the course for the Creation’s path of pain. “Remember, that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed.” (Shelley. 101). The Creation desires love and friendship from Victor. He has struggled for every minute of his life to get someone, anyone, to love him. No matter his or her age or how they look, all that counts is that someone wants him. I think that the Creation’s wants are not too much to ask for. It is ridiculous that just because he is not as Victor pictured him (beautiful) that means he could just be thrown away. It is like throwing away a child because of their looks or how they came into the world. I know that the creature is not Victor’s son, but Victor did create him and as a creator he needs to take the initiative and help his Creation. They will always be connected through the creator/creation tie and the more Frankenstein ignores his responsibility, the more he has to blame himself for the deaths of his loved ones. As it is put in Genesis, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” (Genesis 2.18) No one is born evil but if no one is around to show you the path, and give you the necessary bare-minimum support, then you are by default being set up to fail. The creation spoke of how “the fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone.” (Shelly. 240) The Creation has struggled so much, since he was abandon by Victor, to learn how to fit in, but he realizes he will never find companionship no matter if he is good or evil.

The descriptions of the Creation’s enduring betrayals, which lead to anger, are very powerful. For instance, “You have destroyed the work which you began; what is it that you intend? Do you dare to break your promise? I have endured toil and misery: I left Switzerland with you; I crept along the shores of the Rhine, among its willow islands, and over the summits of its hills. I have dwelt many months in the heaths of England, and among the deserts of Scotland. I have endured incalculable fatigue, and cold, and hunger; do you dare destroy my hopes?” (Shelley. 178) Also the crumbling of his disbelief that his creator can be so cold, so destructive, so inhuman to him is heartbreaking. Basically the Creation is mad, hurt, and betrayed by Victor breaking his promise. He waited patiently, traveling through harsh conditions for this companion to be made only to have that hope, of not feeling lonely and miserable, ripped away from him.  The Creation mentions a key term “destroy”, two times probably to get the reader to understand that he is really torn up, angry, and depressed about it. (Also if you think about hope, you build it, and a way to remove hope is tearing it down or distorting it.) That last question the Creation says is telling the reader that the Creation did not expect his dreams to be destroyed. This passage to me shows that this “monster” has feelings and is more than just technically human. He is a sentient being at the very least. From this people should realize that crushing the only dream, after the finish line is in sight will make most people hurt and revengeful. Frankenstein’s fatal flaw is when he continues to refuses or is incapable of viewing his creation as human. Thus he cannot see and then predict how his treatment, his actions can cause a human to feel such devastating betrayal so that rage and destruction is to be expected.

In Frankenstein readers that do close reading can connect the novel to Genesis and get a deeper understanding of the type of relationship that should happen between creator and creation. A creator has to know that creating a being is not only about the technical know- how in creating, but that it is important to prepare for the creation, as well as to educate, care, and love it. It is evident that Victor does not follow though in doing what his creation needs. No matter how sophisticated and technologically advanced the world becomes this does not mean our moral dilemmas will decrease; in fact they will become more complex and in some cases, rob us of our humanity.

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. London: J.M. Dent & Sons LTD., 1912. Print.

I pledge my honor that I have completed this work in accordance with the Honor Code. 

Paper 2 draft

Self-Reflection: My project is about genesis and how it is used in Frankenstein. My area of strength in the paper are probably when talking about the preparation needed before making a creation and in the Birth/Education/On going care section. My area of weakness at the moment is in the struggle section so I will need to focus in on that.

 

1) Intro

In the book Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, there are a multitude of different intertextual passages throughout the text. Some of these are Genesis and it is mostly an implicit connection. Genesis, from Greek origin, means origin, creation, and birth. There are many ways to define and explain genesis as you can tell from the definitions above but genesis is a method, a source, that will always lead back to the beginning, the root. My first reason why genesis was chosen is because Shelley subtly uses it to shape the relationship between a creator and its creation but in a negative contrast. The second reason is because this invoked the strongest emotional reaction with me due to the pathetically destructive nature of Victor Frankenstein’s disregard for his creation. Genesis will open the door for understanding the preparation, birth, education, love, and struggle every sentient being, should and should not face.

2) Preparation

In the first book of the Bible’s Old Testament, Genesis, is a description of creation and the time that God, the Creator, took for preparation of all kinds of life. It started with making the actual earth, then the day and night, followed by water, sky, and ground. Then the actual living organisms were added. Things like plants and animals, and then humans. Victor Frankenstein did not think of what was needed to prepare the world for the arrival of his new “species”, and technically not a hope of being a species without a way for reproduction. He only thought of how powerful he feels as he creates, how well he will be known for breaking through the boundaries of life and death. It is all about Victor, and he is irresponsible. As he puts it, “a new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs.” (Shelley. 47) Every creation has an intended purpose; but then a potential is born, and that takes on a life of its own. And a good creator will anticipate and prepare, to maximize the creation’s success in this world. Even in the case of just an inanimate object, say a created car for example, one cannot expect to drive it around successfully with out preparing it to meet mandatory specifications.

3) Birth/Education/Ongoing Care

In Genesis everything in the world is created, or born in a sense. Creator and Creation have a bond, that no matter the time that passes nor the emotions between the sides, cannot be change. It should not matter what the creation looks like because the creator, a parent, will unconditionally love its creation no matter what. Victor brought a living, breathing, creature into the world and literally ran from his responsibilities. Bringing someone newly into the world, no matter their size, is bringing a newborn into the world. The moment Victor Frankenstein looked in to his creation’s eyes he realized that what he created was not the handsome new magnificent species he wanted; so he fled, because to him he had made a “monster”. He was the creation from a unique situation but still he is at the very least a being no matter what he looks like. An intelligent being with a strong will to survive. If a newborn baby was left on its own it would die, but he, he fought for his life when no one would help. “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2: 16-17) This child was left to figure out the world by himself; left to fend for himself from the moment he opened his eyes. Where are his rules? This child had to live in a world that nearly killed him on many occasions because of appearance. He learned that people judged him because of his looks. This child was called a monster and a daemon by his creator, his father. The “monster” starts off talking about how he was lost and alone. He managed to hide and watch a family for a year which taught him how to talk. He did not understand why he had to be different, why people hurt him or ran from him. In Genesis, every nonliving and living form had a place, a purpose, and rules that were set down for them. This “monster” was left by his creator, with no apparent place in a strange and hostile world, to defend himself, while growing up with no guidance.

4) Love/Dreams

Though Victor runs away in horror, the innocence and innate goodness is seen with his creature. “My heart yearned to be known and loved by these amiable creatures: to see their sweet looks directed towards me with affection, was the utmost limit of my ambition.” (Shelly. 138) And slowly the innocent quest for love, his optimism is beaten out of him. He realizes he cannot find love and companionship in the human world. “Once my fancy was soothed with dreams of virtue, of fame, and of enjoyment. Once I falsely hoped to meet with beings, who, pardoning my outward form, would love me for the excellent qualities which I was capable of unfolding.” (Shelley. 240) This is a genuine human ambition that people can sympathize with. The creation asks for a female as deformed and horrible as himself so that she cannot deny him. Finally, Victor at one point realizes the creature’s loneliness, and so makes him a promise for a companion that he could love and be loved by. Unfortunately for the Creation, Victor’s realization doesn’t last, and a Genesis-like-Eve never comes to fruition.

5) Struggle

Victor’s abandonment sets the course for the creature’s path of pain. “Remember, that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed.” (Shelley. 101). The creature desires love and friendship from Victor.(talk about the creatures pain and how no one in the world wants him, not a happy family he helps out, not a young child) I think that the creature’s wants are not too much to ask for. It is ridiculous that just because he is not as Victor pictured him (beautiful) that means he could just be thrown away. It is like throwing away a child because of their looks or how they came into the world. I know that the creature is not Victor’s son, but Victor did create him and as a creator he needs to step up and help his creation. They will always will be connected through the creator/creation tie and the more Frankenstein ignores his responsibility, the more he has to blame himself for the deaths of his loved ones. “It is not good for the man to be alone.” (Genesis 2.18) No one is born evil but if no one is around to show you the path, and give you the necessary bare-minimum support, then you are by default being set up to fail. “The fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone.” (Shelly. 240) So I don’t think the blame should be put on the creation.

6) Betrayal/Anger

The descriptions of the creation’s enduring betrayals which then leads to anger are very powerful. “You have destroyed the work which you began; what is it that you intend? Do you dare to break your promise? I have endured toil and misery: I left Switzerland with you; I crept along the shores of the Rhine, among its willow islands, and over the summits of its hills. I have dwelt many months in the heaths of England, and among the deserts of Scotland. I have endured incalculable fatigue, and cold, and hunger; do you dare destroy my hopes?” (Shelley. 178) Also the crumbling of his disbelief that his creator can be so cold, so destructive, so inhuman to him is heartbreaking. Basically the creation is mad, hurt, and betrayed by Frankenstein breaking the promise. He waited patiently, traveling through harsh conditions for this companion to be made only to have that hope, of not feeling lonely and miserable, ripped away from him. The creation mentions a key term, destroy, two times probably to get the reader to understand that he is really torn up, angry, and depressed about it. (Also if you think about hope, you build it, and a way to remove hope is tearing it down or distorting it.) That last question the creators says is telling the reader that the creation did not expect his dreams to be destroyed. This passage to me shows that this “monster” has feelings and is more than just technically human. He is a sentient being at the very least. From this people should realize that crushing the only dream, after the finish line is in sight will make most people hurt and revengeful. Frankenstein’s fatal flaw is when he continues to refuses or is incapable of viewing his creation as human. Thus he cannot see and then predict how his treatment, his actions will a human to feel such devastating betrayal that rage and destruction is to be expected.

7) Conclusion

As in Genesis being a creator is about not only the technical know how to create, but just as important is the preparation, support, the love, and the bond. No matter how sophisticated and technologically advanced the world does not mean our moral dilemmas will decrease, in fact they will become more complex and in some cases, rob us of our humanity.

 

I pledge my honor that I have completed this work in accordance with the Honor Code. 

Destroying Hope

Chapter 11, from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, starts off with the creation’s point of view. The creation, which Frankenstein thinks of as a monster, tells Frankenstein about what he has gone through. The “monster” starts off talking about how he was lost and alone. He managed to hide and watch a family for a year which taught him how to talk. He did not understand why he had to be different, why people hurt him or ran from him. This “monster” poured his heart out for seven chapters, filled with his fears and desires. This “monster” was left by his creator, to fend for himself, to grow up with no guidance. All he wants was a companion. A person to keep him company, someone that is like him.  Frankenstein and him come up with a deal, he will not kill anyone and will leave England, if Frankenstein will create him a female companion. The deal seems like it will work out until Frankenstein starts thinking about how he is making a new species, if they can reproduce, and how he does not know if this new creation will agree with the plan. That night Frankenstein destroys his work later on he gets on a boat but gets lost and ends up in Ireland, where he is accused of murder. A murder that is really committed by his creation. Frankenstein gets very sick in prison awaiting his trial but starts to get better when his father comes to visit and he is cleared of his crimes. He realizes that his creation really will make his life miserable by killing off anyone that is close  to him but that does not stop him from going back home and marrying his long time love, Elizabeth. On their wedding night she is killed the same way everyone else close to Victor Frankenstein is.

Obviously, there are lots of keywords in the fifteen chapters I read this week, the ones that I feel are the most important are betrayal, guilt, longing, loneliness, misery, destroy, and revenge. Many of these words can be used to describe the scene where the creation rants to Frankenstein about him not following through with making his mate.

“You have destroyed the work which you began; what is it that you intend? Do you dare to break your promise? I have endured toil and misery: I left Switzerland with you; I crept along the shores of the Rhine, among its willow islands, and over the summits of its hills. I have dwelt many months in the heaths of England, and among the deserts of Scotland. I have endured incalculable fatigue, and cold, and hunger; do you dare destroy my hopes?” (Shelley. 178)

I chose this passage for many reasons. First, the descriptions of the creation’s enduring misery are very powerful. Also the crumbling of his disbelief that his creator can be so cold, so destructive, so inhuman to him is heartbreaking. Basically the creation is mad, hurt, and betrayed by Frankenstein breaking the promise. He waited patiently, traveling through harsh conditions for this companion to be made only to have that hope, of not feeling lonely and miserable,  ripped away from him.  The creation mentions a key term, destroy, two times probably to get the reader to understand that he is really torn up, angry, and depressed about it. (Also if you think about hope, you build it but and a way to remove hope is tearing it down or distorting it.) That last question the creators says is telling the reader that the creation did not expect his dreams to be destroyed. This passage to me shows that this “monster” has feelings and is more than just technically human. He is a sentient being at the very least. From this people should realize that crushing the only dream, after the finish line is in sight will make most people hurt and revengeful. Frankenstein’s fatal flaw is when he continues to refuses or is incapable of viewing his creation as human. Thus he cannot see and then predict how his treatment, his actions will a human to feel such devastating betrayal that rage and destruction is to be expected.