The Feeling of Powerby Isaak Asimov

Pre-Reading Activities:

Answer the questions:

A. Which of the following activities do you usually do on the computer?

Tick () your answer. You may add more activities if you want.

→shop

→play card games

→do calculations

→write a note

→read a newspaper

→read a map

→talk with friends

→find information

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B. Do you think we will forget how to do these activities without using a computer in the future? Do you think this is a problem? Explain.

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Basic Understanding

Answer the following questions about Part I.

1. Who was Jehon Shuman?

He is a first-call programmer. He designed very complicated computers.

2. Which planets were at war?

Earth and Deneb.

3. How did they fight this war?

With computers.

4. What did Shuman look like?

Shuman was tall and looked fearless.

5. Who was Myron Aub?

An aging low-grade technician.

6. Describe Aub’s appearance.

He was a bald –headed man with friendly curiosity.

7. What was Aub’s hobby?

His hobby was to calculate some simple multiplications on paper.

8. Who came to the meeting in the special lounge of New Pentagon?

Congressman Brant, General Weider, Shuman and Myron Aub.

9. What did Aub have to do at the meeting?

He had to show how to solve mathematical problems without using a computer.

10. What problem did Congressman Brant discuss with the President of the Terrestrial

Federation?

The war with the Denebians and the impossibility of winning this war.

11. What solution did Congressman Brant suggest?

To use Aub’s discovery to win the war/to use the human mind together with computers to win the war/to set up a secret project.

Generating Possibilities (HOTS)

Sometimes things can be used in different ways. Match each item in A to a new way of using it in B.A. B1. old newspapers ........ a. to clean the house

2. empty plastic bottles ........ b. to protect the floor when you paint your walls

3. old T-shirts ........ c. to fill with water and water your plants

1-b, 2-c, 3-a

B. Now think of other ways you can use these items.

1. old newspapers ........................................................................................................................2. empty plastic bottles ........................................................................................................................3. old T-shirts ........................................................................................................................

C. Go back to the story and answer the following questions:

1. Do you think the Project Number is going to be a success? Why or why not?

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2. What other possibilities to win the war against the planet of Deneb you can offer?

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Basic Understanding-PART IICircle the correct answer:

1. According to the general, spaceships without computers are…

a. safer

b. stronger

c. less expensive

2. Aub didn’t feel comfortable working with the…..

a. low grade technicians

b. scientific leaders

c. Denebians

3. Aub thought his discovery would be used for…

a. the war against the Denebians

b. the good of man

c. the development of manned missiles

4. The purpose of Project Number was to…

a. build manned missiles

b. do calculations on paper

c. design new computer programs

5. At the end of the story, Shuman was pleased because…..

a. Aub was dead

b. he could compute in his head

c. the war was over

Vocabulary Practice:Name two things that are:

1. complicated to do ………………………… …………………………..

2. distant from your home ……………………… …………………………..

3. hard to do carefully ……………………… ………………………….

4. reasonable to ask a teenager to do ………………… ….………………………

5. not always done immediately …………………… .…….……………………

Analysis and Interpretation Conflict

The struggle between opposing forces. At least one of the opposing forces is a character. We designate different kinds of conflict: 1) a struggle against nature; 2) a struggle against another person; 3) a struggle against society; or 4) a struggle within the person themselves. The two opposing forces of the conflict are the protagonist and the antagonist.

1. What is the main conflict in the story?

Aub against the society.

2. Do you think Asimov is describing life in future in a realistic way?

Why or why not?

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3. What is ironic about Aub’s “new” discovery?

It isn’t new at all. At the beginning people taught machines to calculate and were so glad that they did not need to use the skill of computing in mind. Then, everything changed and people were glad that they could get rid of computers and again do it by themselves.

4. Do you think Aub could have stopped Project Number?

No, he couldn’t. He was weak and also didn’t have enough power for this.

5. What is the message in the story?

We may lose sight of our humanity if we don’t show respect and treat each other as equals or if we rely too much on machines.

6. Would you like to live in the world that Asimov describes in this story? Why or why not?

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Cause and EffectUnderline and mark the cause (C) and effect (E) in the sentences below.

1. I’m tired because I didn’t get enough sleep.2. The test was postponed as a result of the teachers’ strike.3. You must practice if you want to become a good piano player.4. The car is out of gas. That’s why it won’t start.5. The weather was so cold that we stayed home.6. One factor in successful schools is small class size.7. He stayed late in the office because he had a lot of work to do.8. The food was so terrible that no one ate it.

Put the sentences below into the following table

Cause Effect

1. Aub can calculate in his mind.2. Aub understands that his hobby can destroy the world.3. Aub is a technician.4. Computers are substituted by people.5. Shuman can compute in his mind.

1. Aub gets a well-paid job.2. Aub commits a suicide.3. Scientists don’t treat Aub as equal.

4. The Earth wins the war.5. Shuman is satisfied.

Aub can calculate in his mind. Shuman can compute in his mind. Computers are substituted by people. Aub gets a well-paid job. Aub commits a suicide. Aub is a technician. Scientists don’t treat Aub as equal. The Earth wins the war. Shuman is satisfied. Aub understands that his hobby can destroy the world.

Bridging Text and Context

Read the following quote of Isaak Asimov and explain how it influenced your understanding of the story.

The following quote added to my understanding of the story. It emphasizes the importance of human values which is not paid attention to. For example, Aub, being a low-grade technician, is not respected by others. The only thing that bothers people around him is his technological “invention” take can help them win the war. Nobody sees Aub as a person with his inner world and problems.

Post –Reading Activities

Choose one of the following activities:

1. Write a different end to the story.

2. Imagine that you are one of the characters from the story and that you have a diary.

Write a diary entry into your diary.

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The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom. Isaak Asimov

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