The Beauty of Written Annotations and the Danger of Technology

Growing up with two older brothers, my mother had always attempted to avoid the extra payments for books needed for my classes, so she gave me their previously annotated books when I needed them for my own classes. In the beginning of the year when we were buying books, I wanted to use my brother's annotated copy of The Great Gatsby, but there were far too many annotations covering the words, making it nearly impossible to read the book. So I bought my own copy, and forgot about the one that my brother had thrown all of his thoughts into years ago.

Today I looked up at my bookshelf and found the old copy again, now curious of how his thoughts circulated in the beginning chapters of the book, and read his annotations surrounding the chapters we've read so far in class. His ideas were so profound to me, his feelings expressed in each and every word he wrote in the margin. Our similar thoughts and ideas astounded me, and really led me to believe that my brother and I were more similar than I could have ever imagined.

I never really understood the power of words and annotations in books. Whenever my teachers would complain that they lent their annotated copy of a book to a friend and never got it back, I never understood how truly heartbreaking this would be. Even looking back at books I read last year, it's intriguing to see how I look at these books differently now, and how, with knowledge, comes even more mature and developed ideas.

This is why, a technology is becoming more and more advanced, I begin to wonder if society faces a problem in the absence of written word in hard copies of books, and with the rising numbers of Nooks and Kindles, this is becoming an ancient beauty.

Another theme I see with the increase in digital book sales is laziness, as Americans can't even go to the bookstore to pick up for a book, we can't even wait the time for a book to be shipped; we need a device that will download it in less than a minute right in front of our face. In an article called Technology is Making Us Lazy, Sherilynn Macale said, "Inventions like the Kindle are doing so well that they are actually putting stores like Borders out of business and forcing physical book stores to adopt to the emerging trend in digital book reading." This isn't even with books though, this is with everything! Technology is making all information easier to access, but the question is, is this a good thing? Or will this eventually have negative repercussions due to the aspect of laziness that comes with it?

Class as a Social Construct in America

Today, I came across a video on YouTube called Le poids des apparences, or the Importance of Appearance. In the video, a man wearing worn and baggy clothes falls and asks for help from many people, but nobody comes to his aid. The same man then dresses in very dressy clothing, and falls in the same location, but doesn't even need to ask for help due to the people who are rushing to ask if he is okay. It's so interesting to see that appearances can dictate whether we, as human beings, help someone or not.

Sure, the Bystander Effect comes into play, but the fact that not one person even helped him in the first instance is sad; for all we know he could have been truly dying and in need of help from professionals. Is that what it has truly come to? That if someone looks more put together and important than another, we automatically help the one person and ignore the other?

This video really made me realize that society makes some people seem more important than others, as celebrities and those who are extremely wealthy are put on such a high pedestal, while others are forgotten, but are some human beings truly more important than others? It's sad that the only thing stopping people from helping someone out, and potentially saving their life, is how someone looks.

Update: After learning more about class as a social construct in America, I can see where that ties into this story as well. This nicely dressed man seems to be of a much higher class than the man with the torn clothes and ragged appearance, which shows that most people really look up to the higher class and almost pity the lower class, as you can see by the people's faces who walk by the poorer looking man. This shows just how much your class in America affects how you're treated by others, and I find it sad that just because someone may have more money than another person they are valued more in society.

Post Junior Theme

I know this post is long overdue, but, having turned in Junior Theme early last week, the most accurate word to describe how I feel is relief. I am so glad to finally be done with such a huge portion of junior year and be able to say that I finished it. I'm happy to say that through my research I became well aware of many reasons, or rather, theories, as to why the income gap is growing in the United States. I really believe that my writing has greatly improved this year and that was expressed in the final draft of my Junior Theme.

On that note, I'm looking forward to reading The Great Gatsby!