I am undergoing a topic change. My new working topic (as of now) is an evaluation of how lack of privacy stifles individuality along with other harmful effects through the use of Super Sad True Love Story.

Introduction:

I will begin with a brief inclusion of background information as pertains to the book, followed by my thesis. Then my research question will come next along with a ‘they say, I say’ statement.

Body:

I will now include more background information to further establish a foundation for the paper. A lot of my body will focus on the passages where Lenny changes his behavior and likes to assimilate into the new digital culture. Namely, hiding his books when others are around, reading in secret, etc.

I will incorporate studies that have been done that link lack of privacy to conformity, depression, anxiety, etc. I will include examples from the book that demonstrate conformity such as everyone having an apparat and being looked down upon if you don’t have one or have an outdated one. The scene of the FAC will be evaluated to show the negative effects in had on Lenny’s self esteem. The governments privacy invading measures, such as the credit poles, will also be looked at along with the negative consequences it has.

I plan to use quotes from the studies relating to privacy, including the one i discussed in blog post 5. Ultimately I will relate the occurrences in the book to the real life occurrences of similar nature to bring the fictional book into today’s reality and create a ‘so what’ factor.

Conclusion:

Clearly answer my aforementioned research question with the evidence I have gathered.

Last Thursday, I attended the Literature Is Alive event presented by OOMPH! This poetry recitation was interesting for several reasons, the main one being that the poems were in Spanish. Having not taken Spanish since the fifth grade, it was at first very disorienting. While there were English translations, it was not easy to follow along while listening to it in Spanish. I soon realized that it was better to just skim the English translation and then just listen to the Spanish reciting. Because these poems were written in Spanish, it is difficult to capture the melody and harmony of the poetry in English and thus the true meaning of the poems can only be captured by being recited in the language it was written and produced in. Despite not understanding most of the meaning of the poems it was still interesting to hear the poems recited. One thing I realized that was really interesting was that even though I could not understand the meaning, just by hearing someone recite the poems aloud allowed me to differentiate between the tones and moods. Each author recited his/her poem in a different fashion with a different tone of voice and just from this I could detect the tone/mood of the poem without even knowing what the poem was about. I thought at the beginning that because I had no idea what they were talking about I would not be able to really detect a difference, but I was very wrong. I realized how similar it is to hearing a poem in English and detecting the different ways a poet recites it. I also thought the conversation at the end about translation was really interesting. Especially with poetry, I realize how difficult it must be to translate between two different languages and having to decide whether to try to translate word for word or try to capture the meaning. Overall, this presentation was really interesting and I’m glad I had the experience of going and listening to everyone’s commentary as well.

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.

In my research paper, I would like to demonstrate how Mary Shelly teaches people to master technology through humanity via the novel Frankenstein. My main theme is humanity, and my thesis statement is also built around that theme. I would like to give a brief introduction about how people generally view this book as an “anti-technology” novel. After that, I will bring in the scholars’ ideas and indicate the difference. I will then implement my thesis statement in order to show my perspective.

After the introduction, I will first talk about how the monster is driven by Victor’s personalities and characteristics in order to show how humanity can lead artificial intelligence. I will choose a passage from the novel which I haven’t decided which and analyze it. Furthermore, I will quote from Vargish’s article to introduce the idea of seeing the monster as the extension of Victor’s core values. By fusing Vargish’s article and the novel, I will conclude that technologies are only aids to extend humanities instead of eliminating. However, I will mention that the public usually see technologies as potential dangers which contradicts most of the scholars’ ideas.

I will explain why public and scholars think differently by quoting from Nerlich’s article about how fictional works foster the fear among public. In order to support this idea, I will quote the passage about the appearance of the monster from the novel. I will mention how people judge the monster by its appearance instead of its characteristics to create a parallelism between people in the novel and in our society. In order to further emphasize how fictional works cause people panic about technology, I will quote from Orlin’s essay and criticize some points he made by referring to Nerlich’s article.

Last but not least, I will quote from Julian’s article and point out that the lack of humanity is the major issue that causes artificial creatures to become rampage. I will also use Victor’s story and show how his lack of responsibility and humanity causes the monster’s rage and thus leading to destruction.

EFFECTS OF DESIRE: OUTLINE

“DETRIMENTAL HUMAN BEING DESIRES: AN APPROACH TO ADDRESS THE SOCIAL ISSUES OF DESIRE”

I. PSYCHOLOGY OF DESIRE SHOWN IN FRANKENSTEIN

A. Evaluate Victor Frankenstein’s behavior before the creation of the monster

B. Evaluate Victor Frankenstein’s behavior after he gave life to the monster

1. Description of his disgust because of the monster’s physical features

2. Include description of how Victor Frankenstein was affected

a. Physically with the deterioration of his health

b. Psychologically

(1) Behavior – constant isolation

(2) Ruminance – revive in his mind his pain

II. BELIEFS, DESIRES, AND INTENTIONS AND THEIR NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES

A. Relationship between belief, desire, and intentions (BDI Agents)

B. Social psychology used for negative purposes

1. Conformity, Deindividuation, and Obedience

2. Introduce the maximum perpetrator of mass genocide Adolf Hitler

III. HISTORICAL FIGURES AS EXAMPLES OF DESIRE

A. Adolf Hitler and his desire to “purify” the German race

B. Thomas A. Edison and his light bulb

1. Persistence is not always negative – as a counterargument

2. Good intentions, bad consequences

3. Cheating as a defense mechanism

a. Pressures on careers, family

b. Merely personal wishes

My response to this sparkful night is in verse
Because in verse is how the curse
Is able to disperse and the nurse
named Translator can cure
This pure and at times obscure
Words that flow free as birds

Language
You are the one to blame
And the one to thank

I blame you for not being enough
I thank you for allowing the tough
Task of communication
So diverse and converse
So great and limited
So spacious and narrow

Dear Language,
You have many last names
Sir English and Mother Spanish
From one to the other poetry goes
As a boat stranded at sea
From one to the other words flow
Sometimes losing its essence
From one to the other language grows
Sometimes losing its melody
From one to the other glows
Sparkle, dull, soft and numb
Yet always preserving its purpose

Language, altered throughout time
What a crime to be the spine of
All the vice that once sublime
And lost in the climb of a pine
Sometimes losing the prime
Desire to comply with your own shine

My response to this night is in rhyme
Because in rhyme we could
Taste the sweet lemon of words
Smell the aromatic black print
Touch the paper in tears
Hear the beat of letters
See the author’s heart

How I will build to my thesis in my introduction: I will first introduce the movie ‘Her’ in which technology is so developed that it is intervening and perpetually changing the ways people communicate with one another. Based on the movie, I will lead to my thesis about how technology renovates and redefines three aspects of human’s connection to the world.

How I will support and expand on my thesis: I will first list two examples to support my thesis that technology is changing people’s way of communication from the movie ‘Her’ which are people avoiding direct conversation by finding specialists like Theodore to write love letters and instead of having relationships with human, many people fall in love with artificial intelligence. And then I will divide my body paragraphs into three parts, each talking about one aspect from the relationship between human and electrical devices; the relationship between human and human; and the relationship between human and inner selves. Totally, body paragraphs made up by these three points can summarize and illustrate my thesis.

The information needs to come first: I believe that firstly I need to introduce the main story of the movie ‘Her’ and the conflicts of communication ways as opening words. Because I want to start from an exaggerated future way of communication to trigger people’s reflection on how in reality technology is altering our world.

The examples of passages I will focus on from my primary source (movie ‘Her’) are: “You seem like a person, but you’re just a voice in a computer.” and “Theodore: I can’t believe that I am having this conversation with my computer. Samantha: You are not. You’re having this conversation with me.” And examples of the quotes that I plan to use from my secondary sources are “we’re setting ourselves up for trouble — trouble certainly in how we relate to each other, but also trouble in how we relate to ourselves and our capacity for self-reflection.” from “Connected but alone” and “Text messaging – 92% of teens in romantic relationships spent time text messaging with their partner at least occasionally. Talking on the phone – 87% spent time talking on the phone with their significant other.” from “How Teens Incorporate Digital Platforms and Devices Into Their Romantic Relationships”.

On Oct. 29th, I attended the Literature is Alive poetry reading in B & N bookstore. It was 8 pm. The light was dim, a perfect environment to listen to poetry because when we are not able to see very clearly, we will focus more on what we can hear and feel. The tapes we listened to were original tapes in which poetry were read in languages in which they were written. Before the reading started, I thought that since I did not know those languages, there were no ways that I could understand those poems. However, I was only half right. The first five poems were written by a Colombian poet Eliana Maldonado Cano. The reader’s voice was plain, creating a peaceful feeling. I liked the fifth poem “Memory 2” most. In this poem, Eliana writes, “Sometimes we encounter, someone who reaches out from the body without windows…… In the real world this does not exist, we lack the courage to draw the words out from the veins.” I was not sure whether this poem was describing a feeling of admiration or friendship or love. But it is just this hazy feeling and unlimited potentiality that make poetry so beautiful.

Unlike the plain voice of the reader of Eliana’s poems, the voice of the reader of Juan Salzano’s poem was full of emotions. Some words in Juan’s poem “Jellyfish 1” like “translucid animal”, ”omnivorous soul”, ”bears the weapon”, ”explode”, ”scaffolding” all symbolized strong conflicts in the poet’s mind. Correspondingly, the emotions in the reader’s voice changed from passionate to melancholy and sad then to sorrowful and tired; and finally went back to plain and flat, like a kind of exhausted despair. It is true that I could not read the original poem and nor could I understand what the reader was reading but listening to the tape actually created a feeling of having dialogues with the poet. Though there are undeniable linguistic and cultural barriers between us, I could still empathize and engage in this poem. It is just this universal understanding that makes art so great and eternal.

The poetry reading presented by Literature is Alive and OOMPH! Illustrates the indispensable ability to translate poetry between languages. Each of the poems, written and read in Spanish, reflected strong meanings and purpose in terms of both style and structure. In terms of style, the emphasis that the natural, fluid Spanish paces on the words adds significant meaning to each of the poems. Additionally, the variations based on the native tongue, whether from Spain or central/south America added distinct touches to creating more power and edginess in the wording or fluidity and romantic beauty, respectively. On the other side, finding the right words in the English translation represents a key factor in maintaining the correct structure. A translator must be able to keep the same or similar amounts of words in each line to keep specific spacing between words and between lines that the author writes. Additionally, the use of specific question marks, commas, and conjunctions must be somewhat similar in order to keep the intended pace of the poem.

Overall, Spanish poetry just like any language’s specific poetry contains in own important meanings and values. There is power involved, spirit, messages of hope, and pride all integrated into this poetry and maintaining these values to the fullest extent possible is a difficult, but very pivotal task.

Primary (revision of blog post #1):

In the “Eye in the Sky” podcast, one of the speakers on the topic deplores the idea of such an invasion of privacy saying, “There [is] no way you could trust government with this volume of information.” In making this comment, the speaker urges us to reevaluate the ramifications of this advanced technology and the amount of faith we have in the intentions of those who intend to use it.

Secondary (revision of blog post #5):

Kate Murphy further argues the more invisible effects of lack of privacy, including conformity and the stifling of individuality causing depression, anxiety, and the like. Murphy compares privacy and sleep saying that “just as being unconscious for a portion of the day is restorative, so is being unselfconscious.” The essence of Murphy’s argument is that people who want privacy aren’t trying to hide anything as might be assumed, but rather just want to hold on to themselves.