TO DO:
Click HERE to complete the student post -survey
Today we will:
- Discuss important ideas in Sleep Dealer in preparation for CAT #4
- Watch and respond to The Story of Stuff
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I. DISCUSSING SIGNIFICANT IDEAS IN SLEEP DEALER- I will assign you to a group (1, 2, 3, or 4).
- On your own, read the questions assigned to your group and write the answers in the Google Docs assigned to your group. Sign your contribution. If you are done early, check the other questions. (25 minutes)
- Read your group mates' answers in silence. Consider what everyone in the group has written (5-7 minutes).
- Share the ideas of the group orally with the class, trying to incorporate what others in the group have written. Acknowledge who had a particular idea by using the following format: "As Y explains...." (20 minutes)
- Write your impression on this type of group work as a comment on this blog post. (5-7 minutes)
GROUP 1
Rudy Ramirez, the Mexican-American drone “pilot,” lives in The American Dream. Memo dreams of participating in The American Dream by getting nodes and living in the city. But the brutal killing of Memo’s father reveals that America/The American Dream is a dystopia.
a) Describe how Sleep Dealer represents The American Dream as a dream that is really a dystopia: How does Memo imagine it at first? How does his brother see it? How does his father see it? How is it represented on TV? How does Memo see and experience it as a worker in the cybermaquilas? What is Rudy’s role in The American Dream?
b) The end of the film has Memo and Rudy come together to create a new dream. What is it? What clues from the film do you have to support your interpretation?
GROUP 2
The last word Memo says in the film is “fight.”
a) Considering Sleep Dealer’ s story, what/who do you think Memo is going to fight? What clues from the film do you have to support your interpretation?
b) What is at stake in this fight? What can be gained? What can be lost?
c) Is this a just fight? Why? Why not?
d) Is Memo asking us to join him in the fight? If yes, should we join the fight? Why? Why not?
GROUP 3
In Sleep Dealer, soldiers go on “missions” by remote-piloting drones to far away places and their missions are televised live. Currently, the United States uses drones such as these for combat in Afghanistan and to patrol the border between the US and Mexico.
a) List the advantages and disadvantages of this kind of remote warfare. Look at your two lists and explain whether it is a good idea for countries to use this kind of technology to conduct wars.GROUP 4
b) Rudy Ramirez, the Mexican-American drone “pilot,” hesitates before he explodes Memo’s father to bits because he gets to see his face--a rare occurrence according to the TV commentator following Rudy’s mission. Why does seeing “the enemy's” face make it harder for a soldier to kill? Should it be hard to kill someone, even in a war? Is it okay for a pilot to shoot it up in Afghanistan all day via a satellite link and then sleep at home at night? Why? Why not?
c) Is televising war a complete exaggeration or something that could happen soon? Can you imagine audiences watching real people being blown up in distant places and cheering? Why? Why not?
In Sleep Dealer, people become cyborgs by buying implants called “nodes” that allow to connect them to cyberspace.
a) Make a list of how nodes are used by the main characters: Memo, Luz, and Rudy. What uses seem perfectly normal to you? What uses seem perverse? Are there any uses that should be illegal? What uses are very similar to interactions on the internet?
b) In Sleep Dealer, Luz makes a living by uploading and selling her memories in cyberspace. Is this ethical? How does selling actual memories compare to writing a “tell all” autobiography, for example? How does it compare to participating in a reality television show?
II. Blog 22: Watching and Responding to The Story Of Stuff
Watch The Story of Stuff on the Story of Stuff website HERE or on YouTube HERE, taking notes as you watch. Then write Blog 22: The Story of Stuff and Labor, a response to ONE of topics below.
1. Annie Leonard: "According to those exploiting the planet's resources to make stuff, the people living in the countries with the resources do not have value because they don’t own the resources even if they’ve been living there for generations, they don’t own the means of production, and they’re not buying a lot of stuff." Who/What is responsible for this reality? Who/What benefits from it? Who/What suffers because of it? Is this reality necessary? Is it right? Provide evidence from your own experience or from what you have read and discussed in class.
1. Annie Leonard: "According to those exploiting the planet's resources to make stuff, the people living in the countries with the resources do not have value because they don’t own the resources even if they’ve been living there for generations, they don’t own the means of production, and they’re not buying a lot of stuff." Who/What is responsible for this reality? Who/What benefits from it? Who/What suffers because of it? Is this reality necessary? Is it right? Provide evidence from your own experience or from what you have read and discussed in class.
2. Define "planned obsolescence" and "perceived obsolescence" in your words. Who/What is responsible for these marketing strategies? Who/What benefits from them? Who/What suffers because of them? Are these strategies necessary? Are they right? Provide evidence from your own experience or from what you have read and discussed in class.
3. Annie Leonard: "The erosion of local environments and economies ensures a constant supply of people with no other option. Globally 200,000 people a day are moving from environments that have sustained them for generations, into cities, many to live in slums, looking for work, no matter how toxic that work may be." Who/What is responsible for this reality? Who/What benefits from it? Who/What suffers because of it? Is this reality necessary? Is it right? Provide evidence of this reality from your own experience or from what you have read and discussed in class.
3. Annie Leonard: "The erosion of local environments and economies ensures a constant supply of people with no other option. Globally 200,000 people a day are moving from environments that have sustained them for generations, into cities, many to live in slums, looking for work, no matter how toxic that work may be." Who/What is responsible for this reality? Who/What benefits from it? Who/What suffers because of it? Is this reality necessary? Is it right? Provide evidence of this reality from your own experience or from what you have read and discussed in class.
4. President Eisenhower’s Council of Economic Advisors Chairman said that “The American economy’s
ultimate purpose is to produce more consumer goods.” Do you agree with this statement? Why? Why not? If not, what do you think should be the ultimate purpose of the American economy? Why?
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For HOMEWORK (due Wednesday 5/18): Blog 23: Expanding on one topic in Sleep Dealer
Choose ONE of the questions discussed in class (it does not have to be the one assigned to your group)
read everyone's answers. Write Blog 23, discussing the topic of your choice. Try to incorporate the ideas from group members into your entry. Acknowledge who had the idea by using the following format: "As Y explains...."
