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(2019
midterm assignment) Model Midterm answers 2019 (Index) Essay 3: Web Highlights |
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Sage Butler
Is It the End of the World as We
Know It?
While examining the artifacts written
by former students, I learned a lot of valuable information that can be applied
to this course—for, as much as we learn from reading the texts and instruction
in class, learning from our peers is one of the most valuable experiences that
we can have as literature students.
When reading
Parable of the Sower, I immediately
noticed the environmental concerns she described in the novel, and how that
parallels our world—and even considered doing my research essay over that
topic—which is why I related to and was very interested in Cynthia Cleveland’s
essay “Water Over Gold.” The literary connections she made described things I
had observed as well, but the statistics she provided over the state of our
water access was new to me; though I had known it was bad, I did not think our
water was that close to depleting.
The language she used was straightforward yet descriptive, which helped the
reader understand her point without getting lost. When I read her introduction,
she mentioned “systems of inequality,” which I wished she would have explored
more in her essay, as there is such a strong relationship between environmental
concerns, such as lack of access to fresh water, and poverty. Since decreased
access to clean water leads to increased prices, those in lower socioeconomic
classes would suffer most. One example of this environmental classism is Flint,
Michigan, whose water has (or had, depending on who is asked) been undrinkable
for several years. Those who could not afford to leave their home and move are
stuck there, and water bottles are no longer free to residents. The concerns
Cleveland expressed in her essay have not only become reality for some, but will
soon be a worldwide concern for all—especially those in poverty.
Similar concerns are present in the
different narrative types—especially in apocalyptic literature. I enjoyed Anari
Oliver’s essay “The Three Narratives in a Nutshell,” as she points out multiple
in-depth examples of how we can see this in apocalypse stories, which represent
“an end-time or transformation of the world.” She examines how
Parable of the Sower is the tale of
an environmental apocalypse, with a scarcity of food and water. The Book of
Revelation is another example, albeit a God-created one, rather than
environmental- and man-created disaster. This biblical book is characterized by
water sources being filled with blood and drying up, earthquakes that tear down
mountains, and meteorite strikes. Apocalyptic stories are not the only ones that
feature drastic change in our world—Oliver describes the horrible conditions
those in poverty experience in the world of “Stone Lives,” an evolutionary tale.
In the alternative narrative use in her essay, there was no evidence of world
itself changing, though there may be other works that do explore this. In
describing The Time Machine, she
thoroughly discussed how it can be perceived as a blend of apocalyptic and
evolutionary narratives, which is why I chose hers, because I agreed with that
perspective, and she used very descriptive language to help the reader
understand her points. Since there is such a large gap between the Time
Traveler’s time and the time of the Eloi and Morlocks, it is hard to tell what
led to the drastic change of the world, but seems there may have been an event
that caused the entire world to change so drastically, with different plants and
the lack of other creatures, and that they evolved from there.
When examining the web highlights essay
“Learning from Others” by Greg Bellomy, I learned about different perspectives
of classification of literature as various subgenres of narratives of the
future. His essay interested me because there were some works that I could see
as an alterative genre compared to others, yet he even had some arguments for
works I had not even considered to be different, such as “Better Be Ready ‘Bout
Half Past Eight,” where he argues for the evolutionary perspective. Since I knew
we were doing alternative futures, I viewed Zoe’s transformation as a forking
path, rather than evolution, but Greg’s description helped me understand that it
could be both. I enjoyed reading Belllomy’s essay, as he used many academic and
literary terms, but also language that indicated that self-growth and learning
from others was important, which is critical as a student and teacher.
Reading these model essays helped me
learn things that I had not by attending class, such as specific environmental
issues in literature and in our future, the many narratives that can be viewed
as multiple subgenres of narratives of the future, and the value that we gain
from reading other learners’ perspectives. The Web Highlights were very
beneficial to me, because it helped me consider new points I never may have
otherwise.
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