Response to Cynthia Selfe

Kyle Smith
Anna Wolff
English 100 A
21 February 2010

Response to Cynthia Selfe

In the article, “Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution Images of Technology and the Nature of Change”, Cynthia Selfe suggests that the advancement in computer technology is something that will both improve our lives as well as create fears of the introduced changes into familiar systems. In her article she writes about three different narratives. In the second narrative she is talking about how American culture is not fair to all people, as it is commonly viewed. She says “These ads are what my grandmother would call “mighty white.” There is a remarkable absence in all the images of people of color, and poor people, and people who are out of work, and single parent families, and gay couples, and foreigners. Selfe is saying that unlike the popular view that America is “The land of equal opportunity” which means that everyone in this country is equal and open to everyone. But she is saying that it is actually “The land of difference” which means that this country is not as fair to all people. She then says that if technology is to improve the lives of all Americans regardless of our differences, then this is not present in the ads she uses.

I disagree with Selfe’s idea that America is the land of opportunity only for some people. It might be because this article is outdated, but I don’t think that this is completely true. I think that technology does seem to be helping all people improve their lives, regardless of their differences. I think this because I have seen more people that used to be excluded from ads like the one she uses more commonly then before. This shows that technology is making our country more like “The land of opportunity” not more like the “land of difference.”

I used the Argue the Other Side countering strategy because I think that this article is somewhat outdated and how she describes what is happing with our country is not what I am seeing. My paragraph demonstrates this strategy by disagreeing with Selfe’s idea and giving my own idea.