- Read the prompt carefully noticing all requirements for the entry.
- Plan your response in your journal first. Blog-only answers may not receive credit.
- Read existing posts before creating your own to avoid posting the same idea. If someone has already taken your idea, don't simply post it again. Instead, respond to the previous post, adding information, giving new examples, or expanding upon the idea.
Each of the books is part of the genre of SOCIAL SCIENCES: the study of human society and of individual relationships in and to society. Write a response to the book so far, commenting on the social behaviors and relationships in society that the book addresses (Do you agree? Have you been aware of the phenomenon? Do you notice the same things as the author? Is the information relevant to you and your generation?, etc.) BLOG: Then, either post your comments to the blog or read one that is already posted and respond as the addressee of the letter. While blogs may seem informal, they require that you edit and revise before you PUBLISH. In your Journal, write the blog entry and revise it. Then, post the entry on the website if you have online access. http://crhs-summerreading.blogspot.com/ – use the Honors English IV page to blog.
I've noticed in most of this book that Colin questions if our country's life style actually positively contributes to our overall happiness level. It makes me wonder, if we all stopped using the products that were designed to save us time, could we all some how become happier? Would we enjoy life more than we do now? I had never given this issue any thought until readying this book. I assumed that everything made to help humans become more efficient, in fact, made life more enjoyable. This concept is very relevant to my generation because as time goes on our world only invents more and more time saving products. If those products hurt our planet more then they cause us happiness, why should we keep producing them? If only we could stop taking the short cuts and enjoy the long routes, we could save our planet and live happier lives.
ReplyDeleteIn the United States we are constantly exposed to advertisements. Whether you are walking down the street, watching t.v., riding the bus, or reading a magazine you will probably see several ads. They tell you what the latest and greatest is, what you need, what will make your life easier, and where you can go to find it. Humans, specifically in this case Americans, are impulsive. We continuously act on the wants we encounter everyday. In No Impact Man, Beavan goes on a fruitless search for a French Net shopping bag. Had he found it he probably would have found some sort of flaw with it and bought something else to fix that problem. This impulsive cycle happens a lot with modern technology. If you buy the best phone out there by a few weeks there is something better. Then you have to upgrade and buy other products in order to keep up. Of course you have heard the phrase "think before you act" but most of the time you can find a way to rationalize a decision in your head and therefore continue the impulsive cycle.
ReplyDeleteOne major societal issue that Beavan comments on is the unwillingness of 99% of Americans (figuratively speaking) to make sacrifices for the greater good. For instance, even Colin’s family chastises him because they don’t understand his intentions; they don’t see the point of the No Impact Project. His mom argues that the train to Massachusetts will be spewing carbon dioxide regardless of whether or not he’s on it, and his father ignorantly tells him he needs to focus on his “family footprint” instead. Essentially, they are telling him not to bother because everyone else will stay the same. Unfortunately, that is the ideology that’s killing us and depressing our carbon footprint ankle-deep. In our minds, everyone else is the problem because they won’t change. It’s worse than a vicious circle and, geometrically speaking, much simpler. It’s a vicious point. The world, but chiefly the United States, stagnates due to this simple though.
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