https://padlet.com/rgarofano/ii64qznxun11 Made with a curious mind en-us 2019-02-25 01:46:02 UTC 2023-03-30 03:28:02 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Ninja.png rgarofano https://padlet.com/rgarofano/ii64qznxun11/wish/334666302 advertising about clothes - 'blue jeans'.

Anderson mimics the use of the imperative often found in advertising - calls people to 'act urgently' - like they are going to miss out on something.

Anderson also employs repetition of the key phrase ' everything must go' and reduces the font size in the process. This not only emphasises the rush people get from consumerism but the decrease in the font might also be a warning about the feelings of being lost in this world.

Furthermore - the use of the punctuation also helps emphasise the fear (!) of not missing out and the (? - rhetoric) is the audience engagement tool used in these types of ads. ]]> 2019-02-25 01:48:35 UTC https://padlet.com/rgarofano/ii64qznxun11/wish/334666302 rgarofano https://padlet.com/rgarofano/ii64qznxun11/wish/334667627
The last line is 'I could see my face, crying, in her blank eye.'.

Titus' s plea is too late. Violet is no longer 'awake' and he comes to realise what she symbolised - real emotions. irony - that he is feeling and she isn't.

This is symbolically captured by Anderson when Titus states ' And for the first time, I started crying'.

It is clear the main theme of consumption that comes at a cost of human emotions or interactions is relayed here strongly. Titus could have saved Violet and himself more importantly but choses (out of fear/ social outcast) to refrain from helping her. 


]]> 2019-02-25 01:53:39 UTC https://padlet.com/rgarofano/ii64qznxun11/wish/334667627 rgarofano https://padlet.com/rgarofano/ii64qznxun11/wish/334669408
key moment in the novel (right at the end) is when Titus and Violet's dad have an argument about 'learning/school'.

I have highlighted the techniques used by Anderson to reveal his perspective about the loss of the critical mind and real education - and its impact on the future of humanity.

“It’s almost time for foosball. It will be a gala. Go along, little child. Go back and hang with the
eloi.”
“What are the eloi?”
“It’s a reference,” he said, snotty. “It’s from The Time Machine. H. G. Wells.” (literary allusion)
I stepped closer to him. “What does it mean?” I asked. “Because I’m sick of —”
“Read it.” (short, sharp sentence - imperative)
“I’m sick of being told I’m stupid.”
“So read it, and you’ll know.”
“Tell me.”
“Read it.” (repetition)
“Tell me.”
“You can look it up.”
“You can tell me.”
“Will you ever open your eyes?”(rhetorical question)
I yelled, “Fuck you! Fuck you! You can fuckin’ tell me!”
He grabbed my shirt. I didn’t expect that. His big, loose hand was on my shirt. He was yelling like a
little kid. He was yelling, “No, fuck you! Fuck you forever and forever and forever! Fuck you forever and
ever!” I pushed at his arm. His fingers were wound up in the fabric. He was crying. “Fuck you forever
and ever and ever! Forever and ever!”
I pushed his arm away. I went for the door.
He was just crying, and saying, “Fuck you forever and ever. Forever and ever.” (course language; repetition)

]]> 2019-02-25 02:00:03 UTC https://padlet.com/rgarofano/ii64qznxun11/wish/334669408 rgarofano https://padlet.com/rgarofano/ii64qznxun11/wish/334673258 Whaling is considered to be ' uncivilised' and yet Titus's dad recalls this as one of his special memories:

“All right. So here you can see us harpooning the whale. Oh, Jesus — here we go! Feel that tug! It’s
awesome. Totally awesome. Okay, this is what they call a ‘Nantucket Sleigh Ride.’ You got to be dragged
by the whale until it gets tired. Then you can go up to it and puncture its lung. Oh, there: This is later. You
can see Jeff Matson stabbing it. He’s Chairman of the Board. Wow! Thar she blows, huh?!” There was
this big spray of blood'.

Consider what Anderson is saying about values here?

The use of punctuation highlights Titus's dad's excitement over killing the whale. ]]> 2019-02-25 02:20:21 UTC https://padlet.com/rgarofano/ii64qznxun11/wish/334673258 rgarofano https://padlet.com/rgarofano/ii64qznxun11/wish/334673594
It is clear by the end of the novel Titus is starting to really question his reality, and this is a good thing.

Anderson clearly paints a picture of consumer impact on young people. he is highlighting how the media is used to manipulate young people into buying/having things to 'keep up with the jones' (colloquial expression)

'It turned out that my upcar was not the kind of upcar my friends rode in. I don’t know why. It had
enough room, but for some reason people didn’t think of it that way. Sometimes that made me feel kind of
tired. It was like I kept buying these things to be cool, but cool was always flying just ahead of me, and I (personification of cool)
could never exactly catch up to it.
I felt like I’d been running toward it for a long time'.]]> 2019-02-25 02:22:17 UTC https://padlet.com/rgarofano/ii64qznxun11/wish/334673594