For this assignment, I have gathered magazine articles, advertisments, as well as a comic strip and a poem from my graduation memory book. When brought together, these finds make arguments about the double edged sword of western society and technological advancements. That is, these finds put pressure on the promise of technology and western beliefs by sheding light on what is often lost when such "advancements" are made.
Illiteracy Sucks
I am not completely sure what argument Willy Enon is making in this satiristic comic strip. Perhaps Enon is commenting on the inability for whole languge instruction to be successful within the corporate classroom because whole language demands a type of individualized instruction that one teacher to 40 first graders does not afford. Perhaps Enon is commenting on social class; suggesting that the author "illitericy sux" on the alley wall is commenting on the state of his life as an illiterate person living in a slum. Perhaps that elderly couple that notice the graffiti are two of the people who are currently fighting their borough for the right to not pay school taxes if they don't have children in school. Whatever Enon's intended meaning, I take this cartoon to be a comment on the structures that breed and maintain illiteracy. After all, even the woman in the strip seems willing to dismiss the author of the message, suggesting that she too places blame on an educational system that is failing our children by preparing them for cublicles instead of asking them what they imagine.