Response to Presentations

Group 1: Jonathan, Kieran, Ashley, Lauren.

As far the question "does technology have a positive effect on literature" goes, I think it does. I think literature will just adapt to reflect the technological world that we live in. I think troughout history literature provides us with descriptions of the setting in which that history took place. The books we read could provide examples for that. All of Vancouver Short Stories gives the reader a glimpse into the circumstances and culture that was prevalent at that time. Someone also mentioned the fact that our language is changing as a result of technology, but I think languages are only as good as what they can communicate, and now that we have news things that haaven't existed in the past, we need new words to refer to them.

As far as the question of literature becoming obsolete because it is being replaced with technology, I dont think this is happening. Maybe people read less, but I don't think reading will ever really be replaced by technology. I know lots of people who actually prefer reading over watching tv. I think reading has one major advantage too; there's no noise invoved, seriously sometimes I get sick of listening to the radio, and commercials and everything on tv.

Group 3: Betty, Sydney, Erin, Cindy.

Each person in this group discussed what they thought was the main theme. One per son thought that the main theme was love and relationships, and someone else thought it was peer pressure and alienation. I thought that both of these were themes in the book, but I guess as far as the main theme goes I'll have to agree with the professor on this one. I didn't think it was not just religion, but belief and doubt, and I think most importantly humility in one's beliefs. I think this was especially evident in Reg, and I think there is significance in the fact that the author ends with the his account, once Reg had become a real person and was able to challenge what his version of truth, especially about himself, he said that he was such a hypocrite. I also think that the narratuve style that showed four points of view also could support this view because it allows the reader to see all the beliefs that the characters held as true, but in fact they weren't.

Group 4: Brazil, Nathan, Fahad, Francesca.
One person in this group mentioned the fact that the four viewpoints elimintated biases. Like I said for my response to group three, I definititely agreed with this and think it was intentionally done by the author in order to convey the theme of questioning one's doubts. Someone else mentioned that they thought that irony was overplayed in the novel, and while I definitely think there was a lot of irony in the unfortunate events that afflicted Jason, I think this kind of reinforced the theme of doubt in the book. I think the very fact that Jason was victim to an unusually high amount of tragic events was significant, because this is exactly the thing that spurs doubt in their beliefs, its the kind of thing that makes people ask "why me?".