A Better Pencil Analysis

Words: 1790
Pages: 8
Open Document
In his book A Better Pencil: Readers, Writers, and the Digital Revolution (Baron, 2009), Dennis Baron mentions author Bill Henderson, a strong defender of the pencils, who founded the Lead Pencil Club in 1993. The club was started as a platform to bring together people from different backgrounds who shared a common love for the good old ways of writing. The club, Baron says, is known to reveal the “electronic madness” that surrounds our lives, and is a means for its members to “restore” simplicity by writing letters, essays, and poems. With many today embracing new forms of communication technology, especially social media such as Facebook and Twitter, he stresses on the declining value of the handwritten word, which according to him exhibits …show more content…
Borgmann, Higgs says, urges today’s people to make room in the middle of their highly digitized lives, for what he calls “focal things and practices” (Higgs, 2000). By this, he is referring to traditional objects such as handcrafted furniture, and practices such as baking a cake from scratch. He suggests these as a means to connect with the “simpler, quieter, and more textured life” of the past and the longing that is often identified as nostalgic. Such examples only point to the fact that nostalgia has a pretechnological past, before the start of what Borgmann calls the “device paradigm”. However, he also argues here that focal things, however pretechnological they might be, seem to have depth only when placed within a technological context. But why does one need to turn to technology in the first place? Borgmann responds to this by explaining some marked features of contemporary culture, beginning with the fact that it embodies a “liberal democratic conception of society”, meaning that certain principles exist to ensure that although rewards are won by the swiftest, everyone will have an equal place at the starting line. If implemented, these principles would form the basis of what we call social justice, but according to Borgmann, the only way we can arrive at such a system is through modern technology, which has come to govern our lifestyle. The problem then, is that, despite making available such opportunities, modern technology also determines their character. What
Show More

Related Documents: A Better Pencil Analysis

Chromatography Stationary Phase Essay

solvent Separation of dried liquid samples with a liquid solvent and a glass plate covered with a thin layer of silica gel. The thin layer chromatography plate is out into a beaker containing the solvent but making sure that the solvent is below the pencil line. Thin-layer chromatography is used to detect pesticides or insecticide in food. Gas Chromatography This involves a sample being vaporised and injected onto the head chromatographic column. The sample is transported through the column…

Words 1313 - Pages 6

Essay about Cotton Swab and Candy Colors

You do this by removing small bits of an ion on a developing paper and putting them in a developing solvent. 2. Contaminants in rainwater Analysis of narcotics Detection of substances in urine http://www.discoveriesinmedicine.com/Bar-Cod/Chromatography.html +Materials Skittles Rubbing alcohol 2 Coffee filters 2 plastic cups Pencil Ruler Tape Foil Table salt Water 4 cotton swabs Measuring cups Clean pitcher Paper towels Sheet of writing paper Gloves Procedure 1. Cut…

Words 743 - Pages 3

Essay about Chromotography Report

Objectives: 1. To measure the Rf values of marker inks. 2. To analyze dyes based on their Rf values. Materials: Whatman No. 1 filter paper cut into 4x14cm rectangle Pencil, tape, ruler Al foil or seran wrap 600 mL beaker 100 mL 5% NaCl Washable markers of various colors. Petri dish or shallow bowl* Pre-washed 100% white cotton fabric* Rubber band* Plastic pipet* Circular filter paper* 70% rubbing alcohol *optional Introduction: Chromatography is the technique of separating…

Words 1785 - Pages 8

Essay on Healthy School Essentials

By Kenneth Phin I. Project Description ­ This project emphasizes the social and behavioral health of the student. The student’s achievement revolves around how supported he/she is at home and socially in addition, to their attitude. With the creation of better organized clubs, connectivity, incentives, and support, there is no doubt in our education system’s prosperity. ● Title: Healthy School Essentials (HSE) ● Type: Psychoeducational ● Project Champion: Bishop Jeff Parry ● # of Beneficiaries: Students…

Words 889 - Pages 4

Essay Learning Styles and Vark Analysis

VARK Analysis Paper Family Centered Health Promotion NRS-429V September 29, 2010 VARK Analysis Paper There are a multitude amount of different ways of learning, depending on any given person and their learning styles. Learning is a goal-directed act and is something that all humans and living creatures are capable of doing. However, the process of learning is done over a progression of time and typically involves a learning curve to which individuals follow. One common assessment used to establish…

Words 584 - Pages 3

Clinical Educator Reflection

values as me. The concept of sympathizing the lack of ethics a student holds, may be one of the hardest challenges that I will face as a teacher. However, I am determined to practice this patience and sympathy while I hopefully mold my students into better individuals. I intended to treat students how I would like to be treated. There’s a little quote I heard while fulfilling my practicum hours and it was “treat a student as you would if their parents were in front of you watching”. The quote really…

Words 590 - Pages 3

Rhetorical Analysis Of Belcher

revising. They differ in that macrostructure involves making big changes such as moving paragraphs, while microstructure involves addressing grammar errors and punctuation mistakes. Having had already done many macrostructure changes in my rhetorical analysis, I am drifting towards focusing on just the microstructure section of the final revision. This article helped to define what part of the revision I am currently on, which is microstructure revision. Belcher dives into what he calls the "Belcher…

Words 280 - Pages 2

Student Handout Essay

An Overview of FS Analysis: 1. What are some items on the Income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement that should be utilized to understand the financial health of a firm? Total Assets: This is the total value of everything a company owns, from factories and trucks, to inventory, right down to the pens and pencils in employees’ desks. Total Liabilities: This is the total amount of money that the company owes to other people (or companies). Loans owed to the bank, bonds issued to…

Words 685 - Pages 3

Practice Coursework Essay

Data Analysis Hypothesis “Liquids containing longer or larger molecules are more viscous” Molecules Name Formula Structure Ethanol C2H6O Methanol CH4O Propanol C3H8O Butanol C4H10O Pentanol C5H12O Hexanol C6H14O Heptanol C7H16O Octanol C8H18O Possible Methods to Measure Viscosity There are good and bad things about each of the experiments we could do to collect our data, the first method is the ball method in which we would drop a ball bearing into a large…

Words 1050 - Pages 5

Essay about Lab Report

edge you should have six strips by the time you finish. Label one beaker Water and the other Ethanol. Once you have done this get a pair of safety goggles a putting them on. Label the strips as Brown Ethanol, Black Water, Brown Water, etc. Draw a pencil line about an inch from the bottom, then color the appropriate color dot in the center of the line make sure the dot bleeds through to the other side of the paper. Fill a beaker with ethanol till the entire bottom is filled with the substance do the…

Words 454 - Pages 2