Chris V - Late blog

With accordance to how makeups have changed; I will be doing a review of what I believe to one of the top modern day TV shows. That show is Black Mirror. Described by many critics as the modern day Twilight Zone, Black Mirror is an ambiguous sci-fi show where each episode takes place in it's own world and deals with an issue of the modern day world. One episode I would like to briefly detail is, Men Against Fire, an episode of the 3rd season(no spoilers). The episode starts like any other, the world is built within the first half hour or so but soon after some things are evidently not what they seem. Soon we see a wicked unexpected twist not uncommon to the black mirror series. Men against Fire is not the best episode in the show by any means but it easily trumps many general shows on air today. The acting is top notch and mirros the plot well. Additionally sci-fy is crucial to the plot of this episode. There is ever present sci-fy tech as these soldiers exist in a semi-futuristic time. The show will undoubtedly make you question many things about our current world but is that really such a bad thing? Each episode is interesting enough to the point where the hour long run time feels almost as if you're watching a half hour cartoon.  The only knock on the show is that some episodes become a bit confusing the most prevalent example being the Christmas special. Additionally the amount of time between each episodes air time may off put typical tv goers. Men against fire has a more simple plot but the twist at the end still hits you hard like all the rest. Overall this is a must watch TV show for any TV consumer.

Heather-Blog Makeup

I was absent on both days I had a blog, so this is my makeup. During my sci-fi I read a ton of deadpool. For a while I hated him, without reasons.  Once I opened up his comic, saw his movie, I saw more. I saw a fun loving character, who is more than a character. Him being self aware, and a badass, who deals with problems we can all get-it's great. It keeps you entertained sliding in plot seemlessly. The comic has some of the most dynamic art, which only adds to it's glory. I think the movie did a decent joke showing this character--at least substantially better than other superhero movies. Between the witty humor, dark plot, and multi purposeful text, I will never hate deadpool again. I enjoy how they open each of the comics with Deadpool complimenting himself, and how the whole buisness is set up. Slowly learning about characters is a guilty pleasure of mine this satisfied.
Deadpool as a character is interesting. He captivates every page. He is a character that seems happy, and easy going on the outside, but in reality he is strict. He suddenly becomes this depressing character, who keeps everything in to himself. Keeping it all in is what lets him keep this persona he puts up. But deadpool also plays on all of our wants. Our want from attractive people, money, fame, and for adventure. Deadpool  lives all our dreams for us. Adding this to just  funny dialogue, and a good plot makes this a must read for all nerds, and dorks.
My last thing to add is his backstory. For a lot of characters sometimes I feel when something like marvel makes every character this special snowflake, it loses value. For deadpool, I think it works well for him. For some reason I think he pulls it off, so congrats on the writes for that.

Mason Veron- Late Blogs

I read on one of those Snapchat news feeds about how the book 1984 by George Orwell is selling more then ever. Possibly because of our new president Trump and people are getting real paranoid about the possibility of a dystopian society. I really enjoyed Fahrenheit  451 and i think i am going to pick up a copy of 1984. 

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/25/511671118/classic-novel-1984-sales-are-up-in-the-era-of-alternative-facts

2 Late blog posts - Julia Orlando 01/25/17

Science Fiction was definitely something I wanted to become more interested throughout the coarse as I took it originally as an opportunity to learn things! I have learned that I do like a lot of science fiction, and that it contains a whole realm of movies that I would have not considered science fiction before! This also includes TV shows and short stories ( as we had a time to write short stories and discover them). The late blog assignment asked us to talk about various r how many blogs we had to do, science fiction texts that we have discovered and liked throughout this Scicne Fiction semester.
One of the texts - TV show - I discovered was a show called Sense8, which I do reccomend to everybody I meet although they state they never will watch it just to make me mad. It is considered a science fiction show and it is so nice not only to watch but to think ideally. It has such a unique play on science fiction and sort of  DNA ' mutant' like people who are diverse and all connected. It is a show that covers social issues such as race, murder, and sexuality. The character devlopement and scienctific growth ( all of them understanding their science characteristic) is remarkable. It is heartfelt and emotional. If you are interested in it I would reccomended watching it before judging based off my description - it is renewed for season 2 on May 5th so to who may be reading it, watch while you can!
The second text - Movies - would be The Martian and Interstellar. We have talked about how there are other varations of space movies besides Star Wars and Star Trek and I decided to check these two out. They are SO well directed and the astronomy in it incredible. In general, Science Fiction class has made me discover more movies that I now love which is something I take pride on for expanding my mind with a new genre. The science fiction genre is so expansive and big, I cannot wait to watch and read even after the class ends!

[ The video will not attach so here is the link - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yPUNbM23vng ]

Britt Goldberg (making up blog because I was absent on my day)

In this blog post I will be talking about the new science fiction adventure film, Passengers. I saw Passengers last weekend, and will say that I thought it was very good. Passengers is a movie about the star ship Avalon, traveling from Earth to a planet called Homestead II. The journey there takes 120 years, and the ship is carrying over 5,000 colonists going to the new planet. You may ask how would they live that long to make it. The answer is suspended animation. Suspended animation is a temporary stop of most of a persons vital functions, how ever you will not die. This is seen in hibernating animals. The 5,000 people on this ship, including the crew, are all in hibernation pods, and will wake up four months before they arrive at Homestead II. Or, at least they should. However, when the ship goes through a rough asteroid field, things seem to run differently.

Jim Preston, a mechanical engineer, played by Chris Pratt, wakes up. At first, Jim thinks what’s happening is normal, and is guided by the ships artificial intelligence. Jim very quickly begins to notice that something is very wrong. He’s the only one awake. Searching for answers, Jim learns that he has woken up, 90 years early. Desperate, Jim searches for a way to go back to sleep, knowing he will not make the trip if he’s awake. First he tries sending a message to Earth, yet then realizes the message will take even longer than 90 years to get there. He tries breaking into control rooms, yet fails because he cant break through. Jim’s only company is a robotic bartender, Arthur. Arthur tells Jim that he’s got this luxury ship all to himself, and might as well do whatever he wants and just live wildly. Jim for a whole year, messes around the ship doing what he pleases. At first, he’s enjoying himself, but as the year goes on, he begins to get tired. He is all alone. Jim almost does something crazy, yet quickly stops himself, running from the action he almost committed. In his running panic, he falls and rolls up to a beautiful woman’s hibernation pod. Her name is Aurora Lane.

Though Passengers appears to be very sci fi, its also a very romantic movie. I’d call it a Romantic Sci Fi Adventure movie. So, if your not the biggest fan of romance, then this movie might not be all for you! It has all the sci fi elements it needs to be classified as it, yet its also definitely a romantic movie. If you enjoy both these kinds of movies, then its for you. Even if you don’t like romance all that much, its definitely a good movie. When I went to see this movie, I had no idea it had a lot of romance at all, but that made me enjoy it even more! If you decide to see this movie, I hope you enjoy it!

The End Of Gatsby

The date is January 11th, 2017 as a class we start it by clapping and congratulating our amazing teacher, Mr.Rivers.  Mr.Rivers won the best teacher of the year award and he deserved it.  He is the most dedicated teacher and will do anything to help a student learn.  He is very social and connects well with the students.  Very proud and happy for him and he can only go higher from here.  Like always we find our assigned computers, login, and get ready to take notes, we will also take out our copy of The Great Gatsby.  The main discussion of the class was our homework from the night before which was to read chapter 8 and 9 in the book.  These chapters were the final 2 of the book.  We discuss some of the main plots in the book and talk a lot about tragedies.  As a class we figured out if certain situations in the book ended up tragically and how they did, We also talked about Nick, a character in the book and especially his last words to Gatsby.  As all ways the class was entertaining and good and looking forward for the rest of the classes this week.  Again, very happy for Mr.Rivers on winning the award, well earned.

1/11/17 Maeve McVeigh

Today we began class by congratulating Mr.Rivers on receiving the teacher of the year award. We then discussed F451 in preparation for what was originally intended to be today's test but was bumped a day. We discussed part 3 of the novel, Burning Bright. We compared how the setting of the book changed vastly from the beginning to the end. Originally, the setting was very bland. It lacked details, emotion, connection, uniqueness and much more. However, towards the end of the novel Montag experiences much more because his setting now has something to actually experience. There was river, grass, Montag goes into great detail of everything he sees and feels. This world no longer lacked detail, instead Montag was overwhelmed with the amount of details he could provide based on what he was seeing and feeling. We also discussed how Montag truly understood and appreciates now what Clarisse was trying to tell him all along. He only wishes she was there to experience it with him. We also discussed how his relationship with Granger and the group was. They are a community however, unlike the community Montag was used to there was no conformity. They each had their own focuses on what they would discuss and they each got to be their own individuals. We also discussed the symbolism of the Phoenix and the Salamander. The salamander represent the firemen. This made sense when it was explained that the salamander was once thought to be a mythical creature able to live in fire and withstand it's effects. Which also explained certain types of Pokemon such as Charmander which is a combination of char (fire) and salamander. We then discussed the symbolism of the Phoenix. The Phoenix represents rebirth. Which any Harry Potter fan already knew as we see Dumbledore's Phoenix burn to ashes and then become reborn from the ashes. This is shown by the city burning down to ashes by bombers and the city is now a clean slate. Montag and the  group he is with will now experience and influence the rebirth of the city.

Dystopia Class Simulation 1/5/17 -Soumya Duggirala

Our class party today was fun, with cookies and music, but it had a little twist in it. From the beginning, it was evident something was off. Mr. Rivers emphasized the fact that the whole class had decided that Spock was the best character and that everyone needed to show support. Every student had to write explaining why Spock is better than the character we picked. Then we could draw Spock defeat our character. Then there was a page for poem writing and an article on the board to edit and make more Spock friendly. Then there was the Spock loyalty pledge. It really started getting serious when people dissented, and Mr. Rivers had to put students on patrol.

This classroom dystopia was very similar to that in Fahrenheit 451. Like in that world, everybody in the class was encouraged to conform. Those who did were rewarded with food and privileges. Those who didn't were shunned and told to sit in the corner. Those people often wrote dissenting opinions on the board and the poem paper, or they blatantly refused to follow along with what the class was supposed to do. Others, like myself, rebelled in ways that couldn't put them in trouble, like pretending not to be able to do something, or quietly not participating. In general, everyone who had a different view were silenced, and all writings that were against Spock were censured or changed. This is strikingly similar to the world where books are burned, and dissenters are quietly taken care of. Studying history and simulations like this help us remember, learn, and grow.

Spock Lesson - Ben Schultz

The party we had in honor of the one true greatest science fiction character of all time, Spock, was an allegory for the book Fahrenheit 451 and society during the fifties. Like in the book, those who had different opinions than what was considered acceptable, were shunned and put away. People who dissented or tried to bring Spock down in any manner were placed in "jail" and not allowed to return to the party. In Fahrenheit 451, those who keep books or are different from everyone else have their houses burned down. This relates to society during the 1950s and McCarthyism, when Ray Bradbury wrote the book. Those who openly said that America might not be perfect were shunned for fear of them being communists. Some artists, including Bradbury himself, were blacklisted and prevented from working for showing what were considered "un-American activities." There was no gray area. You either loved America, or were a communist. Mr. Rivers presented the same dilemma, saying that you either accepted Spock as your overlord, or were Anti-Vulcan who didn't deserve o be part of the class.

Maeve McVeigh Spock Lesson

  The Spock party turned out to be used to teach us what life is like in F451. The society in F451 conforms to whatever they are told to do, such as books shouldn't be read only burned. Those who feel differently are looked at with disgust as well as punished without a fair trial. Some even disappear without a trace in order for the leader to easily dispose of the problem. This occurred in our classroom at the party. Anyone who wouldn't accept the fact that Spock was the best and their character was the worst was immediately shut out as an outcast from our party. They were isolated to sit on their own and watch as the ones who embraced Spock's win chow down on their victory food. Many were also unfairly imprisoned as some students snuck around without notice framing their fellow classmates. However, those who were framed were not granted the right to explain themselves and were unjustly sent to isolation without question. Just as in F451 free thought is unacceptable in society and will not be allowed.

Sam Galgano blog post 1/6/17

Today in class we talked more about how Spock was the overall best sci fi character. We talked about how some people got really upset over their sci fi character losing the bracket. Everyone  invested so much time into trying to convince everyone in the class that their character was the best character, so when they got voted out of the bracket, it felt like they had wasted all their energy and time that they put into their argument. We also talked about the results of past sci fi brackets, and it turns out that our class was probably the most civil. In the last bracket that was exercised, there was a lot of controversy over the results. And in the bracket before that, the results were a big joke.

The whole exercise for who was the best sci fi character made a big circle back to the book Fahrenheit 451. The people in the book don’t question the society they live in. They trust the government when they say that reading books is detrimental, which is kinda what happened in the bracket. After we voted and found out that Spock was the best sci fi character, we had to conform to what would only be beneficial towards Spock. We had to explain why Spock was so much better than our original character, we drew Spock defeating our character, and we even had to repeat a pledge that explained  that Spock was the best character. All while doing this, most of the class went along with it, even though we were bashing the character that we had spent months convincing ourselves was the best sci fi character of all time.

Chris Vachris - Is Spock a tool of big brother?

Hello fellow spocktonians, it's Spock number 5, formerly known as Chris Vachris. We have developed a glorious society quite similar to our national book F451. We have all pledged ourselves to a singular idea, that being that spock is our savior. In F451 they conform to the idea that books are terrible (Maybe we should take notes).  Additionally in both our society and the text anyone who goes against said ideas is immediately criminalized without trial. We can't be to sure so it's best to just dispose of them quickly like when dissenting people disappear in F451. And P.s it was Tiernan all along. He was the proprietor of the revolution. Live long and prosper.

. . . .   .-. .   .--.

Sarah Haag January 5th, 2017

Today in class we continued to talk about tragedy especially in Great Gatsby.  We distinguished that Myrtle has experienced the most tragedy because she was ultimately killed by a car. Although we did identify that Tom has experienced tragedy because Myrtle, his mistress had died and now Daisy is with Gatsby. He had lost both of his loves.  Also, Gatsby is holding on to the past saying that daisy needs to act the way she used to but she has changed. We discussed how modernism has complicated the book to show that Gatsby is flawed
. 

Jacob Sedar-Spock Reaction

I was surprised that Spock won the science-fiction bracket, since I put him as my champion. As I was a supporter till the final round when I left to go with Team Iron Man, thinking that it was a bright idea to choose a side that had a better chance of winning.
Spock definitely is better than the character I put into the bracket along with Spock's competition of Iron Man and Spiderman. Tommy Oliver the Mighty Morphin Green Ranger, can not compare to that of the lead science officer of the U.S.S. Starship Enterprise. Even though this wasn't a brawl, Spock and his team would be able to defeat Tommy and any of his many Rangers teams (Mighty Morphin, Zeo, Turbo. or Dino Thunder). The Enterprise is truly better than the Megazord.
The class exercise done during the party related to F451 as we were  made to think everyone with a marker was anti-Vulcan supporter. This caused us to sabotage one another if we did not like the other person. From isolating people from the class if they did not conform.

Jake Zerillo blog

Today in class we discussed an enormous amount of information in chapter 7 and how the conflicts in it resolve tragically. Before we discussed what tragic things happened in the book and to what people we first went over the definition of tragic. Which is the maximum fall in a short amount of time, and we went over how if it was a maximum fall but in a long period of time you wouldn't call that tragic because it is something that you can see coming. First we started off by going through a class discussion of who we though had the most tragic turn of events in chapter 7. We ended up agreeing that Myrtle had the most tragic event. This is because she got hit by a car and was killed, the person who had been driving the car was daisy, but no one knows that it was daisy besides nick and Gatsby. This was a huge tragedy because myrtle died and it really just came out of no where in the book, which really shows a maximum fall in a very short amount of time. The person who came in a close second was George wilson because Myrtle was his wife which makes you feel so bad for him because she was the only thing he had. Almost everyone had a tragic downfall though. Toms tragic downfall is that Daisy says she doesn't love him anymore so he is afraid he is going to lose his wife. Daisy's tragedy is that she has to either leave Tom and go with who she actually loves now or stay with Tom who she used to love but not anymore. Jordan had little to no downfall because she was smart and stayed out of everyones business and just watched everything go down. Gatsby's tragedy is bad because he thought that Daisy had always loved him and never Tom, but she admits that she used to love tom but since he is living in the past that is not good enough for him. Nicks is that he is going to take the blame for killing Myrtle. 

Spock Party- Brittany Goldberg

Today during Spock's party, Mr. Rivers made it very clear that we could only accept Spock as number one charter of scifi. Mr Rivers wouldn't allow other kids to have their own options. Students had to accept that Spock was the best. He would make students who had their own options sit out and not participate with the rest of the class. Today's class relates to F451 because all free thought was forbidden and you could only think one way. If you had other ideas you'd be shunned from the rest. In the book, people who are free thinkers disappear. If others cant be allowed to have their own thoughts, then they are experiencing a dystopia.

Tiernan Doyle Celebration Reaction

The main similarities seen between what was seen in the celebration of Spock last Wednesday and what can be seen in our text, "Fahrenheit 451," were the unification of the classroom behind the idea that Spock was all ruling, the criminalization of anyone who was or seemed to be against the idea that Spock was the best character of all time, and the idea of making the ruled and not the ruler do the work. The main factor of these three actions was the use of illusion, paranoia, and unification in order to achieve a personal agenda or totalitarian state. 

First, let's look at the unified thought of Spock being the best. Many percausions were made in order for it to seem that we were the ones in control of the choice and the consequences of that choice, with the teacher ensuring the students that it was a "democratic decision," and repeated that we were the ones who made the choice. In the text, it is seen that there is a sense of control within the people, with most feeling that reporting suspicious activities and upholding the laws that held them down was their duty as patriots. Both the text and the events on Wednesday show how, if worded in the right way and made to look like the right thing, people can be influenced to do almost anything their leaders want them to do.

Second, there was the enforcement of keeping Spock as the best by outcasting those who appeared to think differently, at the start, there were accusations here and there, but by the end the whole class was on edge, with some even accusing those out of blind faith. When compared to the text, it is seen how easily it was to find and arrest someone who was breaking the law, with all who were found with books being forced into asylums, regardless of their sanity. Still, no one dared to question it, for the main fear that they themselves would be seen as dangerous and sent away, or forced away from the party like on Wednesday. 

Finally third, it can be found that most of the work that people would think the government would do to make their control complete, but in reality it can be seen that it's the people themselves who allow for such actions to happen. During the celebration, the teacher employed certain students to do certain jobs, including censoring certain sentences of things students wrote on the board, finding out who is to blame for spreading "lies" about Spock, and making sure those who were found out were safely behind bars in "prison." In the text, the people are used as watchdogs for signs of suspicious activity, with even the main character's wife ratting him out for his illegal activities as part of her dedication to her society. . Both show  that people feel that when given authority of their own, they are able to better keep control and happiness, all while they're puppeted by a supreme leader behind the scenes.

In the end, both the text and the celebration on Wednesday can be related to the dangers of allowing the rise and take over of a totalitarian state.

1/4/17: The Day the Earth Stood Still (T. Doyle)

Something truly magical happened today, which is ironic seeing how this is a science fiction class.

Today was the final day for people to make their decisions and cast their vote for the ultimate science fiction character. The contenders were as follows: Iron Man, the shining avenger or justice, Spider Man, the crime fighting teenage wonder, and Mr. Spock, the super genius who would make a wonderful computer.

Team Spider Man went to the table first, laying down the facts of how Spider Man was a very relatable character, and how he dealt with the same hardships high school students like us have to go through, all while saving his home city from being destroyed by an array of enemies. They found Spider Man to be a hero from nothing, pointing out the fact that Iron Man was a billionaire, and that Spock was a genius, and how both needed these things in order to fight crime, all while Spider Man was just a high school student who went through tooth and nail to get to where he is today. The team also showed videos from the Spider Man motion pictures, showing off the might of their sci-fi character.

Up next was Team Iron Man, who were more than ready to take on Team Spider Man's claims of Iron Man being unrelatable. They discussed their hero's inner struggles with alcoholism and the fact that his parents were killed while he was still young. They then went on to discuss that Iron Man is a great science fiction character, and not just a great superhero, with his powers coming from his technological genius and his ability to good both inside and outside of his suit. The team as well showed a clip of Iron Man in action, which further proved their point of how Iron Man was able to do good both in and out of the suit.

Then, the unthinkable. Team Spock, made up of only one member, took the stage. Most thought of the team as a lost cause, but then they began to listen. The lone member, after drawing up a profile of each character, talked about how the two previous contenders, while great heroes, only saved the day for show, and thought of nothing else but the glory of being a superhero. Spock, on the other hand, was only a side character that thought of nothing but ensuring what was best for his team. He didn't save lives and risk his own for the glory of being called a hero, he did it because it is what he sees is best to do. Spock was a complex character, and the reason the the two previous characters were so prolific in texts was because of how easy it was to write them into any story, while Spock had a specific character base and was unique in terms of his actions and reasoning when compared to all other sci-fi characters.

With the teams giving their two cents in, now came the moment the whole class had been waiting for for the past marking period, the vote that would determing who was the greatest science fiction character of all time. Eyes became shifty, hands trembled, sweat pooled around foreheads, and all around, a science fell from each side. Team Spider Man was by the windows, Team Iron Man was by the closets, and Team Spock was by the white board. This is when it all stopped, when Team Spider Man broke down and fell apart, with most of its members walking over to the white boards. Then, members of Team Iron Man started to think twice, and some of them walked over to the whiteboards. The bell then rang, and the vote was cast in a frenzy, and to everyone's shock and awe, particularly Mr. Rivers's, it was Team Spock, who was only one member strong, who won the day for science fiction and was voted in as the greatest science fiction character.

I'll be honest, I was very surprised. I never could've thought that something like this could ever happen in the way that it did. It was like watching the flap of a butterfly's wings cause a hurricane, like hear the entire human population say it was okay for doctors to kill newborns for the sake of population control. It was like witnessing an entire country cheer for the burning of books. Something like this was never intended to happen, but now here it is, and I couldn't be more happier. This is why I love science fiction, it's unpredictable, can go anywhere, and truly capture the idea of how chaotic and unreasonable the forces of the universe are, and in order for one to truly understand and appreciate there forces, one must simply let go and flow where ever the universe around them takes them.

Overall, it was a fun experience, and I can't be happier to have been in this class. It showed me new windows to the world, and new faces who would become my friends. I'll be sure to take the things I learned in this class and use them in my future, professional life. In conclusion, I'm happy, I'm free, and I'm proud to live in a very unique universe.

Chris V - Late

Sorry for the late blog. I believe on the 20th we watched the thriller, Children of Men. If that Is not the case then we most likely spent time further analyzing Bradbury's, Farenheit 451. Since the winter break has fried my mind and it has reverted to a wet noodle I don't believe I can provide anymore extensive details.

Documents:

Children of Men:
http://sensesofcinema.com/2014/feature-articles/focalization-realism-and-narrative-asymmetry-in-alfonso-cuarons-children-of-men/
This is just an in-depth analysis of the movie for those who did not see the movie with us

F451: 
http://time.com/4547992/daniel-radosh-fahrenheit-451-permission-slip-response/

This connects to the text in that it presents the possibility of censorship. And the good intention to protect from the negative but at the same time harming the mind of the individual.