Infinite Jest: A Failed Entertainment - The primary failed entertainment of Infinite Jest is The Entertainment that James O. Incandenza made for Hal. On p. 839 Wallace writes: “” The most obvious way that Infinite Jest is a failed entertainment could be that well, in the common sense of the word, it just isn’t that entertaining. Given the colossal length, the frequency of foot notes, the almost nauseatingly non-linear storytelling, Infinite Jest is many things, but entertaining it is not. --- A failed entertainment signifies something that aimed to entertain and then didn’t. Yet, because Wallace called Infinite Jest, A Failed Entertainment.
It is perhaps too good-natured for comedy. It has little satire, and no spleen. It aims at the ludicrous rather than the ridiculous. It makes us laugh at the follies of mankind, not despise them, and still less bear any ill-will towards them. Shakespear's comic genius resembles the bee rather in its power of extracting sweets from weeds or poisons, than in leaving a sting behind it.
I don’t understand how the partipicants can be so stupid and naive. People likes to watch these programs because they like having a feeling of being smart, and laugh of others. That’s a natural need most people might own. I don’t like the Danish realityshows because they are too plain and stupid, the English or American ones like “Jersey Shore” and “Here comes honey booboo” are pretty funny to watch. The reason might be that they truly go all the way with the funny comments, partying or their stupid behavior.
He sees manley pointer as being the actual nihilist and joy-hulga as an person still trying to develop a personality. Edmondson sees hulga as a naive nihilist “wana be” girl who thinks she’s the seductress and the one in control. Yet, in reality she’s merely a puppet who’s being used by manley pointer “the essence of nihilism itself.” (pg 64 Edmondson). Edmondson ideas of seduction and joy hulga as the one who’s being seduced by manley pointer seem to be on par. One would have to agree with him that manley pointer seems suspiciously non human and “the essence of nihilism itself.” He sees the story as an example of morality where joy-hulga the “sinister” that get a life learning lesson from her encounter with manley pointer.
The Clod and the Pebble The message conveyed by the poem “The Clod and the Pebble” is dependent on personal interpretation of love. Blake’s presentation of the clod of clay and the pebble through symbolism demonstrates how the perspective on love can depend on life experience. Following that idea, one who has experienced and perhaps been hardened by love might believe that love is selfish and by believing so, act selfishly. However, one who is new and perhaps soft” to the experience of love, might believe that love is selfless and continue to believe so until he or she is hardened by experience of love. Regardless of interpretation, the poem presents a very old and important question - Are things what we make them or does experience make us?
From the language and personalised tone he used in his writing, Rogers may be targeting an audience of young nerds, who are unsure of being proud of themselves. Rogers claims that nerds should embrace their nerdiness and not conform to societal stereotypes of them because of the success they will gain later in their lives. In paragraph 1, he dismisses society’s perceptions of nerds as “narrow-minded and thoughtless” and defines two key features of nerdiness as the “obsession with mastering every insane detail of their interest” and the “inability to understand… societal norms”, which nerds should embrace. He moves on to attributes that “virtually every modern blessing… originated with a nerd”, providing successful examples of nerds like Einstein and Newton in paragraph 3. Stating too their successes are acknowledged by society, who perceives them as “geniuses”, albeit only later in life.
Popular Culture in contemporary society encourages children and adolescents to behave badly, due to the negative representations of acceptable behaviour as well as the immoral messages presented. Bart Simpson can only be described as a parent’s worst nightmare! Amongst his many qualities such as being rude, a class clown and having no respect for authority, he is now considered to be, alongside great names such as Albert Einstein and Ghandi, as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people. I’m sorry to say that this is no mistake; the flamboyant Bart Simpson is setting the tone of how your children are to behave, not in a world of yellow people with four fingers, but right here, in the real world. The Simpsons is a Pop Culture phenomenon that has been influencing our lives for 20 years.
You have a great car, a great house, and brand named clothes, but you want newer versions of each. Now, that is unreasonable. The Dalai Lama also speaks about the “troubles” and uncomfortability that these unreasonable desires can cause amongst communities. “For example, if you live in a prosperous society where a car is required to help manage in your daily life, then of course there’s nothing wrong in desiring a car. But if you live in a poor village in India where you can manage quite well without a car but you still desire one, even If you have the money to buy it, it can ultimately bring trouble” (P. 968).
“Illusions commend themselves to us because they save us pain and allow us to enjoy pleasure instead.” (Sigmund Freud). Most people dislike getting hurt, and to prevent such an event from happening, they make up their own stories that only they believe to be true. Doing so helps them to get through life, but at the same time, it may corrupt them. In East of Eden, John Steinbeck uses his characters to show how people indulge in their imaginations to escape from reality. A variety of characters from Steinbeck’s story create their own imaginary dimension where they can hide from what is true to feel at peace.
Praise and Punishment: The Effects on Children -Jessica Broome We cannot teach children how to be successful adults by simply finding ways to make them obedient. When children do what they are told simply because they will either be rewarded or punished, they are being “obedient”. We want children to practice good behavior even when we are not there to offer a reward or dole out a punishment. As suggested by “insufficient punishment”, children will only change their behavior temporarily when the punishment is severe. This is also true of rewards.