Resist the FEED!

As a read of books, magazines, articles, and a comic here and there, I have established a few guidelines to think about while reading whatever it is that I’m reading. But, because I am attempting to become a teacher, I have to look at these readings as both a student and a teacher, which can be hard. The criteria I have established are important, and I feel that they can help other readers.

My 5 questions I pose to myself are these;

1. What catches my interest about this work of literature?

2. What is off-putting about it?

3. Is the content reasonable for the age group suggested?

4. What significance does this work have on me, my life, or my perspective?

(Stories only) 5. A. Are the characters relatable? B. Does a character’s plight help me?

While reading Feed, a dystopian sci-fi novel, there were a lot of things that came to mind. Some of the most obvious to anyone reading the book is the constant, annoying interruptions from the main character’s microchip, or “feed.” These interruptions were very interesting because they fit into both question 1, 2, and even 3 in a way. The feed itself represents the “umbilical cord” that many people have to society in the form of media. This comparison is right on key, and is a great way to establish a connection to readers, especially teenage readers who access many sites like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. As society grows more and more attached to technology, this novel becomes more and more significant, thus falling into question 4. This novel helps the reader, me in this case, to think more about how much people rely on technology. As a student, I use Facebook to stay connected to friends I’ve made around the world and across campus. This novel is a very extreme exaggeration of sites like that.

A well written book, Feed’s characters are not exactly the most intelligent, which I believe is a good way to make the reader feel much smarter. This lack of intellect can be seen through-out the novel in almost any character’s speech. The character speech and the constant interruption of Titus’ feed are the main reasons this falls under the 2^nd question.

This all the questions have had their own little examples in the book, except question 5. The only characters I feel that I can actually relate to are Titus, Violet, and her father. Most wouldn’t relate to Titus because of his lack of thinking for himself, but this isn’t exactly the case with me. Because of how I was raised, there were many times that I didn’t really have to think for myself. And when there was a lot of responsibility thrown my way, I, like most people in that situation (including Titus), just shoved it away and pretended it was all ok. While Titus’ dilemma didn’t help me, it DID show me I was not alone. Because of this reason, I believe that Titus is a relatable character to many people, whether they know it or not. Despite the tragic end, the constant interruptions, and lack of intelligent characters, this is a very good, very thought-provoking book.

As a student, I would love to have other people read it and discuss it. As a teacher, this is most definitely a book to teach because if there are other children that are like me, which I know there will be, they will find some comfort in this book, knowing they are not alone.