Answering Questions - Research Paper Example

Prof’s Answering Questions Question How does Hogan develop a variety of possible meanings for the term voyager? How, for example, is the voyager connected to the dream vision?Answer: Hogan develops the term voyager through subtly connecting it linguistically to many of the inbuilt ideas many people might have about the term. For instance, even though the main text of the essay is about the Voyager spacecraft, an unmanned mission, Hogan instantly connects the idea of a voyage to physical travel for a person – to being “lost in the woods” near New York, or driving around with one’s parents (Hogan 247).

This same process works with the dream sequence – people already understand dreams to be a voyage through different parts of the mind, so simply using the term voyage reinforces something that they already know. Hogan is incredibly light in her touch in connecting these ideas, relying on the inbuilt notions of her reader more than her own prowess.Question 2: How would you describe the tone of this essay? Try to be specific about Hogans attitude towards herself, her readers, and her subject.

Answer: Hogan’s tone is incredibly personal, and she tries to bring out the magic of her subjects to give a sense of wonder to her reader. She starts out by being incredibly personal, telling about her own life, which helps build a report and avoids any stilted formality. She then moves on, however, to connect her life to the wonders of the cosmos in the form of the voyager space craft, expanding her vocabulary and putting herself in the context of the wider universe. She thus minimizes both herself and her reader, asking them to see themselves in the context of the wonder of the universe.

Question 3:What do you think about the material/information the Interstellar Record left out? Should we have represented ourselves more honestly: warts and all?Answer: I think that it is a natural human impulse to put our best foot forward, and in that way we were somewhat honest to ourselves in leaving some things out. We sent this to be a craft that was supposed to demonstrate who humans want to be, the best of our capabilities, not the worst. To answer this question, ask yourself if it would be wise to tell a stranger the best and worst things about you all at once when you first meet them.

In any society on the planet Earth, the answer would be a definitive no. We were being honest to who we are: people who want the universe to think well of us. Finally, putting the bad in with the good might codify the bad: make the bad okay, normal, who we are.Question 4: Would it be possible for a record to be made today?Answer: It would be possible but difficult. The amount of data has increased many fold, and the world has much less respect for the classics: perhaps Nirvana would be included instead of Beethoven.