English 10:
Literature and Culture of Information
Reading Questions

February 24

 

Feed by M. T. Anderson (Part 4: Slumberland)
"The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception"
by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer

Feed by M. T. Anderson (Part 4: Slumberland)

Break-Down

What do the section headings signify?
How do Violet's symptoms progress? Why is she denied treatment?
What's with Titus's rhythmic clapping?

The To-Do List

What does Violet want to do before her problem takes its course?
How does she critique her first impulse of things to do?
Do you see connections with your own life here?
How does she construct her own to-do list?

Stories

What do we learn about the history of this world from Violet's stories about her parents?
Why does Violet have such a desire to tell stories now? For Titus to share her experience?

Requiem

Is Violet finally defeated by the feed?
Why doesn't Titus like Violet to joke about her condition?
How does he criticize her?

The Course of Young Love

What does Violet's "to-do" list say about her relationship with Titus?
What does he do with her memories? Why? How is this symbolic?
Why does Titus leave Violet?

Ever After

What happens after the breakup? To Titus? To Violet? To the world?
Why does Marty say "Nike" all the time? What is Nostalgia feedback?
Why the whale hunt? How can the whales live in the ocean?
What has happened to the skin on Titus's mother's face? To their hair? How do they react?

21 on the To-Do List

Does Violet's vision come true? Why or why not?
How does she end up?
Why won't Violet's father define "eloi" for Titus? Who are the eloi?
Why order so many slacks?

Stories, Continued

What is Titus's last gesture toward Violet?
What stories does he tell her?
"Everything must go?"

"The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception"
by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer

What is the culture industry?
How do Adorno and Horkheimer believe that consumer desires are created?
What role does the consumer play in this system?
How is this related to the notion of consumer profiling in Feed?
What happens to those who do not fit a profile?
What becomes of individuality?
What is the relationship between work and amusement?
What is "the most mortal of sins?"
What is the "exchange value" of a cultural product?
How is "every hit song a plug for its tune?"
How might this article be responding to Nazi Germany?
Can you resist the culture industry? What do Adorno and Horkheimer think?
Do you agree with Adorno and Horkheimer's assertions? Why or why not?