Assignment 5-1

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is a fictional account of a zombie apocalypse. The outbreak starts off small, but eventually due to air travel encompasses the entire world. It told through the use of interviews with survivors. As countries and governments become overrun it is decided that in order to save the human population, a large number of them will have to be sacrificed for the greater good. So, in the US, the government and military forces pull back west of the Rocky Mountains, set up a defensive perimeter for several years and eventually begin the slow march east to liberate the few pockets of humanity left and destroy the millions of zombies roaming what is left of the United States. Similar strategies are used all around the world.
The book is written by Max Brooks, a writer for Saturday Night Live and the son of Mel Brooks. While there are a few parts that are genuinely laugh out loud funny, the book mostly serves as a piece of social commentary disguised as a bloody zombie novel. For example, one of the survivors interviewed was a teenager in Kuwait at the time of the outbreak. He describes how at the beginning of the outbreak most of his countrymen did not believe there was an epidemic; they believed it was a scare tactic used by Israel and the United States to steal their oil and their culture. Pakistan and India used the outbreak as an excuse to launch nuclear weapons at each other. Then there is the case with the South Korean border guards who watched through the DMZ as the entire population of North Korea was forced into underground bunkers by the N. Korean government and never seen again. Ten years later when the world was finally recovering from the outbreak, the world’s military forces were afraid to open the North Korean bunkers due to the fear that one infected person had been taken underground and that they would find nothing but an entire population of zombies.
The interesting thing about the book is the way that each of the interviewees has their own voice. Each character feels like a product of their culture. I recently finished this book in about two days and have to say it is one of the best books I have read in years. I highly recommend it.

Assignment 1-3

The article ‘Time to Smell the Sweet Smoke: Fantasy Themes and Rhetorical Vision in Nargile Café Cultures’ by Jim Bowman details the recent rise in popularity of smoking tobacco from a hookah in both the United States and in Turkey. The intended audience for this article is someone who has little knowledge of the subject. This is evident by the author defining, in detail, each and every bit of jargon associated with smoking and hookahs in general.
The article begins by giving a short history of the use of the hookah in Middle Eastern cultures and the stigma that was then attached to this once popular activity. Smoking hookahs was considered a way in which men could get together socially and engage in conversation with one another. However, once the Western concept of work became more prevalent in the area, people looked on the pastime as a way for lazy people to waste their days away. Bowman then attempts to explain how this activity became popular again in the Middle East and then expanded to become a world-wide phenomenon. He believes that smoking hookahs are a way for people to relax after having adopted the western workday, and gives people a chance to either socialize or quietly contemplate.
The style of this article was well organized and researched. The author's use of interviews with modern university students and older Middle Easterners who partake of hookah smoking made the article both interesting and easy to read. The author also presented the information in an unbiased manner which given the general stigmatization of tobacco use in the media lately was actually pretty refreshing.
One of the main themes I took away from this article is the cyclical nature of popular culture. A fad will grab the public's attention and for a time will appear almost unstoppable in its popularity. But, then a slow backlash will eventually turn that fad into something that is seen as campy or ridiculous. But, a few people will still harbor positive feelings for that fad, until eventually, a younger generation will latch onto that fad and its popularity will once again increase until it is popular again. Then, the cultural backlash will once again be leveled at the fad until it fades away from the public's memory again and the cycle repeats itself.

Assignment 4-1: A Song of Ice and Fire

A Song of Ice and Fire is an ongoing fantasy series written by George R.R. Martin, a predominately science fiction author who has also worked in the television industry running shows like Beauty & the Beast and the 1980s reincarnation of the Twilight Zone. The story is told in limited third person narrative. Each chapter is seen through the eyes of only one character. To date there are 20 different characters whose POVs have told part of the story, though several of these POV characters have either died or disappeared from the series entirely. The story relies heavily on political intrigue, and is loosely based on the English War of the Roses in the mid-to-late 1400s. Unlike most fantasy series, the fantastical elements are very low key, although they do tend to be used more and more as the series progresses.
The series is known for its morally grey characters and the author’s willingness to kill or maim main characters. The bulk of the story revolves around several powerful noble families’ struggles for the throne of the kingdom. However, a supernatural force in the North is threatening the entire realm, but very few characters actually know about the threat and even fewer cares to stop their intrigues and war making to deal with the threat. One of the things that make the series so interesting is the POV format used to tell the story. It relies heavily on the unreliable narrator as the reader only knows what each individual character knows. If the character makes false assumptions, the reader shares those assumptions. Unraveling the many mysteries and prophesies in the books is part of the fun.
The series consists of A Game of Thrones (1996), A Clash of Kings (1998), A Storm of Swords (2000) and A Feast for Crows (2005). The series is still unfinished and the author plans to add A Dance with Dragons, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring. The series has already has already spawned board games, collectible card games and pen and paper style role playing games. It has also recently been optioned by HBO and casting for the pilot episode is currently underway with filming set to begin in October of 2009.

Assignment 3-1: Battlestar Galactica

In 2003, the Sci-Fi channel launched a re-imagination of the 70’s television series Battlestar Galactica. It got rid of most of the campy elements like the ridiculous robot dog and set a much darker, grittier tone than the original. The show won both critical acclaim and a large fan base over the course of its run (the original mini-series and four subsequent seasons.)
The basic premise was that mankind had developed a sentient race of robots, called Cylons, and subsequently made them little more than slaves and soldiers. The Cylons eventually rebelled and went to war against their creators. Eventually, a truce was called and the Cylons disappeared for more than 40 years. Then, the Cylons reappeared and launched a massive attack against humanity, nuking the 12 Colonies and leaving only those humans who were traveling between the planets alive, roughly around 50,000 people. The series revolves around humanity’s flight from the Cylons and attempts to find a new home amongst the stars.
One of the reasons for Battlestar’s success was it’s relevance to many issues that affect us today. For instance, the debate on the creation of Artificial Intelligence and its possible consequences on the future of mankind. Another example would be the use of suicide bombings to attack the Cylons. This was especially relevant as many US troops were being injured and killed in Iraq and Afghanistan by suicide bombers at the time, and the moral issue raised by the “good guys” employing these tactics in a desperate attempt to survive was very thought provoking.
Another aspect that set Battlestar Galactica apart from many other television shows was the realism depicted in the series. Characters are inherently flawed, and it is often difficult to truly classify some characters as “good” or “bad.” The show was also not afraid to kill off main characters, which made the show more interesting as there was always tension when a character was in danger, since there was a good chance they might not make it.
The show recently ended its run with a series finale that fans either loved or hated. The show was so successful that it has spawned a prequel series called Caprica which will air in 2010 and deals with the actual creation of the Cylons, and their subsequent revolution against their creators.