Richard Powers’ Galatea 2.2 February 25, 2008

I must admit, I don’t really enjoy Richard Powers’ Galatea 2.2.  It reads a little too much like science fiction, and I found it fairly difficult to connect with as well as invest myself in the characters.  Maybe I was turned off with how the narrator of the story refers to places as well as people in the text by solitary letters.  More or less, I found the novel extremely impersonal. 

 

The text centers on the narrator and Dr. Lentz working to create a computer that is able to perform tasks indistinguishable from those produced by humans.  Throughout the novel, Powers is showing the complicated relationship that the narrator of the story has with the machine, or with technology. 

 

“I browsed the world web.  I fished it from my node on a building host that served up more megabits a second than I could request.  By keying in short electronic addresses, I connected to machines all over the face of the earth.  The web: yet another total disorientation that became status quo without anyone realizing it” (7). 

 

I think this line that appears in the opening pages of the novel shows the complicated relationship the individual has with the computer.  First, the experience an individual has with the computer or the network is certainly a solitary experience.  In a class discussion a few weeks ago, someone in class suggested that although one may be on the computer communicating with others he or she is essentially alone.  I agree with this idea, and I think this particular passage shows that the narrator of the text is also in agreement.  I think the narrator is playing devils advocate, however.  For the passage shows that although the network promotes solitary confinement, it allows one to explore a variety of sources that he or she would never have been exposed to.  I think the narrator is also posing the argument that the network is widening the gap of the digital divide.  The digital divide is getting larger, because the network is only available to some members of society and all of the rest are at a disadvantage.  

 

Reading the text also made me fear what could happen if our society became solely reliable on technology.  If machines, such as computers, were capable of doing everything in an efficient manner, what would happen to society? 

 

While reading Powers’ text, I also saw similarities between Galatea 2.2 and Egan’s The Keep, for both texts blurry the line between reality and fantasy.  While reading both of these texts, I was unsure of what was actually taking place.  This caused me to consider whether or not anything was actually occurring or if the text(s) were making the argument that all of life is a masquerade fostering ideologies. 

 

As I’m sure everyone who is reading this can tell, my thoughts are all over the place and I hope that tomorrow’s class discussion can put everything about this text into perspective. 

And my head is spinning … February 21, 2008

In Pessl’s novel, Calamity Physics, it is clear that Blue is greatly influenced by her educational career.  I like how in class someone, I’m not sure who, suggested that the academic structure is a kind of mask hiding behind a curtain.  Essentially, school systems strategically operate to reap certain effects on its pupils, as well as its staff members.  The idea of masking something or hiding behind a curtain is explored by Althusser.  Althusser states in Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (yes I am a huge nerd and actually looked this up), that institutions must be “Interpreted in order to discover the reality of the world behind their imaginary representation of that world.”  Essentially, I take this to mean that society has an overall impression of the purpose schools are meant to serve.  According to Althusser, as well as Pessl’s novel, however, this overall impression is not accurate.  This is simply a myth that the institution of school has created in order for society to live according to ideologies which ensure certain practices are carried out.  Is the school system a huge conspiracy?  I wouldn’t take it that far, but I definitely agree that the ruling ideas are taught in today’s schools to ensure that society is operating according to plan.  The “plan” ensures the dominant members of society will remain on top. 

I think I am comfortable with the classes’ interpretation of how Blue ends up at the conclusion of the novel.  I think that although Blue is a student at Harvard carrying out what her father wanted, she is living her own life.  She is living her own life, because she has entered the canon and is now controlling or manipulating it. 

On a side note, as I’m sure everyone in class already realizes, I am all about the Oprah Winfrey book club.  When I was reading the secondary article, I couldn’t help but be angered by the fact that certain writers would not want their stamp of approval from Oprah due to the fact that they viewed it as selling out.  I felt that it was arrogant to say such a thing, because professional writers should want their work out their; I felt that it was wrong for writers to assume the masses could not understand their work.  After yesterdays class, however, I can understand a writer’s resistance to Oprah and her stamp of approval.  I love reading, and of course I want others to enjoy reading.  But I pride myself on being able, due to the fact that I am in graduate school studying literature, to bring something unique to a literary work.  My sister is a tax attorney and is obviously very smart; however, I can’t help but smile to myself when I mention a branch of literary theory that makes her head spin.  With this being said, if the Oprah Winfrey book club is our future, society is certainly in trouble.  I can definitely see how Oprah’s book club promotes superficial, literal readings and I don’t think this should be the only reading out there.  So at the risk of sounding arrogant, I think society as a whole should want to read, but I do believe an elite literary group should still exist. 

Initial thoughts of the seconday reading February 18, 2008

Although I found some parts of the article to be a bit confusing, I think it does an excellent job of discussing the fate of the written text.  The author of the article starts out by saying, “…Once the novel was no longer new, it seemingly began the long trek deathward” (13).  For me, this really sums up the issue of the book becoming extinct.  The United States is a capitalistic society, and in order to keep capitalism in tact mass production and consumption must occur.  Technology is constantly evolving, and with new mediums –such as television, the internet, ipods- old mediums, such as the novel, are inevitably going to change.  Like Audrey points out in her post for this week, I don’t think the novel is ever going to disappear; in my opinion, the novel is simply going to evolve.  For instance, the following is said on page thirty eight of the article: “Moreover, many media battles are resolved not by such a division of territory but by the formation of new hybrids.”  For me, this statement pretty much made it clear that the novel will not go away it may simply look more like an e-book or a hypertext in the future.  In my opinion, Pessl’s novel shows the evolution of the novel.  Many people said in their posts for last week that Pessl’s novel resembled something that would be found and read on the internet.  I agree with this, but I still enjoyed reading her novel.  I may be completely wrong when saying this, but maybe the future novel will simply look more like Pessl’s; would that really be so bad? 

The article also mentions how today’s novels cannot be trusted.  As a result of this, present day novels are changing, because the issue of importance is no longer how to write a novel but how to write about a novel (17).  This made me reflect upon Pessl’s Calamity Physics.  Pessl names her chapters after the classics which make up the literary canon.  When I was reading the secondary reading, I couldn’t help but wonder if Pessl is writing about a novel rather than writing her own novel.  In other words, since Pessl is writing in a postmodernist society, is she borrowing from the literary canon in order to make a literary text of her own?  And if she is in fact doing this, as readers should we not trust or consider the stories she is telling as anything more than fiction?

On a side note, I found the discussion of the Oprah Winfrey Book Club to be fairly interesting.  I will admit that I am a fan of Oprah and I have read texts that her book club has suggested.  Prior to reading the article, I never thought that, that was a negative thing, but now I’m not too sure.  I am well aware that Oprah is a major source of power, and that she has marketed herself in order to make a profit, sometimes at the expense of others, to secure her position on top.  I also understand that by putting her stamp of approval on books, she is increasing the sales of certain authors, but is this really a bad thing?  I aspire to write someday, and I don’t think I would turn down Oprah’s stamp of approval.  Doesn’t every writer want to be read?  Or is that selling out?  I’m not really sure anymore, ha!  The one thing I definitely don’t like about the article, however, is how it implies that if an author allows Oprah to give his or her literary work her stamp of approval, his or her work is automatically going to be exposed to members of society that will not truly understand it; essentially, the literary work will almost be depreciated in value.  The entire idea of the Great Divide seems a little too arrogant for me to agree with. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl February 11, 2008

I really enjoy Pessl’s novel, because it is unlike anything I have read. The first aspect of the text that really caught my attention is the titles of the chapters. Pessl names her chapters after well known works written during the American Romantic Period. At first I didn’t understand the basis behind this, but as I dived further into the text it became quite clear to me. I think the names of Pessl’s chapters show readers that the classics -the traditional literary canon- is still relevant in today’s society. For this reason, I think this text would be beneficial for adolescent readers. The classics, such as William Shakespeare, are still taught in today’s high school English classrooms, but many students are showing resistance. I think this is because students are unable to see how the classics are relevant to their lives as adolescents growing up in the 21st century. I think each chapter is named after a famous work of literature and Blue’s life is supposed to in some way parallel or relate to that work. Some of it may be a stretch, but I think it encourages readers to open their minds to the vast amount of information that is available to today’s reader.

I also like this text, because it shows collective intelligence in action. After reading Jenkens, we discussed in class that in the near future individuals will be able to claim themselves as being experts in a field without having a degree. For instance, in the future I may be considered an expert in polar bears, because I have dedicated a large portion of my life to studying and learning everything there is to know about this particular branch of bear. I think Pessl’s novel shows collective intelligence in action. For instance, Blue is still in high school, but she possesses a vast amount of knowledge. She knows a great deal about her surroundings, because she has spent a significant amount of her life studying the works of masters. I really like Pessl’s text, because it encourages readers to branch out and to study everything that is of interest to them. I also think the parenthetical remarks make reading suggestions to readers of the text. If I am interested in a particular topic mentioned by Blue in the text, I may choose to check out the link. As Joe noted in his post, Gareth and Blue definitely have an arrogance about them, but I’m not bothered by it. I almost feel like it is warranted. If I knew as much as Blue and her father did, I may be arrogant myself.

I hope everyone enjoyed the text as well, and I look forward to discussing it during tomorrow’s class.

Follow up… February 7, 2008

I really enjoyed our class discussion on Jennifer Egan’s The Keep. I hadn’t thought of the keep as representing the literary canon, but after Joe brought it up in class it definitely makes sense. The literary canon is composed of a wide body of literature that is praised around the world and is meant to stand the test of time. With that said, however, I think the infamous literary canon is evolving in today’s society. In other words, literary outlets that were not traditionally accepted as belonging to the canon or gaining both popularity and respect in the technology age, such as fan fiction, blogging/online communities, and online journals. After our discussion in class, I can see how the tunnels underneath the keep represent all the new networks that are evolving and taking over/altering the way the canon is looked upon. The Baroness is of course the force that is trying to preserve the keep, but she is the last to defend its honor. The Baroness is not made mention to at the end of the novel, so I think it is safe to assume that she has passed away. With the Baroness no longer being around, it leaves the reader to wonder what will happen to the way literature and/or reading is defined in the future. Like I said in my last post, in a few years will everyone be technology dependent like Danny? I may be completely off base here, but I wonder if the tunnels operating below the keep, also known as the network, could represent transmedia storytelling. We haven’t gotten a chance to really discuss transmedia storytelling in class, but as far as I know the term refers to all of the other elements that work to add something to a primary source. I feel like the idea of the tunnels representing the new phenomena of transmedia storytelling makes perfect sense. As an undergraduate, I was a dual English and adolescent education major. All of the professors in the education department of my college stressed the importance of using supplemental materials when teaching the classics. The classics, although old, have to be taught or at least touched upon in today’s English classrooms, because teachers would be doing a disservice to their students if they graduated high school having never read a work by William Shakespeare. Supplemental materials are crucial when teaching the classics, however, because it makes the material relevant. It shows students that in some way, shape, or form these dead, famous writers are discussing issues that matter and are still prevalent in today’s world. I think the tunnels that surround the keep represent all of the supplemental materials that can now be used to add to the significance of the classics; essentially, the tunnels represent transmedia storytelling. Although I am an optimist, I realize that not everyone is going to embrace the technology age and all that it has to offer. I think the network is so important to the canon, however, because it is accessible to all life-long learners on the quest for more information.

With this said I am off to do more reading. I think my eyes are going to fall out of my head!

Initial Thoughts on Jennifer Egan’s The Keep February 4, 2008

I am about halfway through the novel, and so far I am really enjoying it.  Stylistically, I like the way the novel is written.  Although I haven’t seen this technique done too often in novels, I enjoy how Egan’s dialogue scenes are set up like a play meant to be performed (is this technique meant to convey to the reader that life is merely a performance???).  While I am reading the scenes of conversation, I really lose myself and feel as though I am hiding in the room listening in on the characters.  I also really enjoy Egan’s attention to detail when describing the settings of the text.  I think she uses setting to trigger past memories in order to supply the reader with necessary backstory.  For instance, the reader discovers a lot about Danny when he first arrives at the medieval castle.  Egan has Danny pay very close attention to his surroundings, and the environment seems to trigger crucial memories, for instance the childhood prank. 

Egan’s text definitely forces readers to tap into their imaginations.  I think the insertion of the “I” or Ray is an effective took for getting the reader to engage with the text.  I am yet to finish reading the text so I haven’t found out how Ray exactly fits into the entire story, but I feel like his presence is meant to show readers that this story can be their own. 

I like how the issue of power is presented in the text.  Danny is definitely a paranoid character, and I feel like his paranoia is triggered by a “me against them” feeling.  I get a sense that Danny’s experience in New York City has shown him that the dominant forces of society –the wealthy stock brokers, the powerful lawyers and club owners- will always remain on top and will always hold the “every day person,” like himself, down.  Danny has spent his life, while living in New York City at least, studying the powerful people around him, and has learned the “proper” way to interact with these individuals.  I guess Danny has adhered to the ruling ideas of all the powerful people in New York, because he has clued himself in to learning that in order to get anywhere powerful people are needed.  I also find it interesting how dependent Danny’s character is on technology.  Similar to my sick obsession with reading, he has an equally sick obsession with staying connected.  I feel that Danny is a slave to technology.  He is completely invested in it, and technology has become a crucial part of him.  In my opinion, after the childhood prank he pulled on Howie, Danny suppressed his imagination.  Danny now uses sources of technology to stimulate his mind in order to bring him gratification.  As I read the text I can’t help but think about the impact technology has on society; in a few years will the world be made up of millions of technology dependent Danny’s in need of a wireless signal to survive.    

Follow up…. January 31, 2008

The time of my blog is royally screwed up, so it is Wednesday, 11:24pm and not the wee hours of the morning.

Our brief discussion of fan fiction Monday night really interested me.  It seemed that a lot of people were concerned with fans, especially very young fans, taking ownership over an author’s original characters.  I, on the other hand, really don’t have a problem with it.  In a fiction writing class I took last semester, we discussed how great it is to be able to go to the library and read fiction works created by the masters in order to gain inspiration.  Gaining inspiration from the masters is something that constantly occurs.  How many times in your academic career have you had a high school teacher and/or college professor ask you to employ another writer’s style in your own writing or to change the ending of a text you’ve just completed reading.  I don’t see anything wrong with this, because it helps apprentice writers become developed and/or professional writers.  I look at fan fiction as an exercise to benefit apprentice writers.  Individuals that choose to experiment with fan fiction do so because another author’s story has inspired them to write.  I think that as long as pieces of fan fiction are not being published it is harmless.  In addition, if I were an accomplished writer I would be flattered to know that my fans were having fun with my characters. 

We didn’t really have an opportunity to discuss transmedia storytelling, but it is something that was addressed during the final moments of class.  The Jenkins text discussed transmedia storytelling in terms of the final Matrix movie, and how to completely understand it fans needed to buy into the Matrix enterprise which included the video game, etc.  I think supplemental materials can certainly add to a primary piece, such as a movie, but I think that the supplemental materials need to be optional.  In other words, an individual should be encouraged to work with the supplemental materials, but I don’t think that it should be necessary.  I think that because the final Matrix move made it necessary the film didn’t go over well with fans.  I think that transmedia storytelling forces the literary scholar to be come better well-rounded.  I don’t think this is a negative thing, however.  I don’t necessarily like everything that technology has to offer, but I think that as an academic I need to be aware of what is going on around me and how to use the newest resources to wreak the most benefits.  To avoid innovative technology would only put me at a disadvantage. I hope to be a teacher in the near future and as an educator I must know what’s happening around me in order to better relate to my future students. 

On a side note, did anyone see the news today?  They were talking about how text messaging is affecting the writing of middle and high school students.  It really caught my attention, because the teacher who sat in with our class on Monday was interviewed.  Really cool, right?

Convergence Culture January 28, 2008

I was alarmed when I read the first chapter on “Spoiling Survivor.”  Sure, I enjoy television as much as the next person, but the entire idea of the “spoiler” is intense.  One passage that really sticks out to me is the following: “Survivor asks us to speculate about what happened.  It practically demands our predictions.  Media scholar Mary Beth Haralovich and mathematician Michael W. Trosset describe the role change plays in shaping outcomes: ‘Narrative pleasure stems from the desire to know what will happen next, to have that gap opened and closed, again and again, until the resolution of the story…” (P 28).  In class, we have explored the fate of the written text.  As a whole, I think the class has reached the conclusion that a lot of young people simply aren’t reading.  The technological age that we live in contains a great deal of stimulation; everywhere one looks his or her senses are engaged.  Young people are watching television and playing video games, because they provide them with instant gratification.  I love reading, because although it does not provide me with instant gratification –I have to read more than one page of a text to be pleased- it does stimulate my senses.  It does this because for me, the reading process is a transactional experience.  In other words, when reading I actively engage with the text.  The passage on page 28 worries me, because it is clear that Survivor fans are having a common response to the reality show as I have when reading a text.  In other words, how many people are really going to read if they can get a similar feeling of gratification from simply watching a reality show? 

My favorite chapter in the text is “Why Heather Can Write.”  I’m not a huge Harry Potter fan, but I do eventually want to teach English at the middle or high school level and a great deal of what I read in the chapter I feel I could put into practice in my future classroom.  I must admit that prior to reading this chapter, I didn’t really know too much about fan fiction.  Upon reading this section, however, I am intrigued by the world of fan faction.  In particular, I like that young people are using it to explore problems that they have confronted personally and/or anxious about facing in the future.  In my opinion, it is a great defense mechanism to deal with everyday life through the writing of fiction.  I also like that in these fan fiction communities young people are getting feedback on their own writing.  I think this is key, because young people do not understand the value of revision.  For instance, I didn’t proof read until my freshmen year of college, because my teachers gave me good grades without doing it.  I think fan fiction web sites encourage both reading and writing, because they show young people that they are able to have worthwhile conversations about written texts. 

Last, I find it disturbing how Warner Bros is monitoring Harry Potter fan fiction websites.  It goes to show how institutions of power are monitoring the majority in order to make sure that their ruling ideas are being held in place.  More or less, Warner Bros is like the postal service in The Crying of Lot 49.  Both institutions are similar, for they try to control the public in order to ensure that consumerism is being promoted in order to remain on top. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this text and I am looking forward to tomorrow night’s discussion!  

Follow up to the class I did not attend :) January 24, 2008

Hey everyone! I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to class this week to join in on the conversation and to see Katie’s presentation. My work was having an Annual Awards Banquet that I couldn’t pass up, and I won a foosball table …but that’s neither here nor there. But thanks to the handy blog, I was able to fill myself in on what I missed.

Judging from everyone’s blog, a great deal of last class’s conversation centered on the mail system and why there would ever be a need for the Trystero. I’m a nerd and fairly interested in conspiracy theories, especially the idea of the government looking over society’s shoulder at all time, pretty much like Big Brother. I definitely think that Karl Marx’s Bourgeois and Proletariat can be found in today’s society. Essentially, today’s Proletariat is made up of the general population, and the Bourgeois is a compilation of all powerful institutions. Today’s postal system is definitely a member of the Bourgeois. It is a powerful institution, and it uses wealth in order to remain on top. For instance, the postal service, like Audrey points out in her blog, has recently increased the price of postage. The postal service increased the price of postage, so that the working class, today’s Proletariat, would be forced to work more in order to afford to carry out simple tasks, such as mailing a letter. This never-ending cycle of consumerism will always occur, therefore, the postal service will maintain its position as a key player on top. The postal service also monitors what is sent through the mail, not that I disagree with this. Hey, I like knowing that the postal service is making sure bombs aren’t being mailed to my apartment. To play devil’s advocate, however, the postal service may possible be monitoring what is sent through the mail system in order to ensure that the ruling ideas of today’s powerful institutions, the Bourgeois, are remaining in place. If this is in fact the case, then I can certainly see why the Trystero is needed; the Trystero is simply an underground institution operating by individuals choosing to think for themselves.

On a side note, I really don’t understand why postal workers are paid such high wages. Yes, I understand the mail is a HUGE deal, but I work at a credit union and some postal workers that come in do not seem to be the “cream of the crop.” I guess that’s the way of life though, it’s just not fair. See everyone next week!

 

Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49 January 21, 2008

Prior to reading this text for class, I had never heard anything of it or about it.  I have to admit that when I first started reading the book, I was turned off.  This is because I found it difficult to connect with the text for the first sixty pages or so.  Initially, I disliked Pynchon’s long, wordy sentences and the way in which the main character, Oedipa, was being developed.  As the story line began to progress, however, I began to get into what I was reading.  I eventually got used to Pynchon’s wordy writing style and was able to connect with Oedipa, because I sympathized with her character and what she was going through. 

There were two things that struck me about the text, and since finishing my reading I’ve been considering both.  The first thing that really interests me is the scene in which Mucho confesses to Oedipa that the LSD has changed him. 

Mucho says to Oedipa on page 117:

“Whenever I put the headset on now,” he’d continued, “I really do understand what I find there.  When those kids sing about ‘She loves you,’ yeah well, you know, she does, she’s any number of people, all over the world, back through time, different colors, sizes, shapes, distances from death, but she loves you.  And the ‘you’ is everybody.  And herself.  Oedipa, the human voice, you know, it’s a flipping miracle.” 

This particular scene, for me, reflects Mucho’s loss of identity.  From a Marxist perspective, he has become a member of the dominated.  The LSD has caused him to adhere to the ruling ideas of the dominant forces of society.  By believing that he fits in with the people around him and that by working as a team with others something great will occur, he is being manipulated into being a cookie cutter member of society that assists in keeping the dominant forces of society in place. 

The second thing that I am struggling with is whether or not the Tristero is real or a figment of Oedipa’s imagination that has been created by Inverarity.  As I got deeper into the text, the Tristero became more and more fantastical and les and less believable.  Once I finished my reading, I decided that its validity doesn’t necessarily matter.  The idea of the Tristero, for me, reminds me of Baudrillard’s explanation of the Hyperreal and Imaginary.  I think that farfetched and imaginary ideas, such as the Tristero, are put into place to make us believe that everything else is “real.”  In actuality, however, the Tristero is a deterrent; covering up the fact that everything that surrounds Oedipa, as well as the other characters in the text, is in no way real.  Oedipa becomes more and more lost as the text progresses, because she starts to realize the fuzziness between what is real and what is not; she is traveling in a world where nothing truly makes sense. 

I’m not sure where I am going with any of my ideas here, but this is where my mind is at the moment!