Jessel Joy M.

Dilao

BSED ENGLISH 3B

QUIZ NO. 1 MIDTERM Challenges in Contemporary Literature

Among the 18 challenges in contemporary literature enumerated on page 62 of the

module, choose five (5) challenges which you think are the most critical. Defend your
stand on the issues.

“Vernacular means of everyday communication cellphones, social networks, streaming

video are moving into areas where printed text cannot follow.”
These "commonplace methods of communication" are just that: trial balloons.
The last to arrive in these "vernacular" quadrants will be printed text, since when it
does, it will be the enormous, bold, immovable beast that redefines everything. These
vernacular forms of speech have just served as guinea pigs, tests to discover if these
new technologies are capable of handling the weight of literature, the highest form of
human art. The early pioneers have always been brave illiterates, civilization will follow
them if they survive the harsh winters and plagues. These days, digital readers are the
hottest new tech item, implying that printed material will always arrive in a gilded
chariot wherever "vernacular media" toil and sweat. This is a reality being faced in this
constantly evolving world, gone are those days that printed word is the most efficient
means of communication between two people and it is a sad fact that printed text can
hardly reach places that is more advantage in digital mainstream.

“Long tail balkanizes audiences, disrupts means of canon-building and fragments

literary reputation.”
Any existing canon was assembled by someone (or a group) who (at best) has
specific preferences and wants to promote those tastes, or (at worst) has a political or
social agenda and wants to repress any books (or book covers) that don't fit into that
agenda by omission. There are those who do not wish to be a part of the mainstream
literary world, which is primarily wealthy, predominantly male, predominantly white,
predominantly heterosexual, these people wish to talk to people who share their
problems or are interested in learning more about them. Folks who are concerned
about the splintering of literature remind me of people who are nostalgic for high
school, just chilling and fantasizing about the future! We're now in the future, and
we've parted ways. When we miss each other, we call each other, and that's the only
viable canon I can think of; everything else is an attempt to make something "efficient,"
a control system.
 Take this for example, there are two major themes: war and peace. Because
conflict affects everyone in a similar way, war novels tend to become canonized. But we
no longer have, and we no longer want, a peacetime literature that addresses certain
values that we all share: we don't share those values, and we don't want them. We
want to utilize books to communicate with those who value our conversation rather
than others who are concerned about how it may fracture the canon.

"Convergence culture" obliterating former distinctions between media; books becoming

one minor aspect of huge tweet/ blog/ comics/ games / soundtrack/ television / cinema
/ ancillary-merchandise pro-fan franchises.
This discusses on how computers, cell phones, video game systems, and pretty
much all other personal devices are becoming people's all-in-one access points for all
culture and all communication with the outside world. This is due to improved computer
hardware that allows for better media viewing, as well as the rapid dissemination of
media over the Internet. People can now use numerous "all-in-one" electronic devices
to watch TV and movies, listen to music, "blog," "tweet," learn new things, share jokes,
and even read books. People who enjoy reading books for pleasure will not remark,
"Why should I read a book when I can watch a movie on my all-purpose media device
instead?" Instead, they will be enthralled by the prospect of discovering further material
linked to the book (or possibly just not care about all this "convergence" stuff and read
their books). Even though many of them may be accessed from the same electronic
gadgets in this crazy day, different media are not interchangeable.

“Scholars steeped within the disciplines becoming cross-linked jack-of-all-trades virtual

intelligentsia.”
Many literary experts would rather read literary fiction than engage in frivolous
(by their own admission) transdisciplinary literary/cultural/historical discussion. This is a
test for literary fiction, which appears to be reliant on academic support—the term
"literary fiction" implies as much. Young people in colleges, unlike in the actual world,
still have the hazy idea that literary learning would lead to social and financial
advantages in adulthood. Unfortunately, academia is the only place in America where
this is absolutely true. As a result, a slew of young literary figures pursues graduate
degrees in the goal of "eluding the real world"—possibly indefinitely if they succeed in
becoming college instructors. Meanwhile, institutions must compete ferociously for
grants and pay students to fund all of this, because humane culture just does not
contribute enough to the economy.
Academic education system suffering severe bubble-inflation.
Yes. However, it does not appear that individuals will quit attending college. To get a
white-collar career, you'll need a college diploma. To prevent falling farther down the
social ladder, most people will take on significant financial loans (or to induce upward
social mobility, if no one in your family has gone to college). In the long run, most
people will probably benefit financially from attending college. People who intend to
work in a standard white-collar profession after college, one that does not need math or
science, typically obtain a random combination of arts degrees. A humanities education
does not imply aristocratic gentility or a lifetime of book reading. It's a path to a white-
collar career that primarily entails conversing with others, applying basic logic, and
sending e-mail. I believe it would be beneficial to literature if the academic education
system's excessive bubble-inflation resulted in fewer people receiving humanities
degrees. Humanities higher education no longer has a meaningful connection to the
world for which it purports to prepare students. This is one of the effects of the
academic education system's excessive bubble-inflation.