1) In the text of Sargent author defines the words "utopia" and "utopianism" as words with two different

meanings. It is said that utopia is the place that can not be reached by human being (no place or nowhere).
Also, author called that utopianism is the way of development of the people that based on the idea of
constant development which aims to reach utopia. Finally, author says that utopia also can be dangerous
for people as it can negatively affect politics.

Question: In what way the author made a definition for the words "utopia" and "utopianism"?

2) Shermer says that utopia is a very dangerous thing and people in politics should avoid the ideology of
utopianism. In this text, the author argues that if used incorrectly, utopia can become dystopia (the dark
mirror of utopia). Protopia is a new development ideology proposed by the author. Protopia is a state that is
better today than yesterday.

Question: Is protopia the only ideology that is better than utopia, or is there another?

3) In my opinion, protopia is better than utopia, because in protopia people can develop or propose things
that will change the world in a positive way. One simple example of a positive social dream is the invention
of airplanes. People would never have invented the airplane if they had not dreamed of flying or covering
thousands of kilometers in hours.

4) The main argument of the text “Winning slowly is equal to losing” is that if people do not prevent the
Earth from global warming very quickly, then we will never save our Earth. The author uses a didactic tone
to show people how global warming is a huge problem that needs to be addressed very quickly. I think the
author's argument is very persuasive because he gave a number of evidences and data regarding the issue
of global warming in the US.

Annie Lowrey’s article

An article by Annie Lowry explains how food waste, which has been produced in large quantities in recent
times, is the main cause of global warming. The author very intelligibly describes his concerns about the
nature of our Earth, using some data from scientists and the opinions of some people who have
encountered food waste in their lives, and this can be an ethos or logos appeal. The title of the study, "Your
Diet is Cooking the Planet," suggests that Annie also uses pathos to grab the reader's attention right away.
Also in the text we find some solutions to the problem of food waste around the world. Annie Lowrey
effectively uses the rhetorical appeals of pathos and logos throughout her essay to convey their argument
that a number of food waste would negatively affect to the climate and can cause a global warming. This
combination is balanced and effective because it creates the strong didactic tone which makes the
audience belief to the author's argument by giving some reliable data about topic and at the same time
evoking emotions from the readers.
At one point, Annie Lowry states, "Households, not restaurants, schools, or public canteens, are the
dominant spenders" (p. 1). This passage is an example of a rhetorical appeal to pathos, since the author
uses the word "dominant spenders" to evoke in the reader the emotion of disgust at the attitude of the
household towards food. With this, she encourages people to produce less food waste in order to prevent
global warming. In addition, in the next paragraph, the author gives some data and figures about the
argument, in order to gain even more reader confidence, which appeals to logos.

WWA 6

1) In my opinion, in a healthy and functioning society, all important decisions about the country should
be made by all participants in the public space. In the history of Kazakhstan, we met with him
several times. When the khan (king) convenes all the main members of the zhuzes (states of the
country), who arrived with the ideas of their people. And the khan accepts the idea that more
people voted for. I think it also goes well with protopia, where some people have to make the
decision to be better than they were yesterday.
2) I think that visual art can be a tool for predicting the next steps of protopia or the progress of
protopia. Art always subjectively evaluates the future. It can be helpful that different thoughts can
become one big one, and development steps can be easy. I agree with Sargent's argument that
"literary utopia" can be used as a critique or warning of dystopia, and from history we have learned
some heroic stories of people who have enlightened their whole lives against dystopia. For
example, during the Soviet era, part of the Kazakh elite used their poems and letters to combat
Stalin's dystopian ideology.
3) My reaction as a Kazakhstani was positive, as there was a lot of evidence in Isenbayeva's article
about the Kazakh new musical genre. This is very instructive for both Kazakhstanis and residents of
other countries.
In the text Insebayeva states "the audience can be divided into those who hold traditionalist views
of Kazakh nationhood and those who take a more globalized perspective on the matter" (p. 184). It
is important to mention that author claims that the audience of the traditional kazakh music and
the global music something that separated from each other, and there is no any connections
between them. I disagree with the Insebayeva, because the division of the audience into two parts
indicates a lack of connection between them. If you have been to the remote corners of Kazakhstan,
then you can meet people who listen with great respect to both world music and traditional Kazakh
music.

WWA 9

Thesis:

While there are some thoughts about the success of Astana as a utopian city in terms of building new
developing infrastructure, it is a failed project from a protopian point of view because 1) Nazarbaev's
aesthetic view did not take into account the convenience of the city for the local population. , 2) it's too
expensive, 3) it only benefits the government, not the locals.

Although some would argue that the architects of the city reached success in creating a utopian realm for its
inhabitants, in reality, it is no more than an illusion of their achievements. Astana tends to endow only an
aesthetic enjoyment, while its functional part ignores the social needs of the citizens. These are the
consequences of the egocentric attitude of the ruling elite.

Space between buildings

In last 20 years

WWA#10

Response to Aiym's thesis

Utopia is indeed an unreachable dream, attempting to recreate it leads to enormous losses and
chaos. Nonetheless, protopia is not far better as “improvement” means different things for
different people, hence it causes controversy and debates the same way as utopia.

Paraphrase:

In fact, Utopia is impossible to reach and attempts to achieve it causes a number of problems.
However, protopia can not be successful than utopia, because there are various meanings of
improvement for people and same debates can appear.

2. Weaknesses and further suggestions: 

The topic sentence is not acceptable. Reasons are not clear; I recommend you to have at least
three of them. Also, your argument should be easy to develop by evidences (sources), it is
suggested to have strong proofs for your reasons that you mention in thesis.

3. Questions:

Why protopia is not better than utopia?

What is the problem of protopia?

What is the problem of utopia?

How we can success by utopia?

How we can success by protopia?

4. Prescribed formula:

Aiym's thesis does not follow the prescribed formula. My example: Although protopia is good
alternative for utopia regarding there is no final destination as it can cause many problems,
protopia is not far successful concept of development, because it is unpredictable, and it can
weaken the motivation as there is no final result, and it can cause a number of ways to develop
which can confuse people.

5, 6. Sources:

McKibben "Winning slowly is the same as losing"

Shermer "Utopia is a dangerous ideal: we should aim for protopia"

Sargent "Introduction"

I think all of the three sources can easily fit on the context of utopia, protopia, utopianism, but
it is not acceptable topic and it can not be written in the essay #1. Also, we should find one
additional source from outside of the course.