Posted: August 2nd, 2022

PART 1: THE MACHINE STOPS SUMMARY

Choose any assigned reading from the semester and re-write its ending. Your re-write must—be 3-5 pages in length.contain at least 5 literary devices or elements (see course notes).engage with a key theme or subject from the rest of the reading.Be entirely original (no copying and pasting from the original).
In addition to this creative portion, you must also write a 3-5 page academic essay that (1) analyzes the artistic choices you have made as a writer and (2) expresses an arguable claim about the outcome of those choices. This essay must be written in 3rd person, wherein you refer to yourself as the author by last name. In that sense, a thesis for this assignment might look like the following:Gothard’s revision of the Time Machine, wherein it is revealed that Weena was the real predator eating the rest of the Eloi all along, proves that Social Darwinism will lead not just to a separation of the classes along biological lines, but also to the development of a super predator which will cause the end of all life on Earth.In Gothard’s new ending to “The Turing Test,” where readers discover that all of the characters are mere digital programs in a larger simulation, questions the limitations of the Turing Test as a concept and proves that consciousness, in the end, is only a matter of perspective.RubricAs an academic argument, your essay must also meet the following minimum requirements:Your essay must begin with a title that is both informative and creative.Your introduction must define and contextualize all key terms, people, ideas, concepts, etc. that will you explore in your essay.Your thesis must express an argumentative claim, meaning your reader could disagree with what you have written.o Avoid the three-pronged thesis (Ex: A is true for reasons B, C, and D.)Each body paragraph must begin with a clear topic sentence that expresses (a) what idea the paragraph will prove, and (b) how that idea supports the claim in your thesis.o Topic sentences are the sub-claims that support your overall claim in the thesis.o The complexity of your argument should determine the number of body paragraphs you need, though for this assignment you are required to have at least four.o Each body paragraph must contain at least three pieces of quoted and analyzed evidence.o While there is no official minimum requirement for the number of body paragraphs, a good rule of thumb is to have no fewer than 3.Your conclusion must only spend 1-2 sentences summing up your argument. The rest should apply your ideas to the world at large, telling your readers why they should care about what you’ve proven.
Use E.M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops”

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Essay 2
PART 1: THE MACHINE STOPS SUMMARY
Forster’s “The Machine Stops” is considered one of the best early science fiction stories. The story is divided into three parts. In the first part of the story, “The Air-ship,” the story describes how humankind relies on the Machine for their needs, with each individual having a “the Book” that consists of manual instruction that tells them about the Machine. People live in “a small room, hexagonal in shape, like the cell of a bee” (Forster 1) that are underground and only interact with each other via technology. Vashti, a lecture and mother to Kuno, talks to her son, who wants her mother to visit him in the northern hemisphere. Kuno explains to his mother that he misses the earth’s surface, as he wishes to see the stars while standing on the earth’s surface. Although Vashti also misses the earth’s surface, he tries to explain to her son how dangerous it is, and also there was nothing there to see but “dust and mud, no life remains on it, and you would need a respirator, or the cold of the outer air would kill you. One dies immediately in the outer air” (Forster 3). Although Vashti does not like traveling via an airship, which she considers to have old-fashioned and rough arrangements, she decides to visit her son. She experiences the horror of traveling in an airship, which is dangerous and opposite to the safety provided in her room.
In part two of the story, “The Mending Apparatus,” Vashti is at her son’s room in the northern hemisphere, similar to her room in the southern hemisphere. Kuno tells her mother that the main reason for insisting her to come was to tell her that the Central Committee was threatening him with a Homeless death sentence, which involves being left outside the Machine to die for attempting to visit the earth’s surface by himself without permission. Vashti is shocked by Kuno’s attempt, and Kuno accuses his mother of worshipping the Machine. But Vashti claims, “I worship nothing! […] I am most advanced!” (Forster 11).
Kuno described his experience when he made the illegal trip to his mother after discovering that his room was located below Wessex, in south-west England. He explains that as he ascended, he had a reconnection with nature and the land, which he only knew through history lectures. Kuno believed that people lived outside the Machine, as he describes seeing the hills, hills that “commune with humanity in dreams” (Forster 15). He insists to his mother that the Machine was killing humanity by taking away their relationship with each other and the world. However, before managing to proceed, the Machine’s Mending Apparatus discovered the hole and sent what he describes as “a long white worm” (Forster 17) that grabbed and knocked him unconscious only to wake up in his room. As Vashti leaves to return home, he is worried about his son and thinks he was made. He warns his son that “It will end in Homelessness” (Foster 17).
The third part of the story, “The Homeless,” is set years later. Traveling to the outside is possible after the Machine getting rid of respirators. Most of the populations, such as Vashti, have accepted this condition since they “had always held it foolish to visit the surface of the earth” (Foster 18). A lower population expressed displeasure, such as academics, when they could longer access topics they regularly lecture. However, championed the superiority of second-hand or even tenth-hand ideas and sources being better than direct experience.
Another thing that occurs at this point is the re-establishment of the region, with the Machine worshiped – “The Machine is omnipotent, eternal; blessed is the Machine” (Foster 19), with threats of Homelessness being used to those that refuse to worship the Machine. Vashti had continued her routine, despite not having lost conduct with her son. She is aware of some of her friends that have ended up disappearing after requesting Euthanasia, which makes her continue delivering bad lectures as he longs for Euthanasia.
Vashti is finally conducted by her son, who was moved to the southern hemisphere and in a room close to her due to his transgressions. In the unexpected communication, Kuno tells her mother that. “The Machine stops” (Foster 20), citing that the Machine is breaking down and grinding to a halt. Although Vashti dismisses his son’s claims when asked by a friend regarding the glitches in the music by claiming the sounds will be repaired. However, when Vashti complains about the music to the Mending Apparatus Committee, just like others in the Machine regarding the different operations, she is fobbed off with no action taken. Things continue to become hard as more issues arise. For instance, access to clean water becomes difficult with water available having a bad smell, sullied music recording, and buttons used to call forth beds stop working. With the Committee claiming that enemies are to be blamed for the issues as they take actions to sabotage the Machine, people are forced to adapt and accept the flaws. Despite the lecturers’ efforts to reassure people that things will be fine and they should continue to trust the Machine, things continued to get worse.
One day the communication system shuts down; as the Machine shuts down, people panic and are desperate for the Machine to save them as they pray to the book. Outside, thousands of people push against each other as they perish. When Vashti finds Kuno, who is also dying, he holds her and tells her that he had lived among Homeless people who had survived above ground. Although they will perish, Kuno tells his mother that “Humanity has learned its lesson” (Foster 25). But still, the human race will survive. The Machine crash, and they are all killed.
PART 2: ARTISTIC CHOICE
The Humans, Technology and Dialogue
“The Machine Stops” is characterized as dystopian literature, focusing on technology and the current cyberculture. Dystopian is associated with a futuristic and imagination of the universe, where society is oppressively controlled and maintenance of a perfect society is achieved through technological, bureaucratic, and moral control. Dystopian societies are associated with various characteristics, including propaganda to control a society, dehumanization, and an illusion of a perfect utopian world. “The Machine Stops” raises questions about how humankind live and how they create relationships with the other and the world through technology. The artistic choice in the review exams the ways machines and automata are imagined and how they part of lived human existence concerning dialogue and perception, and otherness. With Foster’s novel highlighting the fear of machines mimicking the human’s roles, the piece argues that understanding dialogical conditions with technology can help humans turn their relationship with technology into something more human.
The human capacity to think is used in developing technologies, such as in virtual reality, which continue to bring more complexity in terms of human engagement. Machines and robots being developed are more humanized, with others having the ability to understand human emotion and taking care of children and the elderly. Contemporary day-to-day is now full of relationships interceded with human-machine interface. However, as machines continue to expand, they pose a threat to human interaction ability. Technology continues to interfere with human perceptions and sensibility to others, as they tend to expect more from machines than each other. As technology’s impact on human relationships increases and the everyday human and technological interface becomes stronger, it lives no option of eliminating machine. According to Foster’s The Machine Stops, the machine’s elimination will result in the return of the “naked man.” Therefore, humans should focus on understanding the human-machine interaction consequences to ensure dialogue between humans is maintained as much as their relationship with machines exists.
Foster’s novel highlights the consequences that humanity might suffer from excessive dependence on the machine. According to Kuno, for a man to explore different worlds, he must first be aware of his body. Therefore, the human body is the way through which man cab start establishing relationships with the outside world. As Foster states, Man is the measure. …. Man’s feet are the measure for distance, his hands are the measure for ownership, his body is the measure for all that is lovable and desirable and strong” (Forster 12). The human body can be shaped by cultural factors, which are crucial in determining human interface with machines. The strong presence that the human body holds in the social imaginary and in mass media highlights human corporeality and objectification resulting in social practices such as prostitution and pornography. Machines are an extension of human psychosocial bodies, which provide humans with a strong ability to understand the interface’s complexity between machines and humans. The human body’s ability to influence what is around it, including technology, allows humans to avoid dilemmas and deal with such issues by exploring dialogical conditions that enable humans to understand machine power.
In Foster’s story, people did not touch one another, indicating that machines had reduced the possibilities of human dialogue. Although humanity might not find perfection, technology has played a significant role in increasing human possibility of attaining initial contact with one another through new devices and facilities. However, humanity should maintain a dialogue by not replacing interaction and communication that cannot be controlled or edited. Enriching dialogue should be considered as the creative controlling interface between humans and machines. Through dialogue, humans get the opportunity to surprise each other and the potential of learning to deal with their own ambiguity. The dialogical relationships are what define humanity, as it natures human characters and develops a relationship. For instance, Kuno requests face-to-face meet his mother, indicating human commitment and dialogue that should be fostered in the technological world.
In conclusion, “The Machine Stops” remain relevant in highlighting the future machine’s human distress and fears. Humans’ ability to understand the new reality of advanced technology is essential in learning about humanity and machine creation based on human expectations. Therefore, understand the consequences and possibilities of authentic dialogue will enable humans to create relationships with each other through technology more humane.

Work Cited
Foster, E.M. “The Machine Stops.” Oxford and Cambridge Review, 1909.

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