What Does It Feel Like To Be In The Midst Of a Revolution

A good book will leave the reader in a different state at the end. A good book has the potential to control its audience’s actions and sway their opinions. After reading your book not only was I left mesmerized at the end by the ignorance of are people but my position completely changed from start to finish. After our class read the prefaces, Rebecca asked us to show by a show of hands who agreed with you and who disagreed. The results were nearly unanimous, in the beginning everyone took the position against you, besides me, I was on the fence understanding your points but unsure of which side I agreed with more. So many people took this position because in the start of the book it almost seemed like you never gave technology a try. Also it seemed as if many of my classmates, including myself, were turned off by your sophisticated style of writing, it was hard for us to agree with you when we did not understand much of what we read. I believe if you put your arguments in simpler terms many kids would be able to side with you. After all that sophistication is what many young kids fear of books, they are scared to be challenged and therefore are deterred from reading. What helped me to agree with your argument was that the book was published in 2004, if you thought this way 6 years ago, surely you must feel stronger about your position now. Technology advances more and more every day, we have made huge strides since 2004, and certainly this must help your argument.

I was most impressed with how you explained that we are in the midst of a revolution. I could not agree more with when you said, “ we are in the midst of an epoch-making transition; this is the societal shift from print-based to electronic communications,” (The Death of Literature, 192). Our Generation is an era defined by technology. We are always looking for the newest and next best thing. Our obsession with technology has become a dependence. It is almost impossible to live without a cell phone or e-mail today. We are focused on learning more and more information instead of focusing and understanding small pieces at a time. Our learning and reading styles have definitely changed, as you summarized Robert Darnton, “ From the Middle Ages until sometime after 1750, according to Engelsing, men read “intensively.”… By 1800 men were reading “extensively” ,“ (The Owl Has Flown, 71). We can say the same for learning; we are now more focused on learning more and more information instead of comprehending little pieces at a time.

As I read your book more I realized that my perception has changed greatly. I found myself taking your side more and more with each chapter that I read. I found it easiest to side with you when you used more emotion and explained your biggest fears as a result of the transformation we are going through. All in all, after I read the entire book , I was really able to appreciate your work. I feel you have to read the whole book, no matter how challenging it may be, to understand your fears and pessimism. Thank you in advance for your time and the lessons I’ve learned from The Gutenberg Elegies.