Just following up on an announcement on Friday. I spoke with my friend again today about setting up a pen pal program between you guys and her elementary students. She said her students are really excited about the opportunity, and have already begun writing letters. Let me know if you would be interested in this. It will certainly not be graded, but it would be a great way to help them with their spelling, etc.

Also, for those of you who are fairly proficient or fluent in Spanish, she is looking for some high school students who would be willing to read to them on Tuesdays or Thursdays. The kids love this, but often are not read to at home; many of the students who speak Spanish cannot read it. I can get the information to anyone interested in this.

Oh, speaking of volunteer work, how did the race go? Were any of you able to attend? I want stories when we get back.

We will be watching The Island on Monday and Tuesday. I did not realize how perfect this movie would be as a blend of our two very different books. It is by no means great cinema, but the ideas and concepts are there for us to discuss. If you miss class, rent the movie and watch it at home. It is PG-13, so watch it with your parents permission. I will be monitoring the unnecessary parts in class.

Write an organized, well-argued essay over one of the following topics. You do not need to answer every question under your chosen topic, but keep each in mind while writing your thesis.

1) Simulation and hyper-reality are prevalent in Don DeLillo’s White Noise. Explain how these concepts reflect an aspect of current popular culture, using one of your articles [or one you find tonight] as evidence of this. What is DeLillo’s argument? How does he present it? What does the Toxic Airborne Event have to do with simulation? SIMUVAC?

2) Human cloning is a very complex issue―one which involves moral choices and the direct application of manufacturing to human beings. What does Ishiguro’s stance on the cloning issue in Never Let Me Go seem to be? How does he use pathos to argue this stance? During their time at Hailsham, the students are asked to create original art. Why is this? Is this part of Ishiguro’s argument?

3) Both novels explore the theme of consumption versus creation in society. Using an article and one of the books -or- two chosen articles, discuss the arguments involved. How does consumption or reflection factor into a person’s identity, according to the texts?

4) Death is a strong presence in White Noise. Why does DeLillo choose to include this in a commentary on contemporary culture? How does Murray’s supermarket thesis fit into this? The family’s consumption? Jack’s position? The “most photographed barn in America?

These essays require insights into the novels and the world around us and evidence from the texts to support your arguments. Do not write a personal editorial. This means no anecdotal evidence from your lives and no personal pronouns. Keep the tone formal; you have good ideas so do not hesitate to state them without qualifiers.

We will be reading Klosterman’s “The Awe-Inspiring Beauty of Tom Cruise’s Shattered, Troll-like Face” over the weekend, but for those reading Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go who would like to delve deeper into the philosophy of identity, here is a link to Thomas Nagel’s classic essay “What is It Like to Be a Bat?,” published in 1974.

This reading is just for those interested. This is in no way required for a grade, and is not even required for in-class discussion purposes. Some of you showed some interest in this, and I am obliging.

This essay is on par with Hume’s ideas on identity, as both writers are materialists (they believe that mental processes can be reduced to physical phenomena), but in this essay Hegel moves away from typical materialist thinking in that he recognizes the subjective quality of experience. Since we don’t know what it is “like to be a bat,” since we don’t know how our friend interprets the taste of ice cream, there must be a degree of subjectivity involved.

Here is a link to a translation of Descartes’ Meditations. The translation is okay, though I prefer the Cambridge University Press edition, published in 1984. This is the seminal text on Cartesian dualism. If you are interested, read the first, second, and sixth meditations, which cover the basis of his mind/body interaction theory. (Try to ignore the fact that he claims that the “pineal gland” is the connection between mind and body. He has important ideas, whether or not they are absolutely accurate.

. . . just articles to read for Tuesday. Read them and think about the questions that follow. We’re going to discuss them when we get back.

“You Are What You Own” from Guardian Unlimited
Where is the thesis of this article? What is the main point?
Who is the author writing for? How does he establish common ground with this audience?
Is this article persuasive? Can you find a more persuasive article?

“Would Orwell have Been a Blogger?” again, Guardian Unlimited
This is just for memorablename.
“The first time I used ‘weblog’, in a magazine story about Arnold Schwarzenegger in September 2003, The Observer had to place the meaning of this exotic term in square brackets. Six months later, ‘blogging’ was common. By 2005, some 60 new blogs were being launched every minute.”
This is interesting. I can’t remember where I read it, but someone commenting on a news story noted that communication technologies are becoming obsolete at an exponential rate: Movies lasted 100 years, video tapes around 50, DVDs around 15… How long will Blu-ray last?
Is the same thing is happening to our language?

“French Told to Try Smiling for Once” once more, from Guardian Unlimited
This just troubles me.

“Area Man Likes to Compare Circle of Friends to Cast of Lost” from The Onion
I know, not real news, but Klosterman does a whole essay on this phenomenon through The Real World. This is life imitating art. How does this fit with White Noise?

And finally, “Snips, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails” from Slate.com
Agree? Disagree? Does your opinion have more than anecdotal evidence? See if you can find more information on this if you agree/disagree.

[Edit: Okay, one more. “We’re no Slaves to Our Senses” from Spiked-online.com]

Whoo, funny.

I want to know how your readings are coming. For those of you wishing to read both books, I would suggest planning to finish one by Tuesday and reading the other at your leisure another time. We will discuss both, but it is really important that you have detailed reading journals for your book. This will make writing essays that much faster/easier, and when we begin to incorporate articles and such into one paper, it will be better to glance over notes rather than flipping through pages when going for synthesis.

Regarding Karen’s comment about the Circle: If anyone wants to see a movie there then bring back a synopsis for the class and thoughts on the movie itself, I’d be happy to send some extra credit his or her way, provided the comments pertain to what we are discussing in class. I’m just sayin’.

One final thought on the reading journals:
If you are reading Never Let Me Go, look for references to duplication, creation, originality, cloning, and what it means to be human. These are all over the book, and will help you significantly with your essay next week.

If you are reading White Noise, look for references to pop culture (not passing references, but overt “college studies” references), consumerism, class systems, cliques, simulations, jargon, reality, hyper-reality, simulacra, and social images. These too, are all over the book and will help you next week.

Any questions? Post them here.