26. Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp

Joy Williams in her article "Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp" she brings up a very discussed topic in the modern days: taking care of the environment. The article begins with a strong criticism on human beings, pointing out the selfishness and ignorance regarding saving the planet. Another topic that she approaches is the environmentalists, and their fame and recognition. Than she mentions the view and intentions of the human mind, how we look for places to construct and not to preserve. Williams compares how rain used to be enjoyed, children would play in the rain and now it is not even possible due to the acid rain. Florida is also criticized because it was built on top of a massive swamp. The article is concluded with the statement that the world had humanist tendencies in the last years, which means that it bends toward the comfort and will of humans, which are ignorant towards any care to  the environment.
Williams starts off attacking the audience, it gathers the reader attention but at the same time offends the reader. Straight off she criticizes the human selfish tendencies and states her point: The nature should be preserved. She goes on and lists, several good examples of how, us humans, are selfish and ignore the environment. The examples are true, and appropriate to the article but they are listed together. In a casual tone, using personal pronouns Williams engages the reader to her interesting topic, but fails to convince the reader. It seems that show is trying to force the reader to convince, if she had done cause-effect-cause-effect-solution than it might have worked better to achieve its purpose, that is, convince the reader to take steps to help the environment.

http://disassemblingwalle.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/savethewhales1.pdf

26. Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp

In her essay "Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp," Joy Williams addresses a very serious issue. She writes about the decreasing nature. The people are losing their respect and love for Nature, replacing it with self-interest. People will only do something about nature if it is convenient for them, which is most often not the case. They will ignore machinery and technology that could save wildlife for more money. Shrimpers could save many turtles and marine mammals by using technology that could help avoid them but they choose not to. They would rather have a larger haul of shrimp than save the lives of other living beings. People will look at marshlands and swamps as their personal filters for the chemicals they dump onto their lawns. When they see an untouched piece of land, instead of admiring its beauty people will admire its potential to build more buildings. Nature has become a source of materials, not something to be admired and preserved. She finishes her essay by saying that this issue can not be solved through politics but by changing the culture and character of society today.
Williams writes about a very interesting topic but it would have been more effective if she had written it differently. The issues she writes about do not seem as bad as they are because of the way she writes. She writes with a detached tone with a cynical undertone. If she had emphasized her dislike for this issue, it would have made it more striking. It was good to include the many different examples that she did to show the various areas humans are destroying nature for personal gain. She could have, however written the examples in a different manner instead of just stating them one after the other. However, her examples are very good in the actual example itself and what it was about. The examples are common everyday things that help the audience relate to what she is writing and realize the damage their behavior is causing. However, she basically writes only examples throughout her whole essay and condenses the main ideas into the last two paragraphs. She writes how it can be solved but the change is very abrupt. It would have been better if she had developed the last paragraphs more and had incorporated them into her writing. Instead of just stating her examples, she should have organized her essay in a more coherent and structured form. Overall, she had good points but was not able to bring them together into a very effective essay. 

26. Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp

      This article by Joy Williams discusses one of the most debatable environmental issues in our world today: saving the nature. Williams discusses that the environmentalists, that are the main people trying to fight for our planet, are also consumers, that without noticing are consuming products that are extremely bad for our environment and that go against their own views. Joy William goes on by expressing how these environmentalist aren't praised at all, since what they have been causing is economic problems, mainly in the food industry. The people who sell shrimp are hated for selling one of the most demanded products in the food industry. Overall, this article show the problem of the concept of saving the world we live in because instead of working for a better world to live in, people just want to live their own selfish life, and stay in their comfort zone. Williams however also warns the reader that for this problem to be solved, we, as a society, must treat the world and each other with love and respect.

      This article is some what a critic to these environmentalist that are obsessed with their own idea of "saving Earth." At the same time, Williams has a way of showing how these environmentalist actually really do want the good of the world. She shows both sides of the argument, and gives credit to both opinions. She makes this article very personal, using pronouns such as "you." Her language is clear and intriguing. She makes the reader actually want to continue reading, even though her topic may not be the most interesting one to the reader. Williams engages her readers with her personal language and rich vocabulary. Overall the article was extremely well written and well developed.

26. Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp

           In "Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp", Joy Williams talks about people's interests and the impact it has on the environment. She begins with a criticism of people's obsession with only their own interests. They have forgotten what nature is and how unique it is. Environmentalists aren't praised, since they are accused of halting economic growth with their limitations on pollutant emissions and exploitation of the earth. This is also the case with the food business, which includes shrimp. Shrimpers provide their highly demanded product, but are criticized for also causing the depletion of turtles that die in their shrimping nets. The tourism business also suffers, since consumers have caused national park managers to adapt the environment to meet the people's picky desires. The creation of motels and roads and the control of wilderness are effects of managers' attempt at modernizing parks, while still keeping the "nature" feel. The same occurs with the highly anticipated, new Everglade city project. The planners say that the new location will be ecological, but, in reality, it is all artificial nature, which actually costs insane amounts to maintain. Nature has become simply a visual entertainment, instead of what it actually is, like what happens in zoos today. People like the idea of a controlled nature and will not give it up easily. They exploit the environment, but do little or nothing to stop the horrible effects. Instead, people just live on with their lives, because they are in a comfortable situation they do not want to leave. Williams warns us that we must change our way of thinking and start giving worth to what is truly important; treating the earth with respect, so that the ecological crisis is solved.

            The essay's author is a terrific writer, capable of conducting different writing styles and beautiful illustrations for her ideas, but fails in being effective at times. Williams writes her essay utilizing first-person pronouns, such as "I" and "you", which causes the essay to have a more personal approach. In her entire essay, the personal pronoun "You" is representative of all. When Williams uses "You", she is speaking to all the American people. At times, however, it seems as if she is accusing or directly confronting the reader. For instance, she says, "You seem to have liked your dinoseb. It's been a popular weed killer, even though it has been directly linked with birth defects. You must hate weeds a lot." Such usage of language may be harmful, since the reader might be offended by the author's offensive tone. Additionally, the author also changes her writing style at the end of the essay. To present counter-arguments to her ideas, she writes from the reader's perspective, referring to him as "we." As impressive as this change of writing style is, it does not prove to be effective. The entire section of counter-arguments, where the change occurs, seems unnecessary, since it does not add much to the author's ideas. On another note, various illustrations and examples are used to describe the author's points. In the first paragraph, Williams explains the decreasing value of nature photographs by utilizing different examples. Some other times, she references contemporary events, which allow the reader to understand what is being stated by connecting it to common knowledge. All the examples, illustrations, and descriptions, however, seem to be a little excessive. The essay could have done better without so many of them, because the reader would still understand the main ideas without having to endure long paragraphs, pages even, of endless explanations.

26.Save the Whales, Screw The Shrimps

Joy Williams expresses her thoughts on the devoid care of the humans on the environment. She her main concern is humans ripping off of nature and not returning back or working to protect it. Environmentalist, who are supposed to help protect the environment, are like any other consumers, not taking into regards the idea of nature but focussing rather on their own benefits. This idea also plays along in the context of fishing, especially in fishing shrimps. The fisherman`s indifference towards other sea animals has increased the rate of bycatches leading to many deaths of those unwanted species such as turtles. Although society knows that it is wrong to destroy the lives of many innocent sea creatures, it is very negligent about this topic mostly due to where its interest is and how it wants to invest in it. This same belief also is worn off in the way which society destroys the environment to facilitate the lives of the people. People are destroying these virgin lands to build motels and house for their own sake.  The author places many rhetorical question entangling the quarries for the readers. The problem doesn't only relate with the environment but with the issue of morals.

In the essay, William writes her essay by directly addressing the problem as the reader`s personal problem. Neither is this way of addressing effective or persuasive. However it can be considered as offensive. Her language and the tone is wonderful, categorized with different and interesting vocabulary. There is a flow in the essay that keeps the reader to stay on track. Although the author addresses the problem directly to the readers by using personal pronouns such as I and you, by the end of the essay, the writer refers to the problem as being our problem that we can solve together. This was very compensating and encouraging to the readers.  

26. Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp

Joy Williams writes an article that deals mainly with environmental issues in today's society. She talks about all the ways people willfully ignore issues such as landfills, ocean pollution, an unnecessary demand for disposable products, and a human tendency to shrink away from nature. She points out how we enjoy controlling nature, driving out animals and mowing grass and chopping trees, confining it to a manageable space. She ends by saying that it's our responsibility to see what we're doing to the planet, be shocked, and take action, not just stand there and let it all happen.

Williams addresses the reader directly in a highly sarcastic way, personally blaming the individual for the problems that she points out; according to her, it's due to the reader's passivity that it happens. She often makes rhetorical questions to which she gives the sarcastic-but-true replies. Her writing style is a bit standoffish and might even offend some, but on the other hand it might be applauded by people who feel above these kinds of practices. So while she writes skillfully, her method isn't so effective when it comes to illiciting a response. Plus, some of her points are difficult to comprehend, especially when she's being sarcastic. Some readers really don't have a clue about what's going on in the world, and being agressive isn't the best approach for these people. Her concluding paragraph, however, summarizes the essay well, and explains what she expects the reader to do. She could have put a little grace into it, though.

26.Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp

      In this article Joy William uses a satirical voice in order to criticize human selfishness and how it is ruining nature. He adressess the fact that people do not view nature as they did before and that now they do not even respect it eough to preserve it. Williams is concerned about every individual and makes a statement that what is happening to the planet is a consequence of everybody's actions, every human being is responsile or the amount of pollution they liberate to the planet. The essay is written n a way that the author adresses the audience: "you, you, you!". This leaves an impression of individuality and that this issue concerns all people and not a selected group.
       The author was sucessful in this article because the thesis was achieved. It was to raise awareness abot what is happening in the planet and she also uses pathos in order to link the reader emotionaly to the issue by saying "it is your problem". Her various rethorical devices such as the use of pathos, logos and ethos help in convincing the reader that something must be done about the environment. Not only does this essay inform and entertain but it also motivates the audience to take an iniciative agains the pollution and devastation the human race is causing on Planet Earth. Overall this essay is very good and compleed is purpouse, entertaining and informing the reader with a satirical air.

26. Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp

      This essay written by Joy Williams talks about how us, humans, are not taking caring of nature, and this is affecting the lives of animals (negatively). She says that the only way we will stop destroying the environment is by changing our own cultural and individual character. Many people in society are aware of what is going on, but choose to ignore the problems because it is less complicated that way. Williams talks about different organizations and examples in society like the Wildlife Services who protect farmlands by shooting, poisoning, and trapping animals (she talks about other organizations like the Environmental Protection Agency and The Forest Service); and how 46 Canadian lakes were contaminated to test the effect of pollutants on the environment. She also mentions that how catcing shrimp is deadly for other marine animals (like whales and turtles) because of TED (Turtle Excluder Device). Williams also explains that growing trees is no longer a solution for air pollution because trees cannot survive in such polluted environments. She concludes by stating that the solution does not depend on politics or technology, it depends on us. We must make fundamental changes in our "personal consciousness" to get things done.
    The purpose of this article is to persuade the readers to take action. Joy Williams is very effective in persuading the reader because she addresses the reader directly. Right in the first sentence she boldly states, "I don't want to talk about me, of course, but it seems as though far too much attention has been lavished on you lately -- that your greed and vanities and quest for self-fulfillment  have been catered to far too much." In this case, she is using pathos. Williams is appealing to our emotional side. This sentence also catches the readers' attention because it is as if she is having a direct conversation with us. She makes the reader to want to read more since it makes us want to defend ourselves. Her tone seems to be angry but casual at the same time. It is as if she were having an argument with us. However, she also uses many sources and examples (such as the Wildlife Service, TED, Canadian lakes, etc.) making her essay more credible. Williams also makes us readers feel guilty (ethos) when she states how people know about the problems but do not do anything about it (I think 90%, if not more, can relate to what I am saying). She tells us how we must change ourselves and our culture if we want to get anything done. The change starts with us, not technology or politics. Williams purposefully makes us feel responsible for what is going on in the world, and also makes us responsible for finding a solution. She makes the reader think further and reflect on his/her actions.

http://disassemblingwalle.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/savethewhales1.pdf

26. Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp

Joy Williams wrote an article about the selfishness of human which eventually led to the destruction of nature. He mentioned that the people`s self-fulfillment have been catered too far. The pictures of animals usually just depict the good conditions of the animals and not what they are actually suffering. The people want to hide the truth of pollution and pretend that everything is fine so that they do not have to feel guilty. The people usually think that the environmentalists are very boring because their job is to be calm, rational, reasonable and willing to compromise. The way that the people protect environment nowadays is to setup a limit for the industries and factories. However, this method was criticized by the people because it limits the economic growth. The farmers also suffer in this system because it will restrict them from using herbicide and pesticide that can pollute the rivers nearby. The citizens want to transform the arable lands into big supermarkets that provide everything they need or even a shopping mall. The Agricultural Department`s Animal Damage Control Unit is an organization that eliminates the animals that can become a threat to the agriculture. The big tropical forests are becoming cow pastures so that more meat may be provided to the people. The shrimps are the biggest victims because they are captured in large quantities and most menus have more shrimp then any kind of meat. The animals like fishes, dolphins and turtles are protected by TED which is a device that would prevent the ships from capturing these animals. However, this device does not protect the shrimps. Tourism also causes a lot of destruction to the environment for it is an industry that just grows bigger and bigger. Nature started to become scenery for the people and it simply a visual entertainment. Each person has their own opinion on wildlife because some people might prefer to see the animals dead while the other likes it alive. No one is willing to give up their car or air conditioner for the sake of environment. Pollution can destroy the whole ecosystem and it takes years for it to recover. Even though the trees absorb carbon dioxide, they will no longer be a solution to the many pollution problems in the society. The trash that we produce tends to last longer than any human on earth because they take billions of years to be degraded. The people must change their attitudes and the way that they look at life since the ecological crisis cannot be solved by politics, science or technology.

             Williams wrote an informative article that urged the people to stop polluting the world that they live in. He adopted an informal language that is suitable for all types of readers since everyone is familiar with this topic. The author used several credible sources to convince his readers about the seriousness of this subject. An example would be when Dr. Lave, an expert environmentalist, pointed out that the people would only give up their things if the scientists proved the damage that it would cause to the society. Throughout the essay, Williams tried to defend his arguments by using many examples. These examples are everyday examples that the readers will be able to relate themselves in those situations. As an illustration, Williams wrote that some people prefer to see wildlife in a museum where there are hundreds of dead species, such as the International Wildlife museum, while the other people prefer to see wildlife in a zoo, where several animals are trapped in a small space. This essay is very complete in its information because the author does not only focus on the problem of extinction of the animals, but he also talks about the problems of pollution. In addition, the essay also has some dialogues so that the author may illustrate the normal reactions of the people when this subject is brought up. The many rhetorical questions in the essay allow the readers to reflect on the subject and rethink their attitudes. In the concluding paragraph, Williams emphasized that the only solution to all these problems is to change the culture of the people. However, Williams could have changed the title of the article because it is not totally related to the subject and it might make the readers confused about its topic.

26. Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp

The essay embraces environmental problems and egoism, something that seems quite unrelated, but have, actually, very much to do with each other. Williams comments on words about environment, how it is "a bloodless word," and how little attention it gets from writers. The essay overall discusses the ways in which humans are engineering, manipulating nature to their own taste, human egoism, and the unnatural way of life we naturally have. Very briefly she mentions dinoseb, a pesticide "directly linked with birth defects" and its continuous use to kill weeds. Williams also criticizes the environmental sin of farmers to use such poisons and kill wild animals who go to their ranch for their livestock. Then, she moves on to "harvesting shrimp." Fishing shrimp isn't bad for itself, but the simultaneous catch of other sea creatures and their slaughter using TED is incorrect. Tourism, the next topic, grows inevitably and desirably, destroying the environment around with the creation of "concessions and motels" with "a clean bed and a hot meal [in] the wilderness." She brings to light the bizarre manipulation to protect animals, "track and tape and tag and band (...) relocate, restock, and reintroduce." Large projects, such as building a city in Everglades, are destroying the environment, because businesses can't stand only looking at "this ancient sea of grass." She implicitly mentions the lie humans tell about liking the environment. They like until it doesn't affect their lives, when it "looks pretty," when it is inside the norms of their tastes. "Nature becomes scenery, a prop. (...) Nature has become simply a visual form of entertainment." It even depends on the person in what type of nature to see; "see it dead or not dead," like in the International Wildlife Museum, "full of dead animals." There is Biosphere II, "a 2 1/2- acre terrarium, an artificial ecosystem" imitating several environments from different parts of Earth. Some lakes in Canada are being polluted for scientific experiments, but the time they take to recover is too long. Wilson proposes a solution to acid rain in order to exemplify the manipulation of nature to save nature by humans, turning trees into genetically engineered machines. Then, the human cling to its own comfort is shown, and strangely, told to "make babies" to solve the problem. Williams breaks the belief that recycling is saving much of nature, but actually, the decrease in produce is the only solution to the growing problem of pollution. If not solved, humanity will face horrible consequences. Some solutions to "the ecological crisis" are "have few desires and simple pleasures. Honor non-human life. Control yourself, become more authentic. Live lightly upon the earth and treat it with respect," etc.

The author constantly assumes the position of the reader. Although she is right on most of the cases, this assuming can decrease the quantitative truth in some readers. She frequently asks questions, including some meaningless, but answers them in a transparent way, assimilating much to a talk, rather than an essay. She uses a very casual way of writing, the tone very relaxed, without much formalities when there are words like "stuff" and pronoun "we." She usually comments on discussed issues in the last sentences of a paragraphs, making remarks like "products are fun." Her paragraphs could've been shorter, breaking them up when the subject changed. She changed topics abruptly, but logically, thus making such errors undetectable. She amusingly uses some illogical approaches for solving a problem, to "make babies" without minding nature. Her arguments aren't very credible, because she doesn't cite many studies on a discussed topic, or her experience, or accurate information on the examples, such as when she wrote about some "lakes in Canada" but failed to mention the location of the lakes, or the name of the lakes. The essay's title is quite unfitting to the topic, because the essay is not about saving the whales and screwing the shrimps, but about environment overall. Yet, that must be because she said, in the starting paragraphs, that the word "environment" is a "bloodless word" and doesn't supposedly call much attention than using the word "screw."

26. Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp

In this essay Joy Williams, a teacher of creative writing and a fiction writer, devotes her writing to express the anger she feels towards the way humanity misuses Earth without being conscious of the consequences of doing so. She begins by attacking societies egocentric worldview, where people have given up on nature in the search of self-fulfillment. People look away from nature because they know that it will be destroyed by human interests and thus feel guilt. This lack of regard for nature is partially due to the fact that society believes it has outgrown it, as is seen in the lack of true meaning behind the cause those trying to protect nature, the environmentalists. These environmentalists compromise the health of earth’s nature for the economic benefits some pollution has for industrialists and farmers. She then goes over a number of scenarios, transitioning form those who produce to the consumer, exposing the lack of regard for nature and the way society abuses it. She begins to testify about the directly proportional relationship of over-harvesting and over-consuming shrimp while destroying the lives of many aquatic animals. She continues to state that growth is the norm, society cannot say no to it but they rather go with it, even though it may destroy everything around them. This same belief allows society to fall prey to the new investments in housing which destroy nature and replace it with what society wants of it. Furthermore, the consumerist society believes that in order to break their own patterns they must be given proof that if they don’t stop the world will become uninhabitable.  She continues by having a conversation with the reader while also answering for the reader, showing how the reader would react because of society’s humanistic beliefs and lack of concern for nature. She concludes her essay by establishing that change can only be made when individuals begin to change and begin to fight against, what the author calls, a “moral issue.”

In her essay Joy William is attempting to persuade the audience to think through the fallacies of society, challenging them to see the destruction culture has brought to nature. She is very affective at conveying this message through the use of narration, description, and cause-and-effect. She is able to incorporate these through her clear transitions which complement her constant change in subject. Her essay was very fluid, clearly transitioning from the different parts of her essay without losing the reader. Furthermore, she is capable of staying on track for the most part, following a set thesis and focus, to challenge modern beliefs about nature and the inefficiency of the world’s attempt to stop its destruction. Her title is misleading, for the reader assumes that whales will have some important part in her essay. Nevertheless, the title carries meaning for at one point, when the author is carrying a dialogue with her self and establishing counter-arguments, she mentions the whale which is seemingly a concern in the eyes of society. Even so, the reader has allowed the destruction of nature and its wildlife, including fish. This double standard in society is part of what incapacitates it, preventing it from seeing the wrong behind what they do. Moreover, the author does a good job overall, expressing her emotions to convey the harm society is causing. She appeals to both the reader's logic, emotions, and ethics to promote her point. She does this by introducing different scenarios which play off of society's failures and by presenting the facts which shed light to the incapacity of mankind to fulfill their role as protectors of the environment. Finally, she proposes how society can change and act, giving the stage to the reader to make their stand.     

25. Future Shlock

    In this essay, Neil Postman talks about what happens after the after shock, which is the future schlock. Postman explains that the human intelligence is something fragile and that it is easily distracted. He goes on by giving examples of such distractions, for example ignorance, superstition, cruelty, neglect, and others. Postman explains that America was known for it's intelligence, however that has changed, due to a gradual improvement in the media and technology. He tells the audience that media is the main reason for this decrease in intelligence. People are so caught up with technology and the media that they get distracted.
    Neil Postman is an amazing writer. His abnormal intelligence is evident through his writing. He has a way of making the reader think through what he is saying and make their own assumptions about it. This article is very affective because it makes one think about how distracted have our society become due to the media. Postman uses several examples of books and movies that show this future shlock. He uses The Gods Must be Crazy and The Producers as examples for movies that exemplify his theory; also, he uses examples of books, such as 1984 by George Orwell, and Brave New World by Aelus Huxley.  All this makes the essay very useful and interesting, grabbing the reader's attention and making them engaged in the subject.

http://169.204.228.86/OurSchools/Hs/staff/jvoigt/APLanguage/Film%20Studies/NeilPostmanFutureShock.pdf

25. Future Schlock

Human intelligence is the most very weak. It "can be defeated by any of one of its several nemeses: ignorance, superstition, moral fervor, cowardice, neglect." Exemplifying Germany, the cultural and philosophical center of the world was vanished in the 1930's, when Nazi Germany rose. Thus, "by 1969, there was no one left in Germany who had the brains or courage to object." Yet, the author wishes to discuss about the country "founded by intellectuals - men of side learning, of extraordinary rhetorical powers, of deep faith in reason," and whose education system has long been tested, recorded, and researched. The US, "Empire of Reason" has now changed from the centuries ago to the "Empire of Shlock." Unexpectedly, he doesn't analyse the process which transformed the US from reason to "slock", but exemplifies two movies about ignorance. About the first movie, "The Gods Must Be Crazy," Postman concludes that some things aren't so valuable "that they are worth admitting envy, egotism, and greed to a serene culture." In the second, "The Producers," he claims that "the produces of American culture will increasingly turn our [culture] into forms of entertainment, and we will become as a result of a trivial people, (...) a people amused into stupidity." The book "Brave New World" has been, as the author argues, the foreshadowing of the US. Ignorance would come not as a form of oppression, but as something "we welcome and love." Consequently, people "are controlled by inflicting pleasure" in the book, differently from "1984." The pleasure he means is the television, "the medium Americans most dearly love, and (...) the command center of American culture. Americans turn to television not only for their light entertainment but for their news, their weather, their politics, their religion, their history." The problem with the apparatus is that "on television all subject matter is presented as entertaining." Politics has turned into TV commercials, and the two possible rivals running for presidency, one of them being the actual president, are "former Hollywood actor[s]." Religious preaching, education, and even news are "packaged a a kind of show." They "[reduce] all events to trivialities, sources of public entertainment," thus making Americans "the most ill-informed people in the world," proved by his research "on the subject of the Iranian hostage crisis." He concludes that the TV "is not the great information machine. It is the great disinformation machine" forcing people "to comprehend the world through fragmented pictures." TV is bad, because it jeopardizes culture. There are two ways "in which the spirit of a culture may be degraded": violently or softly, "the way of the Americans."


The author starts with an awkwardly written phrase. However, as the essay goes on, things smoothly get organized and take their shape between the paragraphs. The concept of Shlock is explained in an excessively vague way, thus making the concept quite difficult to understand what is being talked about. The author also gives some entertaining information basing his example of "slock" on two movies; "The Gods Must Be Crazy" and "The Producers." This is ironic, because such movies that only entertain are a manifestation of "slock." However, he efficiently retold the first movie, for he only gave the important points that were related to the point he was making. Postman cites the book "Brave New World" and "1984," widely known and read masterpieces, which improves his credibility in the essay and facilitates understanding of the point he's making to those who read them. The author curiously uses "their" when he says "their weather, their politics" even though he himself is American. This could mean that he doesn't use television as a "command center" of culture. Overall, his essay has a natural flow on the subjects, and he constantly goes back to the two movies he cited, preventing readers from forgetting his points. He cites his own research, showing commitment and deep knowledge of the subject he's talking about. To prevent misunderstandings, Postman explains his points accurately in the last paragraphs.

25. Future Shlock

Neil Postman talks about a modern phenomenon he named "future shlock". He says that future shock is the confusion caused by the inability to accompany the rapid technological advancement, while future shlock is the decrease in intelligence caused by the former. Human intelligence can be diminished. Such is the case of 1930s Germany, where the people began to reject the praise of intelligence. Scholars left, while those who stayed, submitted to barbaric ideas. The U.S. was once considered the "Empire of Reason", where intellect was praised and used as a foundation to build the country. America, however, is now the "Empire of Shlock," where intelligence is less valued. Postman realizes that America is like the tribe from the movie, The Gods Must Be Crazy, in which the people forgot their responsibilities when they came upon a Coca-cola bottle, a new technology. He also uses the movie, The Producers, which tells the story of a play that depicts Hitler as amusing and fun, to illustrate how, like the audience of the movie praising the play, America has begun to praise what is merely entertaining. Entertainment that we welcome and love is the demise of intelligence's admiration. Television, for instance, has introduced, into every topic, the need for entertainment. Politics, religion, education, marketing, and daily news have all begun to use it to appeal to their audience and to promote their growth. This distracts people from what is really being shown and even distorts what is being shown. People have begun to rely on pictures to communicate through media, rather than language. The problem, however, is not the forms of communication, but the purpose as to why they present and the manner that they present information.

Postman writes fantastically, while strongly defending his claims. The author's introduction is unique, since it presents the topic of the essay by explaining why he decided to write it. Future shock and future shlock are defined in the introduction and are also an example of clever wordplay. The use of both words add a comedic feel to the essay, while grabbing the attention of the reader. Postman, in order to illustrate the reality of modern America, uses two films as analogies to today's society. In addition, to exemplify how entertainment has been introduced into many aspects of everyday life, the author utilizes a variation of examples, such as politics, religion, and daily news, to prove that entertainment has become ubiquitous. Also, in order to verify that entertainment distracts the reader from what is really being shown to them, mentions a survey he did which demonstrated that Americans barely knew anything about Iran, despite that the story of the Iranian hostage crisis was broadcast numerous times throughout the year. Additionally, at various instances, Postman used references to historical figures, historical events, politicians, and experts, in order to add more volume and credibility to his writing. These references are able to defend the claims he presented.

25.Future Shlock

 In Neil Postman's essay, he describes the aftermath of the "future shock," the "future shlock."  He says such phenomenon is a "the rapid erosion of collective intelligence." This  kind of human intelligence creates a society categorized with ignorance and distortion because of how fragile and easily corrupted it is. Postman sets Germany as an example. Germany once was a country of knowledge but it was broken down when so much knowledge suppressed each other and the nation itself. However the author changes his focus to America, a nation that was once known as an Empire of Reasoning, and now turned to be an Empire of shlock. A major alternation was the new development that once bombarded the media and the culture. For this idea the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy and The Producers are introduced. Both movies depict a society where technology and new findings have corrupted the original culture of each society. However these incidents are also discovered in the American society, especially in the entertainment industry, where knowledge and stupidity are misplaced. In politics, news, commercials,  and religion, the important matter of each subject is distorted as public culture has changed them so that it will be more suitable for the audience. The role in which public culture plays in society is distorted, which can destroy itself as becoming a prison or burlesque, an artistic composition. 


Postman displays a persuasive and well supported argument.  He sets various examples related to his argument that the culture has on people. However his essay consists of many fallacies. First of all =, his idea about the Bible is very immature. Either is it well developed nor comprehensible. It was somewhat offensive to me as an audience who likes the Bible. Postman also places trivial but big mistake in the essay. He refers to some of the preacher he writes a list of names of preacher from history. Among them is Johnathan Edwards and Charles Finney and George Whiteside, who is a chemistry  professor at Harvard. This is a mistake that the author makes. He refers to some other person by misspelling the actual preacher's name that is George Whitefield.  I was disappointed with the mistake the author made of not considering the small mistakes in his essay, but rather so concentrated in expressing his critical views about the world. It is a well written essay but the author should have been more meticulous about his work.

25. Future Shlock

Neil Postman starts his essay with how fragile human intelligence is and examples of how quickly it has been suppressed in the past. He uses the example of Germany during World War II and how they burned many examples of literature and art during this time period and how many great minds were forced to flee. He continues by explaining that Germany was the most striking example of the fragility of human intelligence and writes that his main focus however, is the United States of America. He is worried about the decline in American intelligence even though he does not believe it will be as extreme as Germany's and because it is a country built upon scholars. To help his explanation, Postman includes two films. The first one is The Gods Must Be Crazy and he uses this movie to introduce these two questions, how does a culture change when new technologies are introduced to it? And is it always desirable for a culture to accommodate itself to
the demands of new technologies? The second film is the Producers and uses this film by saying how it prophecies how America will eventually history, education and politics into forms of entertainment, and as a result the people will become trivial. He continues with the different examples of 1984 and Brave New World Revisted and how in the first book people are controlled by inflicting pain and in the second, pleasure. He writes how everything serious is turning into a silly joke, the main reason being the television. Everything is broadcasted through the television, entertainment, news, weather forecasts and that is the reason for the downfall of intelligence. All things of importance are showcased on commercials, sitcoms and soap operas, as a result television has destroyed the line between entertainment and politics. However, politics is only one area that has been completely destroyed by television, the next one is religion. As a result of all the things broadcasted on the television, it has lost its sacrality, tradition and respect. Another aspect that has lost the line between entertainment and seriousness is education. However, television is not a great source of information. It only teaches certain things and leaves everything else blank. It has conditioned the minds of people to look at the world through broken pieces and fragments. He writes that the television has made the people become more visually orientated but also includes that he does not oppose this but rather the role it has in society. He finishes his essay by referring back to his example of The Gods Must Be Crazy, by stating that it has never occurred to the people that the gods might be crazy but how it does not matter because there is no place for people to throw away the bottle.
Neil Postman writes a very shocking essay about the diminishing of human intelligence. He starts with a very effective and good example of when human intelligence diminished. It was so effective because it was Germany, a country iconic for burning knowledge and culture. He also utilizes other very effective examples of movies, books and people while also incorporating them very well throughout his essay. He uses a very strong vocabulary and his essay is well structured. His essay flows together in a very easy manner. He conveys his message very well and is able to support his stand with well-placed arguments. He seems to have an intense, almost angry tone at times. It can also be argued that his tone was to the point of disgusted at how low the people have fallen. While his examples of books and movies are very well-placed, he does take the Bible out of context near the end of his essay. To people who are unfamiliar with the Bible, it would look very legitimate but to people who are familiar, it only looks silly and lowers the overall quality of his essay. Other than that, Postman wrote a very engaging essay that urges the people to deal with the problem at hand. It was very smoothly written and easy for the reader to follow his ideas.

25. Future Shlock by Neil Postman

                The author of an article called “Future Shlock” by Neil Postman, defined his title as “the rapid erosion of collective intelligence”. He goes off to talk about how Germanys educational system was one of the best, until racial issues arose, and teachers lost their jobs. After using Germany during WWII as an example, the author concludes that human intelligence is extremely fragile because of its facility in being manipulated and corrupt. Later some movies are used to prove his view, movies such as The gods Must be Crazy, and The Producers. Not only movies but books as well are brought up to prove his point, these book are 1984 by George Orwell, and Brave New World by Aeolus Huxley. Postman explains that in one book they treat intelligence with suffering, yet in the other book they treat it with good feelings. Both of these examples lead to America and how americans are corrupting intelligence with entertainment. Society is suppressing knowledge because its considered ignorance and promoting ignorance because its considered knowledge. This causes people to avoid and not confront the real issue at hand like politics, because of entertainment.

               Neil Postman article has an interesting view in life. He not only has an interesting view, but he proves his view or point, with clear examples and arguments. He prove his view about entertainment, using entertainment (books and media). The way the author writes is formal, and informational. For the reason that the author had many good examples that fit and proved his argument, he is able to form a good ground for his view and argument. Overall the author wrote a thoughtful and deep essay that rises up a point that not manny people realized or dared to think about. 



http://169.204.228.86/OurSchools/Hs/staff/jvoigt/APLanguage/Film%20Studies/NeilPostmanFutureShock.pdf 

25. Future Schlock

     This article written by Neil Postman, addresses the American intelligence and how it has been hindered throughout time (thesis implied). Postman first introduces the subject by talking about Germany in the 1920s, and how it was hailed for its highly-esteemed scientists and intellectuals. Then, a decade later, all that knowledge became "barbaric irrationality" (Holocaust and so on). During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, America seemed to be "founded by intellectuals". However, something gradually changed. The age of media began, and intelligence seemed to diminish after that. Postman talks about how people don't turn television on only for "light entertainment" but for news and every sort of entertainment. People do not seem to read the newspapers or read a good book for entertainment anymore. The information we receive from television (and the internet) eventually shapes our image of culture and even principles. Postman then refers to two movies The Gods Must be Crazy and The Producers to show how technology has affected society.  The Gods Must be Crazy talks about a tribe from the Kalahari Desert that gets a Coca-Cola bottle when it was dropped from a plane. The people from the tribe believe this bottle is a gift from God, but this bottle ends up changing them from civil to a tribe that becomes jealous and greedy as they fight over it (which almost destroys the tribe). Postman says that the Coca-Cola bottle symbolizes technology, and explains that the more we are exposed to it and the more advanced it gets, the more our intelligence is hampered. The Producers is about a con man who is trying to rip off from people by making a ridiculous Hitler play. The play ends up becoming successful, and the con man gets arrested. What this movie symbolizes are how American producers turn everything into entertainment (history, politics, religion, etc.) and display through television (and the internet). Despite all of this, Postman does not think entertainment is bad per say, unless it consumes society in the way it does today.

     I believe this article is effective. The tone of the essay is very serious, and the audience is more targeted to those who are too involved and consumed by technology (it's like a wake up call). The purpose of this selection is to persuade/inform; to make people aware of the impending problem that does not and will not go away (in fact, it's growing worse). Neil Postman addresses very interesting points about technology and entertainment and the negative impact they have in society. He provides great examples to explain his theory, like Germany's intellectual transition from the most literate nation to barbarians and the two movies mentioned before. This article is also very relevant to the present, therefore, many readers (if not all) can relate to this topic. This topic makes the reader think about what is wrong with us today, and how we transformed the way we did. It tackles a serious issue, and makes one wonder what the future will look like (not very good in my opinion).  

http://169.204.228.86/OurSchools/Hs/staff/jvoigt/APLanguage/Film%20Studies/NeilPostmanFutureShock.pdf

25. Future Shlock

            Neil Postman explains that future stock is the rapid erosion of collective intelligence. Human intelligence is a very fragile thing because anything can distract it or even annihilate it. Superstitions, ignorance, cruelty, cowardice and others can all have an effect on someone`s intelligence. Although the United States is one of the few countries that founded learning and had several intellectuals, the country also suffered from the lost of intelligence. Many years ago, America was referred as the Empire of Reason; however, today this statement is no longer true. The valuation of intelligence in the American`s use of language, logic and reason has significantly decreased. The people change once the technology improves because the people start to love an object more than themselves. Aldous Huxley, the author of Brave New World prophesied that the people would destroy themselves not with concentration what we fear or hate but instead, with what we welcome and love. The television is the biggest influence in one`s intelligent understanding of public affairs because although it has some serious subjects such as news, politics, history and weather, there are also many junks that distort the mindsets of the Americans. The media nowadays is more concerned about bringing entertainment to the audience, therefore, most of the time, every channel involves music, celebrities and dynamic film footage. The television does not inform the audience about some basic information so it is not a great information machine and it is the paradigm for all our attempts at public communication. When culture becomes distracted by trivia, political and social life are simply a round of entertainments and public conversation is only a form of baby talk, then the nation would certainly find itself in risk of cultural death.

             Neil Postman wrote an article to warn the readers about the decreasing intelligence of the Americans. He starts his essay with the story of when he first had the idea of future stock with his friend, Charles Weingartner. This short story is a good attention getter and it also introduces the main topic of the essay since he explains afterward his own definition of future stock. He tells a brief example of how Germany had lost intelligence by burning all the intellectual books and exiling scientists and philosophers who would disagree with their opinions. This example allows the author to skip directly to the Americans and how they have lost their intelligence. Postman consulted several experts and asked their opinion about the subject so that he could raise the credibility of his article. An illustration would be when Aldous Huxley mentioned that the people are welcoming things that would destroy themselves. When the author started to talk about the impact of television in the audience, he used many examples to defend his arguments. The used examples that are well known among the people such as Sesame Street to defend the fact that media is more concerned about entertaining their audience rather than teaching or informing the people. Although the author focuses on the downfall of American intelligence, he also mentioned about the period when America was considered as the Empire of reasons to emphasize that America was a very intelligent country. However, he could have talked about other examples of why Americans have lost their intelligence instead of just focusing on just television.