Notes

Vocabulary:

Postmodernism: Postmodernism is a "late twentieth-century style and concept (Oxford Languages)" in the arts, architecture, and literature that promotes skepticism towards absolute truths. Postmodernism instead emphasizes variance in the human experience and multitude of differing perspectives. 

Enervating: Enervating is an adjective that causes someone to feel drained of energy and want. 

Sound bite: Sound bite, as defined by Oxford Languages, is a short extract from a recorded interview, chosen for its pungency or appropriateness. 

Self-deprecating: Self-deprecating is an adjective in which you are modest or critical of yourself, typically in a humorous way. 

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2. Yes, I was aware of butte.edu/library as a resource for quite some time, and I've used it before, as one of my previous courses required that it be used for one assignment. 

3. One major benefit of using a library as a source, is that you're given access to a librarian. According to the article, Methods of Discovery, a librarian might point you to general reference sources such as "indexes, encyclopedias, and research guides (pg.7 pp1)." This can obviously be helpful in furthering your overall knowledge of the topic you're researching so deeply into. Another benefit of using a library as a source is simply the amount of information you're given access to. Many libraries at universities are lined with thousands and thousands of all types of books. As said in the article, libraries are venerable institutions (pg.3 pp6), meaning that they are afforded a great deal of respect and wisdom due to what they provide. 

4. Librarians play a massive role in curating information, specifically if you request their assistance. As stated in the article, it is important to be pro-active in your research, especially when describing your research interests to the librarian. If you sound or seem to be disinterested, this could result in not making the most out of the great resource we are in given, the library (pg.6 pp4). Librarians have a plethora of skill when it comes to curating information, such as knowledge of the contents of the text within the library. Having knowledge of what text is in the library, and the ability to know how to search for it can open endless research opportunities. 

.com: .com Stands for commercial, and is one of the most widely used domain suffixes across the world. It typically describes those who operate the website as a commercial organization (TechTarget.com). Domains that end with .com or .net aren't always unreliable and filled with shortcomings, but using them with a sense of caution and not limiting yourself to only using domains with .com can lead to furthering your research. 

.org: .org Stands for organization, typically describing those who operate the website are not looking to produce a profit. As time has progressed since the creation of the .org ending of a domain, .org is now more widely used for educational institutions, communities, are individuals (wix.com). I would say that .org can have some of the least shortcomings in comparison to the percentage of misinformation spread across .com, but still only relying on .org domains for research purposes could lead you in the wrong direction. 

.net: .net Stands for network, and was originally intended for websites of companies that use networking technology. Today, .net is used by millions of companies, with a multitude of use-cases. .net Coincides with .com in terms of popularity. It is important to be sure to not limit your research to only using domains that end with these three letters. 

.edu: .edu Stands for education, and is used to show that a domain belongs to an educational institution such as a college or university. Despite this domain suffix being what I believe is the most reliable in terms of quality information, the only shortcoming that I can think of would be that the educational institution strictly curates what information is available on the website. 

.mil: .mil Stands for military, and is used for the system of the internet by the United States Department of Defense and other affiliated organizations under the United States Department of Defense banner. 

.gov: .gov Stands for government, and is used to show that a domain belongs to a government organization. 

5. To determine the applicability of internet sources for research purposes, a comprehensive approach is necessary. This involves examining the domain of the URL to identify potential biases, making sure to consider the qualifications of the source, verifying the value of the information, cross-referencing with other reliable sources, and considering the intended audience and primary purpose of the source. This can help to determine whether or not your internet source is fit for your research, especially in the eyes of the readers. By conducting a thorough evaluation, potential biases can be taken into account, and reliable and relevant sources can be used to better suit the audience, purpose, and approach of your research. 

6. Roth’s statement says that American writers in the 20th century faced challenges understanding the complex American reality. The ever-evolving nature of America's common values made society exceed writer’s abilities to capture it in it's entirety. Roth is saying that American writers found it difficult to keep up with the constant changes. To put it simply, Roth felt that capturing these changing values proved difficult. 

7. David Wallace states his concerns with cultural characteristics in contemporary society that is influenced by television. He states, "irony, poker-faced silence, and fear of ridicule (pp.3)" as prominent features. He viewed these qualities as contributing to a sense of despair in American culture. Wallace was fairly critical towards these values and he blamed television's influence on the cultural shifts within his generation. While I understand what Wallace was attempting to get across, I do find myself having a slight 'Huh' moment. 

8. The average weekly screen time for American adults has gone through a significant surge, as emphasized by Andrew Postman, reaching a staggering 74 hours on average, and it is still on the rise. Postman further observes that typical forms of communication, such as soundbites, have been replaced by contemporary methods like virality, memes, hot takes, and tweets (pp.5). Additionally, he highlights the emergence of a reality TV personality who gained political prominence by making loud and often deceitful statements (pp.5), indicating that this irregular behavior has become the main characteristic of so called 'captivating' television in today's society. 

9. Andrew Postman appears to be alluding to the former President of the United States, Donald Trump, when he discusses a prominent figure from the realm of reality television. Postman highlights this individual's tendency of making incendiary remarks, a significant portion of which are considerably false, but still captivates the audience for the purpose of entertainment.

10. The conclusion regarding our post-postmodern society that Wallace portrays is unfortunately rooted in societies 'need' for constant entertainment. Referencing a prominent figure in reality television making wildly false claims, but still rising to extreme prominence, showcases what our 'post-postmodern' society is gearing towards. With 74 hours being an average screen time throughout a week, and the replacement of soundbites in exchange of memes and tweets, doesn't bode well for the future of our society in Wallace's eyes. Skyrocketing individuals and applications that can provide the most 'entertainment' could lead to a multitude of negative impacts on our society, and already has. 

11. David Foster Wallace's concern with postmodern irony lies in the potential it has to create detachment, cynicism, and insincerity in human communication and relationships. He worried that an overuse of irony might lead to emotional emptiness and hinder genuine, open interactions in society. In summary, he saw irony as a barrier to genuine and authentic human interaction.

12. The shift is towards a more positive and community based system that accepts the faults and errors of others. It is breaking down actions that people would deem as a more significant negative, outside of the shows that depict these faults. 

13. Sincerity is better because it allows for an acceptance of others, while setting aside differences that could deter someone from helping someone else based on a multitude of values or thoughts that separate these individuals. Being unable to do so creates 'invisible lines' that don’t allow for progression and successful interactions in the future. 

14. The main idea that I took away from this argument is to see other people’s views as a specific way to use these moments as teaching moments, hopefully in a positive light. Instead of using these situations to create 'invisible lines', we can use these moments as a form of discussion that has us interact in a way that is significantly more productive and successful.