Villain of Writing

i know it’s a lot to deal with but hang in there!

Ashley Krolikowski

Ms. Alley

Eng. V01A

November 20, 2009

Thought Paper 3: Nowtopia and “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For”

            In chapters three and nine of Nowtopia, Chris Carlsson discusses work outside of a career and the event known as Burning Man.  Specifically in the third chapter he describes how certain individuals are finding their true calling outside of their jobs.  This included community gardens and fuel alternatives.  He also describes the “DIY” movement and how it originated out of the punk culture.  He also explains how this particular movement had been taken over by capitalism and how some how some are trying to take it back.  In chapter nine, Carlsson describes the event of Burning Man itself and his point of view when he went and interviewed people on the subject of class.  He also describes the ideals and contradictions of the event.

            Carlsson’s point of chapter three was that people can find their true passion in spite of a constricting work environment.  The point of chapter nine was that people of all classes can come together at Burning Man.  He made it clear that people can do this despite the contradictions of the event.

            I enjoyed how Carlsson made the connection between the punk movement and the DIY movement:

Back in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, punk music exploded as a rejection of the co-optation of rock-‘n’-roll by music corporations…anti-fashion and raw, untrained three-chord rock burst forth, sending popular culture into thousands of fragments, most of them doggedly DIY.  (48, Nowtopia)

I also found the concept of Burning Man interesting.  There are contradictions that surround it but the ideals of the event are important to people and that is what truly matters.

            In contrast, Henry David Thoreau’s “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For,” talked about how in order to truly live you must live simply.  He also describes how his experience in nature and how it helped him fulfill his virtue of living in a simple way.  Thoreau’s main point of this piece of writing was that the nature of society had interfered with the nature of man and his way of life.

            Overall I thought that the way Thoreau wrote was beautiful because of the way he described things in this piece of writing.  However there were other parts of this piece that I didn’t agree with.  At first it annoyed me to read how ignorant he seemed of the postal service and the news service.  However the more I thought it over I came to the realization that he wasn’t at all that ignorant because he lived at a time where these services weren’t as widely used.  I also found it interesting how he incorporated other forms of religion into this piece of writing.  I believe one was Hinduism although I am not quite certain because it reminded me more of Buddhism.  His use of such religions made his argument of simplicity better developed.

Vocabulary:

• Supernumerary (pg 426, 50 essays)- excess of the usual number
• Inexorably (pg 39, Nowtopia)- unalterable
• Contrived (42)- artificially planned
• Percolate (47)- filter
• Syncopated (47)- to cut short
• Admonishing (216)- advising against

Questions:

• What did you think of the ideals of the Burning Man?
• What specific points of Thoreau’s writing did you find interesting?

Works Cited

Carlsson, Chris.  Nowtopia.  Oakland: AK Press, 2008.  Print.

Thoreau, Henry David, Where I Lived, and What I Lived For.”  Cohen, Samuel.  50

            Essays: A Portable Anthology.  Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin, 2007.  424-430.

Print.