Download File - 2015 Standard English

Feed by M. T. Anderson
Feed (2002) is a young adult dystopian novel of the
cyberpunk subgenre written by M. T. Anderson.
The novel focuses on issues such as corporate power,
consumerism, information technology, data mining, and
environmental decay, with a sometimes sardonic,
sometimes sombre tone.
Told from the first-person perspective of a teenager, the
novel presents a near-futuristic American culture
completely dominated by advertising and corporate
exploitation, corresponding to the enormous popularity of
internetworking brain implants.
Different groups, social contexts and individuals use ‘language’ to interact
and communicate with each other. These ‘languages’ reflect the values,
attitudes and beliefs of the social context and, in turn, the values attitudes
and beliefs of the social context are determined by the ‘language’ people
use.
Your job is to develop an understanding of how the ‘language’ of interaction
used within social context can affect the people’s perception of themselves
and others as well as impacting upon the ways in which they form
relationships and interact with society.
In various social contexts a person can either support or challenge the ideas,
beliefs and attitudes of that society. These choices can influence and affect
both themselves and others.
1) Shaping Titus’ attitudes and beliefs, identity and behaviour
2) Challenging Titus’ attitudes and beliefs, identity and behaviour
3) Transforming Titus’ attitudes and beliefs, identity and behaviour
Humans is a British-American science fiction television series. The series was written by
the British team Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley. The series explores the themes of
artificial intelligence and robotics, focusing on the social, cultural, and psychological
impact of the invention of anthropomorphic robots called "synths." The series is
produced jointly by AMC, Channel 4 and Kudos.
Plot
Setting
Characterisation
Theme
Style
1) Who is narrating the story?
2) Why has this narrator been chosen by the
author?
3) Does the narrator know absolutely everything
about the story and the characters?
4) Is the story being told in the first person or
third person? Why?
5) Is the story written in the past, present or
future tense? Why?
‘Feed’ is set in a foreign and unrecognisable world where they grow fillet
mingion and clouds are owned by corporations. The Earth has been devastated,
the natural environment barley exists anymore and most people live in
artificially created zones.
Anderson has used an excessively foreign setting and context where holidaying
on the Moon, flying ‘Upcars’ and fields of meat to highlight are the norm to
highlight the similarities between the experiences of the characters in ‘Feed’
and contemporary human interactions. Anderson uses his novel to comment on
the life of excessive many are currently living and uses his novel to foreshadow
the future for Earth if we continue on our current trajectory. ‘Feed’ acts as a
doomsday omen, which seeks to warn us about the potential problems of
relying so heavily on technology.
Even though Titus is content and accepting of his context, through his
interactions we see the problems that arise due to living in this futuristic world.
Since the invention of the internet communicating with people has become
even easier and more accessible. In the world of ‘Feed’ Anderson is able to
highlight the way that technology effects human interactions. In‘Feed’
individuals ability to communicate is inhibited by the constant bombardment of
advertising that they are confronted with. As a result, the feed can be viewed as
impeding interactions rather than facilitating them.
Module C: Elective 1: Exploring interactions
The important words in the elective descriptions are:
• Explore
• Analyse
• Variety of texts
• Social contexts: home, cultural, friendships, sporting
groups, workplace and digital worlds
• Acts of communication
• Shape, challenge or transform
• Attitudes and beliefs
• Identities and behaviours
• Interactions
• perceptions
Module C: Elective 1: Exploring interactions
You need to come to an understanding of how the language
contained in the text can affect certain ways of thinking and
acting in society. It is expected that you will develop insight
into how the context surrounding people’s interactions can
have an impact on the way we see ourselves, other people ,
relationships and society at large.
Task:
1) Describe the setting of Feed.
2) Describe the context of 2002, when Anderson wrote
the novel.
3) Describe the setting of your related text- eg Humans
4) Describe the context of when your related text was
made.
Close studies of the interactions – look at the
style and the techniques used
Interactions
The types of interactions that occur in Feed between
characters are reflected by the style of language used by
Anderson. Positive interactions use figurative language,
descriptive language and poetic devices. Characters like
Violet draw allusions to others texts, such as her reference to
‘Salad days’ and this is done to highlight the difference
between Violet and characters like Calista, Link and Marty.
These interactions are more cohesive and coherent and this
reflect that the interactions are more meaningful.
• Consider the emotions being represented in that
interaction also and how Anderson’s choice of technique
relates to that emotion. Eg -Love, anger, jealousy
Close studies of the interactions – look at the
style and the techniques used
Negative interactions in the novel tend to use less
sophisticated language choices, such as
colloquialism, profanity and truncated sentences..
• Who has negative interactions?
The interactions between Titus and his friends are
superficial in nature. Whereas Violet and her
father WANT more from their interactions. They
want to exist outside of the Feed but realise when
Violet gets sick the problems with seeking to live
outside the feed. All consuming consumerist
nature of the world in which they live ultimately
win out in the end and prevent deeper
interactions.
Failure to Interact
In Feed, the characters fail to interact with the
environment/nature and other countries.
What causes the characters in Feed to not interact
with nature or other countries?
Another techniqueThink about the significance of the names;
Link – Titus says that Link is a clone of Abraham Lincoln
Calista - comes from the Greek for "most beautiful.
Greek huntress in the myth of Callisto, who was loved
by Zeus.
Titus – A moon, a was Roman Emperor from 79 to 81. A
character in the Shakespeare play Titus Andronicus
Violet – a flower