Strikeout

Great we are aiming to find the main idea when we read CARS passage, but how? The passages we encounter in CARS are often complicated and while it is a fantastic idea to summarize paragraphs as is often suggested. We can’t do that if we don’t understand what it said.

Redundancies in Langauge

Main ideas are expressed in very few words. Sentences contain more words than this. Why? Readability.

If this whole course was written in the same style as above you would probably get tired of reading this pretty quickly. While a lot of language is really, terribly, awfully redundant it gives authors multiple ways of expressing their ideas. Whether they are trying to arouse a particular emotion in the reader or convince them of their idea using logic.

This element of writing is both a blessing and a curse in CARS. It means that many of the passages will repeat themselves so if we didn’t catch onto the main idea the first time around we have another chance. It also means that the passages will have complicated and often convoluted sentences that can obfuscate their meaning.

Strikeout

Strikeout is the first step towards helping us simplify these complicated sentences. Allowing us to get at the basic ideas or arguments the author is trying to convey.

It’s time-consuming and not test friendly so we won’t be using it on our actual exam. Instead, our goal is to increase our ability to comprehend not by “reading more”, but by understanding more as we read. We will be building on this skill as we work through the next couple of lessons with the end goal of understanding the text as we read without pausing to strike anything out.

Worked Example

The best way to see how this strategy work is to see it in action. Start by reading the expert from “The Zombie as Barometer of Capitalist Anxiety” by D.T. Robb.

Original

“The modern incarnation of the zombie, as seen strewn across pop culture horror novels and films in ever-increasing numbers, is easily recognized and radically different from its historical roots; any member of our modern Western culture can spot the gray, often rotting flesh, the black eyes, the disheveled appearance, the shuffling gait, the wretched moaning, and, of course, the bloody mouths flecked with fresh flesh and detritus. However, the zombie goes beyond cheap thrills; zombies, as well as other variations of horror monsters, represent a fear that pervades society as a whole, a collective nervousness of destruction at the hands of a seemingly invulnerable foe.”

Yup, that paragraph was only two sentences long. Two very long sentences at that. In those two sentences the author covered two pretty simple ideas

1. Modern zombies are different than past ones
2. Zombies represent the fear of being destroyed.

If you didn’t get that from the paragraph don’t worry try reading this version of the text instead.

Strikeout Example

The modern incarnation of the zombie, as seen strewn across pop culture horror novels and films in ever-increasing numbers, is easily recognized and radically different from its historical roots; any member of our modern Western culture can spot the gray, often rotting flesh, the black eyes, the dishevelled appearance, the shuffling gait, the wretched moaning, and, of course, the bloody mouths flecked with fresh flesh and detritus. However, the zombie goes beyond cheap thrills; zombies, as well as other variations of horror monsters, represent a fear that pervades society as a whole, a collective nervousness of destruction at the hands of a seemingly invulnerable foe.

First I removed most of the details, typically these are adjectives, but they could be descriptions as well.

“…gray, often rotting flesh, the black eyes, the disheveled appearance, the shuffling gait, the wretched moaning, and, of course, the bloody mouths flecked with fresh flesh and detritus.”

and then the moveable elements, usually found between commas.

“…, as seen strewn across pop culture horror novels and films in ever-increasing numbers,…”

Give it a Try

Go ahead and see if you can simplify the rest of this article in the same way. Check the paragraphs as you go by comparing your version to the one hidden below it. There will be plenty more practice following this so you can get the hang of this technique and start to improve your comprehension.

We won’t be using “actual” CARS passages for a lot of this work because in the beginning, the goal is to figure out how to improve our reading. Instead, we will focus on longer articles without any attached questions. As we progress into question strategies we will shift towards CARS style passages with questions.

On to The Zombies

According to Peter Dendle, in his essay, “The Zombie as Barometer of Cultural Anxiety,” the zombie has “…tapped into a deep-seated anxiety about society, government, individual protection, and our increasing disconnectedness from subsistence skills.”1 Dendle states that the prevalence of the zombie in pop culture correlates to society’s fear that any sudden jolt of the status quo, undead or otherwise, would result in mass chaos, that people would be unable to protect themselves or to survive on their own. Yet one may take the thought of this collective anxiety a step further to discern one of the underlying causes and major contributions to the general nervousness of the public and the widespread appearances of zombies in films and literature: capitalism.

[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#5f81e4″ expand_text=”Crossouts” collapse_text=”Hide” ]According to Peter Dendle, in his essay, “The Zombie as Barometer of Cultural Anxiety,” the zombie has “…tapped into a deep-seated anxiety about society, government, individual protection, and our increasing disconnectedness from subsistence skills.”1 Dendle states that the prevalence of the zombie in pop culture correlates to society’s fear that any sudden jolt of the status quo, undead or otherwise, would result in mass chaos, that people would be unable to protect themselves or to survive on their own. Yet one may take the thought of this collective anxiety a step further to discern one of the underlying causes and major contributions to the general nervousness of the public and the widespread appearances of zombies in films and literature: capitalism.[/bg_collapse]

According to Dendle, “the zombie, a soul-less hulk mindlessly working at the bidding of another, thus records a residual communal memory of slavery: of living a life without dignity or meaning, of going through the motions.”1 Here we see the zombie’s origins, as corpses reanimated by bourgeois landowners or factory foremen through some rites of magick for the sake of performing menial labour without demanding fair wages, hours, and treatment, never tiring or making mistakes.

[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#5f81e4″ expand_text=”Crossouts” collapse_text=”Hide” ]According to Dendle, “the zombie, a soul-less hulk mindlessly working at the bidding of another, thus records a residual communal memory of slavery: of living a life without dignity or meaning, of going through the motions.”1 Here we see the zombie’s origins, as corpses reanimated by bourgeois landowners or factory foremen through some rites of magick for the sake of performing menial labour without demanding fair wages, hours, and treatment, never tiring or making mistakes.[/bg_collapse]

This is one of the earliest iterations of the zombie, and the origin of the capitalist metaphor. The proto-capitalist economy of nineteenth century America was dependent on slave labour, and pro-slavery politicians of the time argued that the economy of the South would have collapsed entirely should slavery be outlawed. Here it is evident how a fear and disdain of capitalism would have been imprinted on the minds of the enslaved Africans and Haitians, from whose culture the zombie originated. They were slaves because slavery was profitable, vital to economy and thus not morally bankrupt to the slave owners, and an implicit resistance to this system would have been planted.

[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#5f81e4″ expand_text=”Crossouts” collapse_text=”Hide” ]This is one of the earliest iterations of the zombie, and the origin of the capitalist metaphor. The proto-capitalist economy of nineteenth century America was dependent on slave labour, and pro-slavery politicians of the time argued that the economy of the South would have collapsed entirely should slavery be outlawed. Here it is evident how a fear and disdain of capitalism would have been imprinted on the minds of the enslaved Africans and Haitians, from whose culture the zombie originated. They were slaves because slavery was profitable, vital to economy and thus not morally bankrupt to the slave owners, and an implicit resistance to this system would have been planted.[/bg_collapse]

From here the zombie transformed from a worker drone to a bloodthirsty monster, personality vanished, flesh rotting off of bone, an insatiable hunger for long pig, and most importantly a horde—one capable of the annihilation of human society. Zombies went from a cheap work force to a full-blown apocalypse, and they had never been more popular as capitalism conquered the world. The capitalist metaphor came to a head with George Romero’s 1978 film Dawn of the Dead, in which the main characters attempt to escape the zombie apocalypse by finding sanctuary in a shopping mall. When the survivors find temporary safety, they return to their consumer roots and ransack the mall for products, and, after observing his comrades and the encroaching zombies, one character remarks, “They’re us.”2

[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#5f81e4″ expand_text=”Crossouts” collapse_text=”Hide” ]From here the zombie transformed from a worker drone to a bloodthirsty monster, personality vanished, flesh rotting off of bone, an insatiable hunger for long pig, and most importantly a horde—one capable of the annihilation of human society. Zombies went from a cheap work force to a full-blown apocalypse, and they had never been more popular as capitalism conquered the world. The capitalist metaphor came to a head with George Romero’s 1978 film Dawn of the Dead, in which the main characters attempt to escape the zombie apocalypse by finding sanctuary in a shopping mall. When the survivors find temporary safety, they return to their consumer roots and ransack the mall for products, and, after observing his comrades and the encroaching zombies, one character remarks, “They’re us.”2.[/bg_collapse]

Later, much more subtle hints at the metaphor of consumer capitalism occur in the Resident Evil cycle and many other films and books, where the zombie outbreak is, directly or otherwise, the result of illicit business practices of faceless corporations. This possibly stems from a mistrust of large conglomerates whose GDPs began to exceed entire nations’; Wal-Mart currently has more purchasing power than Saudi Arabia does.

[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”##5f81e4″ expand_text=”Crossouts” collapse_text=”Hide” ]Later, much more subtle hints at the metaphor of consumer capitalism occur in the Resident Evil cycle and many other films and books, where the zombie outbreak is, directly or otherwise, the result of illicit business practices of faceless corporations. This possibly stems from a mistrust of large conglomerates whose GDPs began to exceed entire nations’; Wal-Mart currently has more purchasing power than Saudi Arabia does.[/bg_collapse]

In Max Brooks’ World War Z, a critique of capitalism is offered in the form of Phalanx, a vaccine manufactured to prevent “rabies” and sold as a solution to the developing zombie crisis; Phalanx was pushed through the FDA by the government (and the corporations that control it) despite a lack of testing and evidence regarding the zombie virus, for the sake of keeping the populace calm while earning unprecedented profits at the expense of the victimized masses. According to Breckenridge Scott, the character responsible for Phalanx: “It protected them from their fears. That’s all I was selling. Hell, because of Phalanx, the biomed sector started to recover, which, in turn, jump-started the stock market, which then gave the impression of a recovery, which then restored consumer confidence to stimulate an actual recovery!”3

[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”##5f81e4″ expand_text=”Crossouts” collapse_text=”Hide” ]In Max Brooks’ World War Z, a critique of capitalism is offered in the form of Phalanx, a vaccine manufactured to prevent “rabies” and sold as a solution to the developing zombie crisis; Phalanx was pushed through the FDA by the government (and the corporations that control it) despite a lack of testing and evidence regarding the zombie virus, for the sake of keeping the populace calm while earning unprecedented profits at the expense of the victimized masses. According to Breckenridge Scott, the character responsible for Phalanx: “It protected them from their fears. That’s all I was selling. Hell, because of Phalanx, the biomed sector started to recover, which, in turn, jump-started the stock market, which then gave the impression of a recovery, which then restored consumer confidence to stimulate an actual recovery!”3[/bg_collapse]

This passage shows how the bourgeois businessman Scott justified selling his snake oil to the masses, in that the mass production of Phalanx and its widespread sales led to an economic recovery, and the reader is presented with the conflicting viewpoints between economic recovery and the deaths of millions of misled humans. The reader is presented with the question of whether the economy should take precedent over the well-being of the people, and while the choice is obvious, it shows the reader that corporations will sacrifice lives for their bottom lines.

[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”##5f81e4″ expand_text=”Crossouts” collapse_text=”Hide” ]This passage shows how the bourgeois businessman Scott justified selling his snake oil to the masses, in that the mass production of Phalanx and its widespread sales led to an economic recovery, and the reader is presented with the conflicting viewpoints between economic recovery and the deaths of millions of misled humans. The reader is presented with the question of whether the economy should take precedent over the well-being of the people, and while the choice is obvious, it shows the reader that corporations will sacrifice lives for their bottom lines.[/bg_collapse]

And so, as zombies enter the world of prime-time television dramas, so too does our anxiety grow.

1. Dendle, Peter. “The Zombie as Barometer of Cultural Anxiety.” 45-55. Print.
2. Brooks, Max. World War Z. Print.
3. Ramero, George A. Dawn of the Dead. Film.