Make a change to the way you’re living

I created a propaganda poster with inspiration from the novella “The Machine Stops”. My propaganda poster communicates resistance against or counters the ideology/control of the Machine. I used three different techniques in the making of the propaganda, Plain folks, Bandwagon, and slippery slope. I applied these techniques in different ways such as using Plain folks in the main picture by describing Kuno wanting everyone to follow him to the surface. The words used to describe each side are an example of an idea leading to one direction. The technique Bandwagon was used in the text, by using the words “isolation” and “bright future” it gives a sense of advertisement to change who everyone follows, giving them a different perspective on the direction everyone was heading by “isolating” ourselves, showing how beautiful the future could be if we changed direction. Finally, the last technique, the slippery slope was used in the text as well as Bandwagon. The text demonstrates larger predictions of the future based on multiple facts, the prediction being complete isolation and dehumanization, or a bright future regenerating our world. I used colors to represent the emotions and attributes carried, as well as the human figure’s transformation from one side to another. On the “isolating” side there’s pink which represents power and luxury, as well as blue which demonstrates sadness and distance. On the “bright future” side there’s green which represents new, harmony, nature, love, and peace. I made the human figure change colors whilst crossing sides to represent the good change and outcome of a new perspective and direction.

(word count: 261)

Synthesis composition of The Mchine Stops and Wall-E

Evidence has shown that the past has written our future, or more so we have. Despite the fact that it was published in 1909, E.M Foster’s The Machine Stops continues to be a relevant piece of literature due to the way our lives are changing and submitting to technology. Submitting to technology has made us lethargic and dependent on the easy life technology has given us regardless of the consequences. The Machine Stops has a blend of satire, science fiction, irony, and dystopian characteristics that serve us as a warning sign in 2022. The dystopian characteristics include experiencing two different futures but having the power to choose and change. This novella is a science fiction short story, it explores the collapse of modernistic ideas and the effects of humanity’s progress. The movie Wall-E, produced by Andrew Stanton is represented by a dystopian society, Wall-E being a trash-collecting robot who was left cleaning up after humans. What considers it a dystopian society is the lack of taking care of the environment to where it becomes inhabitable, the pollution was so bad it forced all living organisms off the earth and transferred to another planet. The food they were given is also an example of dystopian characteristics, their food is categorized by liquid or the most convenient to consume. In the Machine Stops there any many similarities within dystopian characteristics, such as Kuno not being scared to go to the surface and wanting to live in a clean and brighter future, “this machine is much, but it is not everything” (Pg.2). In both the movie Wall-E and the book The Machine Stops humans were forced to evacuate the earth or go undergrown due to their ways of living off the technology, once they were removed from earth for so long they became worrisome and hesitant to go back to the environment they once destroyed. Kuno being a very explorative person, makes it nearly impossible for him not to go above the surface, he chooses to stay on the airship “because, any moment, something tremendous may happen” (Pg. 6), Wall-E is very similar, he stays to take care of earth it and all its beauty rather than abandoning it and running away from the problem at hand. Both characters want what’s best for the earth and are trying to communicate to the others that their way of thinking and caring for the earth is how we should have started our life’s journey on earth. The movie and book both portray the same if not similar Idea to the plot, “take care of our earth before its too late”. As humans have a place in this universe, if not otherwise, we need to appreciate that we were given such a beautiful land, not knowing what the options were. The Machine Stops and Wall-E both give a clear example of what will happen in the future, we will become nothing but slaves to technology and society, and those two things will be our only purposes in life.  We need to stop thinking for ourselves all the time and take a look at our surroundings and realize we are only 1 in billions. In the light of the spirit, take care of your earth before it is no longer, you never realize what you have until it’s gone.

(word count: 552)