postcolonialism

Post colonialism deals with cultural identity in colonized societies and the ways in which writers articulate that identity.  Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart is a narrative that follows the life of an Igbo tribe at the time when the wave of colonization washed over Africa.  The story tells of a man named Okonkwo who had always dreamed of being well known and respected throughout his village and neighboring villages since he was a child.  He didn’t want to end up a failure like his father and he worked tirelessly until he achieved his goal.  However, he was able to reach his goal at an early age, but his life began to “fall apart” because of the fact that he is terrified of looking weak like his father.  As a result, he behaves hastily, bringing trouble and sorrow upon himself and his family.
“The white man is very clever.  He came quietly and peaceably with his religion.  We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay.  Now he has won our brothers. And our clan can no longer act like one.  He had put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.”  This quote shows how Okonkwo is doomed to lose the traditions he cherishes as his society slowly falls apart.  He is very reluctant to change because he doesn’t want to change the traditional values and practices of his society.  He does this during a time when the Europeans were trying to colonize them, which ultimately results in the breakdown of this traditional African society. This is from the post colonialism packet, “The conquerors not only dominated the physical land but also the hegemony or ideology of the colonized peoples.” It shows how a society can deal with change and how change affects the individuals of that society.

technopoly

Technopoly

            Neil Postman’s Technopoly represents a time of people wanting to become inventors to improve production and quality of products.  This era was known as the progressive era.  This relates to Brave New World in that they both come up with ways to improve efficiency of production.  They both also use their technology to make the quality of their products better, such as Brave New World engineering and altering their people’s mental capacity to do specific jobs whether it be for a simple job such as pulling a lever or a tough job requiring a great amount of knowledge.  Efficiency was also created around this time because of the progressive era when people were encouraged to invent products.  This was when Ford created the assembly line which is worshiped and regarded highly by the people in Brave New World.  Fredrick Winslow Taylor fits into this discussion because he was a mechanical engineer from the United States that wanted to improve industrial effectiveness.  He is thought of as the founder of scientific management.  He was on of the scholar leaders of the efficiency movement, and his ideas were widely viewed as greatly influential on the progressive era.  Technopoly is defined by postman as a “totalitarian technocracy” this forces the submission of everything to the ruler of technique and technology.   Technocracy goes right along with the progressive era because of its encouragement to invent and to acquire new knowledge.  This is what Francis Bacon advocated.  “Technocracy gave us the idea of progress” this was said on page 45 it represents the thoughts of what could be done using it.  “Technocracy filled the air with the promise of new freedoms and new forms of social organization”.  Humans could acquire knowledge to help improve the world, which would eventually lead to inventions and progress.

technology

Connor Wendorff

p.1

Brave New World Singularity

I think the ideas and concepts in the article can become very possible, but I don’t believe that humans will be taken over by computers within 40 years like stated by Kurzweli in the article “According to his calculations, the end of human civilization as we know it is about 35 years away.” I also think that if humans were to make technology that smart we would install some kind of shut off to disable them before it starts to get out of hand.  The concept of a cyborg seems likely to happen as well.  That would be more possible within the 35 year time period that was predicted for the takeover of technology.  Doctors today are already doing things close to that by performing surgery and giving people artificial arms and legs, which does not seem too far off from giving someone a robotic body part.  Another concept is the idea of immortality.  This would be awesome if it could be done within our lifetimes.  The merging of man and technology could be a good thing as long as man does not take it too far beyond the point of return in case of malfunctions or what Kurzweli said will come true “Maybe the computers will turn on humanity and annihilate us.”  It could greatly increase intelligence and life length with the use of new found technology, so overall it would probably be a good thing if man and technology combine.  If you do combine with technology it would make you less human than some one who has not combined with technology, because it would make you a cyborg.  A person who is authentically human would be someone that has not changed them selves in any way and remained natural without the help of technology.  I do believe that Bernard was onto something saying that we are in danger of becoming taken over by technology

critique

http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/509/brave-new-world-and-the-threat-of-technological-growth

Connor Wendorff

5 September 2011

p.1

RHETORICAL BLOG

            The writer’s purpose in writing the article “Brave New World and the Threat of Technological Growth” is to inform the reader of the background of the novel.  Also how the society is run and what they believe in.  The writer accomplishes telling us the theme of the society and how they should and will put technology before god.  The intended audience of the article could be anyone that is looking for more information about the novel or someone that just wants an overview about the main ideas of the book.  It could also be read to see if you missed any key points or ideas that the author wanted to get across.  I do not feel like the author has a specific audience that the article was intended for it seems to be a more informative article that could be used by students. 

            The subject of the article describes the way of life and how the world would work if we became a Technopoly.  It forces the people to put technology before anything in their life.  People also have to live their lives by consumerism constantly buying new items and creating new technology.  There is a quote that says “we always throw away old clothes.  Ending is better than mending, ending is better that mending, ending is better than mending. ”  which means that rather than trying to fix what has broke they should throw it away and buy something new to replace it.  This subject cold be appreciated by the target audience because it is very informative and can help you to understand the novel. 

            The overall main idea is that the society cold be controlled by a technopoly and force consumerism  this can lead to controversy because some people may believe that always buying new technology can be good but some people may believe that we would be better off just fixing or repairing what you already own.

            The author of the article uses quotes from the novel to back up the ideas and statements made. The evidence is important to the article because without the quotes you would not know if what he was saying was true or false unless you have already read the novel which is crucial.  I think quotes that represent the main ideas are appropriate to this style of writing to back up the statements made.

            The article seems to be written in a more formal style of writing that would have probably been done as an assignment for a class.  Its opening sentence is one that shows an understanding of the main idea and also one that is intriguing and catches your attention.  The paragraphs are structured with topics and main ideas that are later supported from the novel which seems to be done effectively.  The writer’s diction is used to show how it is formal.  The author is comprehensible in the writing because you can understand what has happened in the book even if you have not read it.  There are proverbs used to support the ideas of consumerism.  They are used to support the topics in the article.  I think the author has a grasp of what has happened in the novel and can be considered a respectable authority on the subject.