I - LINGUISTIC APPROACH PDF

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I. To fully appreciate the story, let's contextualize by answering the following questions in two to four sentences (5 points each):A. LINGUISTIC APPROACH What the word "handicap" means in the dictionary? and what it suggests in the story? Explain your answer by stating the evidence. The meaning of ...

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I. To fully appreciate the story, let's contextualize by answering the following questions in two to four sentences (5 points each): A. LINGUISTIC APPROACH 1. What the word "handicap" means in the dictionary? and what it suggests in the story? Explain your answer by stating the evidence. - The meaning of handicap in the dictionary is it is something that hinders or is a disadvantage to somebody or something. In the story people are forced to become handicapped by having little mental handicap radio that would send out some sharp noise, wear several pounds of birdshot in a canvas bag, or wear masks to hide their faces if they are good-looking. These are used so that people cannot make unfair advantages that would be unequal for everybody else. “And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a government transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains.” 2. What are the masks, earphones, body weights, and head gear for in the story? Why Harrison's are heavier and more severe than everyone else's? Explain your answer by stating the evidence. - The masks, earphones, body weights, and head gear are for people that have characteristics higher than average. The strong or graceful are burdened with extra weight, the intelligent have their thoughts interrupted with jolting sounds, and musicians wear an unstated handicap to limit their abilities and the beautiful wear hideous masks. Harrison’s were much more severe because as he could not be contained by both the physical and symbolic handicaps, he was described as athletic, a genius and exceptional, he was also as they said, plotting to overthrow the government. "Harrison Bergeron, age fourteen," she said in a grackle squawk, "has just escaped from jail, where he was held on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. He is a genius and an athlete, is underhandicapped, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous." “Instead of a little ear radio for a mental handicap, he wore a tremendous pair of earphones, and spectacles with thick wavy lenses. The spectacles were intended to make him not only half blind, but to give him whanging headaches besides.”

B. SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH 3. Does the story/text explicitly address an issue? What is it, and how does the text resolve this issue? -The story addresses the issue of equality among the people. The government resolved this issue by making people that are better at something or with intelligence higher than average handicapped so that they are in the same level as anyone else. Everyone was made equal in every way, physically and mentally. 4. This story was written in 1961. In what ways is its theme still very much relevant in the 21st Century? - Equality and authoritarianism are still relevant in the 21st century because people still asks for equality but not in the way the story addressed it, authoritarianism is also quite evident as to maintain authority, the government must take control but in terms of making general decisions unlike in the story where they suppress people's physical and mental abilities in order to keep the power and authority to them. C. BIOGRAPHICAL APPROACH 5. What evident influences in the writer's life does the story reflect? - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. mostly writes novels that mocks the government. As the American government seeks to achieve equality among all citizens, he views the concept of total equality as ludicrous. With the story it is shown how the power of the government can be dangerous when the people let them restrict everyone of their rights in any manner.

II. In module 3, you've learned this Speculative Fiction. This focuses on the "what ifs" that's possible in the world (differ with the usual what if in Realistic Fiction, which focuses on the character development: What if the main character made a different decision?). Now, reflect a noted situation/issue in the world, and form a what if question. After you form the question, construct your own speculative fiction (focusing on one sub-genre only) with a minimum of 500 words. (25 points) What if poverty was eliminated? In a world where poverty does not exist, people of all ages, race and ethnicity have the ability to buy all their wants and needs. Every single person can eat any food they want, consume any products, and buy any kind of technology. Now this sounds good doesn’t it? A perfect world where everyone is happy and satisfied, where there is not a problem in sight, people now have money, and money is what everybody needs, nothing else. At this time, more houses are built, more buildings that goes so high they can reach the clouds in the sky, more cars to fill the busy streets, more factories to supply the skyrocketing demand of different products, and most especially more money. Everyone just have more and more and more of everything they want; this is as someone would call a perfect life. Focused with all the mores, all the wants, in this world there are fewer trees, less mountains, less resources, less of the nature scenery, less fresh air, and less hardworking people. There is also more, more waste, more pollution in the air, more people, more fighting, etc. How can eliminating something bad cause something even worse and only temporary happiness? Humans now resort to science and technology to provide the resources that people need because with the rising demand, the resources were gone immediately. People now have to use artificial products and with the increasing pollution, scientists have started to create artificial air. Clean water is also not as easy to get, people now need tons of machines to create more water or deeply clean the water that has been severely polluted. Well people had money so nothing is impossible right? Wrong. Now everyone is put into risk, the world could not handle the result of all the human activities which were done by every single human being alive. We all went too far but this is what everybody asked for, no more poverty they said, give equal opportunity to the poor they said, we need money they said. Humans are selfish as it seems, all we ever cared for is ourselves. Humanity has defeated one problem which is poverty and now we have to face the other problems that have resulted from it. The start of lives flourishing just might be the end of all....