Postcolonialism

The novel Things Fall Apart can be related to a postcolonial lens because in the novel a group of white men try to colonize the Igbo tribe. Throughout the history of postcolonialism the west became the colonizers, and many African and asian peoples became colonized. It is clear that European settlers were basically assumed to be the superior race over every other race due to their dominant power. From the perspective of the white Westerners, any "other" race would be considered insignificant. "How one treats peoples who are so defined does not really matter, they said, because many Westerners subscribed to the colonist ideology that all races other than white were inferior or subuman. These subhumans or "savages" quickly became the inferior and equally "evil" Others, a philisophical concept called alternity whereby "the others" are excluded from postitions of power and viewed as different and inferior. Things fall apart directly relates as white colonizers try to take over the Igbo tribe and convert them to christianity. They do so by their superior power over the tribe and from the common use of violence. The white colonizers try to tell the tribe that there is one god and criticize their beliefs as they enforce that the tribe follow their beliefs. Like Great Britain being the largest colonizer and imperial power in the nineteenth century, the white colonizers in the novel relate as they try to colonize the african tribe. Therefore postcolonialism can be a great lens to relate to Things Fall Apart.

technopoly and technocracy

 Justin Jue

P.7

 Dominguez

In Neil Postman's Technopoly it becomes clear that there is a connection to the novel Brave New World. In the chapter Postman makes a clear distinction of technocracy and technopoly. Technocracy is described to be a society that dosent really have tradition or cultures. The lack of tradition and culture is what relates thenovel to technocracy in a sense that both strive for a more efficient way of life without tradition.Technopoly differs from technocracy because the society instead practices a more traditional and cutural life. However,Postman describes tradition in tecnopoly to be secreative as he states "it makes them invisible and therefor irrelevent." A clear distinction is made between both as Postman explains that "Technopoly is totalarian technocracy". Both technopoly and technocracy create two different world-views which are the traditional and technological. Fredrick W. Taylor plays a big role in technopoly due to his book that first discusses the world of technopoly.His book includes his belief that, “the primary, if not only, goal of human labor and thought is efficiency; human judgment cannot be trusted because it is plagued by laxity, ambiguity, and unnecessary complexity." Taylor believes in a wold of technopoly and that technology is what seperates good from great. While being similar to Kurzweils views that technology will take over his views on technopoly seem convincing due to the rapid growth in technology we are experiencing currently. As time continues people will always seek a better life that consists of improved technology.

Singularity and Brave New World post

The development of technology and the desire for a better life is what relates both the article and the novel together. In the article Singularity, Raymond Kurzweilz believes that the speed in which technology is developing will be so fast that it will surpass the intellegence of humans in a short period of time. Kurzweilz believes that technology will be so advanced that the possibility of scanning our conceisness inside of computers and living through them could be possible. He also strongly believes that the day will come when humans will be able to extend their lifespan and live forever. He is so determined that the possiblility of an endless lifespan is probable that he focuses on trying to stay alive until the day comes that singularity occurs. This relates to Brave New World because like Kurzweilz, Bernard proves to be similar in a sense that his outlook on life is different than everyone else in society. Bernard is different because in a way he has a mind of his own. Kurzweilz shows common behavier because he believes that technology will become so advanced it will take over which a vast majority of society would consider the thought of technology taking over foolish. I believe that the concepts in this article are ironically convincing. I dont find it to be a good thing for a future of technology taking over. However, to think that just ten years ago the technology from an old computer is far from the technology of mere cell phones we use like the iPhone convinces me that maybe technology is moving faster than expected.I find it interesting that in the article Kurzweilz states "I wish I could bring you less exciting news of the future, but I've looked at the numbers, and this is what they say, so what else can I tell you?" By reading this statement it becomes clear that Kurzweilz dosent just think that Singularity will happen, he knows that it will. I dont believe that the life he strives for is authentically human because technology would take over and the world as we know it would change drastically. I believe that being authentically human is being more independent and doing things without the help of technology. If singularity occured people would just depend on technology to solve all their problems. People have become so dependent on technology that they are already starting to develop lazy habbits. If technology continues to progress i believe that we will lose our essential humanity.

1st blog

In Madame de Beumont’s “Beauty and the Beast” and Angelica Carter’s “The Tigers Bride”there is a comparison made between the different types of relationships that the beauty and the beast share. In Madames de Beumont’s, the beast is controlled by the beauty due to her flawlessness and elegance while in Carters the beast is instead the one that’s controlling. In the article I read by Iluia O. Basu the effectiveness of the article was accomplished from her use of logos. By using common logic and evidence to back up her reasoning she is able to compare the differences of beauty. Basu uses quotes and facts as a foundation and is then able to draw conclusions from then and use it as her reasoning. Basu uses inductive reasoning a lot in her article that helps make it more reasonable. By using inductive reasoning she is able to persuade readers more easily. She also uses many concrete details and commentary very successfully. The structures of her sentences flowed well and the added concrete details and commentary also flowed well within the structures of the sentences. She used her quotes and commentary in order to back up her thesis which is a technique that I have also been taught to use. I feel that the overall structure of the article was very successful because she begins the introduction with her reasoning of both novels and then uses quotes and commentary in her body paragraphs to contribute to her thesis. Basu’s use of concrete details and commentary is very easy to comprehend and is very similar to many other essays ive read as well as written. Because the structure and simplicity of  her writing it is easier to understand her article. Basu also uses vocabulary that is comprehensible which helps readers to understand her reasoning. After reading the article I wasn’t surprised because the article was very similar to the style of writing that I am used to. I feel that the article was very comprehensible and was very successful and straight to the point.