https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1 Sydney Elmore en-us 2017-10-12 17:39:20 UTC 2017-10-24 02:20:06 UTC hello@padlet.com sydney_elmore https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/197484813 The book takes place on The Circle company campus for the majority of the novel. The Circle campus is a huge area in northern California. It is as modern as you think a technology company would be. Of course, all of the newest technology is there.

In the book there are multiple descriptions of the company. A few descriptions were repeated throughout the book in different ways. In the text it says,"...now soft green hills and a Calatrava fountain. And a picnic area with tables arranged in concentric circles..." Later in the book it describes more of the inside of the building."...Renata said pointing across the lawn, to a building of glass and oxidized copper...on either side, the offices were fronted by floor-to-ceiling glass, the occupants visible within." The whole book goes into specific detail of every room she goes into. These are just some examples I found.

The setting is important; especially in this book. In The Circle, almost everything happens in the company building. Meetings, lunches, parties, important conversations, explorations, adventures and many other things as well. This helps show that everything is consumed by the company; which is a big conflict throughout the story. So having the main setting be the company campus helps prove a point the author is trying to say.]]> 2017-10-16 17:38:30 UTC https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/197484813 sydney_elmore https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198815197 2017-10-19 18:13:55 UTC https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198815197 sydney_elmore https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198816830 The book is in third person because there is a narrator/voice telling the story. It is really interesting to read the book from an outside point of view. I know what is going on around her, but not what is going on in her head.

"Mae was making her way through all of this."

"She pushed open the heavy door."

"They stood before the Renaissance..."]]> 2017-10-19 18:17:09 UTC https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198816830 sydney_elmore https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198849661 2017-10-19 19:29:42 UTC https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198849661 sydney_elmore https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198852827 The protagonist and main character of The Circle is Mae Holland. She is a new worker at the Circle and is 24. ]]> 2017-10-19 19:38:43 UTC https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198852827 sydney_elmore https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198854731 Main Character-Mae Holland

Important Quote: "I didn't. I'm so sorry. They shouldn't have done that."

To me this reveals how much entitlement she holds to herself; especially since she is such a big part of the circle. When she says,"They shouldn't have done this," it is like she has been brainwashed to think one thing is right, and anything against it it wrong. ]]> 2017-10-19 19:44:38 UTC https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198854731 sydney_elmore https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198854804 Mae was the leader in The Circle. She has many different qualities of a leader. One quality she has is her determination. For example she tried to improve her PartiRank score to make it to the Top2K, and she did that in a matter of days. Getting in the T2K got her a ton of respect, and more people followed her lead because of her social status in the company. This is a big part of her leadership.

"Breaking 7,000 was more difficult, but by eight o'clock, after joining and posting in eleven discussion groups, sending another twelve zings, one of them rated in the top 5,000 globally for that hour, and signing up for sixty-seven more feeds. she'd done it. She was at 6,872, and turned to her Inner-Circle feed."

"By Thursday night, she'd gotten to 2,219, and knew she was among a group of similar strivers who were, like her, working feverishly to rise."

Another quality she has is passion. Being passionate as a leader is a great thing. For example Mae goes on rants to her parents and Mercer about the great things the Circle does. In every rant she uses a ton of passion; which is shown in her tone of voice and choice of words. When she has a ton of passion especially for her job it shows how much she cares for her co-workers, her job, and everything at the Circle. You want a leader that has passion for what they believe in, and love for the people.

"You're so paranoid. Your conspiracy theory brain always depressed me, Mercer. You sound so ignorant. And saying that Homie is some scary new things, I mean, for a hundred years there were milkmen who brought you milk. They knew when you needed it. There were butchers who sold you meat, bakers who would drop off bread-"

"Mae left the Renaissance and was greeted, just outside the door, by a group of young Circlers, all of whom wanted to tell her- all of them on their tiptoes, bursting-...But you came up with this!"

Mae was a good leader in the book The Circle. Even though she was leading people into something that was not great for the world; people followed her and she lead them well. Mae had many qualities of a good leader like passion and determination. She also had a friendly face around campus, and had a great social presence. This great social presence played a huge role in her influence at the Circle. Mae had over one million people watching her a day, and she connected with her co-workers daily. Mae always had leadership qualities throughout the book; it was not until the end that she stood up and came a leader. She did a great job influencing people the right way, so mae Holland was a good leader. ]]> 2017-10-19 19:44:52 UTC https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198854804 sydney_elmore https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198859353 Main Character-Mae Holland

Mae is constantly thinking about what to say, what to do, how to act, and what's the consequences of her actions are. "Oh shit, she thought, hoping no one could guess at the chaos in her mind."

This says that Mae is always worried about every responsibility she has. This always ends up as chaos throughout the day. This then leads to her having to put on a facade when she is talking to people. This also says that Mae is constantly stressed out. If there is chaos in her mind she is overthinking and stressing over a ton of different things.]]> 2017-10-19 19:59:53 UTC https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198859353 sydney_elmore https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198861151 Main Character-Mae Holland

The Circlers (people who work at the Circle) and watchers (in the book she has a camera that live-streams her whole life) think Mae is amazing, kind, and famous in a sense.

I know this because when people walk by Mae or when Mae walks by them, everyone brightens up with a smile and a wave. Also she has an average of 441,762 viewers watching her happily. 

Example-

"But now, the young Circlers said, they felt involved."]]> 2017-10-19 20:06:52 UTC https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198861151 sydney_elmore https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198862106 Main Character-Mae Holland

Mae smiles frequently at people around her, so she is seen as kind and happy. She also has told lies bluntly which means she is deceiving towards her peers. Mae has this fake personality when people are watching her, and this means she has a facade and is not real towards others. 

Examples- 

"And realizing that the longer she spent talking to Annie the more lies she would tell, Mae concocted a reason to hang up."

"Mae left the Renaissance and was greeted, just outside the door, by a group of young Circlers, all of whom wanted to tell her- all of them on their tiptoes, bursting-..."]]> 2017-10-19 20:10:20 UTC https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198862106 sydney_elmore https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198877764 Main Character-Mae Holland

Mae dresses presentably and modest. She is on the shorter side, with medium length black hair, and has a fair skin type. Mae is also on the skinnier side, and has brown eyes. ]]> 2017-10-19 21:08:01 UTC https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198877764 sydney_elmore https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198884358 The antagonist is the Circle. Which is the company she works for.

The circle has a way to mess with people's minds. Making people care about what only happens inside the Circle community. Anything outside is disregarded. Also they have this thing called being transparent; which is having a camera on you at all times. The Circle also controls you. It has access to all of your personal information, and can reveal that at any time.

"She felt numb.....she felt naked."

"You know this affects everyone."

"Instead, he put all of it, all of every user's needs and tools, into one pot and invented TruYou-one account, one identity, one password, one payment system, per person."]]> 2017-10-19 21:39:41 UTC https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198884358 sydney_elmore https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198884757 2017-10-19 21:41:53 UTC https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198884757 sydney_elmore https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198887111 2017-10-19 21:57:17 UTC https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198887111 sydney_elmore https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198887255 The first conflict is between Mae and the Circle. Now this one is not too obvious. The Circle has made Mae a more egocentric, anti-social person using their social apps and technology to keep her busy. Since the Circle has Mae so brainwashed, it is hard for people to speak sense into her actual life. She would not even listen to people telling her how the Circle is turning into a monopoly. This conflict is not too noticeable until the end of the book.

"Does it seem like a good idea to you that a private company would control the flow of all information?'

"You know this affects everyone."

The second conflict us between Mae and those opposed to the Circle. Throughout the novel Mae always had people against what the Circle was doing. She takes strong pride in her job and how connected she is in technology. When Mercer and her parents opposed the Circle's projects; she was offended. The Circle has been doing this thing called transparency. This is when you wear a camera around your neck to open your life to everyone else. There are also cameras set up all around the world, and these cameras are watching your every move. When Mae visited her parents and Mercer they always told her that the things the Circle was doing were invading people's privacy. She always left mad at all of them.

"She would not talk to him again."

"Your'e such a f***er Mercer."

"She'd had enough of the chaos of her family, Mercer, her wretched hometown."]]> 2017-10-19 21:57:56 UTC https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/198887255 sydney_elmore https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/199414933 The theme of the novel is everything you do has a consequence; whether it be good or bad.

At first Mae was pretty careless when it came to the things she did. Even towards the end she made a few bad decisions. Once the SeeChange cameras were set up around the world; every action of every person could and can be recorded. This can hold people accountable. For example Mae "borrowed" a kayak, and almost got arrested for stealing. Every action has some type of consequence; whether it's good or bad consequence. In this case Mae had a bad consequence to her action. Another example is her decision to go transparent. Now Mae has improved her health, and social status because she's careful about what the watchers are seeing. This is a good consequence to an action she has done.

"Mae sat in the back of the squad car..."

"It'll be a motivating act of humility, don't you think?" (This is about the social aspect of going transparent.)]]> 2017-10-23 00:42:32 UTC https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/199414933 sydney_elmore https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/199793521 The book The Circle gave me mixed feelings by the end. It is 491 pages long, and goes into deep deep detail. I would and would not recommend this book. This book did have great detail; which kept me engaged a lot of the time. The descriptive details, and plot twist at the end kept me on my toes. At the same time the climax was disappointing, and there is so much detail some of the information is useless. The Circle is a long read, and there are some areas that can get boring. But it kept me on my toes, and opened my eyes to what could happen with technology in the future. This does deal with problems that are already starting in present time. It ponders the idea of what would happen if a technology company started to control everything from grocery shopping to government deals. If you want to read it go ahead, but if you do not want to read it I know where you are coming from. 

6/10]]> 2017-10-23 21:38:24 UTC https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/199793521 sydney_elmore https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/199832108 2017-10-24 02:14:05 UTC https://padlet.com/sydney_elmore/mffazt90p6g1/wish/199832108