Look @ Me Now
For the Look @ me Now project, I was tasked with writing and presenting a paper about my life using literary devices. Below is the paper I wrote.
Look @ Me Now
By Nicholas Jennings
Theme
Finding a theme to string together all the aspects of a human life is a task whose difficulty is directly related to how complex someone’s life is. Luckily my life is relatively simple, and the only thing worth writing 7+ paragraphs about can be summed up very nicely by the theme of choice. I had a bit of an identity crisis at the beginning of 9th grade, but seeing as I don’t enjoy facing that type of problem I basically shrugged it off. The fallout of that decision is that now I have too many hobbies to properly cover. Most things in my life affect, or will be affected by, this issue, so it’s a good jumping off point in talking about everything else that’s happening in my life right now.
Conflict
One nice thing about the theme of choice is that it provides an obvious conflict, in my case the choice between dedicating my free time to working on robotics or software. I have to choose something, as shrugging of these issues is a decision in itself, and every decision will have a different outcome (unless it turns out high school isn’t important, but that seems unlikely). Furthermore, this decision will clearly have a huge impact on my life. Based on this, I will decide my past times for the rest of high school, as well as future internship and job decisions. This conflict could be described (using “conflict notation”) as Man vs Time (“conflict notation” is apparently misogynistic).
Flashback
Seeing as the theme involves weighing options, the flashback device seems to be a good excuse to talk about the moment I got indoctrinated into one my current hobbies, software. Our last exhibition project of 8th grade was about perspective, which our digital arts teacher took as an opportunity to (through some clever use of metaphors) teach a small portion of the class how to use VR technology (in the form of Google Cardboard). I had the idea of making a video game that could use the technology, and proceeded to lead a (metaphorical) crusade to clumsily slap together a couple of SDKs and models to make VR Games (you are playing one right now). In stark juxtaposition to the non-metaphorical crusades, it was great fun for everyone involved, and showing off our creations as by far the coolest product at the exhibition was even more so.
Setting
If flashback was the ghost of hobbies past, setting can be our ghost of hobbies present. Currently my coding setup can follow me around in the form of my laptop (a clear upside), but it’s definitely a lonesome process. Robotics is, fittingly, the exact opposite. While it’s definitely the most expensive of my options, this point is countered by my membership at the OSML, the maker space where the robotics team I’m in (The Top Hat Technicians) meets. To imagine the OSML, try picturing every useful hardware tool you can sitting in a room 50% larger than a typical classroom, then double that and add some tools you don’t know the name of but which turn out to be super useful in the long term (I’m not sponsored, I swear). Add to that the fact that I’m usually am at the OSML with the rest of the robotics team (which makes things less lonely) and it becomes clear what place I would prefer to work in.
Characterization
With hobbies present out of the way, let’s wrap up this Christmas Carol of a logic process with the future. Scientists predict a true AI will be created around the year 2050, after which we might all be nuked, so when I say future I mean near future. This make things much easier, because as it happens I have 4 year old twin cousins that can give a good estimate as to what kids will be doing in the future (minus the being nuked part). The results from this non-scientific observation show that kids in the future will mostly play with physical toys. No video games or cat videos or anything that uses software. This point is easily countered by a glance at my peers. Take my actual twin brother for example, sure he might be entertained by a quadcopter or a book for a little while, but for the most part his life lives inside his MacBook. Both future jobs could help people, but this ultimately brings up another point in favor of hardware. That point being that if I get a job working on hardware, I could build car assemblies, robot vacuum cleaners, maybe even rockets; but if I get a job working on software, I’ll be making a script that supports an algorithm that supports a database which handles information from a cloud which provides information to a script which run a... the list goes on and on. I’m sure software work is important, but it’s not immediately apparent how, and that’s the bit that’s really important to me.
Symbolism
As hard as I try, I can’t think of anything which properly represents this situation; which is good, because I haven't created any symbols, and if something I didn’t create symbolized my life perfectly I think I’d have another identity crisis. There is something that comes close. I’ll have to start using metaphor halfway through, but this shouldn’t be a problem if the goal is to have a bunch of literary devices. I feel like my life could be represented by my desk; at first it seems like it has a lot of space, But once you try fitting a robot arm and a computer on it you suddenly find yourself without room for anything else. If you wanted to memorize a script, display a rock collection, or read a book you have to move something off the desk. If we wanted to expand our metaphor, the clear solution would to increase the size of the desk, but then I would have to get rid of my bed, and if I don’t sleep I’ll won’t be able to do anything well. Maybe this metaphor is getting out of hand, let’s move on to something else.
Protagonist/Antagonist
Clearly I’m the protagonist of this story, I’m very self motivated and usually adapt to tough situations myself (plus if I wasn’t you might suspect me of being depressed or having low self esteem, neither of which are an issue for now), but who’s the antagonist? This problem was caused by a lack of time, but time can’t be an antagonist the same way Haagen-Dazs isn’t responsible for someone's poor BMI scores. In both cases, the person affected is also at fault. They need to start eating salads, and I need to stop freaking out about small problems (I should also start eating salads, but that’s besides the point). I tend to blow things out of proportion, which has caused problems in the past and, apparently, the present. That makes me the antagonist as well, and just like eating a tub of ice cream in the span of an hour, I know what I’m doing is unhealthy, but I do it anyways.
Foreshadowing
Perhaps I should've seen this coming. I’ve always been the type of person to make lists of personal goals, and my need for being efficient actually led to a severe problem of reverse-procrastinating in Middle School; so I guess I should’ve suspected that I wouldn’t have time for one more hobby the moment I lost my entire summer to setting up the base code for a multiplayer FPS. Yet even with this perfect example of how little time I had, I proceeded to join a robotics team, co-star in a musical, and attempt to teach a group of 7th graders how the United Nations function.. in that school year alone. Needless to say I’m awful at gaining insight from the clear forewarnings of my past.
Irony
If you’ve read this in the order you should, you might’ve come to the conclusion the the best solution to this “problem” is to stick a pin in it and wait for college to decide what I want my life to be like (if you haven’t read this in the order you should, what are you doing here? Go back to the beginning!). This solution makes a lot of sense, a lot can happen in three years, and maybe something will cause me to make up my mind. My issue with that solution is that it completely throws away the clear advantage that making the decision early would give me. In any case, as long as I don’t spend too much time weighing the odds, I’m basically following your suggestion. Plus, the nature of this problems means that simply thinking about it makes it more complicated, which makes writing this paper and exercise in futility.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, now we have another problem, I’ve decided to write about this issue in a story, which you, the reader, have invested at least a few minutes of your valuable time. You expect something to wrap this whole ordeal up, but the only way I see that happening is if I decide on a solution (which I don’t see happening anytime soon, if writing this has taught me anything it’s that). Without a proper conclusion this story will have no payoff, which makes for a terrible ending, but then again this isn’t really a story. This is a snapshot of what’s most important to me right now, and I think we can all agree (regardless of the rationality of the problem itself) that what I choose will have a big impact on the rest of my life. I might as well take my time. If you want a proper ending, I guess we’ll all just have to wait.
By Nicholas Jennings
Theme
Finding a theme to string together all the aspects of a human life is a task whose difficulty is directly related to how complex someone’s life is. Luckily my life is relatively simple, and the only thing worth writing 7+ paragraphs about can be summed up very nicely by the theme of choice. I had a bit of an identity crisis at the beginning of 9th grade, but seeing as I don’t enjoy facing that type of problem I basically shrugged it off. The fallout of that decision is that now I have too many hobbies to properly cover. Most things in my life affect, or will be affected by, this issue, so it’s a good jumping off point in talking about everything else that’s happening in my life right now.
Conflict
One nice thing about the theme of choice is that it provides an obvious conflict, in my case the choice between dedicating my free time to working on robotics or software. I have to choose something, as shrugging of these issues is a decision in itself, and every decision will have a different outcome (unless it turns out high school isn’t important, but that seems unlikely). Furthermore, this decision will clearly have a huge impact on my life. Based on this, I will decide my past times for the rest of high school, as well as future internship and job decisions. This conflict could be described (using “conflict notation”) as Man vs Time (“conflict notation” is apparently misogynistic).
Flashback
Seeing as the theme involves weighing options, the flashback device seems to be a good excuse to talk about the moment I got indoctrinated into one my current hobbies, software. Our last exhibition project of 8th grade was about perspective, which our digital arts teacher took as an opportunity to (through some clever use of metaphors) teach a small portion of the class how to use VR technology (in the form of Google Cardboard). I had the idea of making a video game that could use the technology, and proceeded to lead a (metaphorical) crusade to clumsily slap together a couple of SDKs and models to make VR Games (you are playing one right now). In stark juxtaposition to the non-metaphorical crusades, it was great fun for everyone involved, and showing off our creations as by far the coolest product at the exhibition was even more so.
Setting
If flashback was the ghost of hobbies past, setting can be our ghost of hobbies present. Currently my coding setup can follow me around in the form of my laptop (a clear upside), but it’s definitely a lonesome process. Robotics is, fittingly, the exact opposite. While it’s definitely the most expensive of my options, this point is countered by my membership at the OSML, the maker space where the robotics team I’m in (The Top Hat Technicians) meets. To imagine the OSML, try picturing every useful hardware tool you can sitting in a room 50% larger than a typical classroom, then double that and add some tools you don’t know the name of but which turn out to be super useful in the long term (I’m not sponsored, I swear). Add to that the fact that I’m usually am at the OSML with the rest of the robotics team (which makes things less lonely) and it becomes clear what place I would prefer to work in.
Characterization
With hobbies present out of the way, let’s wrap up this Christmas Carol of a logic process with the future. Scientists predict a true AI will be created around the year 2050, after which we might all be nuked, so when I say future I mean near future. This make things much easier, because as it happens I have 4 year old twin cousins that can give a good estimate as to what kids will be doing in the future (minus the being nuked part). The results from this non-scientific observation show that kids in the future will mostly play with physical toys. No video games or cat videos or anything that uses software. This point is easily countered by a glance at my peers. Take my actual twin brother for example, sure he might be entertained by a quadcopter or a book for a little while, but for the most part his life lives inside his MacBook. Both future jobs could help people, but this ultimately brings up another point in favor of hardware. That point being that if I get a job working on hardware, I could build car assemblies, robot vacuum cleaners, maybe even rockets; but if I get a job working on software, I’ll be making a script that supports an algorithm that supports a database which handles information from a cloud which provides information to a script which run a... the list goes on and on. I’m sure software work is important, but it’s not immediately apparent how, and that’s the bit that’s really important to me.
Symbolism
As hard as I try, I can’t think of anything which properly represents this situation; which is good, because I haven't created any symbols, and if something I didn’t create symbolized my life perfectly I think I’d have another identity crisis. There is something that comes close. I’ll have to start using metaphor halfway through, but this shouldn’t be a problem if the goal is to have a bunch of literary devices. I feel like my life could be represented by my desk; at first it seems like it has a lot of space, But once you try fitting a robot arm and a computer on it you suddenly find yourself without room for anything else. If you wanted to memorize a script, display a rock collection, or read a book you have to move something off the desk. If we wanted to expand our metaphor, the clear solution would to increase the size of the desk, but then I would have to get rid of my bed, and if I don’t sleep I’ll won’t be able to do anything well. Maybe this metaphor is getting out of hand, let’s move on to something else.
Protagonist/Antagonist
Clearly I’m the protagonist of this story, I’m very self motivated and usually adapt to tough situations myself (plus if I wasn’t you might suspect me of being depressed or having low self esteem, neither of which are an issue for now), but who’s the antagonist? This problem was caused by a lack of time, but time can’t be an antagonist the same way Haagen-Dazs isn’t responsible for someone's poor BMI scores. In both cases, the person affected is also at fault. They need to start eating salads, and I need to stop freaking out about small problems (I should also start eating salads, but that’s besides the point). I tend to blow things out of proportion, which has caused problems in the past and, apparently, the present. That makes me the antagonist as well, and just like eating a tub of ice cream in the span of an hour, I know what I’m doing is unhealthy, but I do it anyways.
Foreshadowing
Perhaps I should've seen this coming. I’ve always been the type of person to make lists of personal goals, and my need for being efficient actually led to a severe problem of reverse-procrastinating in Middle School; so I guess I should’ve suspected that I wouldn’t have time for one more hobby the moment I lost my entire summer to setting up the base code for a multiplayer FPS. Yet even with this perfect example of how little time I had, I proceeded to join a robotics team, co-star in a musical, and attempt to teach a group of 7th graders how the United Nations function.. in that school year alone. Needless to say I’m awful at gaining insight from the clear forewarnings of my past.
Irony
If you’ve read this in the order you should, you might’ve come to the conclusion the the best solution to this “problem” is to stick a pin in it and wait for college to decide what I want my life to be like (if you haven’t read this in the order you should, what are you doing here? Go back to the beginning!). This solution makes a lot of sense, a lot can happen in three years, and maybe something will cause me to make up my mind. My issue with that solution is that it completely throws away the clear advantage that making the decision early would give me. In any case, as long as I don’t spend too much time weighing the odds, I’m basically following your suggestion. Plus, the nature of this problems means that simply thinking about it makes it more complicated, which makes writing this paper and exercise in futility.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, now we have another problem, I’ve decided to write about this issue in a story, which you, the reader, have invested at least a few minutes of your valuable time. You expect something to wrap this whole ordeal up, but the only way I see that happening is if I decide on a solution (which I don’t see happening anytime soon, if writing this has taught me anything it’s that). Without a proper conclusion this story will have no payoff, which makes for a terrible ending, but then again this isn’t really a story. This is a snapshot of what’s most important to me right now, and I think we can all agree (regardless of the rationality of the problem itself) that what I choose will have a big impact on the rest of my life. I might as well take my time. If you want a proper ending, I guess we’ll all just have to wait.
I choose to present my paper in the form of a Virtual Reality Google Cardboard game (both because I mention Google Cardboard in my paper, and because it's REALLY cool). The game works by arranging the paragraphs into floating cubes, when you look at the next cube (paragraph) in the story, your camera zooms in and you can read the text. Some of the text cubes are "orbited" by smaller cubes that contain pictures relevant to the cube. I can't show you the actual game here, but below are some screenshots from the game.