English 485: Expedition Adolescence

The story of Feed by M.T Anderson was a very unique and creative read. I found the language in the book very hard to understand. The slang and the repetition of the word "like" was very excessive but I can also see how the author puts an emphasis on the language to make fun of that generation. The book set in a futuristic world and is told in the narrative of Titus, a teen boy who talks about his life with the feed. In this society, the feed is implanted in each person's head which is a constant stream of internet content. According to Titus, "school is run by the corporations, its pretty brag, because it teaches us how the world can be used, like mainly how to use our feeds" (109). The world they live in the book is very consumer and technology-heavy. My favorite thing about the book is how the author wrote in a satire style that covered up similarities to real problems in our world. Similar to the GPS the feed leads the characters to destinations as we see whe...

      Adolescent literature's best function is to expose and challenge aspects of society to younger readers which allow the reader to be more open-minded and mindful of whatever the book is trying to teach. Feed does the effectively, the book is challenging the use of technology and consumerism, which adolescents have grown addicted to.       Technology was so highly thought of for most of my life, but the stigma surrounding the innovation is changing because fears relate-able to this book. What was originally something that was supposed to broaden and open our world to unbelievable connections and communication possibilities has actually narrowed our attention and time greatly. People choose to watch their twitter feeds more often than have an uninterrupted conversation with someone. M.T. Anderson wrote this book almost twenty years ago, yet was able to predict the fears that many people have today about consumerism hijacking our agency as online addicts...

Throughout reading Feed I kept having two incredibly juxtaposed ideas and value appear in my head. There is constant conversation in our time about “how much screen time is too much?” Or “when is too early to give children technology. The themes presented in this book show a grim future for the world that values technology so highly. I understood and agreed with that idea. However, another nagging voice in my head had another opinion. With the world having constant evolution in industry, technology, and economy we are constantly in need of new innovations. Learning has also began slowly evolving in the world with the evolution of technology. We are now seeing computers, iPads, even 3-D printers become available in schools to aid education because stem and technology jobs are in incredibly high demand in this new society. So when it comes to this conversation, should we shield our children from technology? It could help them mature socially more effectively. However, it could have an ...

                  Feed, written by M.T. Anderson, is a futuristic novel that forces its readers to think about and question their own habits. Anderson’s story involving the overuse of technology really makes me think about how much I depend on it on a daily basis. It has become a way for me to communicate with people around me, fill my time, keep up with current events, get from place to place, and much more. Even my homework and classwork are centered around technology oftentimes. Because of how much I use it, to be without it seems like the worst possible option. Leaving the house without it can be one of the most frustrating moments of the day, which is truly sad. If we are moving this way as a society, then how far are we from being like the society in Anderson’s novel? On page 141, Titus is talking about school when he says, “Now that School is run by the corporations, it’s pretty brag, because it teaches us how the world can b...

In Anderson's novel, Feed , we are taken on an incredible journey to the moon with a cast of teenagers whose world revolves around the advancement of technology. Through this creative novel we are able to see many different things that can connect with our world today, which is extremely important when you are teaching to adolescents. The reason being is because at this stage in their life they want to be able to relate to the novel in some way or another so they can be interested from the beginning all the way to the end. One of the major things Anderson wants us to realize is the fact that you don’t always have to conform with what society is telling you to do; even if you’re going to be an outcast. The other big point Anderson is trying to display through this novel is the fact that humans are destroying the earth because their whole lives revolve around technology. One of the main points that Anderson tries to convey to the reader is that you don’t always have to conform th...

In Feed by M.T. Anderson, there is a clear loss of identity in the characters and society as a whole. The advertisements that tell them what to like and what is the newest style causes there to be no diversity. Everyone likes the same things and acts the same way. Anderson writes, "There's nothing but feed telling you, this is the music you heard. This is the music you missed. This is what is new. Listen" (Anderson 5). I think this is a very important aspect of the novel because this is something that is becoming a huge problem especially among adolescents. Adolescents see advertisements on television and social media. Most adolescents all have one or more source of technology and the media is constantly feeding information of things that are most popular and accepted right in society. The bad side of this is that some times things that are unsafe are advertised as popular. For example, a few years ago when juul became popular, everybody wanted one just to say they had ...

Within the novel, Feed , M.T. Anderson provides an in depth critique of a society that is slowly growing to depend on technology.  He does this through a main character in the novel, Violet, who is suffering from major damage due to her Feed malfunctioning.  American society has become so dependent on technology that people have almost become inhuman; Anderson is foreshadowing the future of realistic America.  Violet is definitely the character that feels to be most prominent within the societal critique that Anderson is presenting.  Anderson conveys most of his message through Violet by creating a personal connection to the audience; Violet is much more ‘human’ than her friends who have lived their lives solely through the Feed.  Violet continually resists the Feed and often questions its purpose which angers and frustrates those around her.  For example, when Titus has Violet over for dinner, Titus’s dad becomes very frustrated with her questioning th...

    M.T Anderson’s  Feed  is a novel that takes place in an imaginary universe that involves only the care of the virtual things in the world instead of real-life tragedies. While reading this book, I came across a lot of interesting themes but the main theme that intrigued me the most is Consumerism. In this story, a “feed” is a device that is implanted in humans which provides unlimited information, entertainment, and advertisement to all.  Of course, while reading this it was a little scary considering that it relates to what many of us have today, cell phones. Cell phones provide us with the same amount of resources that a feed would except they are not instilled inside of us. Seeing how this feed affects the different characters when they hang with each other is also a prime example of a problem that our society faces today: the habit of talking to each other more virtually instead of interacting while we’re in person together. “We all s...

Feed by M.T Anderson is a dystopian novel that creates a futuristic world that relies heavily on implanted technology devices and big corporations' business. This novel follows a group of teens that are a product of the new “Earth” and struggles to see what reality is. In his novel, M.T Anderson presents a world that is segregated, not by race or religion but instead by economic class. Titus and his friends are the wealthy elite that have access to many products amongst the feed. Titus and his friends are so pampered that they are oblivious to non-wealthy people’s problem. We see examples of this throughout the novel when reading about the current condition of the Earth’s environment. The mass amount of pollution produced by big companies are causing the deaths of many people all over the world. The privileged life that Titus and his friends have lived is separated so far away from this devastation that feeling the need to take responsibility for their actions do not register withi...

I've pointed out a lot about how most novels are products of their time. Feed was written in 2002 when technology was reaching a new momentum so I think Anderson does a good job of playing on the fears or debates that surround technology. I enjoyed discussing references to history in the book today in class. It made me appreciate the book that much more. One theme that I find to be worth discussing is that of resistance. Feed is a sort of critique of the present. Today we may not have chips implanted in out brains but some may argue that we are to an extent victims of corporate brainwashing. We live in a day where the government seems to ignore evidence of environmental degradation and corporate control. I noticed that Anderson dedicated his novel to "all those who fight the feed." I like to look up "things that readers miss in ___" for every book I read and that's what i found. This suggests that he wants his readers to be aware of changes in society, to de...

M.T. Anderson's novel Feed was very interesting. It is set in the future where people can take a vacation to the moon or other trips in space. In the novel the kids are on spring break and they decide to go to the moon for their vacation. The kids were guided by the feed in their heads that they received at birth. The author has created a vision of what life will be like in the future, and the language will involve a lot of slang. The author builds his own reality using the possibility of what the future may hold. There are many different things that the author made his own. For example, life on the moon is one major thing that is not likely to happen in the near future. The author made it seem as though life on the moon had been around for centuries. The moon had hotels, and clubs where parties were thrown. The kids in the book went to a place called the Rumble Spot, and they also went to the Ricochet Lounge. While they were there all of the kids got hacked except for one. This...

"We were liars" was a novel that I felt was kind of interesting... I guess. I mean, It was kind of hard to follow. The ending was kind of...all right. Nice use of foreshadowing and other literary elements. It was all and all, kind of hard to relate to. I kept thinking that I've read better books.My favorite quote from the book was from page 199 "What if we could stop being different colors, different backgrounds, and just be in love. I liked it because it seemed kinda nice I guess? I really don't know. This book seems a mess to me. The dialogue always felt awkward. She seems more like a poet turned author than anything else. I don't really have too many thoughts on the book. I am probably not going to check out her other work. Everything is so loud. Why is everything so loud? I'd rather for things to just be quiet. I don't know what I'm doing. I didn't like the book. The book was so...boring. It felt like a melancholic drama. It's got a ...

The Hunger Games series will always be one of my favorite series EVER. I remember when I first heard about the Hunger Games when I was younger and thought the idea of it was the coolest thing ever because I had never seen anything like it before. Up to now, I had only seen the movie, but had never read the book. After reading the book, I did like it as much as I liked the movie, however I do prefer the movies because I am a more visual type of person and they tend to be a bit more on the dramatic side. I actually remember in 8th grade, the regular ELA classes read the Hunger Games and the entire grade watched the movie in the auditorium and even had our own reaping and Hunger Games event with each home room class. It was a very fun way of connecting with the book. The way that author Suzanne Collins portrayed adolescence was very different. Children in this book were publicly picked upon among their peers to participate in basically a death match where only one person can win. As you r...

In E. Lockhart’s novel, We Were Liars , there are many different themes that future educators can use to connect with adolescents. One of the major underlying themes you can take away from this novel is a sense of identity. Throughout this book it seems as if some of the characters don’t know who they are or put on a fake front to make sure no one finds out who they are in real life. There are two characters within this novel that display this the most. They both seem to struggle with their own identities, and at times look to each other to try to find their true selves. The first character that displays their loss of identity is the main girl Cadence. Throughout most of the novel she is trying to figure out who she is now after she got into a fatal accident that caused her to lose her memory. She can’t do most of the things she used to do, can’t go to school, and most importantly can’t to see her best friends. During this time in an adolescent’s life it’s extremely important to ha...

The Hunger Games , written by Suzanne Collins, is full of controversial themes and ideas. The most prominent themes throughout the novel are feminism, corrupt government, poverty, and classism. I think it is interesting to question why Collins would write a series of novels about these ideas. Was she trying to prove a point or call out an issue in our society? Or was she just writing a story that she thought would be interesting to her readers? Did she intend for young adolescents to be reading this novel or adults? I think that the topics addressed are much more suited for adults, yet the novels were quite successful among adolescent readers. I believe that for many young girls, Katniss became a symbol of what it means to be a successful woman. Consequently, they bought into her character and became obsessed with her character. As we look at Katniss, it is easy to see how Collins may have been using her to communicate some feminist ideas. Katniss was the provider for her family, the...

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart is a suspenseful fiction novel that serves as a social critique concerning white classist America.  The story follows an adolescent girl by the name of Cadence Sinclair and her family while they spend their summers at their family vacation home.  The story is told through Cadence’s perspective, whom is suffering from a debilitating brain disorder caused by an accident that happened one summer while vacationing with her family.  Her family shields the truth of the accident from her in hopes of lessening the trauma by letting her figure it out herself.  This decision causes Cadence to become distant from her family and set out to discover the truth herself.  She spends her time with her cousins; they are deemed The Liars.  Through this, Lockhart evaluates the American upper-class and the toxicity that is often present in their family environments. At the beginning of the novel, Cadence introduces us to her family and immediat...

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd was an interesting book to read. Though I’ve seen the movie when I was younger, I thought it would be cool to read since I lost the memory of what it was all about. The book takes place in the South during the time of Jim Crow Laws and the Civil Rights Movement. A young teenage girl named Lilly Owens who is motherless and raised in a home with an abusive father, looks for peace and guidance while in the world on her own. In an interview, the author explained how important faith is in life and how it makes us the people we are. After seeing how she views life I’ve noticed that religion and unity were some of the themes that she based the book on. One huge example of symbolism that she uses is the correlation to bees and her journey to accept and forgive the things that she has gone through in life. In Christianity and Judaism, it has been said the character traits of Jesus can be seen in bees. Kidd uses this great story to detail how a young gi...

Throughout the story of Lily's journey, her desire for a mother figure is consistent throughout. Lily's mother was accidentally killed by Lily when she was very young, she does not remember killing her but feels she played a role in it throughout the novel. Her first attempt at a mother figure is Rosaleen, her house keeper. They flee together from her abusive Husband, and she becomes an important part of Lily's development. Though Rosaleen cares for Lily tremendously, she is somewhat insensitive, and has a large personality, lack the compassion and love that Lily desires for in a mother. August provides this desired love in two ways: She herself is caring and compassionate and shows her love for Lily by taking her in and guiding her about life. The the other way is how August teaches her that she is loved by a universal Mother in Christianity. By teaching Lily that the love from God can fill the emptiness that she feels from not having a mother, she also physically fills...

I watched Hunger Games the movie awhile back when it first hit theaters in in 2012 and I and enjoyed it. I knew that there was a book that the movie was based off but I never had a desire to read it. After reading the novel for our literature circle I gained a new respect for books that are turned into film adaptations. Even though I enjoyed watching the movie, I prefer the book version that Suzanne Collins gained popularity for. In her novel Collins creates Katniss Everdeen to be the ideal candidate that portrays feminist qualities which makes her a perfect role model or young girls. Katniss is the novels protagonist and she is the main provider for her small family. This is a very unique characteristic to have in female characters because Katniss is given a traditional male role. Katniss is also a very good hunter and gather which are traits also associated with male characters. In some young adult novels it is normal for authors to sexualize their female leads, but Katniss goes ag...

The Secret Life of Bees is an incredible book written by Sue Monk Kidd and was published in 2004. It follows the life of a 14 year old girl living in South Carolina in the year of 1964. The novel explores many different themes. These themes include death, relationships, self-discovery, coming of age, and many more. However, some of these things go on to provide social commentary on the south in the year 1964. The book obviously displays racism and the Civil Rights Movement because the height of the Civil Rights movement was during the late 1950s through the 1960s. Having taken place in South Carolina at the time the racial tensions are very high. This is shown in the book when Lily accompanies Rosaleen to town where Rosaleen intends to register to vote. Some of you may be under the impression that African American women were able to vote since 1920 when the nineteenth amendment was passed. However, in the south it was much more difficult for African American women to vote until the...

An important theme in We Were Liars by E. Lockhart is family. The Sinclairs are a family that is very wealthy but there are a lot of problems beneath the surface. One thing I noticed throughout the novel is how family values and attitudes greatly impact the adolescents in the family. An example of this is seen with Cadence. Early in the novel, Lockhart writes, "Welcome to the beautiful Sinclair family. No one is a criminal. No one is an addict. No one is a failure" (3). From the outside looking in, the Sinclairs make everything look perfect, but in reality, there are many problems in the family. The person they tried to hide the most was Cadence. Cadence's family affected her because after her "accident," there was no communication or explanation on what happened. The doctor told the family that it would be best to let Cadence remember on her own. However, Cadence is constantly questioning things, and I think this is why she continuously gets her headaches. ...

Sue Monk Kidd's novel  The Secret Life of Bees is a story of a girl named Lily who accidentally shot her mother, runs away from her father, and ends up living with the Boatwright sisters. The book was set in 1964 which was right in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement. In the book the reader sees that the movement is in full swing whenever Rosaleen goes to vote, and she ends up getting beat up. By the end of the novel Lily lives with the Boatwright sisters and she becomes a beekeeper. There were many things displayed through this novel such as, racism, the impacts of a mother, spirituality, and symbolism. The author did a fantastic job using symbolism as a unique way to tell Lily's story. The first symbol that is in the book is the bees. The bees represent Lily's life and the journey that she takes. Throughout the novel the bees kind of indicate what is in store for Lily. For example, in the book when she notice that the bees were no longer in their jar she took that ...

Throughout history, works have been "products of their environment" only literally. In my British Literature class last semester, we covered this discussion. My professor first pointed out how Godzilla was released in the 1950's just a few years after World War Two. The movie plays on a very real fear at the time of an atomic war and the effects of such chemicals. Another example of this would be The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood, is set in a totalitarian dystopia as well. Atwood drew upon history- mainly Puritan theocracy in America and the political climate of the country in the early 1980's. She also points to the election of Reagan as president and the country's embrace of Christian conservatism as influences for the book.  In the same way, Hunger Games reflects concerns of the beginning of the century since it was published in 2008. The recession took place during this time and this reflects in the book. In the beginning, on page 6, Katniss says,...

Jacqueline Woodson tells her life story within her literary work, B rown Girl Dreaming .  Woodson chooses to convey her story through writing her memoir in verse; poetry always holds a deeper and more meaningful connotation.  Nonetheless, Woodson’s memoir is a powerful rendition of life for African American’s during the Civil Rights Movement.  One of the most prevalent and meaningful concepts expressed in this work is that of Separatism, whether it be from the past or from a group of people. The concept of separatism is first introduced in Woodson’s poem,  The Right Way to Speak .  Her mother punishing her brother simply for copying the dialect of the South conveys how strongly the African American people wanted to distance themselves from their harsh and traumatizing past: “ ‘Don’t ever ma’am anyone!’ The word too painful a memory for my mother of not-so-long-ago souther subservient days…” (69).  This extreme indication Jacqueline’s mother feels to...

How does religion influence adolescent development? Religion certainly plays an important part in the lives of many Americans, including adolescents, and it is one avenue through which adolescents can learn a moral code. I've learned in my Middle/Secondary Education adolescent development class that the majority of research suggests that religion has a positive effect on adolescent behavior. In addition to protecting against harmful behaviors (sexual activity, delinquent behavior, drugs, etc) religiosity also promotes positive, pro social concerns. Being spiritual shields one from depression, increases the tendency to help others, increases psychosocial health, and enhances life satisfaction.  Religious parents tend to expose their children to religion. Jacqueline and her siblings practice as Jehovah’s Witnesses under her grandmother. Georgiana is extremely pious, and, despite her mother’s idea that the children be able to explore religion on their own, the grandmother encour...

In Jacqueline Woodson’s, brown girl dreaming , she has a great sense of voice while being very moving with her words throughout this entire novel. In many of her poems she speaks on religion, racism, civil rights, and her the meaning of family. One of the underlying themes Woodson tries to show her readers is to be your own person in this world. She wants her audience to realize that they were put on this earth for a reason, and that they should follow their dreams no matter what society is telling them. There are many examples within her poems that show us that even though she is an African American or even if she is overshadowed by her sister that she doesn’t let that get in the way of her goals in life. This is a great message to young adolescents because they need to be reminded that they are their own person too, and not let the world hold them back from the life they want to live. From the very first page of this novel Woodson is showing the reader that she is born for a reas...

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson is a moving story about the narrative of a brown girl growing up during the time of desegregation. She faces many trials growing up and seeing how her parents would face injustice based on their skin color. In the poem, "at the end of the day" Woodson describes the work her father does at the printing press where all the workers get their fingers blackened and it's hard to tell "who is white and who is not" (p.53). She goes on to say that although her father is higher in rank than the other workers he still gets looked down on because of the color of his skin, but at the end of the day the machines are shut down and the newspaper is printed. I thought that was a beautiful poem because she put in such a good way the understanding that prejudice does not stop the world, and it is how others respond to it that defines their character. This is one of my favorite books that we have read because of the writing. It was some o...

Brown girl dreaming  by Jacqueline Woodson was a book that I enjoyed reading. The whole book of poetry explained her life story. Strength and survival were one of the main themes that stuck out to me while reading. Woodson mentions how grateful she was for the things that her ancestors and immediate family have done for her to make sure she and siblings would have an easier life. She explains how her grandfather William Woodson was once the only brown boy in an all-white school in the poem “it’ll be scary sometimes”. “It’ll be scary sometimes. But think of William Woodson and you’ll be all right.” (35) This shows the reader how her mother warned her that she would soon encounter similar events – but she must remain strong through anything. “Don’t any of you ever do day work, she warns us. I’m doing it now, so you don’t have to” (71). This quote is from the poem “daywork” where she mentioned how her grandmother did daywork and would come home tired every evening but explained how i...

While reading “Brown Girl Dreaming” by Jacqueline Woodson, I noticed some connections between her childhood  that mirrors some events that happened in my life  while  growing up.  I understand that Jacqueline’s novel is set in a different time period, but in this  post, I want to focus on the theme  of religion that is shown  throughout   this  novel  and h ow it has  influenced my life.  Throughout Brown Girl Dreaming, religion features prominently in Jacqueline’s life, though her views of religion expand and change throughout the book. Growing up in a Christian household re ligion was a part of my daily life. As I grew older, I began to look at religion as a respectable  practiced   instead of a forced obligation.    Jacqueline’s mother was like my mine when expressing her idea that her  children  should explore  religion  and come to their own  conclusion  inst...