Answer TWO of the following in a brief paragraph (a few sentences). As long as you give a thoughtful response based on your reading, you'll get credit for this assignment. What won't get credit is (a) not doing it; (b) turning in a single sentence response; (c) restating the question without giving an actual answer. Remember, these are designed to make you think "inside" the stories and start writing about them...and this will help you on the paper assignments to follow.
QUESTIONS (respond to any 2):
Q1: Both stories
are “what if?” scenarios that show a world not too far removed from our own.
That is, it’s not about aliens and spaceships, but a world that almost resembles our own, if just this
or that happened. What makes one or both of these stories disturbing
predictions of the future? Why should we be concerned?
Q2: How can you
tell that “The Daydreamer by Proxy” is a satire? (remember, a satire pretends
to be serious through irony—stating the opposite of what it really intends; the
point is to make fun of some person or idea). What, specifically, is the author
satirizing in this story? Focus on a specific passage that wants us to see the
absurdity of this situation.
Q3: “Headshot”
gives us very little context for the story, but instead simply throws us into
the conversation between an interviewer (for CNN) and a corporal in the USMC.
What does “democracy” mean in this world, and how does it relate to military
operations? Why at the end does Corporal Peters say “that’s how it should work.
That’s democracy” (126)? Does he believe this—and why?
Q4: Julian
Mortimer Smith, who wrote “Headshot,” explained that “we rarely see photographs
of dead bodies in newspapers. The images we see of war are often highly anesthetized
(made more pleasant, artistic, etc.), sanitized for consumption around the
breakfast table. When images of death do appear in newspapers, they provoke
strong reactions—outrage, letters to the editor, cancelled subscriptions”
(286). How do you think “Headshot” is trying to comment on our relationship to
death and the battlefield? In other words, why do you think he wrote this
story?
Cameron Corbin
ReplyDeleteQ3. Democracy in the world of "Headshot" literally means democracy in the most direct sense of the word when relating to the battlefield. Common U.S. citizens have the power to view war from the P.O.V. of actual U.S. soldiers, and through a quorum have a direct say in giving orders to the soldiers. In a way, common citizens have taken the place of high ranking military officials. Corporal Peters praises this form of democracy because regardless of the ethical ramifications, this is literally a form of direct democracy. U.S. citizens get an exact say of what will happen in war in this world.
Q4. "Headshot" is an interesting short story because it brings us into a world where people have become accustomed to the violent real life aspect of war. In our modern day, the general public is very comfortable talking about war; however, Smith suggests that this is due to the lack of actual war images that are brought before the main stream public. The average population does not realize the actual toll these wars take on the nation in which they are fought. "Headshot" on the other hand drops us into a world where people not only see the actual workings of our wars, but are comfortable with actively participating in the process from the comfort of their living rooms.
Grant Powell
ReplyDeleteQ1. In "The Daydreamer by Proxy" there is a disturbing predicted outcome of the future. For example, the Daydreamer is seducing the mans wife. He is making her laugh like she's never laughed before and he is making her do things that are unheard of. What makes it really disturbing is it goes on to say, "Relax. This is normal" as things like this will certainly happen again in the future.
Q4. In the short story "Headshot", the author is bringing us into the world we live in today, where violence is a common aspect of our everyday lives. In our everyday lives, people are comfortable talking about the war and what goes on, however, we actually don't know exactly what is going on in the other countries and we don't see the gory pictures of the war itself. This is what the author is trying to tell us. He gives us a real life picture of what is actually happening in the war, and has a process where the people are comfortable discussing the world in their everyday lives.
Q1. Although at first these stories seem preposterous, once we take a deeper look these things are not all that unlikely. We live in a society where we are glued to our phones. We constantly are looking for the approval of others in any way, shape, or form. In the first story, the robot more so becomes the human, while the human transitions into the robot.
ReplyDeleteQ2. This story is satirical because the writer obviously is not foreseeing these events happening in the future. The author wrote this story as satire to show how we as individuals need our imagination. That is who we are, and once the robot is attached it drains your personality and takes away everything that you are.
Q1: Both stories are “what if?” scenarios that show a world not too far removed from our own. That is, it’s not about aliens and spaceships, but a world that almost resembles our own, if just this or that happened. What makes one or both of these stories disturbing predictions of the future? Why should we be concerned?
ReplyDeleteI think their disturbing predictions of the future because of the amount of control each one shows. In the first story this company installs their daydreamer and it begins to take over your memories and appearance like the man in the last part of the story discusses. In the second one the military can’t even make the decision to take out a wanted terrorist without the permission of the citizens, whom have no experience or knowledge of the job.
Q2: How can you tell that “The Daydreamer by Proxy” is a satire? (remember, a satire pretends to be serious through irony—stating the opposite of what it really intends; the point is to make fun of some person or idea). What, specifically, is the author satirizing in this story? Focus on a specific passage that wants us to see the absurdity of this situation.
Daydreamer by Proxy is a satire because they sound like a cheery infomercial. They’re trying to sell you on their “life changing” product. A product that basically takes all fun out of your life and makes you a workaholic. I think the author is satirizing infomercials kind of. The ones that tell you about incredible advances in medicine that sound sketchy, but they try to convince you it’s not. One specific part that showed me this is the Q and A section. These people are sending in their concerns, and their concerns sound horrifying, then the company says don’t worry this is normal, but these situations don’t sound normal at all. Which honestly does sound like many different fads throughout the years.
Bailey Copeland
ReplyDeleteQ1: In The Daydreamer by Proxy the company creates a false appearance about what they really want from their workers. The company wants you to live, breathe, and love them more than you do your own family or anything else in your life. They even go a step further with putting a creature on your back to stop you from daydreaming. In our society today we are too attached to our phones to realize what is going on in the world around us. Everything we do in this generation is influenced by social media and technology. We are like mindless zombies being controlled by the device in our hand. It might not be a creature on your back like in the story, but it does give anyone the false appearance of whatever they want.
Q2: When the company is trying to “sell” their Daydreamer by Proxy the author makes it sound like a commercial on the T.V. for something everyone should buy like it’s the best thing ever invented. As the story goes on we see the creature becomes more and more like the person you were, instead of the lifeless robot you’ve become. In the story the creature on your back starts to drain you of your daydreams which set us apart from each other and from the technology we use. As the story is finishing the author puts in “relax its normal” this shows us that the people in that time think this is normal.
Garrett Wallace
ReplyDeleteQ1 In daydreamer Proxy the likely hood is very likely. Every day science is advancing in technology and especially in gene splicing. Like they say in the story, they're modifying and creating new creatures, ones that maybe even one day could take over the human mind.
Q2 Daydreamer by proxy is definitely satire. At the end of the story when the people are asking questions, the man asks if it was normal that the thing on his back was supposed to be talking the way it is, and why it was starting to even look like him. At the end he states that it is even seducing his wife, and apparently that's all perfectly normal. This parasite is supposed to be making their lives better, but really it's dehumanizing them. And they're making people feel like they need this.
Rachel Griffis
ReplyDeleteQ2.) The satire in "The Daydreamer by Proxy" is because they talk about how it can make your life so much better but in reality it can make it worse. It can take on your personality and start talking like you. It went as far as seducing someone's wife. The idea of the whole thing is very disturbing and we think that we would never get to that but one thing that makes it disturbing is that we could eventually think this is a good idea, or something close to this.
Q4.) "Headshot" is showing that we are very sheltered from the truth of war, we don't talk about it but if we do it is, like Smith says is highly anesthetized. We don't like seeing what war really is, we don't like talking about it, but we are okay with sending our loved ones over into it. Smith is trying to show us this in the story, how we are avoiding what is actually happening to keep us comfortable.