Wow. If that is what the future holds, I'm glad that the world is "ending" in 2012. In all seriousness, I wasn't exactly thrilled when I began reading the first few pages, because of the language, but after the first 50 pages I was hooked. Feed is a novel that mocks the trends in our society by showing the glories and downfalls of the industry and internet. Wouldn't it be awesome to "mind chat" someone without looking at them or getting our your laptop? On the other hand, getting lesions and having my skin fall off isn't exactly what I call fashion. I loved Feed. It was refreshing to read, and it brought up a lot of interesting points about today's society. When is enough, enough? Is technology a good thing, and do the pros outweigh the cons? Although Feed is fiction, I believe there are a lot of common topics that could be discussed about the modern we live in today.
1. How does industry and advertising affect us as consumers? Hulu and other websites are offering ways to "personalize" your ad experience to better suit you. Is this a scary thought or what!
2. Global warming is a hot topic for politicans, but are the dangers really prevalent? How realistic is it that in Feed the temperature was usually over 100 degrees and that people were able to turn off the sun in their tubes?
3. Endangered species and the environment are often talked about in a biology class, but killing habitats and building factories was a theme throughout Feed. In what ways could this be reversed, and how do we encourage students to be proactive in a world that is constantly relying on fossil fuels to worry about other creatures on Earth?
4. The trends are constantly changing in Feed. Relating this to high schoolers might be interesting to see what they consider what trends that seemed "far out" and study different decades. For example the '60's was known for the hippies, and we could discuss how different movements in government, society, and pop culture influence these trends.
5. Facebook, Myspace, and other social networking sites are beyond popular. In Feed they discuss the access to anything in their own minds- what would be the advantage and disadvantages? Is this a downfall to the newer generation, or does it put them ahead of the game?
Although these are only five questions, I think they would bring up a lot of good debates among students because many of them hit home. Feed is a book that could bring up so many good topics, while also having a love story and teen drama to keep it interesting and fresh. I would suggest this reading to anyone.
haha! I like how you introduced your blog!.. I like your discussion questions and they would provoke a lot of thoughts for students, especially looking at the different trends over the years and even looking at how some of them repeat (fashion,etc). I really liked how you could chat in your head as well. But when I read it, I couldn't help but think as a teacher and not like it because it would surely distract my students quite often, and I wouldn't know. Teachers today are worried about texting being a distracion, let alone this hidden one in the mind!! I wouldn't be able to keep up with students if this was a real factor in my classroom. I think with your discussion questions you could get a lot of good activities out of them
ReplyDeleteI think a certain approach to take when teaching this book is to have students identify with how similiar of a situation they are in with the characters in the book, and either have them realize it themselves or point out the fact that many of these activities impact what is most important in our lives. I think to teach this book in a fashion that goes completely against industrialism and consumerism is the wrong way to go about it - because whether we like it or not, we have adapted in atleast some way to it that we cannot rule it out completely in today's society. But I think if we can just have students become aware of having a certain mindset about issues or activities they partake in really do influence/hurt others, so we need to encourage them to find a nice balance in life is all. For instance, the Narrator forgoes his relationship with Violet and hardly has a connection with his family because he is concerned about partying and the latest fashion trends. Which in the end, he can only identify his relationships with people like his relationship to clothes, that they were inanimate and replaceable. And how I would present this to students is to really have them ponder about whether they are letting trends or unhealthy activities interfere with their opportunities to form healthy bonds with their girlfriend, family members, etc. - passing up crucial events in life only because they're stuck in the "moment", you know?
ReplyDeleteI really like your first question. I remember in a middle school language arts class where we studied advertising. We talk about how commericals pick specific races, genders and ages of the actors to convey messages. I learned that channels, like ESPN, show commericals based upon what the viewers are watching. So, they show a commerical for basketball shoes during a basketball game.
ReplyDeleteI think this would be a great lesson to do with students because advertising is everywhere we go.
i liked all the very approachable questions you brought up to discuss along with this book. feed is fun but there are alot of questions in raises in the back of the mind. and hopefully our students will be able to like. like. answer them. Nike! you know?
ReplyDeleteI think that a whole unit on modernity and the consumer generation could be built around your questions..Great connections!
ReplyDeleteThe first line of your blog is hysterical, but so true! I don't want to be around if this is what the world is actually going to turn into. It's awesome that you thought of some discussion questions that could bring a lot of connections and debates to your classroom because there are a lot of really great ways to utilize this book in the classroom.
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