Deconstructing the Onion

With the unprecedented spread of digital media today, it's pretty unsurprising that a large focus is placed on satirical news. And why not? Most can appreciate some sarcasm, some irony, dare I say some satire to liven up their daily dose of the latest happenings. But it does beg the question: what is it exactly about this particular use of media, about the Steven Colberts, the Onions of this day and age, that is so appealing? By reading a few Onion articles and examining my own reactions, I've tried to figure that out.

Take, for instance, this article: http://www.theonion.com/articles/powerball-winners-already-divorced-bankrupt,30553/. Even the title itself nicely represents several of the qualities that make for great satire. For one, it's fresh and relevant: the Powerball drawing is something that has been discussed frequently in the past week, so individuals see this reference and immediately recognize its source. Continuing through the article, it quickly becomes clear that a common fear or saying is being exaggerated for effect: that lottery winners tend to be unhappy after receiving large sums of money. The much greater extent this is taken to, with quotes like “Sources confirmed he is now barely making ends meet by working as a cashier at the same 4 Sons Food Store at which he purchased the winning ticket,” takes this idea to the point of absurdity, and thus makes it amusing to the reader.

Verisimilitude

A while back, I read the question posed: "What are your favorite words?" It seemed a strange concept to me at the time - after all, words are just tools, so why would I prefer any word over any other? After a period of thought, though, I realized that I did indeed have a favorite word. This stems not only from the structure of the word itself, but from its unique meaning, connotation, and applications that could not easily be replaced by any other phrase, much less another single word:

Verisimilitude. Ve-ri-si-mil-i-tude. A fun word to say, no doubt, but what does it mean? Well, etymologically, it stems from two Latin roots: verus meaning truth and similitudo meaning resemblance or likeness. Putting these together, the most basic definition is the resemblance or proximity to truth. That is itself still fairly vague, though, so let's look in context.

Originally, the word verisimilitude had a more philosophical or even scientific meaning: it dealt with the correctness of theories or statements, and how some "false" ideas may be closer to the truth than others. For example, Newton's theory of motion, while imperfect in some cases, is much closer to the truth than, say, those of Aristotle. It would, then, say to have a higher sense of verisimilitude. Over time, however, a much more interesting use of the word has come into existence.

Often, when people feel that their suspension of disbelief in literature or another artistic work is broken, they claim it is because the work is "unrealistic". However, this simply is not true: in literature, the best and most engaging stories are not ones that seem to follow reality perfectly. Think about dialogue: real life conversations would make for terrible reading, so authors have characters speak more interestingly, but less realistically. The idea that throws off peoples' comfort, that leads them to question the "realism" of works, is actually its verisimilitude, or resemblance to truth. If I were to narrow this meaning down to a few words, it would be "logical internal consistency" - but even that only partially describes verisimilitude in this context.

The idea is, while literature should not be realistic, it should retain a semblance of truth and believably. Characters shouldn't instantly change their minds, fantastic or science-fiction elements should at least appear to have a concrete definition of their inner workings, and chance should not play too much of a role without good reason. It is these things that give a novel verisimilitude, and should be striven for by authors.

The Mechanical Brain

Picture this with me: a huge supercomputer, chock-full of complex circuitry, flashing lights. sporadic beeps, pulsating screens. Minuscule next to its gigantic frame, a human approaches and, through voice or keyboard, inputs a question. The machine churns and calculates, eventually returning a response, which the human wordlessly accepts before skulking away.

Sounds like a terrifying future in some apocalyptic sci-fi story, doesn't it? Free thought abandoned in response to the development of a decision-making supercomputer, with humanity absent of any new creativity or innovation. This future, however, may be closer than we think.

Informative sites like Wikipedia, news and opinion aggregates like Reddit, or yes, even educational aids like SparkNotes may all be taking the place of some previous human thought, argue some critics. They seem to lead, in my experience, to the absorption of "factoids" - small, insignificant details rather than true understanding of topics. That's not to say they don't have their uses. At times, these small details are exactly what's needed, particularly in supplement to deeper forms of information.

But why do people tend to so strongly rely on these mentally depressing forms of information? In a word, convenience. With so much information and so many activities available, people tend to pick in choose on what they wish to focus their attention. That in mind, I find that this weakens peoples' abilities to form their own deeper analyses - and while I know I'm guilty of this as well, I'm trying my best to avoid this trap into the future.

Fiction, Nonfiction, and English Education

I want to preface this by noting that, obviously, I am neither an expert in the field of education nor in the study of the English language. All I have to base any commentary on is my own limited observations and experiences, which do not apply to every situation or individual.

While reading this article on proposed changes to the English curriculum in public school systems, I had various thoughts on the ideas it explained: some in agreement, some in disagreement, and some unrelated. Generally, I agree: having English place a greater focus on the study of nonfiction works would have significant practical benefits to students. I would argue that any subject of further study, be it engineering, history, mathematics, science, or even the study of literature requires a strong grasp of nonfiction reading - a skill which is sorely neglected in English classrooms. The stigma among students of nonfiction being "boring", bringing to mind dusty textbooks and dry biographies, should really be broken earlier than it is now. On the other hand, I don't feel that the extremes proposed by the CCSS are necessarily correct: 70% nonfiction reading, where additional such studies are present in other classes, is unnecessary and no longer helpful. A balance is necessary, and that's simply not present today.

This reminded me of another thought I had recently had, concerning the structure of high school English classes. While the two AP classes I've taken have had clearly defined, mostly distinct curricula with substantial amounts of new knowledge, I felt that my first two years of English courses were vague and largely review of concepts that had been covered in middle school. Perhaps as supplemental options for these level courses, additional courses could be designed that cover the necessary material while placing a stronger emphasis on nonfiction reading and writing. While this wouldn't be for everyone, it has the potential to offer a lot better option for those who wish to further their knowledge in a field that hadn't had as much of a chance to study.

Breaking Bad and Strong Fictional Characters

     I'm not one to tend to get involved in watching many television shows. The commitment involved always seems to be too excessive, and I feel that I quickly become lost when I don't have time to keep up with regularly watching them. That being said, after hearing wonderful things about it, I've recently begun watching the AMC drama, Breaking Bad - and it's just as good of a show s it was built up to be. After watching the first season, I wondered exactly what it was that made it so enrapturing, finally coming to the conclusion that the most important reason was the strength of the characters and the writing behind them.

     A brief rundown of the premise: Walter White is a fifty-year-old chemistry teacher who, despite having no history of smoking or any other endangering conditions, develops a likely mortal case of lung cancer. In an effort to provide for his family after he dies, Walt begins working with a former student of his, Jesse Pinkman, to cook and sell crystal meth. Fairly quickly, things go predictably badly, and a story involving issues of crime, morality, and family begins to emerge.

    Now, the story of Breaking Bad isn't the only strong factor: the cinematography and production is just of impressive. But as for the characters, I think the reason they're so sympathetic is tht they are very realistic in all aspects. So often in fiction, characters fall into archetypes that never really fit how people would react to given situations. To me, at least, this always feels somewhat disconcerting and makes the work as a whole feel a lot less realistic. In Breaking Bad, however, the characters are decidedly imperfect: these imperfections  however, are what makes the viewers really care about what happens to them, which is vital to any good work of fiction.

Existentialism and Myself

 In our in-class discussions of the short story “The Guest”, the philosophy of existentialism clearly played a central role. As a general idea, this philosophy was not one I was immediately familiar with – that is, I had heard use of the word in phrases such as “I'm feeling existential today” or “Quit acting like such an existentialist”, but I never actually understood the meaning behind it. Over the course of our discussion, I found myself first even more confused, then surprised, then strangely in agreement with the general characteristics of the ideal presented by existentialism. Still, I didn't want to simply accept this agreement without question, so I've decided to do some further research and reevaluate my opinions. This is what I've discovered:

One of the most significant names that seems to come up in this study, certainly the one that I most immediately recognized, was that of Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche's beliefs, while extending into a wide range of categories including nihilism and the Wille zur Macht (will to power), matched closely many of the typical ideas of existentialism I identified. Most strongly connected are his views on individualism and absurdity, suggesting that there is no single true “meaning” of life, and that each individual needs to discover their own meaning and morality.

So what does all of this mean for me? Likely as not, very little to my actual day-to-day actions. It has, however, helped me to resolve some very real questions and conundrums I felt concerning my own motivations. I can accept that not every action must have a black-or-white answer of “selfish” or “selfless”, and that neither attribute is necessarily better than the other. My life and my ideals are what I make of them, no more and no less.

Some Nights

A few minutes ago, a friend of mine sent me a link to this song, which I'm sure most of you are familiar with:

(The song itself begins at about 1 minute in, so feel free to skip to then.)

Now, I'm not usually one to listen to much modern pop music. I don't have anything especially against it, I just prefer other genres and styles. I believe I first heard this song on the radio, or maybe at a GSP dance, and at that point I didn't pay any particular attention to the lyrics. Musically speaking, it was energetic and anthem-like, so I didn't mind it, but I did not give it much thought beyond that - assuming it would be about love or loss or an idea similarly often captured in pop music.

Final Reflections on A Clockwork Orange

As far as my typical reading selection goes, A Clockwork Orange falls somewhat outside of my usual interest in fantasy and science fiction. In tone, violence, and deeper meaning it is fairly heavy - not to mention the difficult language barrier discussed in an earlier post. All of this aside, it was highly enjoyable as well as thought-provoking from beginning to end. It was well paced, never leading me to feel bored or rushed. Its story was a suspenseful and profound one which I was excited to read beginning to end.

Despite being released over 50 years ago, I feel as if it could have been written yesterday. This is partly a testament to Anthony Burgess's timeless writing: by including classical allusions and using an invented dialect, he eliminated much of what traditionally dates literature. However, possibly more important is the continued relevance of the themes and the ideas he reflects upon, which I doubt will ever lose their value.

NOTE: While I'm not going to go out of my way to spoil everything, by nature of this post it is inevitable that some details of the story will be revealed - possibly even of the climax and resolution. That being said, if you intend to reading A Clockwork Orange and have not already, I recommend against reading further, to avoid losing the benefit of experiencing the story firsthand. Consider yourself warned.

On Cornell Notes

                One of the most useful tools for truly learning various subjects is the physical act of taking notes. The process of writing ideas down, as various learning studies have shown, helps individuals to gain a deeper and more consistent understanding of the topic at hand. In our Literature class, we are continually using note-taking to study various subjects within literature, including plot, theme, and characterization among others.

                I’m not arguing against the validity of notes in and of themselves – but in my opinion, a generic system such as the Cornell note-taking system is not sufficiently effective to be used in all situations. While it may be easier to comprehend on a quick look-over, I feel that it is actually limiting in helping students to comprehend their reading. Cornell notes place a large focus on identifying “main ideas” that may or may not actually cover the important details present.

                Take, for example, the most recent “theme” notes. Where the previous sections were cleanly divided into vocabulary and related details, theme is a broader subject exploring primarily ideas as opposed to specific facts. In my experience, this led to a search for factoids to fit the Cornell format, which ultimately was a detriment to my understanding of the topic. It would be much better to allow for a variety of note formats to allow for these varying situations.

Language as a Tool

There exists a highly diverse arsenal of tools that authors can and often do use to establish the tone and setting of their works. As has been recently discussed in class, this can be exhibited through the construction of the plot itself, allusions to other works or events, the use of metaphor and figurative language, along with a vast array of other techniques. One specific tool example sticks out to me from my years of reading: the use of language itself to deepen the setting and ideas behind a work of literature.

Choosing a Novel

 I always feel a sense of hesitation and trepidation when it comes time to choose a new title to read. There's never enough time to do all that I wish, so why would I want to want to read something that I didn't enjoy? This makes sense practically as well: if I don't enjoy reading a book, I am less likely to invest the time and focus needed to understand it as well as possible. I would miss the little details that might redeem it in my eyes – so knowing myself, it's important for me to find something that draws my interest from the start.

These ideas, of course, were vital to consider when choosing an independent reading novel. Of the list provided, I immediately recognized only a few: A Clockwork Orange, The Poisonwood Bible, as well as classics including Pride and Prejudice. Based on their summaries, a few others jumped out at me: After Dark appeared to have an interesting style, while Lost City Radio had a unique setting that I believed would make for an interesting story. Ultimately, based on the recommendation of friends and my own curiosity I chose to read A Clockwork Orange – hopefully, it will work out for me!

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Alternatively: The Art of a Post

As a form of personal expression, the web log, or “blog”, is one of the more interesting developments in internet media established in the past decade. This is, in part, because of the huge diversity in tone and content between blogs: they can act as a diary, an editorial, a review column – the focus and quality of a blog is only limited by the author’s imagination. Despite, or perhaps because of this wide range of potential, it can be somewhat difficult for an author to determine a focus for their blog. Should they focus on literary themes, or just discuss English on a broader scope? Should the blog have a personal feel, or be more professional? What’s an appropriate title to serve as a succinct and accurate description? These and others are the questions that a blogger must decide on before they can use their blog to its fullest.

As a title, Electric Sheep, taken from the 1968 science fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, accurately describes my intent for this particular blog. While it has a clear connection to literature, it also stands on its own as an interesting title, just as I hope my blog will stand on its own merit. Plus, it has a clear connection to technology, which relates to my interest in technology and computers.