Friday, December 20, 2013

Week #2: Blogging FEED, Books 1 and 2


This post is due by Tuesday, January 21 @ midnight for full credit. 
Email late posts to rob.williamsATmadriver.com for partial credit.


1. Read FEED, books 1 and 2.

2. Blog FIVE specific aspects of the FEED world that are UNLIKE our own 21st century world, and FIVE specific aspects of the FEED world that are LIKE our own 21st century world. Use 2 sentences for EACH aspect, and combine textual quotations/page #s with your own analysis. (20 sentences total).

3. Identify ONE word or phrase of FEED speak, and what it means. (Example: "Unit" = dude, person, individual.")

4. Finally, which character in FEED do you find MOST interesting, and why, in 3 sentences? (Titus, Violet, Link, Quendy, Calista, etc.)





18 comments:

  1. 1. Five aspects of the FEED world that are UNLIKE our own century:
    - The characters can have private chats through the technology within their brains that exclude certain members of the spoken conversation that are physically in front of them.
    - Instead of searching for hotels, restaurants, or other attractions on a phone, the members of the FEED world are able to do such through their mental feed processes that connect them to all possible attractions near their current location.
    - The members of the FEED world are able to search things such a definitions of words in their minds even while continuing a conversation with someone in front of them.
    -There is some aspect of the FEED world member’s brains that allows the technology to be manipulated and control their actions, shown in the end of Book 1.
    - Lesions are viewed as a common physical trait in the members of the FEED world.
    Five aspects of the FEED world that are LIKE our own 21st century world:
    - People such as Titus still yearn for a deeper connection than just the technological interaction his world provides.
    - People in both time periods continue to enjoy physical activities that involve games or parties.
    - There is an age limitation in both worlds for alcohol consumption and attendance at bars or parties.
    - Institutions such as hospitals are present in order to maintain the health of the individuals in both worlds.
    - In both worlds, there is a police force that regulates and attempts to enforce the laws of the world.

    3. “Youch”= a word used in the case of pain or joking after an insult (I think it’s a combination of “ouch” and “yikes”).

    4. Violet’s dad is one of my favorite characters. I find him interesting because he does not follow the general way of the FEED society. His feed is different than others, which makes him stand out. I also like that he sounds more educated than the rest of the characters with his use of varied vocabulary, even if it does sometimes confuse and frustrate those attempting to communicate with him.

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  2. 1.Five aspects of the FEED world that are UNLIKE our own 21st century world:
    The computers that these characters use are located inside their minds and are accessed by their thoughts, not by their fingertips. Each character has this implanted inside of them.
    In this world, writing and reading have become rarely-used art forms. “I looked at her funny. ‘You write?’ I said. ‘With a pen? (65)’”
    The moon is not a faraway land. Traveling into space is merely a spring break activity.
    The hacking or malfunction of one’s feed (or, computer) is a medical issue. The absence of this presence in the mind requires doctors’ attention.
    Gravity—and the absence of it—is a source of fun. “So Marty told us that there was this fun place for lo-grav on the moon. (3)”

    2. Five aspects of the FEED world that are LIKE our own 21st century world:
    The characters in FEED still experience affection as a normal, physical, non-computerized emotion—as we do in our world. “I stood there wondering what it was that made her so beautiful (14).”
    Both worlds deem underage alcohol consumption as something that needs to be regulated, as they both possess laws against it. And as a result, both worlds contain kids who find ways to get around that law.
    Both worlds have schools, hospitals, police officers, and lawyers. They serve, basically, the same purpose in both worlds.
    The characters find joy in playing (like real, old-fashioned, people-to-people playing). For instance, on the day when they were still without their feeds, the kids have a great day—one of the greatest, Titus says—just playing darts and goofing around in the hospital.
    The college-aged kids in FEED seem to have a similar sense of desire to always be connected with each other. They seem a bit lost when they are no longer able to use the “m-chats” in their heads—this is not too unlike, I think, the way one of us would feel if you took away our smartphone.

    3.I like the world “null”. They use it to mean “bored”.

    4.So far, I think the most interesting character is Violet. Violet seems to be the most different out of our gang of college-aged kids; I would classify her as the least futuristic. She seems less engrossed in the world of the feed, and more interested in things like reading, writing, and old languages—things others might call antiquated or useless, now that everyone is connected to an all-knowing feed.

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  3. Similarities:
    1) Though on a larger scale than our society, the characters in FEED like many people today often feel a fear of being disconnected from others and can feel lost without technology. Just as contemporary society, especially younger individuals, fear being out of the loop, so does Titus when he talks about how “I was currently disconnected from feednet…and I was starting to get scared” (43).
    2) Advertising plays a prominent role in both their world and ours. Just as ads today convince us that we need things we really don’t, the feed “knows everything you want and hope for, sometimes before you even know what those things are” (48).
    3) Real-world relationships with others are still important in the world of the feed. Titus and his friends, like most young people today, find it enjoyable to travel together during their spring break, and Titus is even “hoping to meet someone on the moon” (5).
    4) There is a focus on appearance in both our world and the FEED world. It is important to have the right clothes and physical appearance to fit in, as evidenced by Quendy and Loga heading “off to the bathroom because hairstyles had changed,” with the intention of making their bodies look like everyone else’s (20).
    5) There is some level of awareness that our society and the products we buy are all controlled by a small number of large corporations, and though people do protest it, most of us still give in and use and buy the products anyway. Titus mentions that everyone in the FEED society is aware that “evil corporations…control everything,” but doesn’t question it too much or get too upset because their desire for the seeming benefits of the feed outweighs their concerns (48).



    Differences:
    1) The people with feeds implanted seem to fear being alone and having quiet time. After losing his feed transmission, Titus mentions that “everything in my head was quiet. It was fucked” (44).
    2) The feed takes away a person’s ability to think for themselves and discover their own personal strengths and abilities. With the use of the feed, “you can be supersmart without ever working” (47).

    3) Cybersecurity takes on a whole new level of threats as people with feeds implanted can be hacked into and manipulated. Hackers, like the old man that Titus and his friends meet on page 38, can disrupt not only the technological aspects of society but also take over individuals.
    4) People in Titus’s world don’t seem to understand why anyone would want to do activities like painting or writing by hand that are done outside of the world of the feed. Titus’s confusion is evident when he incredulously asks Violet “You write?...With a pen?” (65)
    5) We tend to think of adults as being more advanced and having a broader vocabulary than teenagers, but in the world of the feed, many adults, like Titus’s father, seem to talk and act like teenagers themselves. His father’s comforting words to Titus after the hacking incident are all along the lines of “This is this thing which is…Okay, this is bullshit” (56).


    In FEED-speak, the word “diad,” seems to mean a couple, two people who are romantically involved.

    I like that Violet doesn’t seem to accept the universal control of the feed to quite the same extent that the others do. She wears clothes that are different and does things like writing by hand and learning dead languages that are not commonly studied or practiced by the majority of the population, and she isn’t afraid or overly embarrassed to do her own thing and go against what have become accepted societal norms. Violet also seems to have more mystery to her than the other characters, who seem more transparent in what they’ve experienced and what they think about things (or rather, what the feed wants them to think about things).

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  4. 2. FIVE specific aspects of the FEED world that are UNLIKE our own 21st century world:
    1. In today's society there is a lot of emphasis placed on attaining knowledge through books and other educational outlets but in FEED it is almost unheard of for one to be able to read or write. Titus was shocked by Violet's decision to write.
    2. Feednet allows people to get virtually anything they desire. This is very different from our 21st century world as many people live in poverty and can only dream about such an advantage.
    3. In FEED, people can have private chats in their brains with others.
    4. Titus states that when the Feed first came out it was seen as an “ educational thing” but today one is seen as anti-social and lacking certain educational and professional skills when they are too dependent on technology in their daily lives.
    5. Although the moon is a very far place from Earth, it does not seem this way in FEED. In our own 21st century traveling to a foreign place on Earth is almost seen as a luxury for many who do not have that advantage yet in FEED almost everyone is afforded the opportunity to travel to the moon.

    FIVE specific aspects of the FEED world that are LIKE our own 21st century world:
    1. When he was disconnected from his Feednet, Titus states that he “was starting to get scared” (43). Titus’ fear of missing out is very similar to people in the 21st century world who use social media as a means to stay connected to the world at all times.
    2. The idea of conforming to trends in the 21st century whether it is fashion or technology is very similar to the characters in FEED. For example, when Loga who has access to her Feednet (therefore knowing “what’s in”) changed her hairstyle, the other girls followed as they probably assumed that it was the cool thing to do (52).
    3. Our activities today are becoming more technology driven and influenced by social media and we often forget how much being around others, physically, can fulfill our happiness. Without their Feednet, Titus and his friends were almost forced to be together and they realized for a short period of time that they were in fact happy without any outside influences (60).
    4. While the 21st century world is not totally technology driven we are getting there as many young people choose to focus more on the internet rather than improving their reading and writing skills. This can also be seen in FEED when Titus expressed his shock when Violet told him she liked to write and when asked if he knew how to read he replied, “I can read. A little” (65).
    5. The influence of corporations and people’s willingness to merely accept the bad things corporations do because they are too dependent on them are similar. Titus states that although people aren’t exactly content with the role of corporations there is not much that can be done because corporations are “still going to control everything whether you like it or not” (49).

    3. Youch – attractive or good-looking.

    4. I find Violet most interesting because she does not alter her physical appearance or character to be like the other characters like Quendy and Calista. Although what she does is not very unique on Earth, in the Feed world she is seen as unique because she likes to write and does not depend on technology as much as others. I also like that she does not always have to be in the know and interactive with others as she chose to come to the moon alone on Spring break.


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  5. 1. FIVE specific aspects of the FEED world that are UNLIKE our own 21st century world:
    a. Titus and his friends vacation together and they go to the moon. While speaking with Violet he says that he has been to Mars and it was boring, in today's world we can only dream of space travel nevermind it being boring.
    b. Titus and his friends all have the FeedNet in their brains. This allows them to do everything that we can do with phones, in their heads. They have no reason to learn anything because all the information that they need is in their heads already. The closest thing we have to that would be the Google Glass or the new watches that are hooked up to phones.
    c. When in the hospital, Titus finds it weird when Violet pulls out a pen to write. It is mentioned that written language is a dead language. Most of what we function with today is written language.
    d. When at the club on the moon, Titus and his friends were touched by a man, because of this touch their Feed's shut down because they were infected by a virus. In today's world, opening an email may crash your computer but you would still have function as a person. They all seemed completely lost without the feed as if they couldn't function without it.
    e. The relationship between Titus and his father was very bizarre. When he comes to see Titus in the hospital he seems very rushed and annoyed that Titus cannot talk through his Feed. It is strange for me to see this family dynamic because it seems like there is a lack of familial connection.

    FIVE specific aspects of the FEED world that are LIKE our own 21st century world:
    a. With the Feed, Titus and his friends have constant communication through their m-chat. That is very similar to how we have constant contact through phones or social media today.
    b. On average, the typical person sees anywhere from 3,000 to 20,000 advertisements a day. In the Feed it seems like Titus is constantly bombarded with advertisements for sales or for products that he might like.
    c. Titus and his friends have a need it now or impulsive tendencies when it comes to items. Link purchased a null shirt just because and Titus being upset that he lost files such as a flyer because he may have bought that shirt. The fast paced environment that my generation grew up in gave us a need it now tendency like Titus.
    d. There were similar laws such as a drinking age and the police having a presence and control at the club on the moon. This is similar to the laws we have.
    e. When Titus and his friends caught the virus, they were taken to the hospital on the moon to get better. This is similar to when we get sick, we go to the doctors and sometimes the hospital to get better.

    2. Lesion - a fashion statement or trend; a cut or marking on the skin

    3. The most interesting character so far I think is Violet. She does not follow what Titus and his friends do, she has her own opinions. She writes with a pen and paper which to Titus is strange and she has a sophisticated vocabulary without the help of her Feed. She seems to be the only character that is comfortable with having her feed shut off after the virus affected them.

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  6. 1. FIVE specific aspects of the FEED world that are LIKE our own 21st century world:
    - Similar to imessage, texting, Facebook etc.. , the characters in feed have one-on-one chats with each other. The only difference is that it is through their brains.
    - Violet realizes that the feed is causing humans to be less intelligent and unaware of emotion. This is no different than today; the constant use of TV, computers, video games etc. is creating problems in social interaction and human behavior. "Because of the feed, we are raising a nation of idiots. Ignorant, self-centered idiots" (113).
    - Advertisements today have the same manipulative mindset as they do in "Feed". People are attracted to the same sort of things like for example, iPhones, which in some ways is making more people alike. " They keep making everything more basic so it will appeal to everyone. And gradually, everyone gets used to everything being basic, so we get less and less varied people, more simple" (97).
    - Characters like Loga and Quendy are very in touch with their physical appearance. For example, on their visit to the moon they had to excuse themselves from the group to change their hairstyles (20). This is very similar to our world, there is a constant need to know what the most recent trends so we can stay updated and feel good about our appearance.
    - When the characters get the virus they go to the hospital to get better. Though it happens to be on the moon, it is a similar if not the same sort of institution we go to today when we are sick

    2. FIVE specific aspects of the FEED world that are UNLIKE our own 21st century world:
    -The characters in "Feed" have zero control over their feed. They cannot shut off advertisements and get lost like we can nowadays. We humans in the 21st century have the choice to control the constant distraction of advertising in media yet; many of us decide to not take control, which makes me think that we are headed into the world of "Feed".
    -The characters in the book lack a sense of sentence structure and use very basic words. Their dialect is similar to texting language, which many of us use today.
    - A Feed is essentially a computer implanted in the characters minds. The thought of actual computers we use now -a-days is incomprehensible to them. "Computers were all outside the body. They carried them around outside of them, in their hands, like if you carried your lungs in a briefcase and opened it to breathe" (47)
    - Emotion is mediated through the feed/technology. "I hope se could see my smile in the light of my brain" (54).
    - Going to the moon for vacation isn't something that we humans do today let alone have access to do. Our version of the moon, the activities and chaos that occurred on their trip reminded me of Vegas in a way.


    3. I like the word "null" which means bored or dull.

    4. I find Violet the most interesting because unlike the other characters she sees the negative aspects of having a feed and knows how to read and write. Violet is curious, intelligent, and knows what it is like to be a human being without a feed since she did not get the feed until she was seven.

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  7. 1.FIVE specific aspects of the FEED world that are UNLIKE our own 21st century world
    -The most obvious difference is the ability to travel to the moon. From the first sentence, it is established that Titus and his friends travel to the moon as if it is an everyday thing; "We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck" (p. 3).
    -The characters have "legions." Everyone apparently has one and they are visible on everyone. "'Omigod! Like big thanks to everyone for not telling me that my lesion is like meg completely spreading" (p. 21).
    -Characters can send messages within their heads. This is because, unlike in our world, computers/chips are inside of the body. "Someone had left a message in my head..." (p. 43).
    -There is no written language. Messages are sent within people's mind so literacy is nearly nonexistent. "I looked at her funny. 'You write?' I said. 'With a pen?'" (p. 65).
    -Unless disconnected due to a hack, there is no escaping the feed. Anyone connected to the feed is bombarded with messages with no way to avoid it. "And the feed was pouring in on us now, all of it, all of the feednet, and we could feel all of our favorites, and there were our files, and our m-chatlines" (p. 70).

    FIVE specific aspects of the FEED world that are LIKE our own 21st century world
    -It appears as though the characters in FEED are powered by something other than food. Presumably, they are fueled by a charge, in the same sense that devices are charged. "We ordered some fancy nutrient IVs from room service..." (p. 9).
    -People have freedom to at least some extent on social media. We are free now to use our feeds in the ways that we like, as are the characters in the story. "Our feeds were clear again from all the moon banners, so for a long time we all watched the football game while the girls, they did something else on the feed" (p. 9).
    -College still exists., even with the FEED. Titus and his friends go to "college parties" on the moon - "There were parties there, but it was mostly college kids" (p. 10).
    -Characters still have their human emotions. They have wants and needs and emotions just like people in the 21st century do. "That was why I kept looking at the girl in gray, and started to want, more than anything else that night, to be with her" (p. 25).
    - People are attached to social media and get excited about it. When Titus and his friends are disconnected from the FEED, they are all obviously devastated, and then when they are finally reconnected they are relieved. "I missed the feed" (p. 47) "People were really excited when they first came out with feeds" (p. 47).

    3. I get the impression that the word "squelch" means ugly/beat-up.

    4. It may be because the story is told from Titus's point of view so the character is romanticized, but Violet stands out among the characters. She is obviously very smart, as she is the only literate character thus far and I think this will somehow play into her resistance to the feednet, which is felt solely by her. I am also interested in seeing how her relationships with her parents and her peers grow.

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  8. Things in FEED that are LIKE our world:
    1. The characters have similar social behaviors to us. They interact and communicate through talking with each other, exactly like people in our society. They feel a desire to be social beings and constantly interact at the party, in the hospital, etc.
    2. Although there are some differences, it seems that the FEED world has similar occupations and working lifestyles as today. Titus' father is a banker, his mother is in design. (Pg. 64)
    3. The women in FEED, namely Loga, Quendy, Violet, and Calista, seem to have many behaviors similar to women of today. They seem to be very aware of physical appearance, such as when the girls console Quendy for her lesion and help her look good despite it. (Pgs. 20-25)
    4. Like today's society, the characters in FEED constantly take part in social media and interpersonal conversations. Today, we talk and lead normal social interactions while simultaneously texting or instant messaging. The FEED characters do the same thing throughout the book.
    5. Despite the radical computerization of the world in FEED, the characters still feel emotions similarly to us. They recognize boredom (pg. 51), experience having fun and being sad, and have the ability to love.

    Things in FEED that are UNLIKE our world:
    1. They have the feed. The world has become a society completely dependent on computers. In some situations, it becomes very clear that the feed has taken over humans completely. An example of this is when Loga tells her exciting story, "her eyes were vacant like she was on another world, which i guess she was." (pg. 58). Her most outward expression of emotion required the feed to produce.
    2. There doesn't seem to be any real discernible dialect. The characters of FEED speak in a vast series of slang terms and nonsensical (to us) terms, but i dont see any consistency.
    3. The characters in FEED lack basic human skills that could be a result of today's growing dependency on technology. Titus can't believe that Violet can read and write (pg. 64-67), skills that most humans today have mastered.
    4. A computer virus that seriously injured all the major characters was given to them by a man who simply touched them. The characters are clearly completely consumed by their feeds, and the discomfort and unhappiness that losing the feed for 48 hours brings them is incredible.
    5. FEED has an incredibly fragmented world. The characters, and members of families, etc. are scattered throughout the universe and could be on any number of planets. Today, we can only be so far away. In FEED, the fragmentation and disunity of people and families is much harder to avoid.

    In FEED speak, the word "Eurotrash" (pg. 31) might refer to rebels or hippies.

    I find Violet to be particularly intriguing. Unlike the other characters, she is clearly not completely consumed by her feed and she can function without it. Furthermore, she seems very in touch with her identity and is very smart. That being said, I am intrigued by how quiet and subdued she is. I am incredibly interested in the developing relationship between Violet and Titus.

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  9. 1. Differences
    1. The computers are located inside their brains and are referred to as the feed. They rely on the feed so much that they relate them to lungs: “They carried them around outside of them, in their hands, like if you carried your lungs in a briefcase and opened it to breathe” (47).
    2. Education is vital in our society, but in Feed, the need for schooling does not seem as necessary. “That’s one of the great things about the feed- that you can be supersmart without ever working” (47).
    3. The transportation systems are much more advanced. For example, the replacement for an elevator is referred to as an “uptube” (62).
    4. Reading and writing is not valued in their society. “I asked, “Why don’t you use the feed? It’s way faster.”” (66).
    5. The characters do not know what to do without the feed. They are extremely reliant on it: “We were frightened, and kept touching our heads. Suddenly, our heads felt real empty” (46).

    Similarities
    1. The roles of the doctor and nurse are similar to the way they are in today’s society. “The nurses were watching the relays, our blood pressure and all” (69).
    2. Vitals are monitored through automatic machines as they are in today’s hospitals. “We had remote relays attached to us to watch our blood and our brains” (45).
    3. Even though they have all the knowledge in the world available to them at any moment, the teens are still under the authority of their parents as they are in today’s society. “Our parents had been notified while we were asleep” (46).
    4. The importance of friendship is shown in Feed in the same way it is valued in our society. “You need the noise of your friends, in space. I feel real sorry for people who have to travel by themselves” (4).
    5. Even though they are in constant contact with others through the feed, they still feel loneliness and the need for romantic relationships. “Then I was hoping to meet someone on the moon. Maybe part of it was the loneliness of the craters…” (5).

    2. Brag: awesome; cool (48, 61)

    3. I find Violet to be the most interesting character. There’s something mysterious about her that the narrator has not yet revealed. For example, she tells everyone that her parents are too busy to come see her while she’s in the hospital, but that is not the case: “She looked me in the eye. “No,” she said, “but that’s what I told you” (67).

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  10. Similarities:
    1. We experience ambient advertising in our everyday lives, just like the characters in Feed do. While Titus may have an advertisement for a "cola with the refreshing taste of citrus and butter" (26) downloaded directly from the feed and we might see a similar advertisement on a bus or even in a public bathroom stall, the pervasiveness of the advertising exists in both situations.
    2. In both the Feed world and our world, media have a great deal of influence over personal style and expression. For instance, Loga receives information about what hairstyle is popular from the feed and Quendy and Calista copy it when they are without their feeds (52). This is similar to the way that people in our society choose what fashions or styles to wear based on information that they receive from magazine advertisements.
    3. In our society as well as the one in Feed, new media and technology help develop new vocabulary words. The feed influences terms like "going in mal" which refers to an altered state of consciousness achieved when the feed is made to malfunction and in our own society, new social media has allowed terms like the "twitterverse" or "blogosphere" to become part of everyday vocabulary for consumers and media practitioners alike.
    4. A great deal of human interaction is mediated by the feed, just like people in our society spend a great deal of time communicating via social networking sites or texting. However, in both societies these modes of communications have certainly not displaced people's desire to have close relationships with other humans as after Titus meets Violet, he "started to want, more than anything else that night, to be with her" (25).
    5. In both the world of Feed and our own society, the use of technology often hampers successful human communication. When Loga is visiting her friends in the hospital after they were hacked, she "laugh[s] at jokes [from the feed] that [they] couldn't hear" (52), which is similar when someone is more involved with a virtual conversation or his or her Facebook newsfeed than the conversation he or she is having with his or her friends in our world.

    Differences:
    1. In our world, adults tend to speak more eloquently than their children, especially when they speak to their children. In Feed, this is not the case as Titus's father sounds more like a friend than an authority figure when refers to Titus' hospitalization as "some way bad shit" (55).
    2. The character's in Feed are able to use "m-chat" (55), an application of the feed that allows people to have something similar to telepathic conversation with each other. Our technology does not allow us to do this at this time.
    3. In the Feed world, space travel is available to the average citizen. Titus and his friends are able to go to the moon for their spring break (3), an opportunity reserved mostly for scientists or astronauts in our society.
    4. The character's in Feed seem to lack understanding for art. When Titus sees a picture of boat that someone from our society might find enjoyable and even be able to analyze, Titus cannot appreciate it or "figure out the littlest reason to paint a picture like that" (45) because there is no action happening in it .
    5. In the world of Feed all media is accessed through the feed, so the character's do not use devices external of their bodies like we do. Link and Marty watch a football game on the feed instead of on a television, for instance.

    mess-hole- Something gross or revolting

    Violet is an intriguing character because she has a sense of wonder about her that the other characters do not. She is not in need of constant stimulation from the feed and she can find beauty in an orb of juice (25) or the ruins of a terrarium (62). Violet is observant and attuned to her surroundings and is more articulate than her peers which makes her unique foil to the rest of society.

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  11. 5 Differences
    1. They are always connected no matter what because they have the chip in their brain. "Then there's the silence when you're driving home alone n the upcar and there's nothing but the feed telling you, This is the music you heard. this is the music you missed. this is what is new. Listen" (5)
    2. They use different slang than we do. They say things like "unit" and "null" which we can assume what they mean given the context, but are not initially understood.
    3. They are able to have isolated conversations with someone near them totally in their mind. It's like in How I Met Your Mother when predominantly Marshall and either Lily or Ted have mind conversations between each other and the others in the group generally don't know what they are thinking and what is going on between them. Except for when Barney tries to do it, because then it always ends up being the two people thinking two different things and them thinking that they were brainstorming the same idea.
    4. They have the ability to fly to the moon. How baller is that? In comparison, it would probably be like kids going to Florida for Spring Break, they just have that ability to go into space. Which seems to impress some and others not so much.
    5. Unlike us, they are not able to disconnect from the feed. We have the ability to be free thinking beings, and they cannot separate their lives from the feed.

    5 Similarities
    1. We both rely heavily on technology. Our generation today has become so reliant on texting, facebook and email that it consumes the majority of our days.
    2. The book is written in a very similar fashion as how we talk on a day to day basis. They use "like" a lot and it sounds like someone from our generation is speaking directly to us.
    3. They are just as stalkerish as we are. When Titus starts to stare down Violet in the club scene, its totally how we would go about doing it now a days, trying not to seem too obvious that we're interested or checking them out but planning what actions to take to talk with them.
    4. Their use of communication is like us using text messages today. It is general between only two people and is relatively instantaneous.
    5. We are generally around the same age. They seem to be experiencing and relaying the information to us as we would probably react to it if we were in the same situation.

    Weasel-faced: I'm pretty sure this means get drunk or wasted. Or at least I hope that's what it means because I'm totally going to be throwing that phrase around.

    I would say that a character that interests me would be Titus because he is the main character, but his thoughts seem to be slightly different than those of his friends. He seems more curious or pensive. When they were riding up to the moon, he acted differently than his friends, he wasn't as easily amused and would rather sleep or be in peace. When they were in the hospital, one of the quotes I find very interesting is, "Everything in my head was quiet. It was fucked. 'What do we do?' she asked. I didn't know."

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  12. Five aspects that are similar to our world:
    -There is still a desire for human connection; we especially see this through Titus. Part of the need for human interaction is a fear of being disconnected from others and missing out on something, which is very relevant in today’s society.
    -Similar to in our culture there is age limits on drinking and admission into bars and clubs. Along with this comes the presence of police officers that enforce the laws and age limits that have been put in place.
    -Hospitals are present to help people when they get sick. Titus and his friends went to the hospital when they caught the virus that caused trouble with their Feeds so they couldn’t function.
    -There is also a strong focus on one’s appearance and fitting in in the Feed world. Similar to people in today’s world the characters feel the need to wear the right clothes and have the right hairstyle so they fit in with their peers.
    -When Feed first came out people were so excited and obsessive about it, similar to how people are when a new piece of technology comes out, it’s “all da da da, this big educational thing, da da da, your child will have the advantage, encyclopedias at their fingertips”(Anderson 47).

    Five aspects that are unlike our world:
    -Reading and writing have become obsolete and people who are literate, like Violet, are looked at with confusion and strangely.
    - Though our culture is strongly dependent on technology, it is miniscule compared to the characters in Feed who have their Feeds implanted in their heads rather than at their fingertips like we do. The characters have become so dependent on their Feeds that it has become a reflex.
    -In Feed the characters’ emotions and thoughts are completely controlled by feed and they’re ok with that where as people in our world like to control things so I think they’d have a hard time relinquishing complete control to a machine.
    -In the Feed world going to the moon or to another planet is completely normal, where as for us space travel is still new and just for science, not for recreational purposes.

    Identify ONE word or phrase of FEED speak, and what it means:
    The word “null” stood out to me because it means to be bored or something is boring and it reminds my of the word dull which I’m guessing is how they came up with it.



    Most Interesting Character:
    I think that so far Violet is the most interesting character, because she goes against the norm of what everyone around her is like. She’s not embarrassed because of her literacy, where as most kids probably would shy away from being different from their peers. Not only does she not hide her abilities, but she uses them and is proud of her extensive vocabulary. She has the ability to realize how feed is running the lives of everyone and recognizes that the easy way (having feed rather than thinking for yourself) isn’t always the best way.

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  13. 1.Five aspects of the FEED world that are UNLIKE our own 21st century world:
    1) Marty, Link, and other characters went to the Moon. Besides, Violet says that the trip to the Mars is bored. In the FEED, the travel to other planets is an ordinary thing. However, to travel to other planets is still a dream and a plan to discover.
    2) They use mental feeds to look for places that they need, such as restaurants, hotels, and others. We usually use APP of cellphone to search for different stores.
    3) The people of Feed do not have choice to choose which they want to accept or they do not want to accept. They did not reject the advertisements that they did not like. But now, we can skip or avoid advertisements.
    4) Same words have different meanings. Such as meg, null, and youch. There are also some new words all compound words, which we do not use today.
    5) In the book, they can do everything through feed, like watching football game, locating the stores. Now, we use many different devises to watch TV, locate thing, and to do other things.

    2.Five aspects of the FEED world that are LIKE our own 21st century world:
    1) When people are uncomfortable, they will go to the hospital. And hospital is a boring place. Besides, people never know why the wall will be painted one color. In chine, almost all walls of all hospitals were painted white. In books, walls were pictured boats.
    2) The vocations of people are the same as people in now. Such as banker, doctor, nurse, and designer.
    3) The girls of the Feed like changing hairstyle, attractive boys, and chirping. Girls have these behaviors all feeling today.
    4) Boys want to drink liquors, although they are under 21. People go to bar to drink need IDs.
    5) In the book, people have Feednet to connect and communicate with others. Today, we use phone to contact others. We even can use Facebook, Twitter communicate with others. In China, one App was named Wechat is very popular, we even can record voice message, face time, and share pictures and words to friends.

    3 .Null. It may means bored

    4. Violet
    I love Violet. She likes to observe everything. She learns about people by her observation. And she has her own opinion. She also knows how to comfort other people.

    5. Topic of research paper
    How does DNS( Domain Name System) make our lives easier ?

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  14. 1.) 5 Aspects of the FEED World Unlike Our World
    - In the FEED world, a personal news feed prompts, reminds, and entertains them. It often gets to the point where the feed invades: "our feeds were clear again from all the moon banners" (13).
    - The occasional lack of gravity is the norm. Even after leaving the moon, the characters encounter "lo-grav" or "no-grav" zones.
    - Language has evolved extensively in this (perhaps post-apocalyptic?) world. Completely new terminology has not quite been created in most cases, but words have instead been shortened or slightly altered, creating almost a slang language.
    - Recreation also seems to have evolved, if not changed. For example, an idea of fun in the FEED world exists in the Ricochet Lounge, which was "all about whamming one person into another in big stuffed suits." (15) An evolved version of bumper cars, perhaps?
    - Means of nourishment have evolved in the FEED world. While they can still obtain "regular" food that we know in our world, they also indulge in "fancy nutrient IVs" (13).

    2.) 5 Aspects of the FEED World Like Our World
    - In the FEED world, there continues to be the human nature and desire for acceptance and companionship. This has not been removed from them or replaced by their feeds.
    - College education is still around, as are college parties. Rejection from them, evidently, still exists as well: "we tried to get in and we were standing in the doorway and they were all, 'Who the hell are you?'" (15)
    - Reliance on technology continues to be the norm. Just as a smart phone user (which today, is most people) can typically barely go an hour without checking their phone (if they're lucky), technology has literally become part of the FEED world inhabitants in their personal "feeds".
    - Some means of recreation from what we know in our reality remain in the FEED world. An example of this is gathering in a group of friends to watch a football game. Evidently, another similarity exists in that the female "I don't want to watch your stupid game" stereotype continues to thrive in the FEED world: "we all watched the football game while the girls, they did something else on the feed." (13)
    - Despite other changes and the evolving of language, certain parts of it have remained the same in the FEED world. Swear words continue their use and normality.

    3.) diad: a (romantically involved) couple...?

    4.) As the character from whom we gain the most insight into the FEED world, Titus is the most intriguing character for me through the story. His focus on the opposite sex is not only amusing, but comments on the remaining need for human interaction in even the most technologically evolved realities.

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  15. Feed is different from the present:
    1) You can travel normally to the moon for vacation in the way that we would go to Mexico or Europe for vacation. “We went to the moon to have fun… We went on a Friday… It was the beginning of Spring Break” (3).
    2) The people can have telepathic conversations. We can only use communication technology like instant messaging.
    3) Computers are inside the body. Talking about how foreign that concept is “They carried them [computers] around outside of them, in their hands, like if you carried your lungs in a briefcase and opened it to breath” (47).
    4) More evolved languages. Our dead language is Latin, and theirs is Basic and Fortran.
    5) Their society only uses the feed for writing, there is little to no writing with pen and paper (66).
    Feed is similar to the present:
    1) Everyone including the characters in the book wants a romantic connection. “I guess if I’m honest? Then I was hoping to meet someone on the moon” (5).
    2) Everyone has information at our fingertips. We have google today, and there is even Google Glass which is sort of like the “feed” because it is on your head. “People were really excited when they came out with feeds… encyclopedias at their fingertips even closer to their fingertips, ect. That’s one of the greatest things about the feed-that you can be super smart without even working” (47).
    3) The concept of normalcy and the need to want to be “normal”. “’You go try to have fun like a normal person, a normal person with a real life…’’ (53).
    4) The association of ranch dressing and happiness. Today they are associated through Hidden Valley Ranch’s ad campaign, and in the book Violet and Titus have a conversation “… ‘What’s happy about a salad?’ She shrugged. ‘Ranch,’ she said” (60).
    5) They all have their family issues and each family dynamic is different. Titus finds his younger brother annoying (64).
    Feed Speak: “Null” means to be boring or bored.
    Feed Character I find most interesting:
    Violet is the most interesting character because she seems to be more of the individualist. She went to the moon by herself, and she does not always go with the crowd like the others do. She has taken academic interest, unlike the others; and she actually writes, unlike the others.

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  16. 2. Unlike
    “They were shouting “Chip in my head? better off dead!”” (page 32) This gives us the idea that FEED is unlike our 21st century world because we do not have chips in our head. Also giving us the idea that this world is much more advanced in technology then our world now.

    “Everything we feel and think is taken in by the corporations, mainly by data ones like Feedlink and OnFeed and American Feedware, and they make a special profile, one that’s keyed just to you...” (page 48) This is unlike our world now because is more advanced and much more personalized than what our internet/technology can do now. It’s almost like its as if every social media is personalized for you.

    “… He was sorry for the the delay, but he wanted to be absolutely sure there was no permanent hack, that our feeds were safe, etc…” (page 68) This is very unlike our world now because the people of the world relay on the feed like it’s their life. Which is completely different in our 21st century world, we relay on our health and what not.

    “”Okay. So what are the dead languages?” “they’re languages that were once important but that nobody uses anymore. They haven’t been used for a long time, except by historians.”” (page 85) This is an example of unlike our world, this is because what they see as old language is much different that what we see. We see like Latin as old language, not computer numbers as even a language.

    The time before the party they shocked themselves for a “high” feeling. This shows that it is unlike our world because their way of getting “high” or under the influence is by shocking themselves.

    Like
    “There were all these kids, what my dad calls Eurotrash, and they were all these kids standing in the middle of the square broadcasting to everyone all these slogans…” (page 31) This quote reminds me that our world has similar protests now, like with signs stating their ideas of freedom in parks and other places in the world. It shows that our world is like FEED because there are still problems that need to be fixed or noticed in society.

    “… I just stand there silent and act cool, and we’re this trio, the three of us guys, being like, total guys, which usually makes people let us in and give us beer.” (page 10) This is like our world now because teenagers still think the same about alcohol and have fake IDs to get into bars and what not. The wants and needs of a teenager are still sort of the same.

    “I looked at her funny. “You write?” I said, “with a pen?”” (page 65) This specific part of the book/section says that writing is not used in this FEED world. This is a lot like our world though, we watch technology grow and realize that our communication is less writing letters, and more facebook messaging, emailing, or texting through a phone. Even our school assignments are changing to being submitted through the internet or on a computer.

    “You need the noise of your friends, in space. I feel real bad for the people who have to travel by themselves.” (page 4) The people don’t just rely on feed for their attachment they still need the emotional attachment and interaction of other people of “units” in this case like 21st century humans.

    “I missed the feed. I don’t know when they first had feeds. Like maybe, fifty or a hundred years ago. Before they had to use their hands and their body. They carried them around out side of them, in their hands, like if you carried your lungs in a briefcase and opened it breathe. (page 47) This is a lot like the 21st century because they rely on technology so much in this part, and its seems as if that’s were our world is heading, since were being to rely on technology a lot more than we used to.

    3. “Null” an adjective describing something is boring or dull.

    4. I find Titus the most interesting because he is one of the more relatable characters to me. We get a better perspective from him through his teenaged thoughts in first person. Also to be able to see his emotions towards Violet, their relationship interests me because I like romantic novels.

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  17. 5 aspects of FEED like our own 21st century world
    1. Both worlds have a reliance on technology even though the FEED world is a much more drastic reliance.
    2. Both worlds have a lingo/slang used in typical conversation
    3. There are activities similar in both worlds such as parties, bowling, and peewee leagues games
    4. The FEED world also has a similar education structure with high school, homeschooling, college ect.
    5. In both worlds there is underage drinking and an age limit to alcohol consumption that is enforced
    5 aspects of FEED unlike our own 21st century world
    1. The FEED world does not have many things that are hands on because everything is digitalized. The characters rarely have to do anything that requires movement by their hands whether it is typing or searching for information.
    2. Paper and pen are almost extinct because it is usually done through the FEED (most people don’t even know how to write)
    3. In the FEED world emotions are reliant and controlled by the FEED and where as this would be a radical idea for today’s society in that we relish in our freedoms such as thought and emotion. The FEED world can’t get turn off or disconnect from their FEED where we have the ability for free thought that is uncontrolled by a machine
    4. Art is almost foreign to the FEED world. The painting Titus sees is confusing and seems pointless to Titus. He doesn’t understand its relevance where in today’s world; we appreciate and attempt analysis of art.
    5. The FEED world has different languages than the one we have in today’s world. Even the dead languages Violet’s father researches are unknown to our world

    3. A FEED word or phrase
    Brag: meaning something is awesome or cool

    4. FEED Character that I find most interesting
    I find Violet most interesting because she is somewhat of the black sheep who is a tad different and sometimes goes against the norm of that society. She acts in a different way from the other characters whether it is her use of pen and paper/ability to write or her thoughts and interests. She has a bit of mystery associated with her which makes her more interesting and fascinating to the reader who wants to figure out why she is different from the rest.

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  18. A perfect FEED score, DM posse.

    Meg brag, Units!

    Let's discuss in class.

    W

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