Assignment on Ishmael - Due Mon, Oct 21 before class
Write an essay of approximately 800 words responsive to either prompt.
I encourage you to work in pairs, turning in one writeup per pair.
Option 1
Reread the paragraph on pp. 84-85:
Only one thing can save us. We have to
increase our mastery of the world. All this damage has come about through our conquest
of the world, but we have to go on conquering it until our rule is absolute.
Then, when we’re in complete control, everything will be fine. We’ll have
fusion power. No pollution. We’ll turn the rain on and off.
We’ll grow a bushel of wheat in a square centimeter. We’ll turn the oceans into farms.
We’ll control the weather—no more hurricanes, no more tornadoes, no more
droughts, no more untimely frosts. We’ll make the clouds release their water over the land instead of dumping
it uselessly into the oceans. All the life processes on the planet will be where they
belong—where the gods meant them to be—in our hands. And we’ll manipulate them
the way a programmer manipulates a computer.
Discuss this vision, it’s power over you,
and it’s poverty. Tie your analysis closely to Ishmael.
Option 2
Write the prompt on Ishmael you wish I had asked.
Answer it. Your response can be personal, but make sure it is strongly tied to the book and shows mastery of it.