If I were to be a guest lecturer in the next section of this course, I would feel most comfortable explaining how to enter class discussions. This would include leading discussions, as well participating in discussions in a way that is persuasive and supports your arguments while still having a conversational tone. One thing that I think I’ve really become more comfortable with is incorporating other people’s arguments into discussions. The discussions each class have made me realize how important it is to address what other people say and either use it to support your argument or refute it.

In order to explain this topic, I would probably first discuss the methods in They Say I Say. They Say I Say stresses how incorporating what other people say strengthens discussions, as it can bolster your argument and can give a platform to lead into what you want to say. For example, instead of ignoring what someone said before you and jumping right into what you want to say, it is more effective to say, “I agree with what Tom said, and in addition…” or “Although Sam thinks this, I believe… because…” It can also be helpful to restate what the person before you said to clarify that you understand their argument. For example, you could say, “Frank, by this you meant … Am I understanding that correctly?” This helps avoid confusion and can lead to more in depth discussion about the topic as well.

After explaining the methods you can use in discussion, it would be beneficial to then choose a topic on which people have different opinions and have a discussion about it. The students should use the methods described above. After concluding the discussion, I think it would be helpful for the students to think about things they did differently in this discussion compared to class discussions they have had in the past. They should think about if these methods promoted effective discussion and what they could do to continue to build on this.

In my portfolio, I would like to showcase my writing process and the ways in which my writing changes as I continue to work on a project, from the initial stages of the Proposal and Bibliography, to the rough outline blog post, all the way through the rough and final drafts of my research paper. Before this project, I rarely planned ahead for my research projects, and if I did, it was not nearly as thorough as I planned for this research assignment.

One of the things that I found most helpful to the writing process this semester was blogging, as I found myself writing about similar themes almost every week. This is easily what led me to my topic for my research paper. It also made finding important passages for my research paper, as many of the passages that I talked about in my blog posts directly related to my research topic.

Outlining, which I rarely took the time to do before this assignment, is also very beneficial to me. I also thought that reverse outlining, which I had never heard of before, was helpful as well, because it makes you consider how the reader of your paper views what you are saying. This goes along with proofreading my papers multiple times, especially the rough draft, which at first consisted mostly of the ideas found in my blog posts.

Finally, I find the peer editing process beneficial to my writing because, although I do not always like others to read my written work, receiving feedback is the best way for me to improve my writing. It allows me to best see whether my argument is understandable to someone who known little or nothing about the subject I am writing about and corrects any mistakes I may have missed. It also allows me to see examples of others’ writing as well, which can give me ideas on how I can improve my own writing.

When I write, I typically try to introduce the subject thoroughly, especially if it is a piece of writing, in which case I introduce the piece of writing as well as the author. I also give a brief overview of what I will be talking about in the blog post or paper, which is usually my thesis. I will also try to hit on a few key points so the reader will know why I am choosing to talk about what this topic. In my conclusions, I usually try to summarize the key points again, but usually in more detail than I did in my introduction. I also like to include a statement about why this argument is important, sort of a “so what” statement, to bring it all together.

In the introduction to “Text or Talk: Is Technology Making You Lonely?”, Margie Warrell briefly introduces the false sense of connection and friendship that people may feel from using social media to communicate. While I believe that she effectively draws the reader in in her introduction by being short and sweet, as well as bringing up a topic familiar to almost everyone, I feel as though she could go more in depth about the subject she will be talking about. She could do this by telling the reader that more people now than ever are feeling lonely due to the rise of social media and technology as the main source of communication.

In her conclusion, Warrell briefly summarizes the effects that technology has on us as a society. She also includes something of a “so what” statement, explaining how important real face-to-face interactions are to our well-being. She offers potential solutions to the increasing antisocial behavior caused by technology, and overall is effective in wrapping up her argument.

In my research paper, I plan on showing how Shteyngart’s ideas of seclusion and isolation due to overuse of technology in Super Sad True Love Story are echoed in today’s society. In the introduction, I would briefly discuss how the characters in the novel, specifically Lenny and Eunice feel a sense of seclusion, and how this could be connected to the abundance of technology and social media. I would then introduce some of my sources, which consist of multiple studies that show how social media and technology can create lack of self-confidence and retract from face to face interactions among those who use it most. My thesis is built around Lenny’s privacy and his being harshly judged by the information available to others due to the technological advances, as well as Eunice’s lack of normal relationships and inability to connect to others without technology.

I think that it is important to first explain the real life evidence that technology is damaging the communication skills of the younger generations, as this will allow me to then show how Shteyngart highlights these occurrences in SSTLS. In order to do this, I will quote Margie Warrell’s article, ”Text or Talk: Is Technology Making You Lonely?”, which explains how people who are more active on social media have a harder time forming close relationships with others. I would also quote “The Social Media as Echo Chamber: The Digital Impact”, which talks about the effects that technology and social media use have on students in particular. Quoting these articles will give me a basis to build upon and explain how these effects of social media are seen in SSTLS.

After discussing some of the studies that show how technology can affect our intimate relationships in real life, I would then show how this is seen in the novel. I plan to focus on instances when Lenny is ostracized for being different through the use of social media. For example, when he is in the bar with Eunice and she is overall rated high based solely on what the information that others can see about her, while Lenny is rated extremely low. Also, I would reference the entries where Eunice and Lenny cannot connect with anyone because none of the apparats are working. These scenes in particular portray the damaging effects that reliance on technology for communication can have on personal relationships with people.

I found only one instance in which I quoted a primary source, Super Sad True Love Story in Blog Post 4, when I explained the scene in which Lenny is being searched by security guards, and that the use of technology by the guards was invasive and a prime example of a dystopic society. In this post I stated, “They scan Lenny’s apparat and deduce that he is guilty of ‘malicious pervasion of data’(p. 130). I introduced this quote as more of a narrative to explain the scene, whereas I could use a template and say something more along the lines of, “after scanning Lenny’s apparat, the guards stated that he is guilty of “malicious pervasion of data” (p. 130), which is somewhat ironic considering the guards are gleaning information about Lenny without his permission. This template makes it easier to incorporate my quote into an explanation of the scene while still capturing my argument that the guards used their apparats to invade Lenny’s privacy.

In Blog Post 7, I quoted a criticism by Leila Silvana May, in which she references another reviewer’s opinion on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. This criticism was my secondary source. I said, “May incorporates Mary Poovey’s statement that the creature is ‘the victim of both the symbolic and the literal . . . it is doubly (and vehicle for) someone else’s desire, yet exposed (and excited) as the deadly essence of passion itself.’” I introduced this quote in this manner because I was explaining how May used another person’s argument to back up her own argument. Using a template from They Say, I Say, I could introduce the quote in the following manner: “Mary Poovey states that the creature is ‘the victim of both the symbolic and the literal . . . it is doubly (and vehicle for) someone else’s desire, yet exposed (and excited) as the deadly essence of passion itself’, which supports May’s argument that the monster represents sororal desire.” This would allow me to show how May uses someone else’s argument to support her own, while still explaining whose opinion I am quoting.

In the first part of the article (it is rather long so I will focus on this portion) “Sibling Revelry in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” by Leila Silvana May, the author argues that the monster in Frankenstein represents the feminine desire, specifically that of a sister. May points out that the sister in Frankenstein is seen as an object that her brother loves, desires, and wants to protect. However, the sister is seen in a passive way, eliciting a mirror effect for the brother to reflect upon and show himself through her, as she displays the qualities of those around her. If the sister breaks this passive attitude, she therefore becomes not ideal, monstrous, as May puts it. May argues that Victor tried to create the monster as a portrayal of the passiveness of his sister, however when the monster actually becomes alive, he becomes dangerous and terrifying to Victor.

May incorporates Mary Poovey’s statement that the creature is “the victim of both the symbolic and the literal . . . it is doubly (and vehicle for) someone else’s desire, yet exposed (and excited) as the deadly essence of passion itself.” May uses this perspective to support her argument that the monster represents the sororal desire. I think this article is interesting, however I do not want to pursue exactly the same topic as Leila Silvana May. I think the portrayal of women as passive and “ideal” nineteenth century women is interesting, so I would like to further explore the way they are objectified through the novel. I do not necessarily agree with May’s argument, but I do think she raises and interesting point about the way that women are seen as unattractive once they break out of the passive and caretaking role, so this is something I would potentially like to explore for my research paper.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/450759?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

In this paper, Jessica Hale argues that Mary Shelley is trying to break down how women are restricted and objectified in a world where males are typically seen as more dominant, strong, and successful. Hale uses close readings of Frankenstein to give examples of these situations in which women, like Victor Frankenstein’s mother and sister, are treated as lesser counterparts to men. For example, on page 12, Hale analyzes the beginning of Victor Frankenstein’s narrative. She talks about the ways in which his genealogy is strange, and the way he depicts his mother as a submissive, domestic woman, and his sister and an object that he needs to protect. This close reading supports Hale’s argument that Mary Shelley is trying to expose the way which women are treated during this time: weak, submissive, and in need of a protector.

In addition to close readings, Hale also incorporates outside sources to defend her arguments by stating that other readers have shared her opinions. She mentions Deane Franco’s analysis of the gazing of the different characters (all male) and the effect that has in amplifying the importance of the homosocial relationships in the novel. Not only does Hale analyze these glances and stares as important to the significance of the intimate male friendships. She also uses Franco’s analysis to back up her argument that the novel focuses the homosocial relationships to emphasize the role of the male opinion in society at this time.

At first, I did not understand what a homosocial relationship was. I knew that it had the prefix –homo­, which means “one”, and I knew the definition of social, however, I was not sure what exactly it referred to. I Googled the definition, but one could also look for it in a dictionary. A homosocial relationship is a non-sexual relationship between only males in a social setting. This only furthers Hale’s argument that society at this time was male-dominated, as most of the relationships were “homosocial,” and in the context of Frankenstein, friendship with a man is the only thing Victor wants.

In Super Sad True Love Story, one thing is always constant, and that is technology. Well, it is constant until all äppäräti stop working. This sudden disconnect from technology, as seen on page 270, is enough to almost destroy the society in which Lenny, Eunice, and the rest of the characters in SSTLS live because without technology, they do not know how to communicate with each other, with some committing suicide. Unfortunately, this is not only true of the society in SSTLS, as  Margie Warrell writes in her article “Text or Talk: Is Technology Making You Lonely?” for Forbes, more people under the age of 35 feel lonely than ever before. This is mostly due to the increased use of technology and social media. Characters in SSTLS are used to judging others and being judged based on their “personality” and “fuckability” and having so much information readily available. They felt connected to each other through this but often did not know how to have real human interaction.

Warrell discusses this false sense of connection caused by technology in her article, stating that young people often turn to social media and technology as an outlet for their insecurities. People under the age of 35 have fewer confidants than people in older generations, as they are more reliant on technology for communication. They do not have as many intimate face to face interactions, which sounds similar to those in SSTLS. Young people in America today and characters in SSTLS rely too heavily on technology for their “connections” and when technology is taken away, they feel lonely and have trouble making real, intimate connections to those around them.

Warrell, Margie. “Text or Talk: Is Technology Making You Lonely?” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2015. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/womensmedia/2012/05/24/text-or-talk-is-technology-making-you-lonely/>.

I find the scene on pages 129-131 particularly dystopic. It describes Lenny and Eunice disembarking a train and encountering many security guards, as well as people of many different nationalities. This scene also portrays the security guards as hasty and accusatory, as they scan each person’s apparat and make judgements based on their information which should remain private. They scan Lenny’s apparat and deduce that he is guilty of “malicious pervasion of data.” These officers judge Lenny for only what they see on his apparat, which is not a fair representation of his true character. Unfortunately, rash judgement is not only seen in Super Sad True Love Story, it can be seen in America today, as was the case in Ferguson, Missouri. Many have concluded that police officers stereotype African Americans as more violent, and therefore are more likely to use unnecessary, excessive force.

This image shows a person, looking innocent to the viewers of the photo, facing armed police. This image relates to the scene where the security officers are accusing Lenny of “malicious pervasion of data” without having any incriminating evidence, much like the police officers in this image. Sadly, even when they release Lenny, the officers are rude and condescending, solely because they knew a few choice things about him from his apparat. This image reminded me of the racial stereotypes in Ferguson, not only because of the way the officers act toward Lenny, but also because he mentions the diversity of the area. This scene represents a sadly realistic dystopia in which people are judged based on a few facts that others know about them, which is magnified by the fact that anyone can glean information about a person from their apparat.