Evolution and Literature Web Paper 4

Coral A. Walker

May 9, 2011

ENG/BIO 223

Dalke & Grobstein

Webpaper #4

Coral A. Walker

May 9, 2011

ENG/BIO 223

Dalke & Grobstein

Webpaper #4

Last week, in the Story of Evolution and Evolution of Stories class, one of the two professors, Paul Grobstein, claimed, “he would not die”. As crazy as this statement may seem, I found myself nodding in agreement. How can you be ‘immortal’ if you die? He simply said he would fade away – physically – but he would remain in other’s memories. There would be stories about him, about what he has said, what he has taught, what he has done. Regardless of how people remember him, he will be remembered and that is immortality. What does it mean to be immortal though? This paper will explore what the implications and consequences of being immortal are through three different areas – science, literature, and culture.      &#16

A discussion of the evolution of literature could not be complete without mentioning an emergent form of literature, which surprisingly to some, is not as new as it seems. The internet has done a great deal to change how texts are published and read. The first example of a revolution that has been recognized in this type of shift in text production is the emergence of blogs as the online form of journals. Blogs have the ability to make what was once considered to be private writing public. This effectively changes the stories that people choose to tell on that particular form of expression with the expectation of publicity.

This semester I’ve been grappling with what evolution means to me, how we define it collectively and how I define it personally. Having reached the end of our journey in this class, I’ve settled on an understanding of evolution as change. Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary offers many definitions of the word, one of which describes it as “a process of change in a certain direction” (Merriam-webster.com), not specifying which direction represents evolution. A progression of ideas can portray evolution, and an evolving classroom can be depicted by its changes in classroom dynamics. With this idea in mind, I became interested in the evolution of the classroom and the evolution of classroom dynamics that affect levels of participation.

Final Project: Comparison


      I noticed partway through this course that the concept of storytelling has actually been use in a number of the courses I have taken so for, though it has been presented in different ways and for different purposes.  I have had the experience of three separate professors in three different disciplines give me a very similar assignment.  I found that, when I looked at these pieces in conjunction with this course that they seemed much more connected than I thought they were, I was able to trace some of my own academic development through them, and the styles I used to present them clearly showed how each class biased my presentation.

Marni Klein

BIOL/ENGL 223

7 May 2011

A Political Science Major’s Understanding of Science

In class we talked about how to teach evolution, and I think the best way is to do it early. I was inspired by a previous student’s work, which Anne shared with us on Serendip, to write a children’s book. Anne challenged me to correct the book, because I had been somewhat insistent in class on conveying the story of evolution as accurately as possible. Trying to tell this story in a child friendly way was a harder task than I imagined. I do not see this book as a correction. I love the message of connectedness in Britt’s book. But I wanted to tell a different story. My story starts earlier and is an attempt at being both scientifically accurate and child-friendly.

 Jenny Cai

Evolit

Paul Grobestein

May 7, 2011

The 20th Century Plague