Feed

Sample Dialectical Journal entry: FEED by M. T. Anderson

Passages from the text	Pg#s	Comments & Questions
“-We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck”.	Pg 1	(R) This is the first sentence in the book, and it says a lot of things. First off, it states that the moon has become a thing that people just go to, that isn’t a big deal, and that isn’t a special operation. Secondly, it states that the moon has become something so common that people say that “it sucks”. No people now days would say that as the only people ever on the moon are astronauts, whose passion is the moon. It also means that the moon’s “value” and “specialty” has diminished. All of this means that the moon has become accessible and that the book is set in the future, and in a different time than ours.

Passages from the text	Pg#s	Comments & Questions
“-Most of the rest of the city had pretty good artificial gravity”.	Pg 10	(R) This sentence, that doesn’t hold much importance in the story so far, really intrigued me. It really made the moon into a touristy place, and it made it easier to imagine it. It made me think of Dubai for some reason! Both the moon (from the book) and Dubai seem to be very different to their surroundings and trying to change the “unchangeable”. In Dubai, I saw read article about how they are planning to have “air-conditioned” streets, for the tourist, because of the extremely hot weather. The weather is one of the things that seem to be the hardest to change about a place, however, with technology, this seems closer and closer to happen. Gravity to us seems like it can barely be changed, and would never be “reduced” or added to for tourist’s sake.

Passages from the text	Pg#s	Comments & Questions
“-like big thanks to everyone for not telling me that My lesion is spreading”.	Pg 21	(R) This is one of the many sentences in the chapter that mention the lesion. From what they have described, it seems like some type of disease or virus, that is very common and that most people have. It also can happen to any part of the body, and is big, red and full of puss. Another alarming thing about it is that it grows. Nobody seems worried or concerned about it and take it as if it was a normal thing to have. The blonde lady even said that she wants hers to grow so it covers her whole neck and it can look like a necklace! A lot of questions popped into my mind such as “is it spreadable?” “Is there a cure?” “Are there serious consequences?”

Passages from the text	Pg#s	Comments & Questions
“-We’re going to have to shut you off now”.	Pg 40	(R) This sentence, which is one of the last ones of chapter one, made me think about how much people have changed in the future, according to this book. Now humans can be “turned off” by the touch of a button. This made me think on how human are they really? The reader assumes that they are humans, but could they be robots? We already know that they have a chip in their head, that works as a computer, but how human and how robot are they? Are they cyborgs? If they were to appear now, would we count them as humans? It also leads to other questions such as “can anyone turn anyone off?” “How do you turn someone off?” “Do they have a noticeable on/off switch?”