Blog Assignment 23

12. Why do you think the author wrote this story?

Anderson wrote this story so we could get a look at his perspective of the future. I believe that everyone has a vision of what the future holds. Depending on where/when you're brought up, different people's views vary and differ, but at the end of the day everyone's view can pretty much come down to one thing that we all agree on; more advanced technology.
As tears went on, our science and technology advanced a great deal. For example, the car. Nothing too complicated, right? just a box on wheels that takes you places when you give it some gas. Now as the years went on, cars got better in safety and performance and it isn't just a coincidence. Our advanced technology has given us the opportunity to make the car more aerodynamic, therefore making it faster. It also gave us the chance to make cars more safe through design and stronger metals/accessories such as the air bag. And then there's the way we make cars even more convenient by putting radios and blutooth and cameras, and now there's an option to let the car parallel park itself. We are living the future and it's only getting more and more advanced.
Anderson's view of the future consisted of a computer chip inside our heads. I thought that it was pretty original and creative, but the reason why it was most intriguing to me is because it's very realistic.

Blog assignment 22

11. How would the story be different if told through another character's eyes?

Titus seems to be the best person to tell the story. I feel as though he's our external lens that looks inside at the actual story. Because of this, we only see the story through his eyes. I wonder, what would it be like to look through everyone's "lens"? My answer to this question is simple; the book's narration should be told through the feed, our feed.
When I say "our" feed, I mean that the book may have been introduced as the story being in the reader's feed; simulating that we as the audience would actually have a feed and we would read about all of he characters in the perspective of our feed, which represents the external source for all of our information.
I don't know if i would have liked the book better or not, but If there was another person to tell the story then i think it should be the audience's own personal feed. I don't know hoe Anderson would make that happen, but I sure would like to see him try.

Blog Assignment 20

 9. What quality of which character strikes you as a good characteristic to develop within yourself over the years? Why? How does the character demonstrate this quality?

Toward page 170-200 Titus shows a lot of compassion for violet. I don't think he knows why she is so upset but he tries to do a lot for her to feel better. This is a big step for him considering he was pretty dull and careless at the beginning of the book. He would constantly complain about how the moon and space were both boring. He also complained that his friends were annoying and immature; just an overall miserable person and i really didn't like him.
It wasn't long after they all got back to earth that the group of friends started hanging out at parties and stuff. Titus would borrow his parents' car to go pick up violet to take her to the parties. One particular time, Titus states his reasoning for going to one of the parties. "On Friday, I went to pick up Violet at her house for the party. I hoped that the party would cheer her up." (p. 190).
Even though it's not much evidence of a changed characteristic within Titus, I feel that Violet is good for him in terms of character. He has compassion for someone and the reason that I admire this is because I don't care about anyone but myself. It's the most complicated situation that i've ever encountered because I'm conscious of it but i don't know what to do about it or if i even should do something about it. Titus' solution is Violet. Sadly, I don't have one.

Blog Assignment 21

On page 217, Violet asks, “what am I, without the feed?” Are people anything without the feed, in the world of the story?

Violet is a very complex and delicate character. She reminds me a lot of Natalie Torpey. I can;t describe Nat's character, or who she is as a person. I can say that I think of her when Violet alk in the story. They both share this deep-thinking personality that is extremely admirable in my eyes. Violet also reminds me of Molly Tracey from 21 Jump st, which is odd because of the outrageous plot but i get the same vibe from violet as i do when i watch Molly in 21 Jump st. They both think very deeply, and violet impressed me because she brought up a question of identity, "What am I, without the feed?" It brings up a very sensitive idea that these people may or may not possess their OWN identity because of this "feed". She brings up that her life is narrated by the feed. "Everything I think of when i think of really living, living t the full- all my ideas are just the opening credits of sitcoms. see what i mean? My idea of life, it's what happens when they're rolling the credits. My god." (p. 217). This Is a real eye-opener for me as a reader. It pops the same question in my head as to hat we ll really are besides our pictures in instagram, or a post on facebook. Odds are that most of us have never even met half of the followers that we have in person. So is that person that we only followed because we think they're attractive actually real? who are they without their "feed"? Why are you significant?

Does Violet's feed quote make you want to make a real name for yourself?

-Of course. These people don't know a life without the feed. It was a really big deal back toward the beginning of the book when that group (besides Loga) lost their feed. I would want something more for myself than just a feed.

How would you feel/think if you were Titus sitting there with violet as she starts to think and talk so deeply?

-I would think that she is totally foreign. honestly. I don't believe that anyone in the entire book is nearly as complex and interesting as violet and it comes as no surprise to me that she would bring this up, but that's thinking like Anthony. As Titus, I think I'd react the same way.

Blog Assignment 19

What are the pros and cons of the “feed”?

Pros and cons of the feed are pretty similar to the pros and cons of having a smart phone. Some pros of the feed is that you have everything you'd ever need (not including food and water) right at your fingertips. Except it wouldn't be at your fingertips, it's actually in your head. No one can rob your feed out of your hand or guess the password and scroll through your personal things, with ease at least. People can't look over your shoulder and breathe down your neck while you're texting someone or playing a game, or simply scrolling through social media. It's also one less thing to carry in your pocket or hold in your hand, and you can't lose it!
Some cons of the feed are that your brain can be hacked or shut down by an outside source. Right before Eden starts, the old man in the club goes around touching people with a rod that temporarily shuts down the feed, disconnecting it from the brain and therefore also shocking the brain. Another con is that people become very dependent of the feed. unlike a phone, you can't just take away a feed. Parents who want to discipline their children and take their phones can't do that...probably without killing them. But i'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing! Another con is that you'd never if you're a more intelligent person than anyone else because everyone has the same amount of knowledge as the next one. I guess people would have to go by common sense and personality because those are two things that the internet can't teach. A last con is that if the feed goes down, it takes you right down with it.

Blog Assignment 18

10. Who tells the story? Is this the best person to tell it? Why?

One of the characters from the novel, Titus, tells us the story from his point of view. The answer to whether or not he is the best person to actually hear the story from is definitely questionable. My honest opinion; I want to read a book from the point of view of someone boring, or not of high status in the Novel. This gives room to shed more light on the more important or more interesting things that are going on.

There are only two other people I'd rather hear the story from; Violet or Loga. From what I've read, Violet is extremely admirable and smart. She is looked at as some type of perfection by Link, Marty and Titus because of her good looks and intelligence. She explains to Titus about how her father is a college professor who teaches the "dead languages" and how she knows how to speak some of them here-and-there as well. Titus narrates, "When i asked her what her dad did, she said, "hHe's a college professor. He teaches the dead languages". The only reason that I wouldn't want Violet to tell the story is because she fits in with everyone else. She has too much stuff going on that she would also have to narrate herself, too, which makes me kind of uneasy.

Loga, on the other hand, is very different from the rest and my number one choice to tell this story (other than Titus). Logan is an old flame of Titus, but they remained friends. So Loga is part of that group of friends, but she lacks one little thing that the rest of the group has in common; her feed was never hacked by the Hacker in the Rumble Club. That event changed everyone and because Loga didn't share that t experience with them, she is figuratively detached from he friends. I believe that seeing and reading the story in her point of view would be just as intriguing to me as it is the way Titus is telling it, if not better.

Blog Assignment 17

What are the pros and cons of the feed?

   There are many different pros and cons of the feed. A pro that goes along with having the feed is that you practically have the entire world at your fingertips...except it's even closer than your fingertips. The Feed is very interesting. It's a chip that's placed in your head so that the feed's "feed" is inserted into your brain. This allows for less space to be taken up whether it be in your hand or pocket. It also is much less time consuming to have it in your head. For example, you can't physically lose the feed like you can lose a phone or other device. You can't leave your feed on a bus or train or in the back of you friend's mom's car. This means that you don't have to waste time looking for it, which people spend days doing sometimes.
    Some cons of the feed are that it makes people bad with words in multiple aspects. For one thing, all of the characters' grammar and vocab in the text is horrible; even the doctor. It seems to be a norm that people have an extremely low reading level. On page 65, Violet asks Titus if he knows how to read and his response is that he only knows how to read a little because he "protested" it in school due to his lack of interest in the silent E. What good is the feed if it isn't helping with basic knowledge such as reading? It is true that the feed can't be stolen from your hand while you're sitting down waiting for a bus. The bad part to that is that you now have crazy people hat have the potential to get their hands on a magnetic rod that can shut down your feed, putting you in a coma. What good is the feed if it can shut your whole body down by touching you in the neck with a stick?

Blog Assignment 16

5. Describe and explain why you would/would not like to have lived in the time or place of the story.

I think That I really would like to live in this time of the story. It reminds me of a book I read last year in Mr. Feldman's class called Ender's Game. It's about a kid that the officials thought had the potential to save the world from the Bugger's, or aliens. So they recruit him, and they test him by placing him in the rank with all the kids his age and he does exceptionally well, so he got bumped up to the next class, and so on, snd so on until he finally became a commander of his own fleet. The majority of the story, though, takes place in the space station with all of the other kids. Feed gives off the dame vibe as Ender's Game to me so far, which is a pretty goof sign considering i really liked Ender's Game.

I don't really know what it is that intrigues me about being in space freely and staying in bunks with other kids my age; maybe I belong in the army or something, who knows? It's hard to explain. Maybe it's the freedom that all of these kids have while they aren't being parented, but commanded. In Feed, They can just freely go to the moon as they please, as easy as going to the playground. I just know that i would absolutely love that type of environment.

Blog Assignment 15

     A Utopia is a society with no flaws. In other terms, a Utopia is an ideal place that anyone would want to be apart of. Utopia has been used in myths and stories in the past to depict a fictional paradise island in the Atlantic Ocean. I highly believe that people can hold higher power in a Utopia so they can conserve law and order because I believe that any society needs to be regulated. Misusing this higher power, on the other hand is a totally different concept. Remembering that a Utopia is as close to flawless as it gets, abused authority would most definitely go against everything a Utopia is known for. If something is misused, it can no longer be perfect.
     In order to possess dignity in a Utopia, one must be worthy to live in it. A perfect society needs contributors to maintain the Utopian principle, so only the best can therefore be apart of that. There is no question of dignity in a Utopia. This can be compared to an All-Star team in a sport. Only the best of the bunch gets picked to be on the team and everyone's skills are pretty much equally recognized because they made it there. Now, looking up at the contributors of Utopia, much like the All-Stars of an athletic team, they are pretty special people. But from the standpoint of actually making it there, BEING "on the team", nothing seems so special because everyone is the same. The following scene from The Incredibles perfectly epitomizes my point.
   (last line of the clip)    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYmHYQPaHaw

     In order for our society to become a working Utopia, It must meet the requirements of the Utopia. Taking Philadelphia for example, there would have to be a lot of modifications for it to live up to the reputation of a Utopia. Crime rates would have to hit an all-time low, there can't be any "bad" or "trashy" parts of the city. Everyone gets treated fairly and equally. There would be no problem with different races because there would only be one race; Human.