Postman Project: Option 1

Chapter 1 page 9: "This change over has dramatically and irreversibly shifted the content and meaning of public discourse since 2 media so vastly different can not accommodate the same ideas." They say that typography can never be the same or as good as visual medic. This is true when they make books into movies. When they made Harry Potter a movie it was definitely not as good as the books were because they can not capture every moment on film.
Chapter 2 page 16: "Therein is our problem, for television is at its most trivial and, therefore, most dangerous when its aspirations are high, when it presents itself as a carrier of important cultural information." The news is thought of to be a carrier of important information but when they say Justin Bieber's haircut is news it is ridiculous. A haircut of a celebrity is not something that is needed to be know by the nation it is irrelevant.
Chapter 3 page 41: "The influence of the printed word in every arena of public discourse was insistent and powerful not merely because of the quantity of printed matter but because of its monopoly." This, however, is not necessarily true. Harry Potter books and Twilight books are definitely something to contradict this statement. These books became a cultural phenomenon even before they were created into movies.
Chapter 4 page 45: "Is there any audience of Americans today who could endure seven hours of talk?" This is most definitely true. I can hardly sit through a 45 minute class period without dosing off or daydreaming. I am  not sure if this is because of the decrease in the age of Typography, but it is true that Americans today have much shorter attention spans.
Chapter 5 page 78: "Television is the command center in subtler ways as well. Our use of the other media, for example, is largely orchestrated by television." Television is starting to control what people do and do not use or see. For example, when people see a commercial for a movie, it has to automatically catch their eye and amuse them. If the commercial does not sell the movie to be funny then no one will see it. However, some movies that do not have good commercials end up being quality films.
Chapter 6 page 87: "But what I am claiming here is not that television is entertaining, but that it has made entertainment itself the natural format for the representation of all experience." Entertainment has become the root of all experience. This is proven through commercials. The companies with the most commercials are the ones that everyone knows. Look about McDonald's, they have a commercial on every break, and yet they are known worldwide and the main fast food place, even though their food does not taste well at all.
Chapter 7 page 107: " I am saying we are losing our sense of what it means to be well informed." Today in the news we think that if we get a five minute special or "Breaking News Alert" about something going on in the Middle East then we are experts. When really we do not know anything about the middle east. The news reporters only tell us what seems to be important or things that make USA look good so we do not seem to be in any danger. However, we think that we know everything that is going on when we know nothing.
Chapter 8 page 116: "It is the perfect television sermon-theatrical, emotional, and ina curious way comforting, even to a Jewish viewer." The television preachers today focus solely on louring people in with good news and happiness. Joel Olstein is a professional at this. When he preaches he preaches solely gospel so people never have to hear about their penalties and consequences for sins. And this works because people are entertained so they are hooked.
Chapter 9 page 141: "Television does not ban books, it simply displaces them." There is a book series called "Pretty Little Liars" and hardly any people knew about it until the television series came about. Once the television series came out though, no one needed to waste time reading the books when they had it played out for them in the television series. Even though the TV series was completely different then the books, but the viewers would never know the difference.
Chapter 10 page 145: " We face the rapid dissolution of the assumptions of an education organized around the slow-moving printed word, and the equally rapid emergence of a new education based on the speed of light image." In almost all of my classes my teachers teach with PowerPoint slides. Which is not a bad thing, they serve as a learning aid to help students take notes. And generally there is a video to go along with each chapter to help students learn. So, television is slowing creeping into our school and our curriculum so that way students can pay closer attention and they have something to look at. This is live proof that most students learn better with a visual aid which is proof of the descending age of Typography.

Postman's Final Thoughts

In Postman's final thoughts of "Amusing Ourselves to Death" he states that people are laughing for no reason and instead of thinking about the idea they just laugh it off.  It is like America is just laughing off all the important ideas so we do not have to think about them or discuss them.  They find that it is easier to shrug things off and laugh as opposed to thinking about it, discussing it, and putting it together as a fact.  People have become so accustomed to just laughing at the news or things like that and being entertained that when it comes to actually important issues they do not know what to do.  It is a big problem that people do not know what to take seriously now and that they just keep laughing things off because they do not realize that they need to think about it. They just laugh because they forget there is even another option.

Not Talking...So Much Fun

    I am very proud to say that I did not talk this past Friday the entire day.  It was very difficult and frustrating.  I am pretty positive that I will never do that again, and I would definitely never do that voluntarily.  The most awkward and difficult part of the day was lunch.  Because the whole point of lunch is to eat and talk about your day, and when you take away the talking part you just sit there and stare at each other.  It was extremely awkward especially for the one person at our lunch table that was able to talk and had to translate everything we said.  It was extremely weird because people would walk by and give us all weird looks because no one was talking; they must have thought we hated each other.  It was not only a difficult experience for me but for everyone around me who was trying to understand what I was attempting to say.  I would never do this again because it was extremely boring.  I was very excited when the bell rang at 2:30 and I could finally talk.  Through this experience I realized how important talking is in order to have a good relationship.  And in Postman's Amusing Ourselves To Death he is trying to get that point across exactly.  That people are losing communication skills when they take away face to face communication.  Soon people will not be able to talk to others because they won't know how to react.  I think Postman is dead on in this accusation and I think that it is only going to get worse.

Postman's Speech

     Throughout Postman's interview with Calvin and his novel Amusing Ourselves To Death he discusses the ideas of people becoming "pets to technology" and people only being concerned about outward appearance.  In the interview he discusses people acting towards technology as pets act towards their owners.  He is saying that people are relying on technology without even realizing it.  In the novel he discusses this same idea when he talks about people constantly checking the television or their cell phones.  People do this all the time without paying attention to the actual idea of it.  An example would be if someone has their cell phone in their pocket or purse and they keep on thinking that their feel the vibrate on the phone go off and they are constantly checking to make sure they don't miss anything.  If people actually payed close attention to their pets they would realize that they would be lost without their owners and would die.  Well, that same idea is starting to apply to people with their technology when they are constantly relying on it.  People are becoming so addicted that they could not make it without being able to watch television or check Facebook or text messaging; people would go through withdrawals.

     Another main point was when Postman discussed people only being concerned about outward appearance.  In his novel he talks about the idea of newscasters not hiring people if they didn't have "the look."  That if people were not pretty enough or overweight they could not make it in the news business.  He talks about people only caring about how they look and they are starting to only worry about themselves.  In the interview he talks about the idea of cloning.  If people were able to create a clone then they would just rely on the clone and use it just in case they needed it at any time or if they were sick.  This just helps back up the idea that people are becoming too immersed in themselves and their appearance.  It is becoming acceptable in our society to not be accepted because of your looks, and that is wrong on several levels.

freedom of speech

1. I think that Chavez's point that she is trying to get across in the first six words is that politicians need to be politically correct in their speeches.  That when politicians are in the public they need to remember that everyone is watching them and analyzing their every word, so they need to be very cautious on what they say.  They need to remember that they are talking to the entire public and that anyone can take a word the wrong way. 
2. Chavez uses the word bellicose in the sentence "Bellicose metaphors have been a staple of politics from the beginning." The purpose for using this word is to prove that politicians have been using fighting words since the very beginning.  The word bellicose means warlike, and that is truly what politicians are; they need to always be ready to have a strong comeback.  This word was used to get the point across that warlike metaphors are very common and useful in politics.  They only strengthen the politicians argument in debates or speeches.
3. Chavez is trying to get the point across that politicians can still be forceful but at the same time be politically correct.  She is saying that politicians should take other people into consideration while saying their speeches, but still be able to say what they want.  They have already made rules of words that they are not allowed to use, but it is just common courtesy to others around you.  She is trying to say that in order for politicians to make a point they can be strong in their opinion and statement while still being correct and proper.  Her best example of this is when she talks about taking out the word "nigger" in "Huck Finn" and replacing it with "slave."  The argument that it would cause the book to lose its effectiveness is true, and the reader would also lose the point that Twain was trying to make in the book.  The reader would lose the effect of the times when the book was based and how people treated each other.
4. I agree with Chavez.  I think that politicians can still make a point while being politically correct.  They should not be able to say what they can and can not say in a speech because even though they are politicians they still have a right to freedom of speech.  And if they are not smart enough to be proper in their speeches then they should not have been voted into office because that is not a leader that you want to follow.  Everyone is able to say what they want to say, but at the same time you need to be aware of the people you are talking to.  So people should be aware of their public surroundings and show civility.  If everyone started showing more civility in their words then we would have less discrepancies in our society today.

conserve, reuse, recycle

I think that Samrau's main point is in the sentence "Have you figured out yet that I'm going as a cadaver, an anatomical gift? Hopefully, I won't be admitted soon, but when I do go it will be a fulfillment of my childhood dream of going to med school."
I think that Samrau did a good job of trying to convince people to donate their bodies to science without flat out saying it.  He still got his point across but did it in a very subtle way.  His intent was to convince people to donate their bodies to science after they die so they can reuse it.  When he hides his point in this story it helps support him because it shows some background on why he wanted to be a cadaver.  This helps us see that he was fascinated with people who did this job when he was young and now he is able to do this job that he has always wanted to do.  So, in this case his style of writing helps because it helps you appreciate the reason he is going to medical school.  His way of hiding the message is very interesting and it helps the reader become more intrigued in the writing.  The quote earlier helps us better understand that he has always wanted to donate his body to science and has always wanted to go to medical school.  It is very interesting that he never fully says to donate your body, but by the end of the reading you understand that that truly is his main point.

analysis of a hymn

This hymn written by Martin Luther was mostly about how God has sent His Son to come and save us from our sins. The hymn uses description in the phrase "Brightly doth Thy manger shine,
Glorious is its light divine." This phrase is describing how beautiful Jesus manger truly was and how it was glowing from Jesus glory. When Martin says this it helps us better understand how radiant Jesus is and how glorious He truly is. It helps us see how even though Jesus was born in a manger He still made it beautiful. This passage helps us comprehend that Jesus can take even the smallest and ugliest things and make them stand out. The theme of this story is about how much God loves us that He sent His one and only Son to come and save us. It shows how much Jesus loves us that he was willing to be born in a manger. Martin Luther was trying to get across how much God loves us and how much Jesus loves us. It shows that we should praise God for all that He has done for us. We should also praise Jesus for coming to human flesh to come and save us in our sinfulness.