Post Modernism and Cats Cradle

The idea of Post-Modernism is completely contradictory to Modernism. The idea which sprouted from modernism is that we must search tod find the "true" answers in life.  In order to find these truths one must use science and technology in order to disprove past ideas.  By doing these, it was believed that we would find the answers to the universe and create a perfect society or utopia of sort.
The ideas of modernism are much different.  Post modernism realizes that there may be no one true answer to the puzzle.  All cultures have their own ideas that were formed in order to explain phenomenons within their world.  Because we all societys have their own ideas on how things work within their lifes, it is accepted that no one truth will be "correct" for everyone. 
The idea of how Post Modernism ties into what we discussed during our Socratic Circle.  At the end of several chapters, Newt ends the chapter by saying "See the cat?  See the cradle?"  This statement in itself is a perfect example of Post Modernism.  It exemplifies Post Modernisms themes just by the ambiguity of the statement.  My own interpretation is that Newt is trying to point out that fact that we all see things differently and we interpret different ideas in different ways.  All societys an people do not have the same or even similiar ideals, but that does not neccesarily mean that any of them are correct or incorrect.


Sorry about another late post Mr. Dominguez, the internet has been really bad at my house and i have not had a source to publish my post.   Thanks, Matthew

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For my essay I plan on using the text from Frederick Wonslow Taylor and the Tempest, Taylor argues the fact that ad a society today, we should use what he calls the scientific Management. In this system, he believe that people should be scientifically chosen to perform their jobs. Also, he believes that when a person has this job, they should be completely content with what they are doing and that they are working at full productivity. He uses the example that if you were to raise a persons pay, they are much more likely to work much harder and work much more productively. Also. He believes that jobs should be split. The mee educated would have jobs as managers and whatnot whereas the less educated would be doing the work thy required merely brute force. As a result, Taylors theory is very close to the idea presented in Brave New World. Also, I plan on using the video from the blog about education. It ties into Brave New World because everyone is sent down the same educational road and are getting am education at the expense of insiciudaloty. This is similiar because in the text, people give up their individuality to find their place in society.

Hmm

In the video, the speaker talks about how in today's society, we are being somewhat"conditioned to learn what our economic position is. But, it in today's society it is a commonly thought idea that if you go to college nd grt a degree, you will be successful. In reality, this is not neccesarily the case.In relation to "brave New World" everyone in this society they are focused in trying to create overall stability and do a fairly good job in ding so. Basically, they have created an almost utopian society through the use of Hypnopedi which conditions people. These people are conditioned to believe things such as that nature is bad because If they were out in nature, then they wild not be able to take part in the economic process and be a part of the "machine". For example, when mustalha moms is lecturing The interns he states that the "wheels must Turn steadily, but cannot turn untended. There must be men to tend them, men as steady as the wheel upon their axles, sane men, obedient men, stable in contentment.". In their ideal society, everyone is content with where they are and are completely obedient for the good of society and it's stability. They have even gone to the extreme as to doing things such as removing all emotional ties to people such as family or spouses because with these ties, if something happened to them, members of society who are emotionally attached to them might not function as well as they could or should. By not working tot he highest of their ability then the "machine" is not working at maximum efficiency.

Brave New World

In the text, the people of the story rever mr Henry Ford because of his invemtion, the assembly line.  They worship the idea of the assembly line because of its ability to produce more than ever before in a much more efficient way.  Throughout the story the idea of humanity seems as if it is being compared to a machine.  The people are encouraged to love their work, work efficiently, and not let their emotions affect their actions (much like a machine).  Because many people are swayed by their emotions, they discourage becoming too close with any persons thus trying to end the ideas of family.  The author illustrated this point in the quote, "Crying: My baby, my mother, my only love; groaning: My sin, my terrible God...how can they tend the wheels?".  In saying this, the author shows how the people are emotionally attached to one another and thus cause them to become emotional if something were to happen to somebody else.  Therefore, emotional ties are not present in this ideal society so that no one would ever be affected by their emotions, thus making the community very stable and productive. 
To manipulate how people think, the society uses a method called hypnopaedia.  This method allows the creators to choose what the children will grow to be like and all of thier personal interests such as hobbies, favorite color, etc.  Not only this, but because they control these people in almost every facet, they are able to give them a social class that they are very content with abd creates a sens of place in their community.  This method is ultimately successful because the members of the community are happy with where they are at.

Controversies in The Tempest

In discussions of the tempest, one controversial issue has been what standpoint did  Shakespear have on the issue of colonialism.  On one hand, Stephen Greemblatt argues that we should read a novel or piece of literature and examine a possible deeper meaning or purpose of the piece.  On the other hand, George Will contends that we should merely examine what the text says and not ruin the story by looking for a deeper meaning.  I personally would have to agree with Greenblatt because I believe that a piece of literature can be seen to have tons of different meanings, based upon our expereiences through life, things we learn, etc, we all have different opinions on different matters.  Because of this, not every single personm is going to have the same ideas about a piece of literature.  Also, although the story gives the impression that Shakespeare approves of colonialism, if we looked at it from Greenblatt's perspective, we see that he possibly dissaproves of colonialism or does not support it as someone may think.  But, if we were to examine the piece through Will's eyes, we would see that Shakespeare was a strong advocate of colonialism because of how he portrays the characters, without actually analyzing what happens or any other details.

Literature Debate

In these two articles, the two authors give very different views on how literature can be interpreted.  George Will believes that if we were to interpret a piece and stray from the traditional interpretation of a piece, then we would essentially be destroying the original meaning or message that the piece was trying to give.  Will also brings up the interesting point that "All literature is... political".  This arguement is interesting because it explores the fact that no matter how how we may try, we are almost always going to be biased upon a topic.  Stephen Greenblatt on the other hand argues against was Will believes.  He says that it is not demeaning nor destroying the purpose of a piece of literature if we were to not interpret its traditional meaning.  Rather, he states that we should try and uncover a piece of literature's "hidden" meaning or deeper purpose. 

After reading the articles,I moreso agree with Greenblatt.  I would agree with him because as we read a piece of literature, everyone has their own interpretations.  For example, as we read a novel, different lines may mean different things to different people based upon our experiences.  Because we all dont lead the same exact life, it would be nearly impossible for everyone to have the same exact interpretation of a piece.  Although i agree with Greenblatt on this point, i also agree with Will's point that it is nearly impossible to write an unbiased piece of literature.  Naturally, we a re inclined to take certained sides on a debate and although we may try to remain objective while writing, we will always have some kind of bias towards one side of the arguement.

Acts II and III and Postcolonialism

As the Play developes, we see that Shakespear does not sympathize towards Caliban and the natives.  Rather, it seems as if he supports more Prospero.  This is symbolic of the fact that During this era, there was much expansion into other parts of the world.  Prospero represents the people of Europe who were exapanding and "civilizing" other parts of the world, and Caliban represents the natives.  One example of how Shakespear supports Prospero, is he shows Caliban's stupidity.  Also, Shakespear constantly describes Caliban as being a monster and how hideous he is.
In the article about postcolonialism, Bressler has a similiar thought on natives.  He refers to them as savages or subhumans.  By describing these people this way he denounces them and implies that they are inferior.  In the article, Bressler states that "works of Literature are not merely exist".  This is interesting because it implies that a work of literature is not only about the plot of the story being told.  It also includes the idea that author that is writing the story is most likley biased and therefore possibly not entirely correct.
The video about the Native Americans is a great example of how we see the bias of a story.  It enbles us to see the stereotype that has developed today of the Native Americans being "savages" when in reality, most were peaceful farming people.  The film describes how the stereotype wrongly depicts these people and includes the thoughts of several Native American actors/actresses.  These people explain that their culture is very different than what the white population believes it to be and shows the stereotype that exists.

Prospero's Manipulation

Prospero controls the characters: Ariel, Caliban, and Miranda all through the use of rhetoric. 

To control Ariel, he constantly reminds her of the "torture [he] freed [her] from".  He gains her complete obedience by constantly reminding her of that fact that he had rescued her.  Whenever Ariel shows that she may be straying from complete obedience, he reminds her of how he saved her and thus renews her greatfulness towards him.  Prospero is very similiar to the figure head "Big Brother" in the novel 1984.  Just as Prospero has saved Ariel from her suffering, Big Brother rescues the citizens of Oceania from their past.  In addition, he uses threats such as threataning to "rend an oak . And peg [her] in his knotty entrails till [she] hast howled away twelve winters".  By making threats such as this, he uses fear as a way to keep control over Ariel.  This is very similiar to how the thought police and ministry of love in 1984 use fear to keep their citizens "loyal".

To control Caliban, he issues many threats.  Initially when Caliban and Prospero met, they were very kind to each other and shared knowledge.  But, Prospero took advantage of this and made Caliban his slave of sort.  To keep Caliban under his control, Prospero gives many threats and uses fear to control him.  For example, when Caliban would not come out, he threatened to torture Caliban for his Disobedience.

To control Miranda, he creates tales that we do not know are true or not.  For example, he tells her the story about howw he was once a great man and the Duke of Milan, but was driven out of Milan by his greedy brother.  Miranda believes this all to be true and reveres Prospero although in reality, what she is hearing could all be lies since she is only hearing one side of the story.  This is similiar to 1984 in the fact that the citizens were only told one side of a story and because of this, many people began to love Big Brother just as Miranda loves Prospero.

Through these different ways, Prospero is able to control Ariel, Caliban, and Miranda.

Class Discussion

There are many dangers of having only a single story.   For example, is there was ony one side of a story, then the story that is being told would most likely be biased.  Since it is biased, the likelihood of the story being all truth is slim to none.  By only hearing one side of the story, you are only able to hear what the teller wants you to hear and often restricts you from hearing the whole truth about what happened.  In our discussion, an example of hearing only one side of the story is happening in Texas.  The textbooks veing produced are now being changed and showing only conservative ideas.  They are taking away from the whole truth an adding what they deem important or neccesary.  Another idea was proposed by Kristen Gardner who is a proffessor of history.  She believes that we should not only be taught about dates and events, but we should learn more in depth about why things happen.  In doing so, there is much more critical thinking and helps one understand events that happen as a whole versus just what the books teach or say.  She not only preaches this, but she believes in the intergration of more multi-cultural historical figures.  She believes that we must learn more about people such as women, or people of other races or colors.  As a result, i believe that we should not just learn about one side of a story, but learn more about thhe events as a whole and understand why they happened.


p.s.  Sorry about the late post.  My internet has been down so I have not had access at home, and the school library blocks this site.

Burritos and tacos are good. So is sushi.