Soon as you know what text you want to report on, stake your claim in comments below. When a few of you have done so, we'll take a little class time to fill out the list on this page.
1. Kari, We Are Unprepared-Meg Little-Reilly
2. Tanner SHarpe mountainman_tan, James Cameron "Avatar"
3. Shay Linell, "Wall-E"
4. selenaranney, Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach
5. Sarah Wilson, "New York 2140" by Kim Stanley Robinson
6. Alex Tesar , Pacific Coast, by Kim Stanley Robinson
7.Amber Swindall, "Staying with the Trouble" by Donna J. Haraway
8. Max McConnell, "Man Cave: A One-Man Sci-Fi Climate Change Tragicomedy (Annotated)" by Timothy Mooney
9. Nicole Rondeau, Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins
10. Rosemarie Kuenn, State of Fear by Michael Crichton
11. Baylee Burk, Odds Against Tomorrow by Nathaniel Rich
12. Abigail Redman, "The wind-up Girl" by Paolo Bacigalupi
13. Brandon Alston,"The Wastelanders" by Tim Hemlin
14. Sarah Lowery, The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard
16. Patrick Nichols, "Interstellar"
17. tatern tucky, “Flight Behavior” by Barbara Kingsolver (post-20th)
18. [If you're not on the list, let me know ASAP]
I've officially claimed We Are Unprepared-Meg Little-Reilly. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI officially claim "New York 2140" by Kim Stanley Robinson
ReplyDelete-Sarah Wilson
I claim Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach
ReplyDeleteI claim Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI officially claim Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins
Claiming James Cameron "Avatar"
ReplyDelete-Tanner SHarpe
Sharing “Flight Behavior” with Abigail.
ReplyDeletepost-20th
DeleteI claim Odds Against Tomorrow by Nathaniel Rich.
ReplyDelete-Baylee Burk
I claim "The wind-up Girl" by Paolo Bacigalupi. Instead of Flight Behavior. Thanks
ReplyDeleteMine will be on "Wall-E" the movie. :D
ReplyDeleteI am officially claiming "The Wastelanders" by Tim Hemlin
ReplyDelete-Brandon Alston
I would like to use the film "Interstellar" directed by Christopher Nolan
ReplyDeleteI am claiming "Please Don't Paint Our Planet Pink: A Story for Children and Their Parents" by Gregg Kleiner
ReplyDeleteMaxwell McConnell
I am claiming The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard
ReplyDelete- Sarah Lowery
My claim is for "Staying with the Trouble" by Donna J. Haraway
ReplyDelete-Amber Swindall
DeleteI am changing my selection to "Man Cave: A One-Man Sci-Fi Climate Change Tragicomedy (Annotated)" by Timothy Mooney
ReplyDeleteKim Stanley Robinson
ReplyDeletePacific Coast
Alex Tesar
///////////////////// Mid-Term Report (CLI-FI) /////////////////////////
DeleteKim Stanley Robinson
Pacific Edge: Three Californias Trilogy
Pacific Edge is the third book in a series by Kim Stanley Robinson that explores three different possible futures for the inhabitants of Orange County California. While the first two books focus on situations that have degraded into, or near to, dystopian societies, this third book explores what a community might look like if we were to successfully make major social, economic, and environmental changes to the way we govern ourselves. Robinson explores these ideas through the eyes, and daily experiences, of the residents of a small community named El Modena. In some ways they appear to have transcended our modern vises. In other ways, all the common patterns are still there, just with a fresh coat of paint. It’s this conflict that drives the direction of this book.
The setting for Pacific Edge is the year 2065 in a small town of southern California. Over the past several decades, a social movement has reigned in capitalism and unlimited expansion, at least in the United States, through the application of several new laws that include income limits and restrictions on development based on water availability. This specific town has taken the community structure a step further by making all the public assets owned in common by all of its citizens, by requiring everyone to do ten hours a week of town work, and by consolidating all of the town’s income and redistributing it equally to all the residents. It’s a democratic commune with all of the town’s decisions made during a weekly council meeting made up of elected representative from the towns political parties. This council meeting is where we see the conflict arise in this story.
El Modena is divided into two major and several minor parties. The Greens, a nature focused group, and the New Federalists, a less defined but more business oriented group, are the two major parties. The minor parties act more or less as moderates between the other two. The primary conflict in the book is that the town’s mayor, Alfredo who is a New Fed., wants to use the last vacant hill in town, a bare rock with some light brush and a copse of planted trees, for the new site of a medical manufacturing company. Kevin, a Green who happens to live at the base of this hill, is outraged and is trying to block the construction. In the course of attempting to find a way to save his hill, Kevin must explore the legal, social, and economic systems of his world. Through this exploration, the author invites us to contemplate not only the big concepts, but their applications to individuals. Chief among them is the relationship between greed and justification within each of his characters.
Quiz Questions:
1) What year is Pacific Edge set in?
2) What form of government does the town of El Modena have?
3) What are the two major parties in the town of El Modena?
4) What is the primary restricting resource in this story?
5) What physical object is the focus of the conflict in this story?
Discussion Questions:
- This book has been described as an example “Utopian” society. From the description, would you want to live there? If not, what does your utopia look like?
- Climate change is (mostly) down played in this book as simply: Southern California is sunny, and water is a limited resource. Do you think that it has misrepresented this idea?
- Are the New Feds being greedy? Are the Greens being greedy? What, if there is one, is the difference?
AT
///////////Final Report (CLI-FI)////////// Part 1 of 3
DeleteKim Stanley Robinson
Pacific Edge: Three Californias Trilogy
Recap from mid-term report:
Pacific Edge is the story of a small California town named El Modena set in the year 2065. In this future, global temperatures and mass species extinctions have occurred as a result of climate change. The extent of these two impacts is not specified or explored in the story, but they are referenced as a reality and are part of the basis for major socio-economic changes that have taken place worldwide. The results of these changes are limitations on maximum and minimum incomes, public ownership of utilities, and the division of cooperate assets into smaller companies. In this specific town, the residents have decided to take it a step further and established a democratic commune as their form of governance.
The primary conflict in this story is between Kevin, a member of the town’s green party, and the town’s mayor, Alfredo, a member of the town’s New Federalist party. Alfredo is working to build a new facility for his medical manufacturing business in town and Kevin is upset about the proposed location for the construction since it is the last open hill top in town and is his backyard. As a newly appointed town council member, Kevin takes it upon himself, with the help of a few friends, to save his hill. My previous report on this book left off as Kevin was beginning to explore what legal options may be available to him in his fight against Alfredo.
Final Report:
As Kevin’s investigation into ways to save his hill continues, it becomes clear to him that Alfredo was is working alone in on his project proposal and that stopping it will require some additional assistance. From the start, his fellow green party council member, Doris, and the newly hired town attorney, Oscar, have aided Kevin by lending their support in council meetings and by traveling with him to meet with one of Oscars’ old teachers who was recently on the State Water Resources Control Board. This teacher provides a wealth of information on how water is used, managed and stored in California, but she was unable to provide Kevin and his friends with the silver bullet that they were hoping for. Instead, she suggested they request an environmental impact evaluation be conducted on the site and to see if any “endangered” species were living on it that would need protecting. Oscar’s friend promised to further look into the matter, but it was clear that they needed more help. To this end, Kevin goes looking for his grandfather.
In the setting of this story, Kevin’s grandfather, Tom, is a hermit who has been living in the hills outside of town for years ever since his wife, Kevin’s grandmother, died. But as we find out over the course of the story, Tom was not always this way. In his youth, he had been a writer, a member of a California environmental advocacy group, worked for an American socialist legal action group, and became a central figure in the national and global reforms of income, cooperate ownership, and basic resources. In town, and across a wide spreading network of his friends, Tom was a legend for his work on social, economic, and environmental change. Kevin is hoping for Tom to leap into action and save the day for him and his hill. This is not what old Tom has in mind, but he does come down from his hill, reach out to his global network of friends, and starts providing some insight into the motivations behind Alfredo’s desire to build in town.
Pacific Edge Part 2 of 3
DeleteWhile Tom starts work on reaching out to his old network of friends, Doris gets an unwelcome bit of information from one of her colleges at work. As it turns out, her company has been in negotiations with Alfredo’s company concerning the proposed construction on their hill in town. Her source tells her that not only are they in negotiations, but that he is sure that Alfredo’s company has an outside partner providing additional income for the project. Outraged at her employer’s involvement in something she has been fighting against, she quits. But before she turns in her keys, she and Oscar break in and steal copies of all of the financial records she can get her hands on from her company hoping that it will help them better understand who this outside partner is that Alfredo has been working with. In turn, they provide all of the stolen documents to a research firm, that owes Tom some favors, for an in-depth investigation.
After several weeks pass, the water allocation question comes up before the town council for discussion again. Alfredo again explained that he believes purchasing extra water for the town will help them with ground water usage credits and it could be sold later for a profit. Oscar has received some assistance, presumably from his old teacher, on the state’s legal stance on such matters. He reports to the council that the Revised California Water Codes states that the right to buy or sell water without using it is reserved to the state and that municipalities are prohibited from doing so. This information stops the water acquisition discussion, a vote is called for, and it is voted down. Victory for the Greens. But only a short one. The water was only setting the stage for the intended construction but could also be easily added back in for that legitimate use if the construction is approved.
Having lost the initial water battle, Alfredo and the New Federals moved on to publicly announcing their proposal for a new Heartech medical facility in town. They did this with a television spot that included a scale model showing the new medical building, restaurants, shops, and paths to be built and that the small copse of trees at the top of the hill would not be removed. They also discussed how town shares had dropped over the past several years and how the new complex would increase the town share incomes for everyone. In finally, they referenced the favorable environmental impact report they had received and that with almost a quarter of the town’s land already parkland, surely they could afford to utilize one more hill. Kevin and his friends responded in kind by producing their own television spot to counter Alfredo’s points and to paint the project as an unwanted intrusion into their quiet town.
Without any specific legal advantage for either side, the question became a matter of public opinion that would eventually culminate in a town vote. Kevin approached the issue from a very “grass roots” direction by going door to door and talking to anyone who would listen to him about his hill. Alfredo approached the issue from a more business minded direction and cut a deal with the head of the local Green party behind Kevin’s back. The Green party agreed to the new medical facility construction in exchange for the New Federals signing off on population caps, new garden spaces in town, and new path plans among other things. As a part of the deal, the head of the Green Party instructed Kevin to stop “harassing” everyone about this one hill. Kevin did not stop, but public opinion had shifted, and he no longer was making progress. His only hope left for saving his hill appeared to be his grandfather, Tom.
Pacific Edge Part 3 of 3
DeleteThe investigation Tom’s friends were conducting had indeed found something that could stop Alfredo. In the stolen documents provided by Doris, they found a link between Alfredo’s company Heartech, and a Hong Kong black market bank by tracing funding through a company named American Association for Medical Technology (AAMT). The records showed that during Heartech’s first year, the company was not doing very well and was forced to either shut down or take out a loan with AAMT. Unfortunately, AAMT is where most of the greediest parts of the for-profit medical industry went after the laws on incomes and corporations were passed. In the story, it acts as an intermediary for illegal funds transfers. A new company is built, has extra income, and stores it in Hong Kong via the AAMT to avoid tax issues. If the same company is in trouble, then AAMT will transfer funds back in the form of a loan to keep it afloat. This same AAMT is also pushing for new, state of the art medical center construction all over the country.
In Tom’s opinion, Alfredo likely did not intend to get entangled with the AAMT, or to even build a new medical facility in town. But after Tom chose to take out that first loan instead of going under, he was in their pocket and now has little choice. Tom’s friends believe that the evidence they have found so far is not quite solid enough to be presented in court, and so, recommend that everyone wait until they have found more solid proof. They also warn Tom to be careful because their source had to out himself letting AAMT know that they are being investigated. A few days later, and without explanation other than human caused, a forest fire engulfs Tom’s house and the hills around it leaving him homeless. As it happens, he was considering taking a boat trip with an old friend anyway and this makes his decision for him. On this boat trip, Tom’s friends contact him with the evidence needed to take down Alfredo’s company, and to go after the AAMT. But before he can share it with anyone, the ship is caught in a hurricane, is hit by some debris, and Tom is washed overboard drowning at sea.
Back in Modena, the vote on the future of Kevin’s hill is tallied and Alfredo wins. Without ever having any direct contact with Tom’s friends, Kevin and his friends have no way of finding out if anything else was ever discovered. But in a way, his grandfather still saves the day for Kevin. After he finds out that Tom died at sea, he sets up a memorial for him on top of the hill he had just lost to Alfredo. Because how well everyone in town knew Tom, Kevin bets that no one will ever approve the construction actually happening on his memorial. So, Kevin gets his hill, and Alfredo ends up getting his building, just somewhere else in town. So as in life, everyone wins, and everyone loses. So as in Robinson’s books, the characters grow some and change some, but the real growth and change are intended for the readers.
Quiz Questions:
1) Who is the Author of Pacific Edge?
2) Why is Tom revered by the Town?
3) What is the AAMT circumventing?
4) How does Alfredo Defeat Kevin?
5) How does Kevin Defeat Alfredo?
Discussion Questions:
- The revelations of Tom’s friends about the relationship between Alfredo and the AAMT provide insight into Alfredo’s motivations. He turns out to be more of a pawn than a mastermind in his construction proposal. How does understanding motivations alter our opinions of people?
- Climate change is given very little emphasis in this story. Instead, the book talks about the potential impacts of changing from a fossil fuel industry to renewables. Are renewable technologies ready for us to make that jump?
- Greed was a central theme of this story. Alfredo’s for meaningful purpose, Kevin’s for his hill. Is there a right one?
AT
I’m claiming State of Fear by Michael Crichton
ReplyDelete(Teya James)
ReplyDeleteCli-Fi Midterm Book Report: Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingslover
In this story of a colony of butterflies and a young, unhappily married woman that has strayed from their optimal flight paths, Barbara Kingslover uses a creative mix of characters to point out how we are all major contributors in the global climate change and the high price future generations will have to pay. The main character, Dellarobia Turnbow, a twenty eight year old woman, born and raised in Feathertown, Tennessee which is located in the eastern Appalachians, finds herself in a boring and unfulfilling marriage and feels trapped by her familial responsibilities.
One day, she decides to have an affair with the local telephone repair man, but on the way to meet him she is stopped in her tracks, in what she believes to be a miracle or divine intervention. "The forest blazed with its own internal flame. ‘Jesus,' she said, not calling for help, she and Jesus weren't that close, but putting her voice in the world because nothing else present made sense. The sun slipped out by another degree, passing its warmth across the land, and the mountain seemed to explode with light. Brightness of a new intensity moved up the valley in a rippling wave, like the disturbed surface of a lake. Every bough glowed with an orange blaze. 'Jesus God,' she said again. No words came to her that seemed sane. Trees turned to fire, a burning bush." As she gazes in frightening awe, scripture flows into her mind and causes her to turn back, thinking it is God showing His disapproval. She was not wearing her glasses, but whatever it was, it’s a miracle of “unearthly beauty”. To Dellarobia, it looks like the “inside of joy”. The vision turns out to be of such enormous consequence that the world will soon arrive on her doorstep, the large orange blur in the sky, unknown to her at the time, is actually a massive migration of monarch butterflies.
Dellarobia runs off to tell her family about the miraculous thing she just witnessed and her family want to tell local reporters what was found – but Dellarobia was reluctant and urges her family to wait and have it investigated. As her and her family ascend to the mountainside, they discover an unbelievable sight: millions of butterflies – monarch butterflies covering all of the trees and shrubs, everything in sight. After telling their congregation at their church on the following day, the Turnbow’s realize how much the butterflies arriving will financially impact their lives, they try to exploit this strange phenomenon. However, this enrages Dellarobia and asks herself why everyone was talking past each other, not listening to one another or even questioning why the butterflies are there. They are all just hearing what they want to hear and trying to find the best way to cash in. “There were two worlds here, behaving as if their own was all that mattered. With such reluctance to converse, one with the other. Practically without a common language”.
[the site will not allow me to use my Google account - emailing it to Dr. Oliver as well]