REMEMBER: ALL ANSWERS/ESSAYS ARE DUE (by email) AT THE END OF THE PERIOD ON FRIDAY.
BIG BROTHER SAYS, BE CAREFUL ABOUT COPYING AND PASTING. iF YOU DON'T PUT YOUR EXCERPTED PASSAGES IN QUOTES, YOU ARE PLAGIARIZING!!!
As an iceberg, floating southward from the frozen North, is gradually undermined by warmer seas, and, become at least unstable, churns the sea to yeast for miles around by the mighty rockings that portend its overturn, so the anti-quity, undermined by the modern humane spirit, riddled by the criticism of economic science, is shaking the world with convulsions that presage its collapse
Edward Bellamy
Jorn Munkner of Georgetown University used the above image and quote in his website entitled, "Iceberg:Utopia, Dystopia, and Myopia in Late 19th Century." Bellamy's iceberg metaphor in1888 compared society to an iceberg whose foundations were invisibly but surely being eaten away by problems inherent in capitalism. America, for many, was itself a kind of Utopian vision: democracy, freedom, the "pursuit of happiness." This unit focuses on a type of Utopian vision we are all familiar with: Techno-topia - where technology is seen as the savior of society, rescuing man from all his woes. Yet like many dystopic visions, there are fears about techno-topias as well. The purpose of this unit is to allow us to conduct the class in as "technical " a manner as possible, utililizing the advantages of the Internet while, at the same time, remaining aware of our own responses to the methods we use as well as the material to which you are exposed.
Jennie Fraser, Senior English, Middle College High School
(fraserjen@aol.com)
- Note: To complete these assignments, you will open WORD before you go on the net. You will operating two windows at the same time, typing all your short answers and paragraph responses . Save them in a file labeled utopiayourlastname (i.e. utopiafraser) on a disk. When you are finished, you will e-mail your responses to me at fraserjen@aol.com attaching the file of your responses.
Click here for a checklist of the assignments you will email to me:
- You will receive your grade and comments by e-mail. If the address you send from is not one you wish to receive my response, give me an alternate address on the top of your assignment.
- ................Assignment #1..................
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A) Begin with the standard definition of Utopias and Dystopias from the Encyclopedia Britannica. Read and take notes . Good notes would enable you to answer questions including (but not only) the following:
Who wrote the first novel considered utopian in subject?
What was the irony in the term, "utopia?" (Consider its Greek origins.)
List three authors who criticized utopian visions, their novels, and what specifically each attacked.
What "class" of utopian writings does Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travel fit into?
Describe briefly two actual communities who attempted to create utopian societies.
..........................Assignment #2..........
A) Our next assignment regarding utopias and dystopias ties in with "techno-topias"- societies which heavily rely upon technology to solve our problems. As you might have guessed from seeing numerous science fiction novels, a major "dystopic" result is that the technology begins to "control" man, not physically, but by his over-reliance upon it.
POINT
A)To start, read the excerpt of Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves To Death"
Answer these questions:
What was the fear expressed in Brave New World?
In 1984?
What is this article's author's fear?
COUNTERPOINT:
B) The earliest movement against technology occurred right at the beginning of the industrial revolution.
Read the article titled, "The New Luddism."
Explain:
Who were the first "luddites?"
What is the author's view about the "new luddism?" Use a quotation from the article to support your opinion.
C) Read the short story by E.M. Forster before Wednesday. This story will be passed out in class.
Be prepared to discuss the story and the answers to the following questions in class (These do not have to answered in writing:)
(By the way, this story was written in 1907,before World War One!)
Questions to consider for our discussion:
What events in history might have prompted Forster to write this story?
Who are the Homeless and why have they chosen this lifestyle?
What is the warning for our society and is it a valid one ?
What are the similarities you see between our own society and the "Machine Stops" society?
Wednesday Class Discussion:
Today we will be in a DISCUSSION FORUMdesigned for the discussion of "The MachineStops." Click on the instructions, then begin. You will respond to at least three topics and post at least two interesting, thought-provoking topics of your own. At the end of the discussion, copy and paste all your responses on the page of WORD (where your other answers are.) Submit this along with your other work to me via e-mail.
Alternative board: These free discussion boards are notoriously flaky. Here is an alternative board if the first crashes. It is located on my webpage at www.howhist.com/jfraser/index.html under the chaninging school photos. Click on BRAVENET.
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Assignment #3 :
A Walk on the Wild Side- Interactive On-Line Courses and Texts
A)Consider that in the world of the future, you may very well be taking a college course on-line. Take a look at the history course of Professor John McClymer at Assumption College in Massachusetts. Click on several of the links. Then comment on what might be at least two advantages and two disadvantages of online courses vs. traditional history courses.
B) You have just read a short story that pre-dates computers but is obviously applicable to today's society. (in 1995) Now look at the very first interactive book published on line in 1995 titled, "City of Bits" by William J. Mitchell, Professor of Architecture and Media Arts and Sciences and Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In his book he claims that
"the crucial issue before us
is not one of putting in place the digital plumbing of
telecommunications links and associated electronic appliances,
nor even of producing content for electronic delivery, but rather
one of creating electronically mediated environments for the
kinds of lives that we want to lead."
1. One chapter in his book compares modern structures in today's society with structures in the future. Choose one of these pairs ( like galleries vs. virtual museum)and explain the difference between the modern and the future "structure."
2. Mitchell's book entitled, City of Bits, has an interesting chapter called "Cyborg Citizens " This is tough reading, but interesting. Explain in a short paragraph what he means by claiming we are all cyborgs today. Give examples from his article.
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..................................Assignment #4. ...............
Do some surfing on your own about this subject!
Using the Utopian Newsletter page as a resource, or a search engine such as www.google.com,with "utopias" as a keyword, surf around on the links on that page and find some aspect of this human fascination with utopias to read about. (There's even a link to "utopian art" and actual communities such as the Findhorn society.) Then:
Write a half page paragraph describing that aspect of utopias and prepare to share it with the class.
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FINAL ESSAY QUESTION:
One visionary of the future techno-topia asks us to, " anticipate the moment at which all your personal electronic devices-headphone audio player, cellular telephone, pager, dictaphone, camcorder, personal digital assistant (PDA), electronic stylus, radiomodem, calculator, Loran positioning system, smart spectacles, VCR remote, data glove, electronic jogging shoes that count your steps and flash warning signals at oncoming cars, medical monitoring system, pacemaker (if you are so unfortunate), and anything else that you might habitually wear or occasionally carry-can seamlessly be linked in a wireless bodynet that allows them to function as an integrated system and connects them to the worldwide digital network. You will be able to use your PDA to program your VCR, listen to pager messages through your Walkman, display coordinates from the Loran on your smart spectacles, download physiological data from an electronic exercise machine into your PDA, and transmit the output from your camcorder to remote locations via your wireless modem. As you jog in a strange city, you might record your route on your PDA, then have your Walkman give you directions back to your hotel.
People who believe that technology will be the savior of mankind's future find descriptions like the preceding one exciting predictions of a more perfect future society.In view of all you have read in this unit about fears and dreams people have for techno-topias, discuss your own in an essay of approximately 1000 words.In your essay, make references to readings in this unit as well as your experiences with on-line education.
E-mail all work to fraserjen@aol.com