Children of Men - Part 2

Blog on one or both of the following:

Blog Option #1:

According to director Alfonso Cuaron, "We wanted the end to be a glimpse of a possibility of hope, for the audience to invest their own sense of hope into that ending. So if you're a hopeful person you'll see a lot of hope, and if you're a bleak person you'll see a complete hopelessness at the end." (http://storyfanatic.com/articles/story-analysis/children-of-men-analysis)

What did you see? Why do you think the director chose to end the film in this way? Does it work?  Besides the ending, what do you believe the purpose was of the movie and what is the biggest critique that you believe it makes regarding society?

Blog Option #2:

Read the following passages:

Luke 2:1-7 (New International Version, ©2010)
The Birth of Jesus

1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while[a]Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Luke 2:25-38
 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
 29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
   you may now dismiss[a] your servant in peace.
30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
   and the glory of your people Israel.”
 33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
 36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.[b] She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Matthew 2:13-23

The Escape to Egypt
 13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”[a]
 16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
 18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
   weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
   and refusing to be comforted,
   because they are no more.”[b]
The Return to Nazareth
 19 After Herod died,
an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” 21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Based on these verses, who in the movie represent which characters in the story?  What similarities do you see?  If the new child come into the world represents the Christ child, what does that mean for the world?

"The End of Work" and "Children of Men" - Part 1

Answer 1 of the following blogs (or both if you need additional makeup blogs)

1. What is the main argument of Jeremy Rifkin's "The End of Work"?  Do you think that he is correct? Is the future of work as grim as he anticipates? Why or why not?  Provide examples to support your ideas.

2. Watch the following 2 minute clip from YouTube that incorporates all the advertising images from the movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VnIrXmdYhY&feature=related

Which ones do you find the most important and what do they say about the world that Theo lives in?  What are the dilemmas that the people face, and what does the government want the people to focus on?  Which advertising images have the most similarities to our advertising, and how is this dangerous or problematic?

Discussion Post 8: Chapters 24-30

Respond to one (or more if you are behind in posting) of the following prompts:

1.  Chapter 24 talks extensively about the state of books and literature in this world.  What is unique about their system?  What about their system resonates as familiar within our own society regarding what gets published and why?

2. What, according to Chapter 24, is Vonnegut's attitude towards psychiatry?  Is it true that "somebody's just got to be maladjusted; that somebody'sgot to be uncomfortable enough to wonder where people are, where they're going, and why they're going there?"  How does this relate to our society and views towards psychology? Are they similar?

3.  Look at Chapter 26, page 255, 2nd paragraph starting with "Paul shook his head...".  What are the moral implications of man fighting next to machine?  What are the positives and negatives of this, and are we headed in this direction today?  What could this mean for our society?

4. Look at Chapter 30, page 300-303, which is Van Neumann's speech to the outside world.  What principles does he affirm about technology?  Do you agree with these principles?  Are there any of these principles that could potentially be problematic?

Discussion Post: Chapters 20-23

For Tuesday, choose a passage from the book, dialogue or event that you found interesting and discuss what you felt to be interesting or insightful about the passage.  If possible, relate it to the themes and events of the book thus far and discuss its impact on the novel, or expound on its relevance to Ilium society and/or our society today.  (When discussing the particular passage, provide either a quote, or chapter and page number.)

Digital Nation Part 2: Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds divide and connect us, create new realities, and alter our present realities.  What, then, is your verdict?  Are these new virtual worlds good or bad?  Explore this through using examples from the video, or answer one of the following questions:

1. In World of Warcraft, Everquest, and Second Life, you can change your identity and live a completely different life.  Or can you?  Are these games helping to connect and expand ourselves, or assisting us in hiding or refusing to confront our own personal identities?

2. How is video conferencing, such as IBM's use of Second Life, changing our world?  Is it different from meeting face-to-face?  What is lost by this and how is it important?  What about the use of Virtual Reality to either change our memories, such as in the whale test in children, or alter our perceptions of ourselves, such as altering height measurements in the Virtual World in order to assist in debates in the real world? 

3. How is combat changing based on drones and fighting a remote war?  Could this potentially change how we fight and the mentality with which we do so?

Digital Nation Part 1: The "Dumbest Generation"

Are we actually the "dumbest generation" or are we just creating new ways of thinking?  Studies say that we are reading more varied and shorter bits of information, as opposed to novels, and our longer essay writing is being replaced with shorter idea blurbs, thanks to blogs, Facebook, and Twitter  Just as print culture made us worse at using our memory, are we losing something important?  Are we gaining something?  Use examples from the video to explain.

Discussion Post 4: The End

Interpret the last chapter of the book.  Is the ending tragic or hopeful?  Does this matter?  What does the epilogue do the change or modify the meaning of the book?  How does ending the book in a voice other than Offred's change the narrative? (Answer any or all of these questions.)