The branch of literature that deals with human responses to the levels of science, technology, and artificial intelligence is known as Science Fiction. Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut are two well-known authors whose stories commonly revolve around this literary genre. Simply stated, all science fiction stories contain elements that imply a warning or message for its reader. Within all three of the science fiction related texts, “The Pedestrian,” Fahrenheit 451, and “The Big Trip Up Yonder,” the authors reinforce that increased advancements in technology can lead to a society based on loneliness and isolation.…
“American Romanticism was the first full-fledged literary movement that developed in the U.S. It was made up of a group of authors who wrote and published between the years 1820 and 1860, when the U.S. was still finding its feet as a new nation.” It’s understandable that when people hear the word romanticism, they think of love and romance. However, the word “romanticism” actually comes from a movement that changed the way in which various literary writers (and artists) expressed themselves, how they viewed the world around them, and how they conveyed cultural and moral values.…
Introduction The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains is a 2010 book written by American journalist Nicholas Carr. In chapter 7 of the book, Carr focuses on the Internet’s effects on the brain’s plasticity and explains the influence of hypertext on the mind’s ability to process information and multitask. Background Carr first introduces his argument of the Internet’s effects on the brain in his 2008 article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Carr states that the brain can be rewired due to technology, which relates to his theory in chapter 7 of his book. Synopsis Chapter 7 covers the topics of neuroplasticity, hypertext, and multitasking.…
The Natural State One minute you hear a ding, the next second you hear a tweet, and the next a ring. Heads are constantly turning to see where the noise is coming from. Carr explains, “We want to be interrupted, because each interruption brings us a valuable information” (Carr 133). Technologies have had a huge responsibility of the brains “natural state of distractedness.” In The Shallows by Nicolas Carr, he explains “what the Internet is doing to our brains.”…
Five years ago, journalist Nicholas Carr wrote in his book The Shallows: How The Internet Is Changing Our Brains. The book is about the way technology is taking away his ability to concentrate. In the book, Carr explored the many ways that technology might be changing the way we think. Carr became particularly worried how it was taking away our ability to think for long periods at a time. Today, Facebook and cellphones have a greater place in our lives than they did in 2011 when Carr wrote the book.…
The short stories, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien and “The Fireman’s Wife” by Richard Bausch have resonated with me after reading them this semester. I am able to draw similarities from what I’ve read and associate them with the story. Doing so made what I read capture my full attention and transport me into the story. Also, I discovered and tackled flaws in my own character in the process. I found both of these short stories to have been thought provoking and an interesting read as well.…
It has came to our attention how our society rejects to acknowledge how what a person does today could affect others in the future; although the ironic factor of these widely read books written almost sixty-five years ago has identified our world today and showed us how dangerous our simple actions could affect us over time. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury has enabled us readers to acknowledge the effects of technology's advancement by showing us how something as valuable as classic literature, music, and art can begin to lose meaning as presented in their society. Considering how literature has shown to have such a powerful affect on our society and how it has predicted the effects of our constant dedication to technology, Fahrenheit 451 has presented a valuable message and warning to those who read the novel explaining how their world could result to our future if our society is not careful…
Whether the world wants to admit it or not, the internet has truly taken over our brains. Not in the sense of complete control, but it does change the way that we think. In The Shallows, Nicholas Carr describes his view on the matter along with many interesting facts to back up his reasoning. He has concluded that internet use switches how some things work in our brains. He debates throughout the book whether this change is harmful or helpful towards how the mind works, but he ultimately decides that the thought process of our society is changing.…
The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. Essay Since the introduction of computers, they have served me for numerous purposes. In his book The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, Nicholas Carr suggests that even though the internet is an important tool, it is also a distraction causing users to be less attentive people.…
A book that strongly influenced me would be On Writing by Stephen King. Truthfully speaking, I initially picked up the book because of its title. I hated reading because it was always a requirement and rarely for leisure. I intended that by reading this book, it would improve my writing techniques. But, I was shaken by how much I enjoyed the book and the art of memoirs.…
Deep Zone by author Tim Green shows the story of an All Pro receiver and his younger brother’s life story. Ty Lewis, a young football player being raised by his brother, NFL wide receiver, Thane Lewis, has a difficult childhood. His parents had died in a car crash and now he is mostly living with his brother or his uncle. Not far into the beginning of the NFL season, his brother suffers from a horrible knee injury, but this doesn’t stop his young career from becoming a future star. He starts off going to a 7-on-7 league hosted by Mark Bavaro, a retired football star.…
The Internet holds infinite knowledge, answers, information, and entertainment; ultimately, the entire world in just one search engine, otherwise known as the World Wide Web. Constantly, mindlessly, and subconsciously we use the Internet, almost as if it’s become our second nature. Most of society finds gratification on instant information, now; “the average number of Google searches per day has grown from 9,800 in 1998 to over 4.7 trillion today” (Academicearth). We perceive this as a positive aspect as technology has improved drastically over the years, however, society may be ignoring the fact how the Internet is changing the way we think.…
My Final Thoughts These are my final thoughts on English 101. I believe people never stop learning and this class is a prime example of it. This class helped me in more ways than one. It helped me with punctuation, comma use and expanded my vocabulary. It has pushed me to think and analyze things in different point of views.…
Two books have been inspirational pavers in how I see the world and how I want to improve it. These books are very different in the content that they portray but similar in their themes of perception. The first book that has developed me as a person is “The Great Gatsby.” A second book is “To Kill A Mockingbird.” Without these books the evolvement of my understandings would be weaker than they are now.…
The books and articles I read this summer taught me to take common topics and change the way I look at them. They covered a wide variety of subjects such as adult life, capital punishment, school shootings, and how my own mind works. They all received critical acclaim and it is obvious why. All the authors cause their readers to question the way they have been looking and going about things. David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech to Kenyon College graduates has received praise because of his ability to break the set pattern of commencement speeches.…