Author Archives: Alyssa L.

Essay One Pre-Draft

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The Ideology of Savagery in Brave New World

            The concept of savages in this novel arises with the introduction of John, a character who lives outside of the society at the savage reservation. He and the society he lives within are deemed savages because they are not a part of the World State. The true issue here arises with their title of “savages”, what truly makes someone a savage? To fully understand this, we must first understand the true definition on the word. As per dictionary meaning, the word savage has two different meanings; One, the word can represent something in a state of nature / wild, or uncivilized. Two, the word can also represent a brutal or cruel person. So, with this information, who are the true savages in Huxley’s A Brave New World?

When the first meaning of the word is taken into consideration, it becomes clear that the people who live in the reservations are savages. But when it comes to the second meaning, the ideology behind savagery gets flipped around. Most of the people living in the World State find their civilized world is perfect. They don’t see anything brutal or cruel about it, yet people like John who have a different set of values, feel uncomfortable in this so called civilized world and want to escape it. This is due to the harsh reality that the people the World State’s society associate as savages are in fact by far more civilized, and the ones thought to be civilized are indeed, the true savages.

From the first opening scenes at the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Center, a group of boys are exposed to the factory process used to create humans. Conditioning them for their predestined roles in the World State society. The Hatchery destines each fetus for a particular caste in the society. The five castes are Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon. Here the group is introduced to the Bokanovsky’s Process,” One egg, one embryo, one adult-normality. But a bokanovskified egg will bud, will proliferate, will divide. …………Making ninety-six human beings grow where only one grew before. Progress.” (pg.17). This process in its self isn’t an act of savagery, one may argue that its’s just the use of technological advancements. But the conditioning process the embryos endure can be categorized as cruel and inhumane.

The three lower castes are conditioned to be identical to one another, and are conditioned to be mentally inferior to the two upper castes. Fetuses destined for work in the tropical climate are heat conditioned while oxygen deprivation and alcohol treatment ensure the lower intelligence and smaller size. “The lower the caste,” said Mr. Foster, “the shorter the oxygen.” The first organ affected was the brain. After that the skeleton. At seventy per cent of normal oxygen you got dwarfs. At less than seventy eyeless monsters.” (pg.24). It takes a cruel person to talk about the purposeful destruction of human life with little to no remorse. This is the first of many forms of savagery displayed by the World state citizens.

 

 

 

Reflection:

So far, I feel that everything is coming together pretty well. My overall theme behind my essay is exposing the true “savages” in the story. I believe the world state are savages, but I also believe the people who live in the reservation are savages as well, but just in a different form. In the essay, I want to compare the actions and beliefs of both parties.

I am having trouble piecing all the information I have together and trying to organize it in a way that makes sense. I plan on going in chronological order through the book instead of jumping throughout the book to avoid confusion.

Reading Response : There Will Come Soft Rain.

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Based on my reading of “There Will Come Soft Rain”, I can conclude that the setting of the story is in both a place of vast technological advancements, & what seems to be a post apocalyptic time. The human race and society has seemed to vanished. Leaving behind nothing but ” a house standing alone in a city of rubble and ashes”(pg.1). Even though everything around the house is riddled with death the house is surprisingly still very much so alive.The house seemed to be programmed to act out hourly tasks without the intervention of human interaction. “In the kitchen the breakfast stove gave a hissing sigh and ejected from its warm interioreight pieces of perfectly browned toast, eight eggs sunnyside up, sixteen slices of bacon, twocoffees, and two cool glasses of milk.”(pg.2).The house is clearly intelligent enough to know when and how to preform tasks to the point were it becomes alive.”The house was an altar with ten thousand attendants, big, small, servicing, attending, inchoirs. But the gods had gone away, and the ritual of the religion continued senselessly, uselessly.”(pg.2) Despite being technologically advances, the house still  hasn’t come to the realization that the occupants of the home are gone, turned into nothing more than shadowy silhouettes.

Although the house doesn’t seem to realize its providing for people that don’t exist.It seems to be aware of the state of destruction the world in in around it.”It had shut up its windows and drawn shades in an old maidenly preoccupation with self-protectionwhich bordered on a mechanical paranoia.It quivered at each sound, the house did. If a sparrow brushed a window, the shadesnapped up. The bird, startled, flew off! No, not even a bird must touch the house!”(pg.2). The house appears as if its a  living entity who constantly cleans itself and tries to protect itself. So when the dog was allowed in it was obviously because it was special. The dog tracked into the house lots of mud, that the “mice angrily cleaved “(pg.2) and seemed to be looking for the family that once lived there, the McCellans. the dog searched and searched until it dies.

The time came for the house to recite a poem for MRS. McCellans and the poem reviewed a lot of what was going on in their present  present :

“And not one will know of the war, not one”(pg3): This line can be compared to the house’s actions. Actions that seem to prove it was aware of the war .

“Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree,if mankind perished utterly”(pg3): In this story I assume that mankind has perished, leaving the house behind . And the house doesn’t seem to mind or could even care less that they were gone. It just continued its daily tasks as normal

 

Class notes for 2-23-17

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Key To Success in School & Your Career Is To Take Notes.

Homework:

Don’t forget to carry text to our next class.

2 additional comments due by tomorrow night on these suggested topics

  • Family
  • Ch.3 ( The weird/jumping narrative between characters)
  • Notion of freedom ( Bernard pg. 90)
  • Notion of civilized vs. uncivilized ( turning humans into product)

Blog 4 due Monday night.

  • NOTE the blogs need a minimum of 3 citations to be read and graded. Cite when using textual evidence, and power phrasing someones idea. ( Last name Pg.#)

3 Main Components To Blogging:

  1. Actually posting blogs
  2. Class discussions ( Participation)
  3. Posting indepth class notes

Circle Time / Class Discussion:

Key Terms:

  1. Efficiency: to produce great quality in a short amount of time.
  2. Mass Production:
    1. We discussed the idea of humans being mass produced
    2. Mass production = Efficient
  3. Assemble Line:Using unskilled workers to complete small tasks that eventually when combined create a whole
    1. Henry Ford and the Model T
    2. Opening scenes of the book
  4. Industrial Revolution: Machine and technology cause paradigm shift
    1. Paradigm: Significant change in events
      1. example: 80’s -90’s Revolutionize the way knowledge is produced.
      2. Shift from dial up to cell phones
      3. Changed the notion of whats possible in technology
  5. Eugenics: Breeding used to improve a group / maintain best qualities
    1. EU = Good / Well
    2. Relates to genetic modifications & engeneering
      1. Like Nazi Germany ( blonde hair , blue eyes)
    3. Social Darwanism & Social Engenering
      1. Charles idea of natural selection & evolution is closely related to the books idea of social engineering
  6. Hedonism: The achievement of pleasure is ones highest goal
    1.  ” Shorten the interval between desire & pleasure” -Not exactly quoted from text
  7. Utilitarianism: Supports the greater good for the largest group
    1. For example, being willing to screw over some people for the betterment of the larger group

Analysis Of Setting

  • Mood / Atmosphere:
    1. Cold environment ( kind of mechanical )
    2. Dark ( “Harsh thin light hungrily seeking…” )
    3. ” Gray building ” = gloomy, dead. The building its sent was full of life but there was no life
    4. Lab technicians = pale & deceased looking
    5. Summer outside & Winter inside ( in the winter s**t dies)
    6. Building was described as only 34 stories = Massive structures are normal
    7. Only bits of life that were found were in the lab under the microscope
      1. Science / mechanical aspects is whats producing life
        1. Machinery & science = Giver of life

 

  • Discussion on Page 16 & 17:
  1. Motto: ” Community, Identity, Stability”
  2. Values of the DHC & World state
    1. Quality, Efficiency, & Scientific development
  3. ( On page 17, 4 lines down ) The quote talks about the peoples willingness to ‘sacrifice’ themselves for the ‘society’
    1. A momentary incentive of 6 months pa is offered
      1. This shows that the people aren’t sacrificing themselves because its the morally right thing to do. The World State needs to promote the money to bring in people.
  4. Bokanovskys: Biological conditioning, mutation of genes, climate conditioning
    1. Both a mechanism for progress & stability
    2. This idea contradicts each other
      1. Progress = moving forward ant a continuos motion
      2. Stability = Constant / maintaining something at one point
  5. Paradox: Seems like something doesn’t make sense, but in reality its true

 

  • Discussion on page 26:
  1. The secrete to happiness is liking what you have to do
    1. Make everyone like their social standings
    2. No preference = No freedom
  2. Society’s idea of happiness:
    1. Everyone is given just enough knowledge to be content / happy
      1. The lower castes are given enough knowledge to perform their jobs, but not enough to become of their circumstances

 

  • Discussion on page 31 & 32:
  1. Viviparous: Live birth
  2. Smut: Porn / Gross / Sexual
  3. Science vs. Smut
    1. The people are conditioned to break family bonds
      1. Loyal to family = Not loyal to the society

 

  • Neo Pavlovian Conditioning: 
  • Pavlov conducted an experiment with dogs & bells. can to the conclusion that dogs can be trained to associate bells with food, causing them to salivate just at the sound of a bell.
  1. The people in this society are trained to associate thing with things
    1. Hypnopedia = Sleep learning
    2. Electrical shock on infants = Fear books & nature

 

Metropolis Observation

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The film Metropolis is a silent film from 1927, a German expressionist film that depicts a city that is successfully operated by workers, humans who live deep below the surface of the earth.  Life on the surface was euphoric and booming with modernized technology. Yet under the surface the people lived in poor conditions and worked vigorous long shifts. They are like slaves, this gets depicted at 15mins,when Freder daydreams of the machine turning into a huge head like alter  and soon after we see that the workers were bound and being tossed into the machines mouth. The machine was literally and figuratively eating the workers up inside.

This highlights the huge disconnection between the upper and lower people. A quote that’s relevant to the film, ” the mediator between brains and hands must be the heart”at 2mins 51sec, was said multiple times throughout the film. It serves as a form of foreshadowing of the tension to come between the people. The brains being those above ground and the hands being the workers below ground.

Freder first laid eyes on Maria in the Eternal Gardens , mentioned at 11mins 48secs, where he seemed to be starstruck.* SideNote*It surprised me when she was seen with a clan of little boys. this far in the film i hadn’t seen a single child, so i assumed they didn’t exist civilization.  He immediately became fascinated with Maria , and even went as far as following her to the unseen land of the workers. at 13mins 36 sec.

When Freder escapes from above and goes underground to become a worker, he soon comes across Maria in a church like setting, she speaks of a mediator that was soon to come to help the people, who better of a person than Freder? He went against his father who was the Master and showed care for the workers, compassion that was much needed.This is kind of like our modern society where people work for little to nothing making clothing, shoes and cropping . There is a distinct group that does all the hard work then there is a group that takes the outcome and sell it at an exponential cost. The law in some cases stands as Freder, the necessary mediator. When Freder escapes from above and goes underground to become a worker he comes across Maria in a church like setting, she speaks of a mediator that was soon to come to help the people, who better of a person than Freder? He went against his father who was the Master and showed care for the workers, compassion that was much needed. And through an uproar and re

Introduction to Alyssa

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Soooooo hello everyone, my name is Alyssa. I’ve been a student at this school since 2013, which is exactly 4 years this semester. It’s really crazy if I think about it because I honestly still don’t get the ” senior ” vibe, and I can’t even believe so much time has passed without me realizing. I honestly don’t tend to speak up in classes even though I normally have a lot to say. sometimes I feel like there a group discussion going on in my mind, so there’s no need to let words out because I’m technically already having a discussion. And 2 discussions would just cause me to malfunction and go blank. So, if I seem to be in my own world I’m either thinking really hard about what’s being talked about in class or thinking about something totally off topic which has absolutely nothing to do with the class.

I’m an architecture major, I really love it, construction always intrigued me and I would love to do that for the rest of my life. Currently I work full time and go to school full time. I’m an assistant manager at Pandora, the jewelry store not the music app, and now I’m trying to get a job in an area of my field of study. 

I love to look at art and create it myself, in high school I was an art major, and now I’ve shifted my love of typical art to the art of construction and design. Growing up I always viewed television and stories as a form of art, specifically anything Science fiction related. My favorite channel was the Sci-Fi channel before it got foolish with movies like Sharknado. But the original shows like the Twilight Zone, Tales from The Crypt, Monsters, etc. and futuristic things will always have my heart.
Architecture, sci-fi, and my future career goals are kind of going hand in hand. because of global warming, weather changes and sea level rising, future construction methods will have to be implemented in a whole new way. Think of an apocalyptic movie where all coastal cities are flooded or damaged in some way, and society has to rebuild in a futuristic way so that the cities are elevated of have some means of blocking out dangers. That’s kind of our futures and we don’t even know it yet. by 2050 many costal places and beaches like Far rock will be under water, and it’s up to architects and engineers to come up with solutions to save these places.

With me I either really love to write something or really hate to write, no in-between. When writing about something I find interesting, like myself duhhh, it comes with ease. But when asked to write a paper on history or something boring ill literally sit and stare at the blank document till my eyes roll out of my head and start growing fingers and typing the paper for me. my greatest strength in writing or reading is that when I get into something I’m really into it and won’t stop until I feel it completed to perfection. my greater weakness would be my time management skills, they suck, long story short I’m a procrastinator.

I hope to draw inspiration from this class, I don’t like to look at the world in a black and white manner. I like to see the different shades of grays in-between, and I believe science fiction is the gray that I’m looking for.Â