Week Thirteen: Literature and Speculation - Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (# 6 points)

The world behind Oryx and Crake is quite familiar to us. Environmental pollution has destroyed a significant part of nature, and animals and plants are facing extinction every moment. Humans acquired innovative technology and science, and continuously create new life forms and try to modify our bodies to obtain youth and eternal life through genetic manipulation. The novel begins with the human, Homo Sapiens nearing extinction, and the story reveals the reason why the human reached extinction by following the only human Snowman's story.

The thing that caught my eyes was the game called ‘Extinctathon’. The writer continues to try new word combinations and constantly gives characters and objects nicknames like Oryx, Crake, and Snowman. I feel like the writer used this book as a kind of an encyclopedia for extinct things. To record and remember raccoon, skunk, wolf, dog, pig, cormorant, Oryx and Crake, the author chose combined names of pre-existing names rather than new fancy names for the new species, like Pigoons(Pig+Raccoon), Woolvog(Wolf+Dog), Rakunks(Raccoon+Skunk), and Snat(Snake+Rat). I think the Extinctathon is the author’s warning about all extinctions.

These unconventional names blur the boundary between extinction and evolution as well. For example, the birth of the Rakunks feels like the extinction of the raccoon and skunk and can be an evolution of them at the same time. Languages have diversified, misunderstood, extinct, and evolved their meanings according to the environment in which users are located.

In the cities of the future and the climate and environment of the future, the language is bound to be changed. This story shows how language changes in the future, how language becomes a way of survival for the last human beings left alone, and how language becomes religion and art for new generations.

In fact, several warnings that scientific achievements may rather contribute to the extinction of humans are now approaching us with more real signs beyond the stage of imagination. Climate change catastrophes are proof. The novel ‘Oryx and Crake’ may be a near future that we have to face.

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Week Eleven: Cyberpunk and Steampunk - Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson (# 6 points)

The shock of using VR devices for the first time is still unforgettable. It’s still a little closer to the virtual side than to the real one, but it was still amazing. Since then, I have been interested in virtual reality and augmented reality, and have started to read related articles and books. It was difficult to fully understand, but I was convinced that the technology would gradually focus on making virtual realities more realistic. VR appeared in the mid-2010s, but there was someone who came up with this concept 20 years before this. It’s Neal Stephenson, the writer of ‘Snow Crash’, and the novel ’Snow Crash’ is a book that enables us to approach the world of virtual reality more easily. Considering this book was published in 1992, I’m really surprised that the story described in this novel is almost close to the world right now, where a lot of Internet-related technologies have made remarkable development. ‘Metaverse’ the virtual place that the computer made t

Week 1: Frankenstien by Mary Shelly (#6 points)

I have never read Frankenstein before, and just known Frankenstein as a Halloween character, a monster with bolts on the sides of his neck. So I was quite surprised that Frankenstein is the doctor who creates the monster by sewing together parts of bodies stolen from graveyards. Another thing that caught my attention was the part that made me feel like the monster which is usually portrayed as a hideous and ugly creature, was almost like a baby. He admires the warmth of sunlight, a bird chirping, and the beauty of nature. Seeing people getting along with each other well, he thinks he wants to interact with others like that. Because of his appearance, I thought that the monster would be vicious and have no sensibility like humans. However, the monster was a more sensitive and emotional character than humans. He felt torn about seeing people frightened by him. He cannot be beloved by anyone. The relationship between Frankenstein and the monster was harmful to each o

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I grew up watching movies and was enthusiastic about Vampires, invisible men, wizards, and goblins, so they are like childhood friends in my imagination. Among these imaginative creatures, my favorite is a vampire, because they have special abilities surpassing humans. Furious power, and immortal ability to live forever while maintaining youth. They can sustain life only by drinking human blood. This vampiric act may be scary, but also feel like a fatal temptation. They are attractive because of their distinction, but at the same time, I like vampires due to their familiarity. The fact that they have the same appearance as humans (except the colors of eyes and skin) and that they were humans in the past make vampires more intimate. They can fall in love with a human, and they can even make children with a human. These characteristics of vampires make me feel that they might exist. Louis, who unwillingly became a vampire by the vampire Lestat, couldn’t accept his fate

LITERATURE OF HORROR, FANTASY & SCI-FI

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