KNOWING OUR FATE Concept Technology What do you

KNOWING OUR FATE Concept: Technology

What do you think? ØTechnology will be the salvation of humankind. ØTechnology will be the destruction of humankind.

PRACTICE WITH IRONY: “Tomorrow and Tomorrow” by Kurt Vonnegut The title is taken from Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth. As English troops are approaching Macbeth’s castle to besiege it, he is told that his wife has died, and this is his response: She should have died hereafter; There would have been a time for such a word. Tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury Signifying nothing. — Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 17 -28) Basically, he states that there is no meaning in life. We go about pretending (“poor player”) to have significant lives (“sound and fury”); however our time is short (“brief candle”) and we will fade into obscurity. (Oh! Macbeth dies shortly afterwards by the guy who is leading the English troops, Macduff, which the three witches predicted earlier in the play. )

PRACTICE WITH IRONY: “Tomorrow and Tomorrow” by Kurt Vonnegut If we could, should we live forever? In the abridged short story, we are taken to a futuristic society where an inexpensive drug can keep you from aging. Ideas to think about as we read: ü Should we use technology for immortality? ü Do we thirst for power and control? ü Are we too dependent on technology? Vonnegut writes to comment on current flaws in our society. What might he be saying about: government control, money and happiness, and obsession with youth and beauty?

Vocabulary: Literature Terms Ø Irony – 3 types Ø Dramatic – when the audience knows more than the characters on stage Ø Verbal – character states opposite of what is meant Ø Situational – an event contradicts expectations Ø Personification – giving human attributes to nonhuman things Ø Characterization – how we learn about a character Ø Indirect Ø Direct Ø Imagery – vivid & descriptive language that appeals to the five senses Ø Theme – opinion expressed on the subject/topic of a work Ø Figurative Language - use of words in some way other than for their literal meanings to make a comparison, add emphasis, or say something in a fresh and creative way. Examples: alliteration, hyperbole, idiom, imagery, metaphor, onomatopoeia, personification, and simile. Ø Chronological Pattern of Organization – arrangement of info according to a progression of time, either forward or backward

“There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury

SUMMARY This is a science-fiction story that is set in the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust. The futuristic house is the only one remaining in the city and still serves its now absent family, following the same daily routines as it always has. In the end, a fire starts and the house is destroyed.

Let’s take a look at SMART houses… http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=9 DJr 8 Qwg. LEA

“There Will Come Soft Rains” by Sara Teasdale There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground, And swallows circling with their shimmering sound; And frogs in the pools singing at night, And wild plum trees in tremulous white; Robins will wear their feathery fire, Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire; And not one will know of the war, not one Will care at last when it is done. Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree, If mankind perished utterly; And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn Would scarcely know that we were gone. How d oes the poet im a nature gine w respon ould d eradic to the atio human n of kind?

Vocabulary: Academic I These words may be abstract, have multiple meanings, or are likely to appear in a future text. Ø Bounded – walk or run with leaping strides Ø Cavorting – jump or dance around excitedly Ø Paranoia – irrational fear of danger or misfortune Ø Perished – suffer death in a violent, sudden, or untimely way

Vocabulary: Academic II Ø Psychopathic – suffering from a mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior Ø Sublime – supreme, splendid Ø Tremulous – trembling, unsteady Ø Whims – sudden desire or change of mind; impulse

LEQ 1 How is irony used to convey Bradbury’s message about technology and the future of mankind?