Sequence # 4

Ani Gjika, Rutgers University, Fall 2008

Assignment Four (Jenkins and Sacks)
Readings "Why Heather Can Write" by Henry Jenkins and "The Mind's Eye" by Oliver Sacks

It is difficult to step outside of ourselves in order to see the world through someone else's eyes. But the adolescents Henry Jenkins discusses in his article, "Why Heather Can Write," do precisely that through fan fiction. Jenkins claims that, in our digital culture today, fan fiction – the medium through which adolescents today are teaching themselves how to write – makes it possible for them to get "some critical distance" from their own experiences and this, in turn, allows them to see their own lives from a new perspective. In "The Mind's Eye," the experiences of the blind people, whom Oliver Sacks studied, show that different individuals learned, independently, new ways of reconstructing and adapting to a "visual world" and began to see in ways they never had before.

Considering the process of imaginative, independent learning the blind in Sacks' essay and the adolescents in Jenkins' essay go through, answer the following question:

To what extent is the process of self-learning for the blind close to adopting a new culture for themselves, just like the adolescents in the online forums are doing today, where culture could possibly mean attitude toward yourself and the world at large? Given these two distinct examples would it be presumptuous to say that imagination is perhaps not only a more profound and practiced sixth sense, but probably the first one? Elaborate your answers by commenting on how the imaginative worlds Heather et al., construct through fan fiction complicate, compliment and contradict the imaginative worlds blind people construct to envision and adapt to their surroundings.

Assignment Five (Nafisi and Jenkins)
Readings: Azar Nafisi “Selections from Reading Lolita in Tehran” and Henry Jenkins, “Why Heather Can Write”

At the end of the introduction to Azar Nafisi's “Selections from Reading Lolita in Tehran,” the editors of The New Humanities Reader state: “For Nafisi, our freedom to talk and think together in small groups, in a context where the ideas raised and the topics covered are not determined in advance, is the litmus test for a true democracy; to engage in this act, she believes, is to embrace a humanity that transcends national and religious differences.” In his essay, “Why Heather Can Write,” Henry Jenkins describes how through participatory culture adolescents of “many different ethnic, racial and national backgrounds (some real, some imagined) formed a community where individual differences were accepted and where learning was celebrated.”

Drawing on the works of Nafisi and Jenkins, write an essay where you consider how the experience of censorship and the desire for individual freedom may be similar in both totalitarian and democratic societies. Furthermore, discuss how the black and white thinking which both Jenkins' and Nafisi's texts remind us of, illustrates the importance of the study of humanities in general, and expository writing ("writing to see") in particular.

Assignment Six (Gilbert, Nafisi, and Jenkins)
Readings: Daniel Gilbert “Immune to Reality,” Azar Nafisi “Selections from Reading Lolita in Tehran” and Henry Jenkins, “Why Heather Can Write”

Henry Jenkins and Azar Nafisi describe two different situations where people from various backgrounds are able to transcend their own differences and remain loyal to the goals and ideals of the communities they participate in. They are eager to pursue and celebrate learning and individual freedom despite the limitations which their respective societies create. In his essay, “Immune to Reality,” Daniel Gilbert argues that, as human beings, we are equipped with a psychological immune system which allows us to view the world more positively, so that we can feel better about the unhappy situations in which we find ourselves.

In light of Daniel Gilbert's studies, how would you apply his ideas or terminology to explain the kind of happiness one can experience through a pursuit of learning and individual freedom? When answering this question, consider how Gilbert might interpret Azar Nafisi's and Heather Lawver's motives for creating their respective communities. Furthermore, how does Jenkins' and Nafisi's evidence of active participation complicate, complement, or contradict Gilbert's concept of the inescapability trigger?

Please remember to rely on evidence from the texts in order to support and further explore the claims you make.

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