Meet the President by Karina Blanco Hilm https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67 Analysis en-us 2019-03-26 11:41:33 UTC 2023-03-23 09:54:06 UTC hello@padlet.com Language https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528539278 The language is descriptive which we can see in this quote “Them clouds, dark as bulls" (page 35)]]> 2023-03-23 09:26:40 UTC https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528539278 Language https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528548714 The language in the text "Meet the president" is clear, direct, and descriptive. 
There is used simple words that are easy to understand. Likewise her language is also unformed which is shown in this quote:

“Oh, fuck a duck—you wouldn’t do me an awfull favor and keep an eye on Aggie just a minute, would you?—I’ve left my rosary!
(Page 37, line 29-30)

In this quote it also shown that the writer  use a lot of exclamation marks in the text when the characters speak.]]> 2023-03-23 09:34:56 UTC https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528548714 Bill Peek https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528549980 Bill Peek is the protagonist of the story. He is a young guy who lives between two worlds a reality world, and a virtual world. The virtual game he is playing is in his head. He is a playing with the goal which is to meet the president. Because he is playing much, he does not think about what is real and what is the game. So, he isn't humanised but dehumanised because he is living in his own game, and not in the real world. This can be seen in this quote “Aggie on her knees by the table, and inside the driftwood box the lifeless body of a real girl, the first object of its kind that young Bill Peek had ever seen.” - p. 13, ll. 8-10.   
In this quote it can be seen that Bill has never seen a real dead person, that shows he is in a different virtual world. Which means that he can't see the consequences in the real world. This also explains why Bill is so awkward around real people.  
 So overall it can be said that Bill is in another place mentally all the time, and there isn't living in the moment.  
]]> 2023-03-23 09:36:05 UTC https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528549980 Dialogue https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528550423 There is a lot of dialogue in the text. Because of that there is a lot of onomatopoeic words like "oh".]]> 2023-03-23 09:36:31 UTC https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528550423 Message https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528551014 Zadie Smith is letting the reader see, what it looks like when people value information over wisdom, speed over process, and lose some of their humanity as a result. It's really not to hard to look out into the world, in your daily interactions, and see this kind of behavior everywhere already.

It's as though the overabundance of information has caused an a type of arrogance to become the norm.

In this story the lower class people, who do not have the computers attached to them, are the only ones with any manners left. The poor are more refined than the rich


]]> 2023-03-23 09:37:03 UTC https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528551014 Tone https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528553821 The overall tone of "Meet the President" is humorous and critical. Zadie Smith uses humor and irony to point out the ridiculousness and dishonesty in American politics, especially during presidential campaigns.]]> 2023-03-23 09:39:45 UTC https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528553821 Themes https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528559014 advancements in technology: We hear about a teenage boy, Bill Peek who lives between two realities, virtual and actual, and Bill is potrayed as being highly into using technology and navigating the reality world. At the same time we hear about how skilled he is at using technology which also hints how technology has both epowered and set apart people in contemporary society. 
Dystopia: A destroyed world where there is a big difference between the poor people and high class. Bill is dehumanized because he has never seen the body of a real dead girl and he then meets Aggie and helps her while he plays the videogame in his head. 

]]> 2023-03-23 09:44:24 UTC https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528559014 Symbols https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528559967 The girls animist beliefs: The girl believes in animism, which means she doesn't value technology and material possessions like most people in the Pathways society. Instead, she feels a connection to nature and spirituality. 
The drone: It symbolizes the omnipresent surveillance and control of the government in this dystopian world. 
The minotaur and the I.E.D: 
The Minotaur and the I.E.D.s that Bill Peek has set up symbolize the violence and chaos that are a constant threat in this world. And he is playing in a labyrinth and trying to win the game. 
]]> 2023-03-23 09:45:18 UTC https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528559967 Setting https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528560487 Set in Felixstowe, England
Set in the future which can be seen by the technology and climate 

Social Setting 
a society divided by class:
only some have access to technology
"this is nowhere. If you can’t move, you’re no one from nowhere."]]> 2023-03-23 09:45:45 UTC https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528560487 Dystopian elements oliverbunnag1 https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528562533
“But these later models were security risks, easily hacked, and the children of personnel were not meant to carry hackable devices.” (Page 43, line 9-11) a sign of highly advanced technology, and also highlights the dangers of these implants/models as they are said to be easily hacked.  
“Re-starting, he flagged her effectively, transforming little Aggie Hanwell into his sidekick, his familiar, sleek reddish fox. He was impressed by the perfect visual” (Page 42, line 20-23) The girl Aggie transforming into fox indicates that the virtual reality overlaps with/reconstructs the real world in a frightening manner, where it is hard to distinguish reality from the virtual “game” which the boy participates in.  
From the Pathways Global Institute prospectus: “As our students reach tenth grade, they begin to gain insight into the great human mysteries of this world, and a special sympathy for locals, the poor, ideologues, and all those who have chosen to limit their own human capital in ways that it can be difficult at times for us to comprehend.” (Page 41, line 10-14) “The Pathways Global Institute prospectus” indoctrinates the children and teaches them to have sympathy for the less fortunate in an arrogant way, as they are described as ex. ideologues, establishing a ‘them and us’ relationship. Could be a sign of an elite (technocracy) having administrative power. 

]]> 2023-03-23 09:47:23 UTC https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528562533 Summary https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528563917 The text is about a little boy named Bill. He lives in 2 realities, 1 which is virtually, and he has to complete levels to survive, like meeting the president and shaking his hand. But the other reality he lives in is the real world that has been damaged because of global warming and now there aren’t many alive. There is for example mentioned that no one lives in England and Scotland is a tropical paradise. The text shows how Bill tries to survive in both worlds and get the little girl to the church, while also surviving in his game. ]]> 2023-03-23 09:48:35 UTC https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528563917 Genre https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528564462 Its literary fiction, made in a short story. with a genre based on a Fear of the future, and two different worlds colliding, in addition of global warming, and the technology taking over.  ]]> 2023-03-23 09:48:58 UTC https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528564462 POW https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528564696 The narrator is a third person limited omniscient narrator: “The boy didn’t hear the question. He stood at the end of a ruined pier, believing himself quite alone. But flow he registered the presence at his back, and turned.” (Page 33, line 2-3). This can be seen in the story because the story is told through a third persons eyes but with a focus on the young boy. This makes the dystopia in the story clearer, because of the program the boy in is and how he sees the world. ]]> 2023-03-23 09:49:11 UTC https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528564696 Aggie https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528565655 Agatha is a 9-year-old girl who lives in the dystopian reality, she hangs out with bill, aggies life doesn't have a lot of meaning to Bill because he has his virtual reality, and that’s why we don’t really know a lot about Aggies life other than he sees her as an innocent girl. Aggie might also be poor or homeless, which we get hinted at in this quote “He found that he was resting on a slimy rock, his fingers tangled in the unclean hair follicles of Agatha Hanwell.” this quote make sense, because if Agatha is poor, her hair would be dirty. 
Other things we do know is that Bill also helps aggie visit the church where her sister I buried 
]]> 2023-03-23 09:49:58 UTC https://padlet.com/karinabhilm/gum2kfzqrt67/wish/2528565655