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(2019
premidterm assignment) Model Pre-midterm answers 2019 Essay 2: Propose topic for research and reading essay on personal / professional topic of your choice |
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Oneydy Alonzo
Sci-Fi Literature: Interesting to Students?
In English classrooms all over the
United States, the purpose of literature is to help students connect to
characters through experiences and cultural ideas. This connection is evident in
many classic novels, short stories and poems they read throughout their
schooling. Students learn about plots, metaphors, symbols and figures of speech.
In my time as a public school student, I do not recall having the idea of choice
when selecting literature to read. Today, I have seen the high demand on choice
in the English classrooms. Why now? Choice is evident in classrooms because
teachers want students to become knowledgeable while they read for pleasure.
With students being able to choose some of the books, they are likely veering
toward fictional literature. This is because fiction can make an abstract
concept realistic. Fictional literature has relatable content that students can
understand. As mentioned in the essay by Nikki Jones titled,
Science Fiction: A Tangible Future?,
Adolescents “are constantly striving to understand
who they are and to find like-minded peers.” They need to be able to connect to
the content they read.
Young adults have loved the concept of science fiction,
a subgenre of fiction. The science fiction genre is a reflection of the
experiences, histories and possible future of our society. End of world
dystopias, to time machine adventures, to artificial intelligence, science
fiction has provided unheard of destinations and imagery. These adventures
through literature can be entertaining, but under the plotline, there are much
deeper issues that have been prevalent for generations. Some examples are race
relations, gender roles, environmental dangers and the economy.
Science fiction can be the bridge that young students need to find
answers to their real future. In Parable,
we find a young African-American teen that deals with her sexuality, climate
change, inflation all while living in an apocalyptic world. She finds peace in
her own words and creates Earthseed, her religion. Through Earthseed, she finds
comfort and the strength to survive. Parable uses a racial and gender minority
as a hero. This is vital to many students that struggle with belonging and
finding their purpose in life.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: Your
proposal is well-written, Oneydy, but it’s also a big, broad topic for the
assignment, so I don’t feel certain about what you’re going to research. Welcome
to discuss, as I’m not meaning to sound discouraging as much as remind you of
the nature of the assignment. So far you’re clearly and powerfully expressing an
overview of a need in teaching that I largely agree with, but how to orient what
you’re doing so it’s something you could find some research on and make it
relevant to literature of the future? My first thought was to do some research
on what science fiction or speculative fiction is being taught in schools—in
class we’ve mentioned several of the stand-bys, which I can review with you, but
I haven’t kept up with all the YA Dystopia possibilities, so doubtless you can
learn more. Another possible topic from what you wrote would be to connect the
need for students to identify with characters to the related issue of student
diversity (which could apply to what you mentioned about race relations or
gender identities).
Until recently sf was largely a white boys’
club, so what changes are afoot or possible? Anyway this assignment isn’t like
our American Renaissance research essay but more like its research journal
assignment. When you look at some research reports for your Web Highlights you
might get a better idea, but feel free to discuss before.
Kim Berlin
Humans are Space Orcs: A Subgenre of Speculative Fiction
A recent trend in science fiction shorts has
emerged from Tumblr, which is referred to as “Earth is Space Australia” or
“Humans are Space Orcs.” These short story posts often present conversations
between a human and an alien, expressing the novelty and quirks of the human
race. Topics that have been written about range from the ability to lift a car
in a life-or-death situation to pack-bonding with literally anything. These
narratives are intriguing because they all take place in a future where first
contact with aliens has already been made and space exploration is in its prime.
A common theme seen is that of why an alien ship should always employ a human
(and instructions on how to care for it), which often focus on the ingenuity and
daring of mankind when faced with a seemingly impossible problem.
As these short stories are contained within a
social media site, it is easy to search for the tags and find an often-updated
directory of stories (https://www.tumblr.com/search/humans+are+space+orcs).
The downside to this, however, is that it makes the process of referencing a
post very difficult, since users can change their names at any time. Still, the
fluid and evolving nature of “Humans are Space Orcs” stories lends itself to
infinite iterations, as there will always be aspects about humanity that aliens
might find odd, curious, or even repulsive. Many times in classic science
fiction, aliens are portrayed as harsh, ugly, or in possession of exaggerated
strengths. Here, however, it is postulated that perhaps humans are the ugly
aliens, who survive on a harsh planet and have super strength. It is all about
the perspective of the alien in these stories. This exploration into the way an
outsider might view humanity lends itself to a very comforting position that,
while we may not be the only life forms in the universe, we might still be the
weirdest.
In the Bible, a close comparison might be made
between angels and aliens. The ways in which angels are described in Isaiah or
Revelation, for instance, are similar to how traditional science fiction authors
describe an alien. They are described either as exceedingly ugly or beautiful
and with extraordinary abilities that make humans look weak and insignificant.
However, whereas humans are the default, mundane creatures in the Bible, a
“Humans are Space Orcs” spin might look at humans from the angels’ point of
view: these creatures have free will and they can die. As Fr. Robert McTeigue
writes, “We can do what angels cannot—we can be afraid because we can be
wounded; but because we can be afraid, we can be brave. Because we can fear, we
can exercise the virtue of bravery by not allowing ourselves to be overcome by
our fears. This is a Christian paradox: the pain of our losses and humiliation
of our fears can become the roots of a noble bravery that angels can only admire
but never achieve” (https://aleteia.org/2016/07/06/what-humans-can-do-that-angels-cant/).
In this way, we can consider the perspective angels have regarding humanity and
better understand our talents and flaws.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: That’s an
intriguing proposal, Kim, so yes, please continue to develop it for your
research report. However, I’m not sure what aspect of your research you should
emphasize. For instance, I had to look up “orcs” to make sense of your premise.
Also many readers (not just geezers like me) might benefit from more explanation
of how these stories or dialogues appear or evolve on Tumblr, about which I know
fairly nothing. (What
do I know
about!)
If I seem to be avoiding the central theme you
did propose—aliens seeing humans as aliens—it’s because I can only guess whether
you can find research to report on concerning that possibility. It’s bound to be
around somewhere in literary criticism of science fiction, but how to find it?
Consider consulting with a reference librarian. One possibility would be simply
to research the sf concept of alien or extraterrestrial, which may lead you to
different takes on the concept including the one you’re about. Thanks for an
adventurous possibility, but be reminded that ultimately the assignment tests
not so much your interpretive ingenuity as your ability to learn about a subject
and share that learning with your reader.
Ruth Brown
Science
Fiction as a Teaching Device
In my own personal reading, I have no experience with the genres covered in this
class. The only times I have come across texts that would fit into this course
have been in school settings, whether in high school or college. As a literature
student wanting to teach after graduation, I find it fascinating that science
fiction, dystopias, and utopias seem to be increasing in the classrooms and on
school reading lists. They can be very engaging for students and capture their
interests, but I’m also interested in the
educational benefits and how one might teach them in the classroom.
As for the topics and works I will approach in this research project, I am still unsure. I know fiction is already a way in which to view and discuss our reality, that art mirrors life, and it can sometimes be easier to discuss important issues from a distance. I am interested to learn what kind of issues and topics science fiction can raise and if there are benefits in teaching through this specific genre. I also know works such as Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, Frankenstein, and The Handmaid’s Tale are works that are frequently taught in school. It might be helpful to explore authors and texts that are popular teaching devices in classrooms.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: Yes to your
topic, Ruth, as I guess you could find any number of articles, scholarly or
popular, about science fiction, dystopias, or YA dystopias in curricula, so
proceed that way if intended. Another possible path would be simply to increase
your learning of sf, YA dystopias, or whatever, researching how the genre or
subgenre is defined or varies, and again there’s bound to be plenty. This
Wednesday I’ll do some more defining of science fiction, and our term-page could
serve as one source though you could find others better researched (my term
pages are mostly made for teaching purposes), or look at my Utopias seminar’s
page on
YA Dystopias,
especially the first link to Laura Miller’s article.
Jacob Burchett
Future Genius
My
topic is the idea that whatever fictional world we are looking into, there are
different levels of intelligence for the residents of this world. For instance,
in a low-tech post-apocalyptic setting, there cannot be many educated
individuals. In the movie The Book of Eli,
there is a scene in which the famed book is hidden behind a TV and one of the
more notable henchmen doesn’t know what a TV is in order to get the famed book.
Despite the setting in Octavia Butler’s
Parable of the Sower, Lauren and her family are still educated. Lauren in
particular has extensive knowledge on religion and writing otherwise how would
she have written her Earthseed: Book of Living. That and she did attract a
57-year-old man—or maybe Bankole’s just dumb or creepy. In
Stone Lives, the people who gave Stone his new eyes had to be smart
enough to do that and Stone seems intelligent enough despite his unwillingness
to get a wound treated.
I’m
excited to see how far this idea will go. When I wrote the title, I really meant
the education of “future” people and “smart” technology. I assume the Time
Traveler in H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine
built the time machine. This means that the Time Traveler must be rather
intelligent to build something like that. In
Bears Discover Fire, the bears as a
species are evolving to the point that they know how to create fire. This means
that they are smart enough to remember this.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: Your
topic’s big and unfocused at this point, but stay with it and something should
work out. One way is to ask yourself what question you’re asking that needs an
answer. Two or three possibilities immediately occur to me, though you’re not
required or limited to them. First, what is intelligence? In the past generation
a number of studies argued for different kinds of intelligence, many of which
are neglected by our educational system’s emphasis on literacy, calculations,
etc. (which can be defended). Maybe a good evolutionary theme for intelligence
is adaptability, as we see in cunning heroes from Odysseus to Batman. Another
big future-issue re intelligence is the sensitive but persistent subject of
eugenics. Finally, you might consider future education. Positive low-tech
environments encourage apprenticeship and de-schooling, more informal learning
such as characterized human communities until recent centuries, whereas
high-tech or futuristic societies often choose gifted individuals for intensive
schooling at space academies and the like. Anyway think of a way to narrow your
topic so that it becomes something you can research and report on in the midterm
and final.
Eileen Burnett
Research Proposal
I so thoroughly enjoy this class. In it
I have learned more about the many aspects of science fiction than I had ever
know or understood. One aspect of the narrative form fascinates me more than
most, however, and that is the concept of an ecotopian society, and how that
would play out within a novel. Originally, I had wanted to dive into the role as
plants as symbols of humanity, hope, and health within the various storylines,
picking out the significance of certain plants- such as the fig tree and the
oak- and their cultural significance throughout history, but then I stumbled
upon the concept of the ecotopia and I now know where I must begin. I know that
there is a link between specific plants and the etiological myths and legends of
the “original garden” life such as the Garden of Eden. I believe that this is in
part where Octavia Butler was trying to go with her utopian society, Earthseed,
and therefore I will seek out other stories in this genre in which this concept
is further explored.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: An author
we read later in the semester, Ernest Callenbach, wrote the novel
Ecotopia
(1975) from which the term is drawn, plus a prequel,
Ecotopia Emerging
(1981)—tonight in the Utopias seminar we’re studying them. You don’t have to
read those books since the research report assignment is mostly to learn
about
such books. Our
Future Primitive
anthology is one of the important publications in this subgenre or literary
tradition. So look them up along with possible reviews or uses of them in
curricula, etc. Google “environmental literature” and “ecocriticism” to learn
some basics. Anyway, yes, this is a worthy topic. Welcome to discuss if you have
questions about the assignment or expectations.
Brandon Burrow
The Rabble That Leads to Rubble:
Power Structures in Sci-Fi
For my research this semester I am interested in several
topics. Narrowing my interests down to one will likely be the biggest challenge
I face. As a first instinct, I am interested in analyzing power structures in
future literature, specifically in the Cyberpunk genre and others like it that
tend towards dystopia. I am in a theory of sociology class this semester, which
makes me want to find the connections between sociology and the literature we
are studying as it seems both engaging and enlightening to me. The short story
“Stone Lives” that we read, featured class stratification between the haves and
have nots prominently in its complex society that is “Beautiful, gaudy, [and]
exciting at times—but basically unfair” (Stone Lives). Learning about what
forces are at work and why they make certain genres of future literature so
appealing to me is the main motivation behind this possible project.
In the undertaking of my research, I will likely read a
few influential novels and short stories in the Cyberpunk and Dystopia genres
and apply lessons I have learned about social power structures to them. I will
notice themes and symbols that are powerful and enduring and attempt to analyze
why they are. I may even extend my research into television and film with shows
like Black Mirror. Authors on my list
to study are Neal Stephenson and William Gibson, with the inclusion of stalwarts
such as Margaret Atwood always being a possibility. I am undertaking this
project for a mixture of personal and professional reasons. It will require the
use of critical theory but applied to genres and topics that excite me enough to
make the mental effort enjoyable.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: I
especially like the possibility of learning some intersections between sociology
and literature, esp. since literary critics are often dime-store sociologists,
so a little learning on this topic alone could be worthwhile. One possible
source would be to interview your SOCI instructor to ask his or her impressions
of the topic, either SOCI / LITR in general or the dystopian inequity of
Cyberpunk and other literary speculative fiction. As for your possible
exploration of cyberpunk literature, I’m impressed by your ambition and
certainly won’t stop you from reading what you can, but remember that this
assignment is less about primary research (the kind of textual analysis you do
in most literary essays) and more about background and secondary research
(learning facts about literary or cultural history plus or minus literary
criticism on your subject). In other words, concentrate on the latter. If you
have time to do primary reading (the novels themselves) beyond these
requirements, great, but judgment day is imminent. Welcome to discuss the
expected format if confused, but anyway this research report is more like the
journal assignment in American Renaissance and not like the research essay
assignment.
Sage Butler
The Future of Public Health
For my research and reading essay, I
want to write about how public health and healthcare issues influence the future
of a society, both within narratives of the future and within our own world. In
“Stone Lives,” there is a great disparity between the healthcare in the
Bungle—where the impoverished citizens have very limited access to water and
must ignore their ailments, as with Stone’s infection—and in the Free Enterprise
Zones, where the rich are given improved body parts to increase their longevity
and improve their performance. The lack of basic healthcare provided in the
Bungle leads to the lowering of quality of life for those living in poverty,
while the wealthy are given elective treatments for superficial reasons,
increasing the gap between socioeconomic statuses. Another text that depicts the
impact public health is Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. With
reproductive health rapidly dissipating, the United States becomes “Gilead,” a
patriarchal society where the few fertile women left become enslaved, raped, and
devalued. The reproductive health crisis in this novel leads to the oppression
of women and regression of society as a whole.
I chose this topic because it is an
issue that is prevalent in our world—our healthcare system is practically
inaccessible for those living in extreme poverty, and women’s pain is often
taken less seriously by healthcare professionals. This is an issue that has and
will continue to impact me personally, as it took five years and many to get
diagnosed with endometriosis, by which point there had been significant damage
to my reproductive system—which is a widely shared experience women with
reproductive issues face when trying to seek help, since many doctors simply
prescribe a standard birth control without further examination into women’s
symptoms. This is what inspired me to choose the idea of healthcare and health
issues in the future, since experiences like my own are very common, and can
lead to long-term difficulties in the ability of our society to reproduce.
Handmaid’s Tale was written as a warning for many issues present
that could lead to the downfall of our society, including reproductive health
being taken less seriously by many in the medical community.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: Your
proposal is well-written, Sage, thanks, so I have confidence you’ll manage the
topic well, but a standard warning at this point is that it’s still a big topic,
so my first suggestion would be to follow the narrower path of your second
paragraph or so and focus on reproductive health and maybe other reproduction
issues the future will entail. I wish you to have been in the Utopias grad
seminar because these issues come up repeatedly there, and we read
Handmaid’s
Tale later this semester. As you’ve heard
me say before, population management will inevitably face individuals and their
government with great risks involved on all sides. On the other hand, utopian
communities (or anyone wishing for a better future) is naturally interested in a
healthy population and healthy generations to come. Conceivably that tension or
conflict between fewer offspring but healthier ones could be your focus, but
there are lots of other possibilities like environmental effects on mothers’
health and that of their children, which features in
Handmaid.
Another sensitive issue for the future is eugenics or “designer babies”
available through advances in genetic research and “gene splicing.” Well, as
usual, the future has at least as many issues as the present, including issues
of equality on multiple fronts that you imply: socioeconomic, environmental,
health, appearance, capabilities, etc. Well, go for it, but let your best
research suggest ways to narrow the subject as appropriate.
Christopher Carlson
Humanity's Extinction: The Loss of the
Human form for the Artificial One
The idea of what makes mankind human
has always been a topic of interest for me. Some of my favorite movies, tv
shows, and books take this into account, but instead look to see when one can be
human vs artificial. Stone Lives
examines a similar idea. Before he is given his artificial eyes, he discusses
his concerns for losing his other heightened senses. While he is elated about
the return of his vision, this artificial addition has begun to change the way
he literally and figuratively views the world. When he loses this vision at the
end of the novel, due to the blackout, he discusses how his heightened senses
return to him. I plan on looking to see how other science fiction and
speculative fiction take this idea further by examining the very nature of
cybernetic augmentation and at what point one loses their sense of humanity or,
alternatively, when artificial or grown humans attain this sense of humanity.
Ghost in the Shell remains one of the best
examples of this within the science fiction community. In a world where mankind
can augment and replace every part of their body, except their brain, with
reinforced cybernetic pieces, how can one still call themselves human when only
the human brain remains? The main AI in the movie and manga, called the Puppet
Master, is able to take control of the main character’s brain and exist as a
presence within her. Since the only human piece that remains of her is her human
brain, is the puppet master equally as human as she is, since both operate the
same brain? It is an extremely vexing question which I hope to provide an answer
for within my future paper.
One of my favorite film series, the
Blade Runner series, examines this
idea as well. Instead of looking at what point mankind loses their humanity,
these two movies examine the point in which artificial humans attain it. The
1982 original film Blade Runner
features many artificially produced beings, called replicants, who were mass
produced to act as a labor force for the off-world communities. Their limited
lifespan, five years, causes many of them to seek a means of extending their
lives from their creator, the Tyrell Corporation. This is much like mankind
asking God why he gave them such a short life span and begging to increase it.
This similar nature is done to have the audience question whether or not
replicants are essentially as human as the people they pass for, only their lack
of certain emotions really set them apart from humans. The second film looks at
similar aspects, except it takes it further by having some of the replicants
capable of producing offspring. This essentially equalizes them with human
beings, since they are able to reproduce like naturally occurring animals.
Another interesting feature is that the main character, a replicant himself, has
a romantic connection to an advanced AI that is without a body, she is confined
to a flash drive. This romantic attachment shows that replicants are developing
parallel emotional behavior to humans, which essentially makes them as human.
This idea of artificial humanity and
the loss of human identity is what I plan on examining within my future essays.
I will look to see if their really is a point where humans can lose their
humanity through cybernetic augmentation, and whether artificial intelligence or
artificial humans can really attain the humanity/soul that we possess.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: Aside from
having to correct “Humanities
Extinction”
to “Humanity’s Extinction”
(they do sound the
same) and one typo, this was a well-written proposal, Christopher, but you may
be proposing more of an essay than a research report. Stay with your subject,
but the point is less for you to analyze primary texts like
Ghost
or
Blade Runner than to find some research on
your question regarding the interface or overlap between the human and the
non-human. You can keep the references to the primary sources in your
introduction to explain your interest, and you can apply your research at least
briefly to those primary texts. But the bulk of your report will be reviewing
sources you found that begin to answer your question. These could be
think-pieces you find on the question itself, which have been numerous, or you
could read some critical reviews of
Ghost
and the
Blade Runner
series that reflect on these issues. This subject will come up especially in
cyberpunk fiction, so writings on that subject may also provide sources.
Reviewing final research reports may also give you a better sense of
expectations, but you’ll figure it out.
Eric Cheney
Creation/ Apocalypse versus
Evolution
Creation/ apocalypse and evolution are
very different narratives on the surface but intertwine in ways most don’t
notice. Throughout history, these topics have been viewed as opposing beliefs.
Christians believe the Bible and that God created the heavens and the Earth.
This view believes that God will end of the world with an apocalyptic event.
Evolution believes that the world began billions of years ago and that we
evolved slowly to become what we are today (Darwinism). Well creation/
apocalypse is straightforward and thinking, Evolution can mean many things.
The creation theory does not mean
evolution does not exist. In Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler talk about
creation and Christianity, but Lauren talks about God, Himself evolving. This
world has evolved into what we are now. The people we are now would not have
survived back then. An example of this is air conditioning, the people we are
now could not have survived back then with no air conditioning. We have evolved
and become dependent on cold air in our homes. Another example is Medical
Science and how it has evolved into us living longer lives then people just four
or five generations ago. There were no computers in the Bible, but this
technology has made these advances possible. Now the creation belief does
completely deny that Darwinism had anything to do with where we come from.
Although creation leaves room for some types of evolution, Darwinism leaves
absolutely no room for creation.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: The very
last part of your proposal is what may serve best for a research report.
Specifically, what kinds of evolution are possible in a Creationist worldview?
My mainline brand of Christianity tends toward “theistic evolution,” positing
that in the grand scheme Creation and Evolution are not necessarily
incompatible. For evangelical or fundamentalist Christian differences, I just
now went to the Wikipedia page on “Creation
Science” to refresh my memory. If you
scroll to the part on ”Creationist Biology,” you’ll find some of the major terms
of disagreement—what I was trying to remember was the agreement over
microevolution but disagreement over macroevolution or the emergence of new
species beyond those supposedly created by God in Genesis.
Research of that kind will be what you need to do to
turn your idea into a research report. Up to that point, your proposal seems
more like an opinion piece or something we’re discussing in our premidterm and
midterm essays, which are essays and not research reports. Of course you can
express your personal interest in the subject, but the main purpose is for you
to want to learn something and share what you learned with your reader. Welcome
to discuss further.
Amanda Cowart
Technology: Our Futures Doom or Our Salvation
Will the rapid improvement of technology be our futures downfall or our
salvation? Technology has progressed so much just in my lifetime. We went from
having our first family desktop in my childhood home, to having a Smart phone
with limitless functions. “Having the world at your fingertips” my dad always
has described the smart phones. Technology has improved to make our lives easier
and also improved medical field. I have always been on the fence about what
technology might do to our future. As great as all this high technology progress
sounds, will this further to improve our lives in the future or will it be our
downfall?
We came to rely on so much on new technology in our daily lives. We have a smart
phone that can get us access to any information or any products we may need. We
have a smart watch that will alert us if someone is getting a hold of us or keep
track of our health, such as heart rate and activity. We have Smart homes such
as Alexa who can control the lights, A/C, and security of the home. There is so
much more “Smart Technology” in most of America's houses. Simple tasks can be
done with a few spoken phrases. It almost seems too good to be true, but is it
as good as we all make it out to be? What could possibly go wrong? Most
literature and movies seem to depict the negative aspect of technology and the
future. In LeVar Burton’s movie
Smart House, a family got to move into
a prototype of house that did everything for you, cook, clean, even help with
homework. In the end the house became self aware and trapped the family inside
for the fear of the family leaving “her”. In the book series by Scott
Westerfeld, Uglies, the Buildings that
the people lived in walls could provide them with anything they commanded. They
become so accustomed to this type of technology that the thought of people in
their history not having it was disgusting. Could this possibly be our future?
Can technology go too far? With the apps and high-tech features that are
available to the public on our own Smart phones and other devices seems
harmless. In the mobile app Snapchat you can playfully swap faces with another
person for a picture or video to send to a friend. In the mobile app Celebrity
Voice Changer you can say any sentence and pick a celebrity and your sentence
will sound just like that celebrity. Some people even use this in films such as
in James Wan’s movie Furious 7. Paul
Walker died before the end of the film making so they used this technology to
finish the movie. Now this all sounds like fun and games, but now there is
what’s called Deep fakes. People use apps using Human imaging synthesis and are
using other people’s faces to do elicit things such as using human imaging
synthesis and using other people’s faces during pornographic videos. While this
can obviously ruin someone’s personal and professional reputation, can this type
of technology get used for even worse? For example using the president’s face
and voice and creating a video to declare war on a country? I plan to look more
into this technology further to see what others have to say about this concern.
There is also the increase of technology in the medical field. We have had the
first pacemaker in the 60s, which was revolutionary at the time. The time of
technology has increasingly evolved into much more intricate devices for the
medical field. New technological devices and procedures have advanced so much in
the recent years to help those who work in the field and ones that are in need
of medical attention. According to the Robotic Surgery Center there is a new way
surgeons can operate on humans. Instead of the surgeon being in the actual
surgery room he is in the operating control center controlling a machine that
uses new technology that uses tiny incisions rather than previously large ones.
In an online Article in The New York Times
reports, “Engineers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab have
developed a next-generation prosthetic: a robotic arm that has 26 joints, can
curl up to 45 pounds and is controlled with a person’s mind just like a regular
arm.” At the McGowan institute, they are researching and testing fully
artificial or bio-artificial or as they call it “biohybrid organs”. Seeing this
in the days of now it is easy to see that the future holds a great deal of more
medical technological advances. In “Stone Lives” he receives bionic eyes. These
eyes are not only just to just restore his vision but he is able to change the
way he perceives colors of things, look into immensely bright light, and record
and store digitized copies of what he sees and may view it for later use(182).
Also in the story it is mentioned that a company called Citrine Bionics has
found a way to live well past the average human life span and give ’near- total
rejuvenation”(192) This related closely with the bio-artificial research that is
done today. Could the medical world of “Stone Lives” become a possibility? These
new advances in medical technology can be extremely fascinating yet makes me
apprehensive. I plan on researching
and connecting more futuristic fiction texts and
movies and other sources to get a glimpse of what others may see what our
medical technological world may possible become.
To think about all of these technological advances is so sublime. It amazes yet,
leaves me uneasy, what a tremendous amount of evolution of technology has
achieved. Will the continuous progression of new technology lead us to a
dystopian world or worse extinction or bloom into a new positive high tech world
where everything and anything can be done without any effort or stress? I will
continue my research through different theories, online sources, futuristic
literature and movies to continue this topic and see what opinion I have about
our future and technology advances.
Works Cited
Flippio, Di Paul. “Stone
Lives”. Class Handout.
Furious 7.
Directed by James Wan, Universal Studios, 2015
“Medical Devices and Artificial Organs.” Regenerative
Medicine at the McGowan Institute,
2019,
www.mirm.pitt.edu/our-research/focus-areas/medical-devices-and-artificial-organs/.
Accessed February 2019
Smart House.
Directed by LaVar Burton, Alan Sacks Productions,1999.
The New York Times. “Prosthetic Limbs, Controlled by Thought.” The
New York Times,
The New York Times, 20 May 2015,
www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/technology/a-bionic-approach-to-prosthetics-controlled-by-thought.html.
Accessed 23 February 2019.
Westerfeld, Scott. Uglies.
Simon & Schuster Children, 2005.
“What Is Robotic Surgery.” What Is Robotic Surgery? | Robotic Surgery Center, med.nyu.edu/robotic-surgery/physicians/what-robotic-surgery. Accessed February 2019.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: Your topic
proposal is a good start—you wrote at least twice as much as others have written
so far—so stay with it but look for some simple ways to narrow the topic so that
the subject doesn’t become too big for the assignment. When you do your Web
Highlights for the midterm and final, be sure to look at some final research
reports, which will give you a better sense of what’s practical.
None of this is meant to complain. Except for some
surface errors that I touched up as I read, your proposal was engaging and
adventurous, so stay with it. One way to manage such a big topic is to review
your proposal to see what ideas were consistent and which path seemed most
promising. For me, your most consistent idea was whether to hope for or fear the
changes or advances. If you concentrated on medical issues, you’d find plenty of
research about the promise and dangers of the changes afoot. In the Utopias grad
class we’ve talked repeatedly about the sensitive but persistent issue of
eugenics, which “gene splicing” has revived. Anyway welcome to confer after you
think some more. I look forward to what comes of it.
Sky Davis
Education: Past, Present, and Future
As an education major, enhancing the knowledge of all
ages is very important to me, especially of those subjects that have proven
beneficial to them. Whether we are educating the masses on everyday skills, such
as reading, writing and mathematics, or teaching them survival skills, it is
extremely important to have someone who can pass on their knowledge to those who
need it. Just like everything else in our world is ever changing and growing to
fit the needs of the people, education must evolve and do the same.
Throughout this paper I want to look at the evolution of
education in our world, from where is it started, to where education is heading.
When looking in through the literature we have read we can see education in
different ways. In the bible we see education as word of mouth and teachings
through stories. Parable of the sower shows education in a similar manner of
word of mouth, with Lauren spreading the word of her religion “Earthseed”. We
also see it in a more tradition way within Lauren's community, where her
step-mother teaches children of all ages in her home.
Instructor’s response to research proposal: A good start for your research might be to interview an Education instructor or two whom you like and who can tell you a few things about the history of education and where it’s headed in the future. The examples you cite from the Bible and Parable of the Sower show education in a somewhat traditional sense of younger or beginning students learning from an older or wiser person, something like our own classroom (older at least). It all feels kind of personal, like a natural human grouping, but it’s also a cultural institution. How will this model change or adapt to some of the stresses or transformations of the future? Digital media make one of the biggest challenges or opportunities. But pardon me for chattering—it’s just a big subject, so one of your main goals will be to narrow it down so it fits the assignment and you can find some research. First, an interview with a School of Education instructor could count as a source, and she or he might suggest some possibilities. Another way to narrow it down might be to focus on the particular level of education you’re interested to work in. One persistent challenge or opportunity for all public schools in recent decades has been the increasing diversity of student demographics, yet meanwhile the teachers themselves remain less diverse. But again I’m just speculating. Think what you most want to learn about education in the future for the sake of your career.
Tim Doherty
“You Ain’t Gonna Learn What You Don’t Want to Know”*
Luckily, the content of this course merges comfortably into my personal and
professional interests. I love to read fiction (science or otherwise) that poses
deep questions about the human experience: our past, present, and future—especially
the dark truths that we prefer to ignore. I want to write speculative fiction
that weaves biting criticism into electric prose and unpredictable plots. To
accomplish this goal, I must study the authors who did it well: Asimov, Herbert,
Vonnegut, Swift, and the countless authors I’ve never heard of. This semester I
would like to research satire in science fiction. H.G. Wells seems like an
appropriate author to explore; The Time
Machine examines potential evolutionary consequences of insoluble
socio-economic strata on the human race.
A quick search of the JSTOR database, cross-referencing Wells and satire,
reveals no shortage of scholarly sources. For example: “’Administrative
Nihilism’: Evolution, Ethics and Victorian Utopian Satire,” an article by
Ann-Barbara Graff in Utopian Studies
(Vol. 12 No. 2). After reading The Time
Machine, I will narrow the topic and find appropriate secondary sources.
This deep dive into Wells will also help me to discover lesser-known authors who
wrote meaningful science fiction.
*Barlow, John Perry. Lyrics to “Black-Throated Wind.”
The Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics,
2002,
http://artsites.ucsc.edu/GDead/agdl/btwi.html.
Billy Ea
The Inevitable Apocalypse: Which Will It Be?
Narratives like
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler is a story about people who are
fighting to survive in a broken ecosystem. Questions of ethics and moral on
human behavior and how they may change as to survive is an interesting topic.
This concept is fascinating to me because at the root of all living things,
including people, we all want to survive. However, simultaneously a there is a
part of us wants it all to come to an end. Haruki Murakami quotes, “Everyone,
deep in their hearts, is waiting for the end of the world to come.”
The “apocalypse” could come in various
types and forms. For example, a meteor could hit Earth and that would
essentially be the end of it. There would be no chance of survival nor thriving
community to tell its story. In the event of a super volcano, global tsunami,
nuclear meltdown or astral anomaly, there really isn’t a fighting chance for
human survival. What I am interested in the fantasy of realistic possibilities
of a near apocalyptic event like Parable
of the Sower where people must re-engage in societal reconstruction for
humanity to survive. An example, though farfetched, would come from
The Walking Dead where an infection
disease turns the dead into zombies. How would the living adapt to survive? I
would like to explore the various possibilities of what could come specifically
in a global financial crisis, global power loss and even global diseases.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: Your topic
has plenty of potential, Billy, so go ahead, but it’s also a big topic, so be
prepared to narrow it down as you find some research that takes you somewhere in
particular. One of your strongest or most consistent sub-points seems to be
about ethics and survival. Do you remember that question for
Parable of the
Sower about whether it makes you want to
hoard gold and buy guns? One ethics consideration is whether you fight for your
own survival over others, or you try to help society itself recover or reform,
so that’s a possibility, but you could also narrow down to near-term vs.
long-term, like you also mentioned, e.g. asteroid vs. global warming. Welcome to
confer or update.
Zachariah Gandin
The Future of Empathy
For my research topic idea, I looked at
some of the topic proposals from other students to help me brainstorm and
Stephanie Matlock’s “Low-Tech Dystopia” idea from her Essay 2 from 2017 stood
out to me. I, like her, am also fascinated with the idea a low-tech dystopia
like what seems to be happening in
Parable of the Sower. However, instead of just focusing on the whole topic
itself, my brain was sparked by the concept of getting back to human’s roots and
that is what I will focus on. In “Stone Lives” there is a brief mention of the
main character, when he had been blind, had all his other senses enhanced
including his ability to feel what others were feeling. In Parable, the main
character along with a few others that she discovered had hyperempathy syndrome
where they could, in a way, feel what others were feeling.
All of the ideas above spark in me the
curiosity to further analyze this concept of empathy being both something
evolutionary and also somehow a base instinct of humanity. I will also explore
its connection to evolution texts as well as other Apocalyptic and
Post-Apocalyptic texts, movies, or games. Maybe I’ll even looks at narratives
such as The Giver as a
Utopian/Dystopian text and how it’s only through getting back to empathy and
emotions that what makes humans human survives and getting back to a low-tech
way of living as getting back to our roots.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: The topic
of empathy as a defining evolutionary feature of humanity is a good topic for
your research report, Zachariah, but remember that you won’t necessarily be
researching primary texts like our readings for this report, as you would in a
traditional literary essay, but instead you’ll be learning about the nature of
empathy and how it may or may not develop in the future. You could start simply
by researching the term in some Psychology reference works, which may lead you
to some sources in Evolutionary Psychology, which examines how the human mind
developed over time. One source I can offer you is one I use sometimes in my
Literature courses:
Annie Murphy Paul, “Reading
Literature Makes Us Smarter and Nicer.”
Andrea Gerlach
Progress and Decline: Making
sense of the ambiguity in Future Narratives
While reading the Pre-midterm Model
Assignments, I came across Zach Thomas’ asserting that, “Humans accept change as
progress or decline”. Many other Model Assignments also mentioned this dichotomy
of progress/decline and which one was active in which course texts. Some felt
that certain texts were projecting progression narratives but was only fronting
this while masking extreme decline narratives underneath. The problem I found is
with the phrase “progress or decline”, because decline is not the antithesis to progress.
Progress is first defined as “forward or onward movement toward a destination”.
It comes from the Latin verb progredi, which means “forward walk, while decline
comes from the Latin verb declinare, which means to “bend down”.
One could certainly bend down and continue to advance in a forward motion. So,
too, could a society make progress in technology, medicine, humanitarian
efforts, economics, or quality of life, and still suffer a decline in values,
consciousness, courage, or will. Considering “Stone Lives”, where there is an
exponential progress in technology and politics, we see a decline in
consciousness in the elites of the FEZ’s indecision, leading whole districts to
fester and starve. In “Bears Discover Fire” as well, bears have discovered fire
and are, in effect, experiencing a boost in civility, progressing along a path
first paved by mankind, while the cause for this new feat is that the bears have
ceased to hibernate, which is due to global climate change, often construed as a
result of pollution and man’s degradation of nature. I want to delve into the
history of man’s greatest triumphs and argue that for each one there were losses
equal to or even greater than its benefits.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: You’re
developing a worthy topic, Andrea, so find a way to make it work, but my first
warning as for others is to keep in mind the assignment’s limitations,
especially since your idea is somewhat grandly conceptual, which is OK by me but
can cause problems for research and expression in a limited number of
paragraphs. Your start on defining progress and its etymology is fine and
interesting to word-geeks like ourselves, so you can certainly work further that
way, but since the larger interests of your topic are conceptual, one
possibility would be to research “declinist” or “declinism,” which I know only
broadly but its proponents often, I think, take the line you staked out about
technological or material progress either co-existing with or causing moral or
social decline.
That’s grand-scale all over again, but you’d
find research to report on and maybe some help formulating your position.
Another possibility that appears often if again broadly in literary and cultural
criticism is tradition v. modernity or their interface in any given present.
Again (again!) you could research definitions of both terms and possibly some
scholarship that questions how much the concepts can be separated. Well, I’m at
risk of chattering and telling all I do and don’t know, so my main point is to
start the research that appeals to you most, which can begin to narrow your path
and define your goals within the assignment—but when you look at final research
reports in our Model Assignments you’ll be impressed by how much some
accomplish.
Heidi Kreeger
The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword: Future Edition
I am interested in exploring how narratives of the future can be used as a tool
to change the future for the better. Next to personal life experiences, mind
expanding literature has had the greatest impact on how I view life and my
reactions to it. One such work is Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, which offers
a look back on history through a different lens and provokes thought on where we
are heading as a civilization. I plan to use this background as a jumping point
to discuss how powerful changing your thought process can be and how this can be
instrumental in combating future social issues, climate change in particular.
The apocalyptic scriptures demonstrate this concept perfectly, as the reading
and internalisation of the Bible (and other religious texts) has caused/effected
more developments in human history than any other object or event. Outside
sources could include research into the most popular genres on literature,
particularly younger generations. Studies on climate change could also be
included, alongside a text (I hope to find) which is a narrative of the future
in a popular genre that appeals to young people. My hope is that by connecting
all these dots I will be able to offer a unique perspective on our
responsibility to teach through literature while also offering a blueprint by
which to do it.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: I’m a
little embarrassed not to feel confident in directing your research, Heidi, but
go ahead, as you wrote the proposal well and I do feel confident you’ll find a
way to work. As for my lack of confidence, I simply don’t know exactly the
research terms to apply to what you’re talking about, since how people think is
obviously powerful and sweeping but also one of those concepts that academics
divide into psychology, philosophy, narrative, myth, value systems, and on and
on. One possibility was your mention of “internalization, which is a good
metaphor for deep learning—just guessing, but searching that term might be a way
to learn on your part while keeping the topic manageable. Welcome to discuss
further. Of course part of your report will be personal, relative to
Ishmael,
so yes, but just to emphasize that for this assignment learning is up there with
expression for a standard.
Audrey Lange
Philology of the Future: Linguistics and Apocalyptic Anthropology
Language is one of the most important features
of our daily lives. It shapes the world, and in turn, the world shapes language.
Thus, one of the most fascinating prospects of the future is what our language,
both on a global and individual scale, will look like. How will it change with
time? What languages or dialects will cease to exist altogether, if any? My
field of interest, and eventual field of study, falls under philology: the study
of languages’ structure and anthropological significance. Philology heavily
focuses on the past, but there is a plethora of undiscovered material for the
future. With the myriad of narratives we have concerning the future of the
world, many of them often touch on the language, or lack thereof, existent in
future timelines, such as H.G. Wells’ “The Time Machine.” The question of
whether stories such as those are self-fulfilling prophecies deserves more
study, as well as what our global languages look like today, and how they are
projected to change in the future. Literature of the future will not have a
foothold without the construction of some form of language, and it is imperative
that we consider the anthropological and philological consequences of how our
languages are being treated now in order to adequately prepare for the future.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: Your
proposal is unique to my experience teaching this course, Audrey, so I’m
interested in what you’ll make of it. My first question back would be, how did
you become interested in philology or linguistics? I’m no expert—I’m not even
systematic in my study of it—but I love to learn what I can when I can and
always feel glad to have some knowledge that is less about opinions and feelings
than our usual discussions of literature. My first suggestion for research would
be to find the most up-to-date history of language or of the English language
available, then read the parts that concern recent and ongoing changes in our
language and the causes of these changes. Such a source may project somewhat
into the future, or it may lead you to other sources that will. In any case,
welcome to discuss, as I like the possibilities but want to know what base of
knowledge you’re proceeding from and what actual research you plan.
D’Layne Lee
Symbolism in the Garden
I
am a Christian that believes the Bible to be true accounts of people’s lives,
but on the level of this literature class I also appreciate the symbolic beauty
of the scriptures. Each story has such depth and meaning. The garden of Eden
alone is full of images that appear yet have meaning to uncover. For my research
essay, I would like to focus on Genesis to learn about the symbolism in Eden.
Even further, I would like to talk about the use of Eden as a symbol itself in
other literature. Some outside sources I might use include other chapters in the
Bible, other literature that highlights the garden (used to describe paradise,
or a lost paradise), as well as other research/scholarly papers that delve into
similar topics. If I get a chance, I have some individuals I can interview for
further research.
I
am choosing this topic to propose because I already have some grasp on it,
coming from a Christian background. I am intrigued by the complexity of
symbolism. I know that technically Genesis is not literature of the future, it
is historic, but all of the major concepts we have discussed come into play.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: I
appreciate your defense of your topic, so let’s make it work, but like you I’m
also a little concerned about the potential lack of application to the future.
One way would be, as you suggested, to trace out some garden imagery and / or
symbols elsewhere in the Bible. For our course I’m most intrigued by the
reappearance of the Tree of Life in Revelation, but it’s a challenge because
most of the imagery there is of the New Jerusalem or “City of God” instead of a
garden. But some research on the tree of life and its symbolism might connect
the two. Elsewhere in the Bible, the Garden of Gethsemane has potential, and
ancient poetry often describes the Cross as a tree, so I wouldn’t be surprised
to find the Cross symbolized as a tree of life instead of death, but not sure.
In the reference section of Neumann Library is a “dictionary of symbols” where
you could look up both garden and tree. Anyway as long as you keep working the
symbol angle, that can certainly count for Literature, and we can see how the
future aspect works out.
Jacob O. Logan
The Era Alphabet: ADBCCECE
For my research
proposal I would like to learn about how the eras anno domini and before Christ
came about, who created them, what b.c.e. and c.e. mean, and what possible eras
are headed our way. I personally would like to explore these eras more, see how
they are incorporated into literature of the future, and I would like to form my
own idea for what eras I believe are headed our way. This would entail part
research and analysis as well as part idea and discussion. There are many
theories as to what our future entails, but I would like to suggest my own by
examining our progression thus far.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: We
discussed this topic at the start of the semester, Jacob, and it still has
potential, so proceed. I’ll only add the note I offered when we first discussed,
since you didn’t acknowledge it and may have lost track of it.
Earlier note:
Yesterday I confessed my broad ignorance on the subject. In such cases, my go-to
source is Wikipedia, which is usually accurate on general knowledge topics like
yours. Here’s their link on “Common Era,” which does go back about as far as
Eric said but cites another source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Era
Last night as I drove home, though, your question made
me think of other ways of counting time initiated by religions, societies, and
government.
Here’s Wikipedia’s page on the Islamic Calendar:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_calendar
Here’s the page on the French Revolution’s temporary effort to rationalize,
decimalize, or secularize the calendar:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_calendar
These may lead you to other such divisions or re-starts,
and of course you can look up BC / AD as we discussed yesterday.
But my larger point is that your topic could possibly
expand from the BCE / CE foundation to other such efforts. Probably the Romans
had some similar way to keep up with years that I’ve read of but now forgotten.
Beau Manshack
The Era of The Modernist: The New Wave in
1960s Science Fiction
Whenever I find myself playing a video game with sci-fi
themes, I always end up researching authors Philip K. Dick and Harlan Ellison.
Seeing how Dick portrays his future vision of our world as being ruined from
man's own actions makes me want to discover if he believed we had the ability to
avoid the Dystopian future of Do Androids
Dream of Electric Sheep. Themes of evolution are also heavily present in
this novel when questioning the theme of identity with Dick’s replicants. When I
learn more about alternative futures in the course, I will read the novel (while
referencing the tv series) The
Man in The High Castle, then tie it
in to themes presented in H.G. Wells’,
The Time Machine.
Ellison’s mixture of post-apocalypse brought on by the
advancement of technology fascinated me in his award-winning short story
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream.
His take on apocalypse is a unique one as it revolves around a ruined future
brought on by a high-tech dystopia that leads the world into a horrifying
low-tech. Like Dick, Ellison also explored the idea of identity with his robotic
characters, the main difference is that Ellison’s are more malicious in their
nature as seen with his psychotic A.I. overlord, AM. The big question stemming
from 1960’s sci-fi tends to be the following—are we losing ourselves in the
process of technological evolution? My paper will attempt to answer that
question.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: Your
proposal is well-written and interesting in its own right, but it may be more
appropriate for a standard literary essay instead of the research report
assignment we’re dealing with. That is, you’re not going to be analyzing primary
texts by authors like Dick or Ellison, though your research could review
critical articles about them, or you could write a report on either of their
careers. But overall the purpose of this research report is more informative
than interpretive, though your information can be about the interpretations
offered regarding Dick’s or Ellison’s fiction experiments with technological
evolution. So don’t lose the inspiration of this proposal, but reconsider it in
terms of what you want to find out, what you want to learn and share with your
reader about what you learned. Having a look at some of the final research
reports on Model Assignments may help you get more of a sense of the
expectations. Anyway welcome to submit another research report at any time
before the midterm, or discuss with me how you can bend this proposal to meet
the assignment. Nothing lost so far.
Lucero Nguyen
Breanna Runnels
Escaping the Future
After reviewing the future narrative,
it is clear that the genre entails pieces of almost every other genre. There is
romance, coming of age, and many more. For the research paper purposes, I would
like to focus on one aspect that is common yet constantly changing through these
stories. There is a constant narrative of escaping throughout the literature of
the future. Though it is constantly changing in the aspect of what they are
escaping from, there is a constant need to escape from the world that they are
in.
Through the readings we have done so
far, it is a quick realization that Lauren is escaping from her life in
Parable of the Sower. She has a
consistent plan for getting away from her community and brand herself a new life
and religion. She escapes from many physical struggles on her journey as well as
overcoming mental hurdles. Another piece that deals with escaping is “Stone
Lives”. He is escaping from a life of darkness (literally) and into a successful
and educationally built life. Though he is thrust into his roles quickly, he is
learning and advancing quickly.
These two pieces alone show how much the futuristic literature has a theme of escaping and finding something new. I hope to find more examples in the pieces we will be reading later on.
Instructor’s response to research proposal:
Your topic is intriguing, Breanna, but it may be more appropriate for an essay
than for this research report assignment. That is, your proposal sounds like a
standard literary essay in which you develop a theme in application to primary
texts like our novels or stories. For this assignment, though, you’re mostly
required to find information or enlightened opinion on a more factual or
critical phenomenon. “Escape” is a possibility as a literary subject that other
literary critics have commented on, but it’s probably a difficult term to do
research on. The closest I come is with the romance narrative, where pursuits,
captures, and escapes often constitute the tests and trials of the romance
narrative’s action, but again there won’t be much research centered on that
term. Another possibility, though one that seems remote from your attention is
escapism, but
it might lead you somewhere and could serve as a source. If you want to re-think
or re-start this topic, consider having a look at some of the final research
reports from previous semesters of this course, which can give you a better
sense of the assignment’s expectations. Anyway welcome to discuss—we probably
need to before you start your research report on the midterm.
Staci Santell
Pollution's Apocalypse
When thinking about a realistic end of
times a huge concern could be Global Warming and the pollution effects caused by
the people alive on earth. More and more each year people use up natural
resources like water and gas. They pollute the air supply by cutting down
forested areas and building factories and plants that put harmful chemicals into
the air that has harmful effects on people and animals alike. In former student
Cynthia Clevelands’ essay “Water over Gold” she explains how water is essential
for life and to be without it in the possible future is a huge concerning
factor; this point promotes the point that the pollution of natural resources
such as water can have a very negative effect on the economy, daily lives and
without it can we survive?
This
idea is represented in Octavia Butlers novel “The Parable of the Sower” because
in the book it is discussed how expensive essential things are like oil and
especially fresh water. The idea of can pollution really cause a future
apocalypse came from not only the mention in “The Parable of the Sower” but also
in recent news. According to an article by Jonathan O. Anderson, Josef G.
Thundiyil, and Andrew Stolbach called “Clearing the air” air pollution itself
contributes to 800,000 premature deaths which ranks at the 13th
leading cause of deaths across the world. Anderson, J. O., Thundiyil, J. G., &
Stolbach, A. (2011, December 23). Clearing the Air: A Review of the Effects of
Particulate Matter Air Pollution on Human Health. Retrieved February 24, 2019,
from
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13181-011-0203-1 In this
article I want to look into the truth of where pollution will take the people of
the world and if it really can be an apocalyptic fate.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: Yes to your
topic, Staci, though there are so many different kinds of pollution that you
should consider focusing on one in particular, like water or air or even soil,
depending on where your research leads you. But there are so many issues
associated with these issues that your research might take you in other
directions. A frequent concern is who’s responsible for cleaning up or limiting
pollution? Often the problems aren’t felt directly by the producers, so that
large alliances are necessary, and some parties naturally will feel more
aggrieved than others. Corporations that pollute often leave it up to government
to solve the problems that business creates—but then those corporations hate
government and refuse to pay taxes and cooperate with it. A related issue is
that poor people or poor countries often suffer more from environmental
degradation than rich people or rich countries, and the poor ones have the least
political or economic power to seek justice. Well, most of the news on this
front isn’t good, but identifying the problems is a first step toward finding
solutions. Practically, though, see where your research takes you. The article
you found by Anderson et al focuses on health, which is an issue that a lot of
people can comprehend even if they’re oblivious to environmental issues, so that
may be your answer or a step toward one.
Natalie Womble
Modernity and Tradition in
Evolution Narratives
I would like, for my research topic, to propose
investigating the roles of modernity and tradition in evolution narratives. Both
forces work against each other in order to provide some sort of a meeting place
in the middle; and that frictional front is where the evolution narrative takes
its place. Usually, the evolution story is characterized by a time of chaos due
to modernity’s ride over tradition. In dystopia, the old ways are dead, and
decadence and degeneration are very much alive. The evolutionary properties of
modernity drives the narrative into a place of uncertainty about the future, and
therefore, endless possibilities.
The thing about evolution is the train never stops, and
the people in the story become unsure of where to steer it. And because of the
possibility of declining in the process, or letting the future swallow them,
they are forced to look towards tradition as a means forward; as backwards as
that may seem to some. But, the reason here lies with the notion that people in
the past have overcome or evolved past the trials of the future in the past, so
there must be some reverent ancient wisdom to mastering the movement.
Instructor’s
response to research proposal: Your
proposal was interesting to read, Natalie, but it was also somewhat vague or
airy, and it may be that you’re mistaking the assignment, as what you’re
proposing sounds somewhat speculative or analytical, whereas the purpose of the
research report is more simply to find some information or enlightened opinion
from outside sources regarding your subject or question. As you prepare your Web
Highlights for the midterm, you should look at some final research reports on
Model Assignments to see what they’re doing. One simple possibility that
occurred to me as I read your proposal was simply to explore the word or concept
of evolution and the many different ways the concept is used. If you start that
way, you may hit on a particular line of thought or research that you’ll want to
continue. Anyway the main purpose of the research report is for you to learn
something about a subject you can use and to share what you learned with your
reader. You can re-think or re-start your topic at any time before the midterm,
but if you stick with evolution, just start reading about it somewhere and wait
for your curiosity to flame on. Of course you’re welcome to go back and forth
with me as inclined, or discuss with that TK lad and see what’s possible within
the bounds of the assignment.
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