2.12.08
Additional Richard brautigan
"All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace"
I like to think (and
the sooner the better!)
of a cybernetic meadow
where mammals and computers
live together in mutually
programming harmony
like pure water
touching clear sky.
I like to think
(right now please!)
of a cybernetic forest
filled with pines and electronics
where deer stroll peacefully
past computers
as if they were flowers
with spinning blossoms.
I like to think
(it has to be!)
of a cybernetic ecology
where we are free of our labors
and joined back to nature,
returned to our mammal
brothers and sisters,
and all watched over
by machines of loving grace.
New York State Regents Exams Comprehensive English test, Wed. 19 June 2002, 9:15—12:15 AM.
The question associated with the poem was:
After you have read the passages and answered the multiple-choice questions, write a unified essay about the coexistence of humans and computers as revealed in the passages. In your essay, use ideas from both passages to establish a controlling idea about the coexistence of humans and computers. Using evidence from each passage, develop your controlling idea and show how the author uses specific literary elements or techniques to convey that idea.
Four questions, with multiple choice answers related to the poem were provided. The questions and their answers (in bold) were:
1. What does the speaker suggest about the relationship between mammals and computers in cybernetic meadow?
(1) They influence each other in positive ways.
(2) They compete with each other for domination.
(3) They are unaware of each other's existence.
(4) They tend to avoid each other.
2. In lines 9 through 16, the poet uses images of both
(1) past and present
(2) nature and technology
(3) death and eternity
(4) age and youth
3. The expressions in parentheses (lines 1 and 2, 10, and 18) convey a sense of
(1) eagerness
(2) anger
(3) loneliness
(4) curiosity
4. The speaker implies that, in a cybernetic ecology, machines will have a role as
(1) artists
(2) commanders
(3) guardians
(4) jailers
I like to think (and
the sooner the better!)
of a cybernetic meadow
where mammals and computers
live together in mutually
programming harmony
like pure water
touching clear sky.
I like to think
(right now please!)
of a cybernetic forest
filled with pines and electronics
where deer stroll peacefully
past computers
as if they were flowers
with spinning blossoms.
I like to think
(it has to be!)
of a cybernetic ecology
where we are free of our labors
and joined back to nature,
returned to our mammal
brothers and sisters,
and all watched over
by machines of loving grace.
New York State Regents Exams Comprehensive English test, Wed. 19 June 2002, 9:15—12:15 AM.
The question associated with the poem was:
After you have read the passages and answered the multiple-choice questions, write a unified essay about the coexistence of humans and computers as revealed in the passages. In your essay, use ideas from both passages to establish a controlling idea about the coexistence of humans and computers. Using evidence from each passage, develop your controlling idea and show how the author uses specific literary elements or techniques to convey that idea.
Four questions, with multiple choice answers related to the poem were provided. The questions and their answers (in bold) were:
1. What does the speaker suggest about the relationship between mammals and computers in cybernetic meadow?
(1) They influence each other in positive ways.
(2) They compete with each other for domination.
(3) They are unaware of each other's existence.
(4) They tend to avoid each other.
2. In lines 9 through 16, the poet uses images of both
(1) past and present
(2) nature and technology
(3) death and eternity
(4) age and youth
3. The expressions in parentheses (lines 1 and 2, 10, and 18) convey a sense of
(1) eagerness
(2) anger
(3) loneliness
(4) curiosity
4. The speaker implies that, in a cybernetic ecology, machines will have a role as
(1) artists
(2) commanders
(3) guardians
(4) jailers
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