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The World Cloud Poem Analysis

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1. Introduction In 2013, the latest poem collection by Cathy Park Hong, Engine Empire, was published. It depicts the development of a fictional world with all its possible dangers and advantages. It starts with the old West, proceeds to an industrial boomtown, and concludes with a dystopia in which technology encompasses and flows through all areas of life. Virtual reality plays a great role in the poems in the last section, "The World Cloud." The poems illustrate the negative side of the rapid development of technology, resulting in dangers and risks for both computer systems and human lives. Cathy Park Hong uses a futuristic device, the snow, to depict its negative influence on humans. Her poems are full of threats for the way humans think …show more content…

People are connected to each other and share their lives by the usage of something called smart snow or often just snow. Hong describes it as "You feel the smart snow monitoring you, / uploading your mind so anyone can access your content" ("A Visitation" 18-19). It can be interpreted as something similar to "the cloud" that already exists nowadays, meaning an online platform where data can be uploaded to and shared with others. By using this, people can stay in contact, share their information and work on projects together, even if they are apart from each other. Along with particular Cloud providers like Google Drive or Dropbox, Email providers can also be considered as clouds, as well as social networks which "allow their users to share their ideas and resources such as presentations, videos, games, and small computer applications in an easy and efficient manner" (Hassan 17). In fact, sending and reading email, and using social networks has become one of the most popular online activities …show more content…

Because of all that work-time which is saved by the quick and easy interchange of information, people have much more free time. But Hong ironically says that people have now so much leisure that they seem to be overwhelmed by their leisure time. Everything has to be faster but then it becomes too fast for everyone. On the one hand it is nice to have open-source content which can be updated by everyone at every time and saves the people some time, i.e. time spent on lots of research. This research can be reduced by having a look at a collection of information. A common example is Wikipedia, which can be edited by anybody who deems him-/herself to have sufficient knowledge to give additional information. On the other hand, however, this possibility to exchange information that easily is an invitation for everyone who seeks to manipulate other people's minds. Hong reminds that you should not always rely on what you see: "convincing / everyone with his doctored / snapshots of restored / prosperity and a sea full / of whales huge as ocean liners / singing the call-note of the / relieved tears" ("Ready-Made" 41-47). In her world people want to be happy even though they are probably not. They try to ignore the

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